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[[File:Bonten Brahma.jpg|thumb|upright|A Japanese sculpture of Brahmā (Bonten)]]
{{Buddhism}}
'''{{IAST|Brahmā}}''' is a leading god ([[Deva (Buddhism)|deva]]) and heavenly king in [[Buddhism]].<ref>[http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/B/52 Bonten] Nichiren Buddhism Library, Soka Gakkai</ref><ref name="Krishan1996p120">{{cite book|author=Yuvraj Krishan|title=The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDyJh--iaL0C&pg=PA120 |year=1996|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|isbn=978-81-215-0565-9 |pages=120 }}</ref> He was adopted from other Indian religions such as [[Hinduism]] that considered him a protector of teachings (''dharmapala''),<ref name=buswelllopez141/> and he is never depicted in early Buddhist texts as a [[Creator deity|creator god]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey |title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC |year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4 |pages=37–38 }}</ref> In Buddhist tradition, it was the deity Brahma Sahampati<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn06/sn06.001.than.html|title=Ayacana Sutta: The Request|website=www.accesstoinsight.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref> who appeared before the [[Buddha]] and urged him to teach, once the Buddha attained enlightenment but was unsure if he should teach his insights to anyone.<ref name=buswelllopez141/>

Brahma is a part of the [[Buddhist cosmology]],<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/> and lords over the heavenly realm of [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]] called the ''[[Brahmaloka#Buddhism|Brahmaloka]]''<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8 |page=142, Article on '''brahmaloka''' }}</ref> – the most sought after [[Saṃsāra (Buddhism)|realm for afterlife]] and reincarnation in Buddhist traditions.<ref>{{Citation | last =Trainor | first =Kevin | year =2004 | title =Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-517398-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC|page=62}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Merv Fowler |title=Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7UKjtA0QDwC |year=1999|publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-898723-66-0 |page=65}}, '''Quote:''' "For a vast majority of Buddhists in Theravadin countries, however, the order of monks is seen by lay Buddhists as a means of gaining the most merit in the hope of accumulating good karma for a better rebirth."</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Gowans|title=Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-46973-4|page=169}}</ref> Brahma is generally represented in Buddhist culture as a god with four faces and four arms, and variants of him are found in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist cultures.<ref name=buswelllopez141/>

==Origins and nomenclature==
[[File:Wat Yannawa - 007 Brahma (12130018383).jpg|thumb|Brahmā (Phra Phrom) at [[Wat Yannawa]] in [[Bangkok]], Thailand]]

The origins of Brahma in Buddhism and other Indian religions are uncertain, in part because several related words such as one for metaphysical Ultimate Reality ([[Brahman]]), and priest ([[Brahmin]]) are found in the Vedic literature. According to KN Jayatilleke, the [[Rigveda]] expresses skepticism about major deities such as [[Indra]] whether he even exists,<ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=24 with footnote 2}}, Quote: "What evidence is there for the existence of Indra unless someone has seen him? One stanza in a hymn says, 'One and another say, there is no Indra. Who hath beheld him? Whom then shall we honor?' - Rigveda 8.100.3, in Griffith: 8.89.3"</ref> as well as whether the universe has any creator and can this ever be known, as evidenced in its eighth and tenth book, particularly in its [[Nasadiya Sukta]].<ref name="Jayatilleke1998p21">{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=21, 24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James Thrower|title=The Alternative Tradition: Religion and the Rejection of Religion in the Ancient World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpXfiGyGbYEC |year=1980|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-90-279-7997-1 |pages=40, 43–44 }}</ref>

The late Vedic hymns had begun inquiring the nature of true and valid knowledge, empirical verification and absolute reality.<ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=24, 27–28 }} Quote: "Here for the first time there is an expression of doubt about the possibility of knowing certain things and a dim awareness that some sort of evidence was necessary before we can afford to make factual assertions. What evidence is there for the existence of Indra unless someone has seen him? (...)"</ref> The early Upanishads built upon this theme, while in parallel there emerged Buddhism, Jainism and other skeptical traditions. Buddhism used the term Brahma to deny a creator as well as to delegate him (and other deities such as Indra) as less important than the Buddha.<ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=21, 24, 27–28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Antonio T. De Nicolás]]|title=Meditations Through the Rig Veda: Four-Dimensional Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t7mNaMDu6o0C&pg=PA68 |year=2003|publisher= iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-26925-9 |pages=68–70 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James Thrower|title=The Alternative Tradition: Religion and the Rejection of Religion in the Ancient World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpXfiGyGbYEC |year=1980|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-90-279-7997-1 |pages=35–46 }}</ref>

