Tag Archives: rūpaloka

Interesting article by Neil Schmid on the nature of the Buddhist hierarchy of divinities:

Buddhism is often labeled an atheistic philosophy or religion because Buddha is not considered a god by Buddhists and no “creator god” exists. Such a conclusion lays bare Abrahamic assumptions of what a religion and theism should be. In fact, Buddhism is polytheistic. The Buddhist cosmos at its most basic level is divided into two realms—one where beings are subject to karma and rebirth, called samsara, and one where they no longer are, called nirvana. Within the cycle of samsara are thirty-one types of existence, each a state of being resulting from a previous karma. At the lowest end of the spectrum are hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, and warring gods. Next are humans, and above them in assorted heavens and higher worlds are twenty-six types of divinities or devas— related to the Greek theos and Latin deus. read more