From Quora:

Was Gautama Buddha an atheist?

No, Gautama Buddha was not an atheist. This does not mean that Gautama Buddha was a theist or an agnostic. He was neither an atheist, nor a theist and not even an agnostic. We cannot really brand Gautama Buddha into any category. He belonged to none of these “camps”.

Unfortunately our lexicon has no fourth word to explain what the Buddha was except to say he was enlightened. Human intelligence doesn’t have the capacity to comprehend anything other than atheist, theist and agnostic.

Atheist is a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings. This is based on belief (emotional intelligence) and reasoning (intellectual intelligence), and not on “knowing” (intuitive intelligence).

Theist is a person who believes in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation. He is a person who believes in the existence of a god or gods. This is based purely on belief (emotional intelligence), and not even intellectual intelligence, though theists often apply their intellectual intelligence quite miserably to justify their belief in God.

Agnostic is a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable. These are people who have gone to a state beyond emotional intelligence and use their intellectual intelligence.

The Buddha had an order of intelligence that was far higher or greater than either emotional intelligence or intellectual intelligence. He never needed to use these inferior forms of intelligence, even though they were at his disposal. His much higher intelligence (about which I will soon explain) had made his emotional intelligence as well his intellectual intelligence develop to their respective ultimate levels. But to understand the level of intelligence of a Buddha, we need to understand the hierarchy of intelligence and what it means.

Let us understand the hierarchy of intelligence, and before that, the context in which I have used the term “intelligence”.

There is life all around us, and we are a living being too. There is vegetable or plant life, animal life, human life, super human life and many other kinds of life about which we do not know. Life means consciousness and consciousness is associated with an intelligence of some kind. As there is a hierarchy of life. Vegetable life, animal life and human life are like three levels in the hierarchy of life. Vegetable life is at a low level, then animal life and human life is at a higher level in the hierarchy. Accordingly there is a hierarchy of consciousness and therefore a hierarchy of intelligence. It is in this context I speak of the hierarchy of intelligence. They are intelligence of different kinds.

The three types of intelligence we deal with in human life are physical intelligence, emotional intelligence and intellectual intelligence.

Physical intelligence covers the intelligence of inanimate or lifeless objects because of which they are able to respond to the laws of physics.

Emotional intelligence is that intelligence which results in things like feelings, faith, devotion, beliefs and things of that kind. This form of intelligence first comes into being in the vegetable kingdom and develops in the animal kingdom and develops much more in the human kingdom.

Intellectual intelligence is that intelligence which stands at a higher level than emotional intelligence. This type of intelligence is altogether missing in the vegetable kingdom, but begins in the animal kingdom and develops much more in the human kingdom.

So trees and plants have physical intelligence and emotional intelligence while animals have greater physical intelligence, greater emotional plus some intellectual intelligence. Human beings have even more of all three types of intelligence, a new type of intelligence which we can say is abstract intelligence. Abstract intelligence helps us to further intellectual intelligence and deal with abstraction. While animals can think logically too, what makes us quite different from animals is our capacity for abstraction, which in turn helps us to use all the other 3 types of intelligence quite optimally.

While we (human beings) have both emotional intelligence and also intellectual intelligence, it depends on how much we apply which type of intelligence for arriving at a conclusion. This is why the entire world is divided into different groups called atheists, theists and agnostics.

Spiritual evolution helps us to evolve new and higher types of intelligence. So animals are a result of spiritual evolution of plants and trees, and human beings are a result of spiritual evolution of animals. When we evolve spiritually and develop new and higher types of intelligence, the field of our awareness called consciousness increases tremendously at every stage. With the coming in of a new type of intelligence, our consciousness expands too. But someone (or a life) without the new type of intelligence cannot even recognise what the new type is and how very different and potent it is. For example, a tree (or any member in the vegetable kingdom), how hard it may try, just cannot comprehend what intellect is and how it can result in far greater awareness.

Beyond intellectual intelligence (and abstract intelligence), there is yet another type of intelligence at a higher rung in the hierarchy. It is called intuitive intelligence. This is not the intuition or hunch some of us have, but something of a far superior quality because of which we come into instant perception with hundred percent perfection. This results in “knowing”. This is the result of “enlightenment”. We become enlightened when we are able to develop intuitive intelligence in us. It is because of intuitive intelligence, we become free from the cycle of death and rebirth and become omniscient too. We understand things instantly without have to believe or think.

Gautama Buddha had this intelligence because of his enlightenment. So he did not need to use emotional intelligence or intellectual intelligence, and therefore he was neither an atheist nor a theist nor an agnostic. He simply “knew” it. Anyone who becomes enlightened will also have this intuitive intelligence.

Now let me say something more about Gautama Buddha in particular. His illumination was of such a kind he was not only enlightened or illuminated (in the sense we understand the word), he had gone to the next stage, and even to the stage beyond that! That’s what a Buddha is. In the stage after intuitive intelligence, there comes spiritual intelligence which is so very superior and exalted, we cannot imagine it. The stage after that, which actually makes a Buddha is known as monadic intelligence. This is something which even spiritual intelligence cannot understand. Incidentally, the enlightenment he got in his last earth-life was the Buddha level of illumination and not enlightenment or nirvana in the way we know if it. It is nirvana of a very exalted level. According to my study, he was also an enlightened or super enlightened being even when he was born, but attained his Buddhahood in this life. What Buddha is, none of us can really imagine. It is too, too, too exalted.

Gautama Buddha had monadic intelligence. It is so very superior, you can and I can look at him as nothing but God (though he isn’t a God). And for God, there is nothing known as atheist or theist or agnostic.

Please note: I have shared my personal understanding. These are my views only. What I have written here is right according to me and I can elaborate further if ever needed. It is not a cooked-up thing.





Shuvendu Patnaik, studied at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur


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