In Hindu literature, one of the earliest mention of deity Brahma with [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]] is in the fifth ''Prapathaka'' (lesson) of the [[Maitrayaniya Upanishad]], probably composed in late 1st millennium BCE, after the rise of Buddhism.<ref name=hume51>{{citation|first=Robert Ernest|last=Hume|title=The Thirteen Principal Upanishads |url=https://archive.org/stream/thirteenprincipa028442mbp#page/n443/mode/2up|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1921|pages=422–424}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=KN Jayatilleke|title=Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcs41sp8ON4C |year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0619-1 |pages=68, 374}}, Quote: "We may conclude from the above that the rise of Buddhism is not far removed in time from, though it is prior to, the Maitri Upanishad".</ref><ref>Jan Gonda (1968), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Vol. 63, pages 215-219</ref> The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older, and some scholars suggest deity Brahma may have emerged as a personal conception and icon with attributes (saguna version) of the impersonal universal principle called Brahman.<ref name=brucesullivan>Bruce Sullivan (1999), Seer of the Fifth Veda, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120816763}}, pages 82-83</ref> The Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma, states Gananath Obeyesekere, and thereby [[polemic]]ally attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral, abstract metaphysical Brahman.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179"/> This critique of Brahma in early Buddhist texts aim at ridiculing the [[Vedas]], but the same texts simultaneously call ''metta'' (loving-kindness, compassion) as the state of union with Brahma. The early Buddhist approach to Brahma was to reject any creator aspect, while retaining the [[Brahmavihara]] aspects of Brahma, in the Buddhist value system.<ref name="Obeyesekere2006p179">{{cite book|author=Gananath Obeyesekere|title=Karma and Rebirth: A Cross Cultural Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEK4Qgm7Z0kC |year=2006|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-2609-0 |pages=177–179 }}</ref> Deity Brahma is also found in the samsara doctrine and cosmology of early Buddhism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rupert Gethin|title=The Foundations of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=al_Wlh2mwWIC |year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-160671-7 |pages=114–115, 125–126 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey |title=Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA261|year=2001|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4411-4726-4 |pages=261, 263–264 }}</ref>

Brahma is known as ''Fantian'' (梵天) in Chinese, ''Bonten'' (梵天) in Japanese, ''Pomch'on'' in Korean, ''[[Phra Phrom]]'' in Thai, and ''Tshangs pa'' in Tibetan.<ref name=buswelllopez141>{{cite book|author1=Robert E. Buswell Jr.|author2=Donald S. Lopez Jr.|title=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8 |pages=141–142 }}</ref>

==Classification==
The term ''Brahmā'' in Buddhism refers to the leading god, but in some Suttas the term broadly refers to all beings (deities) who live in heavenly realms. Ancient and medieval Buddhist texts define seventeen,<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/><ref name=reynoldsp108/> or more,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Lewis Hodous |author2=William E. Soothill |title= A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAJHBQAAQBAJ |year=2003|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79122-3 |pages=180 }}</ref><ref name=edkins224/> heavenly ''Brahmā'' realms (along with demi-gods, hungry ghost and hellish realms), in a stratified manner, which are reached in afterlife based on monastic achievement and karma accumulation. A ''brahma'' in these texts refers to any [[Deva (Buddhism)|deva]] in the heavenly realms.<ref name=nagarjuna1978p42/> The Buddhist god Brahmā himself resides in the highest of the seventeen realms, called the ''Akanistha''.<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/> The multitude of Buddhist brahmas refer to:<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/><ref name=reynoldsp108/>
# Any of the deities of the formless realm of existence called [[Buddhist cosmology#Formless Realm (Ārūpyadhātu)|Ārūpyadhātu]] brahma, who enjoy the highest heavenly pleasures in afterlife;
# Any of the deities of the anthropomorphic form realm of existence called [[Buddhist cosmology#Form Realm (Rūpadhātu)|Rūpadhātu]] brahma, who enjoy moderate heavenly pleasures;
# Any of the deities of the lower heavenly realms of existence called Kamadhatu brahma; According to the ancient Buddhist scholar [[Nagarjuna]], Kamadhatu brahmas experience inferior heavenly pleasures and may experience minor sufferings in their afterlife,<ref name=nagarjuna1978p42>{{cite book|author1=Nāgārjuna |author2=Lozang Jamspal, Ngawang Chophel and Peter Santina (Translators)|title=Nāgārjuna's Letter to King Gautamīputra: With Explanatory Notes Based on Tibetan Commentaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QOaCcvni_GYC&pg=PA42 |year=1978|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1375-5 |pages=42–43 with footnotes}}</ref> while [[Vasubandhu]] described six heavenly levels within the kamadhatu realm for afterlife;<ref name=reynoldsp108>{{cite book|author=John Myrdhin Reynolds|title=The Golden Letters: The Tibetan Teachings of Garab Dorje, First Dzogchen Master|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJbxvDZOZz8C&pg=PA107 |year=1996|publisher=Snow Lion|isbn=978-1-55939-868-8 |pages=107–109 }}</ref>

