Deva (Buddhism) - Confused With Devas

Confused With Devas

Mahayana and Vajrayana meditation and practice includes several types of being that are often called "gods", but are distinct from the devas.

• Bodhisattvas: A bodhisattva may be a deva in a particular life, but bodhisattvas are not essentially devas, and if they happen to be devas it is only in the course of being born in many different worlds over time. A bodhisattva is as likely to be born as a human or as an animal, and is only distinguished from other beings by the certainty that eventually, after many lives, the bodhisattva will be reborn as a Buddha. For example, the current bodhisattva of the Tuṣita heaven is now a deva. In his next life, however, he will be reborn as a human – the Buddha Maitreya. Advanced Bodhisattvas are also capable of manifesting themselves in a great variety of forms (e.g. Avalokiteshvara as depicted in the Universal Door chapter of the Lotus Sutra), including the forms of devas, depending upon the circumstances. Also, bodhisattvas are classified higher than a deva.

• Yidams: These meditational deities sometimes take the form of ordinary devas and sometimes appear as manifestations of bodhisattvas, but they are in all cases to be taken as nondual manifestations of enlightenment, with which the meditator intends to unite.

• Buddhas: A Nirmāṇakāya Buddha (physically manifesting Buddha) is classified higher than a deva so Buddha is not a deva, as the right conditions for attaining supreme enlightenment do not exist in the deva-worlds. A Sambhogakāya Buddha has the form of a very high ranking deva, but does not exist within the universe, subject to birth and death, as all the devas do. The Cosmic Dharmakāya is beyond all worlds and limitations.