An excerpt from a teaching called How Buddhists Think by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
As Buddhists, we are not as infatuated with the idea of gods and goddesses as people in some other religions. Why not? Because we think of them as part of cyclic existence. Long-life gods can grant blessings. But can they get anybody enlightened? No! They don’t have Enlightenment. You can wait around for someone to give you a blessing––or you can practice Dharma.
Neither are Buddhists impressed by talk about going to heaven or going to God. For us, all this is just part of perceptual experience––just phenomena. I’m not saying that phenomena don’t exist, but the goal of a Buddhist is beyond all phenomena, beyond the fixation of being caught up in cyclic existence. It is not a goal that can be externalized. It is pure, awakened Awarenes. We talk about being reborn in Dewachen (which can sound similar to “being reborn in heaven,” and in one sense it is), but what is actually meant by that is to be reborn in the Dharmakaya state––to be born in a state of pure, undefiled Awareness. To shed ignorance and to be reborn in undefiled Awareness is the only goal of a Buddhist. It is not a conceptual process. It is liberation from all the components of suffering.
© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo
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