In the ''[[Niddesa]]'', the Buddha is ''devatideva'', the god beyond the gods including Brahma.<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/>

==={{IAST|Baka Brahmā}}===
{{IAST|Baka Brahmā}} (literally "crane-{{IAST|Brahmā}}") appears in the [[Majjhima Nikaya]], where he is a deity who believes that his world is permanent and without decay (and that therefore he is immortal), and that therefore there are no higher worlds than his.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.049.than.html|title=Brahma-nimantanika Sutta: The Brahma Invitation|website=www.accesstoinsight.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-23}}</ref>

==={{IAST|Brahmā Sahampati}}===<!-- This section is linked from [[Gautama Buddha]] -->
[[File:Giant She Mien Fo Statue at Sanggar Agung Temple, Surabaya, Indonesia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Gold covered [[Phra Phrom]] statue at [[Sanggar Agung]], [[Surabaya]], [[Indonesia]]. He is known as ''Brahmā Sahāmpati'' in the Thai tradition.]]
{{IAST|Brahmā Sahāmpati}}, said to be the most senior of the Mahābrahmās, was the deity who visited the Buddha when he attained [[bodhi|enlightenment]], and encouraged him to teach the [[Dharma]] to humans.<ref name=buswelllopez141/>

==={{IAST|Brahmā Sanatkumāra}}===
{{See also|Four Kumaras}}
{{IAST|Brahmā Sanatkumāra}} (Sanskrit) or {{IAST|Brahmā Sanaṅkumāra}} (Pāli), the "Ever-young", appears in the Janavasabha-sutta (DN.18), where he is recalled as having created an illusionary presence to make himself perceptible to the coarser senses of [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Śakra]] and the gods of [[Trayastrimsa|{{IAST|Trāyastriṃśa}}]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://suttacentral.net/en/dn18|title=DN 18|last=|first=|date=|website=SuttaCentral|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2017-04-23}}</ref>

==={{IAST|Mahābrahmā}}===
The singular leading deity and the king of heavens Brahmā is sometimes referred in Buddhist texts as Mahābrahmā.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard K. Payne|author2=Taigen Dan Leighton|title=Discourse and Ideology in Medieval Japanese Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRux5Nc19RMC |year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-24210-8 |pages=57–58 }}</ref><ref name=edkins224>{{cite book|author=Joseph Edkins|title=Chinese Buddhism: A Volume of Sketches, Historical, Descriptive and Critical|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPrOoe2_zsQC&pg=PA224|publisher=Trübner|pages=224–225}}</ref> However, the Suttas are inconsistent in this regard and several early Buddhist texts depict Sakra (Pāli: Sakka) – who is same as the Hindu Vedic god [[Indra]] – as more important than Mahabrahma.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Gombrich |title=Buddhist Precept & Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lqp4LuZQnHsC |year=2012|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-15623-6 |pages=199–200 }}</ref> \

The ''Mahābrahmā'', or the Great Brahma, states Peter Harvey, is mentioned in Digha Nikaya as the being who dwells in the upper heaven; a Buddhist student can join him for one ''kalpa'' (eon, Brahma-year in Indian religions) after successfully entering the first [[jhana]] in the form realm of Buddhist practice.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey |title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC |year=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4 |pages=35–36 }}</ref>

===Brahmavihara===
{{main article| Brahmavihara}}
In the sense of "a being of the {{IAST|Rūpadhātu}}", the term Brahmā may be related to [[Brahmavihara|{{IAST|Brahmavihāra}}]], a term referring to the meditative states achieved through the four [[Rupajhana|{{IAST|Rūpajhānas}}]], which are shared by the inhabitants of the Rūpadhātu. Prior to the advent of the Buddha, according to Martin Wiltshire, the pre-Buddhist traditions of ''Brahma-loka'', meditation and these four virtues are evidenced in both early Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature.<ref name="Wiltshire1990p255">{{cite book|author=Martin G. Wiltshire |title=Ascetic Figures Before and in Early Buddhism: The Emergence of Gautama as the Buddha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXmmkYQf4RwC&pg=PA248 |year=1990|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009896-9 |pages=248–264 }}</ref> The early Buddhist texts assert that pre-Buddha ancient Indian sages who taught these virtues were earlier incarnations of the Buddha.<ref name="Wiltshire1990p255"/> Post-Buddha, these same virtues are found in the Hindu texts such as verse 1.33 of the ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sutras of Patañjali]]''.<ref>Quote: '''मैत्री करुणा मुदितोपेक्षाणां''' सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥ ३३॥ - Yogasutra 1.33; [http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_yoga/yogasuutra.html?lang=sa Source], SanskritDocuments.Org</ref> According to Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the four ''Brahmavihara'' meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition".<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey |title=Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZCvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA247|year=2001|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-4411-4726-4 |pages=247 }}</ref> The Buddha never claimed that the "four immeasurables" were his unique ideas, in a manner similar to "cessation, quieting, nirvana".<ref name="Aronson1980p71">{{cite book|author=Harvey B. Aronson |title=Love and Sympathy in Theravāda Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYn7WsDccU0C&pg=PA71 |year=1980|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1403-5 |pages=71 }}</ref> These meditation practices are named after Brahma, a god also found in Hinduism texts as well as Jainism text wherein he is equated with [[Rishabhanatha]] – the first Tirthankara in Jaina tradition.<ref name="Krishan1996p120"/>

==Chronology and Non-Buddhist views==
The old [[Upanishads]] mention both Brahma in the masculine gender deity "Brahmā", as well as gender neutral "[[Brahman]]" as the impersonal world principle.<ref name="Hajime Nakamura 1990, page 136">Hajime Nakamura, ''A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy: Part One.'' Reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1990, page 136.</ref>

According to David Kalupahana, the Upanishads do not strictly distinguish between the two.<ref>[[David Kalupahana]] (1975), ''Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism.'' The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, page 19.</ref> In contrast, Damien Keown and Charles Prebish state the texts do distinctly present both the male deity Brahma and the abstract Brahman, however, in the Upanishads, deity Brahma is only referred to a few times.<ref name=keownprebish122>{{cite book|author1=Damien Keown |author2=Charles S. Prebish |title=Encyclopedia of Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFpcAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher =Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-98588-1 |pages=122–123 }}</ref> The Brahman as the eternal, absolute metaphysical reality – along with [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (self, soul) – is the predominant and frequent teaching in the Upanishads and other Vedic literature of the Upanishadic period,<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Hiriyanna |title=The Essentials of Indian Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeRIP-TuKLAC |year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1330-4 |pages=19–21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Mariasusai Dhavamony|title=Classical Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DD0w_IMFA8gC |year=1982|publisher=Gregorian University Press|isbn=978-88-7652-482-0 |pages=51–55 }}</ref> so much so that early Hinduism is also referred to as Brahmanism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bruce M. Sullivan |title=The A to Z of Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xU4ZdatgRysC |year=2001|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-4070-6|pages=45–46 }}</ref> The Pāli scriptures, which were written centuries after the death of the Buddha, mention Brahma, but there is no unambiguous mention of the gender neuter Brahman concept.<ref name=keownprebish122/>

Buddhism denies both Brahman and Atman concepts in ancient Hindu literature,<ref>{{cite book|author=Junjirō Takakusu |title=The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyJjCx_tEiMC&pg=PA13 |date=1998 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1592-6 |pages=13–14}}; '''Quote:''' "In very few words, Brahmanism, the old Indian religion, was a pantheism with Brahman (the eternal, absolute, unchanging principle) as the first cause of the universe. The manifestation of this Brahman is sometimes personified and is called Brahma (god, or the great self). Every human being has atman (little self). Brahman and atman are one, and of the same substance. Brahmanism, therefore, is an effort to seek the ultimate principle, Brahman, by studying one's Self, atman. The Buddha denied the existence of Brahman and atman and advanced a new theory of anatman (no-self)...."</ref> and posits [[Śūnyatā]] (emptiness, voidness) and [[Anatta]] (non-Self, no soul) concept instead.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dale Mathers|author2=Melvin E. Miller|author3=Osamu Ando|title=Self and No-Self: Continuing the Dialogue Between Buddhism and Psychotherapy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVpcAgAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-72386-8|page=81}}</ref><ref name=6sourcesatman>'''[a]''' [http://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta Anatta], Encyclopædia Britannica (2013), Quote: "Anatta in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying soul. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman (“the self”)."; '''[b]''' Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791422175}}, page 64; "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence."; '''[c]''' Edward Roer (Translator), {{Google books|3uwDAAAAMAAJ|Shankara's Introduction|page=2}} to ''Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad'', pages 2-4; '''[d]''' Katie Javanaud (2013), [https://philosophynow.org/issues/97/Is_The_Buddhist_No-Self_Doctrine_Compatible_With_Pursuing_Nirvana Is The Buddhist ‘No-Self’ Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?], Philosophy Now; '''[e]''' David Loy (1982), Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, International Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 1, pages 65-74; '''[f]''' KN Jayatilleke (2010), Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, {{ISBN|978-8120806191}}, pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;</ref><ref name=johnplott3>John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-8120801585}}, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".</ref>

The word ''Brahma'' is normally used in Buddhist suttras to mean "best", or "supreme".<ref>Steven Collins, ''Aggañña sutta.'' Sahitya Akademi, 200, page 58.</ref><ref>Peter Harvey, ''The Selfless Mind.'' Curzon Press, 1995, page 234.</ref> Brahman in the texts of Advaita Vedanta and many other Hindu schools, states Nakamura, is a concrete universal, manifesting itself as phenomenal reality which is not illusory and nondual.<ref>Hajime Nakamura (1990), ''A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy: Part One.'' Reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., {{ISBN|978-8120819634}}, pages 137-139</ref>

In the earliest Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the [[Absolute (philosophy)|Absolute]], which came to be referred to as Brahman, is referred to as "the imperishable".<ref>Karel Werner, ''The Yogi and the Mystic: Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism.'' Routledge, 1994, page 24.</ref> The Pāli scriptures present a "pernicious view" that is set up as an absolute principle corresponding to Brahman: "O Bhikkhus! At that time Baka, the Brahmā, produced the following pernicious view: 'It is permanent. It is eternal. It is always existent. It is independent existence. It has the dharma of non-perishing. Truly it is not born, does not become old, does not die, does not disappear, and is not born again. Furthermore, no liberation superior to it exists elsewhere." The principle expounded here corresponds to the concept of Brahman laid out in the Upanishads. According to this text the Buddha criticized this notion: "Truly the Baka Brahmā is covered with unwisdom."<ref>Hajime Nakamura, ''A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy: Part One.'' Reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1990, pages 137-138. "It has the dharma of non-perishing" is Nakamura's translation of "acavanadhammam".</ref>

[[The Buddha]] confined himself to both ordinary empirical sense experience and extrasensory perception enabled by high degrees of mental [[Samādhi (Buddhism)|concentration]].<ref>[[David J. Kalupahana]], ''Buddhist philosophy: A Historical Analysis.'' Published by University of Hawaii Press, 1977, pages 23-24;<br>[[David Kalupahana]], ''Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism.'' The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, page 185.</ref><ref>[[A.K. Warder]], ''A Course in Indian Philosophy.'' Second edition published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 81.</ref> The Upanishadic scholars, according to Francis X Clooney and other scholars, assert their insights as a combination of intuitive empiricism, experimentalism, and inspired creative perception.<ref>Hartmut Scharfe (2002), Handbook of Oriental Studies, BRILL Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004125568}}, pages 13-14</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Francis X Clooney |editor=Robert C. Neville|title=Religious Truth: A Volume in the Comparative Religious Ideas Project |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThLR13JpCWsC |year=2001|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-4778-9 |pages=53–54 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Buddhism}}
* [[Brahma]]
* [[Brahma from Mirpur-Khas]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahma (Buddhism)}}
[[Category:Buddhist cosmology]]
[[Category:Buddhist deities]]
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