Can Devas be Buddha or Bodhisattva?

[sonamdhargey]

Although the word deva is generally translated "god" (or, very occasionally, "angel") in English, Buddhist devas differ from the "gods" and "angels" of most religions past and present in many important ways.
Buddhist devas are not immortal. They live for very long but finite periods of time, ranging from thousands to (at least) billions of years. When they pass away, they are reborn as some other sort of being, perhaps a different type of deva, perhaps a human or something beyond comprehension. They enjoy pleaasure and much distractions.

I found this article: For example, the current bodhisattva of the Tu?ita 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.

What are your opinions?

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deva_(Buddhism)

[fruven]

There are many levels of Bodhisattva. Bodhisattva can emanate many forms in many realms as I heard of. One would ask where is the source or the main form of a Bodhisattva. Do the main mind reside in Tushita heaven?

Because Bodhisattva do teach others to alleviate their suffering therefore the devas in the Tushita would be able to receive Dharma teaching directly from a Bodhisattva. However is being born there easier to learn Dharma or being born as a human being?

[Big Uncle]

Of course a Deva can be an emanation of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. However, according to the Lamrim, there's a grave danger of such a divine existence. The Lamrim says that the power and pleasure of such an existence is intoxicating and distracting.

Hence, very few devas are even interested in the practicing the Dharma. There are exceptions of course but that's why Buddhists are not encouraged to seek rebirth in such a state. The distraction is just one aspect, there's also the danger that when the karma to maintain such power and pleasure runs out, the subsequent rebirth would be horrendous because good karma is exhausted. That's the danger or pitfall of taking rebirth in the higher realms.

[vajrastorm]

Devas are , according to the Lamrim, samsaric gods. They may be form or formless. In a formless state, they will be in seeming 'bliss' and may remain in this state for a billion years or more. However, once their karma to be in the devas' realm is exhausted, they will still have to die and will normally have to leave this realm to go to a lower realm.

It is very sad that though they may possess the power of clairvoyance to know where they will go after death, yet they become so distracted by the pleasures that engulf them, they will forget that their time here is finite until they are about to die and then it's too late. Because the bliss of the gods in the gods realm is so intense,they will have exhausted all their merits and will have not acquired any new merits via considering the practice of renunciation or bodhicitta, there will be no choice for them but to plunge into the Hell realm. It is said that the mental suffering of a god at point of death - the anguish and fear of knowing for sure they will be going to the lower realms - is sixteen times  greater than that of the hells.

Yet though devas cannot be Buddhas , Buddhas, out of compassion, can take rebirth in the Devas' Realm.

The gods of the form realm will experience five signs of distant death and five signs of approaching death, and they suffer when these ten omens appear.The gods undergo this suffering for seven of their god days, which is probably, in some case, equivalent to 350 human years.

[yontenjamyang]

I do not agree that Buddha Maitreya is residing in Tushista as a deva. Even though Tushita is a heavenly deva realm, he is still a Buddha. Similarly, a Guru may be in a human body, the Guru is still a Buddha.

The answer to the question of, "Can Devas be a Buddha or Bodhisattva?" is "certainly"; ie a deva that is not emanated by a Buddha or Bodhisattva can still practice the Dharma to achieve Buddhahood but this is rare. It is definitely rarer the human beings practicing and becoming enlightened. Generally, we should not aspire to be a deva in our next life and deva only has good karma and long life but once these karma is exhausted, they will go to the 3 lower realms and the sufferings these gods face knowing that they are dying is said to be one of the worst kind of suffering.

[Midakpa]

Devas belong to a category of beings who live for a very long time in celestial realms. According to Egerton C. Baptist in "Wheel of Life: 31 Planes of Existence", there are six Deva realms which together with the Human plane constitute the 7 "Happy States" (Sugati).

Can Devas become Buddhas or Bodhisattvas?

Bodhisattvas (who aspire to be Buddhas) prefer to be reborn on the human plane where there is a mixture of both good and bad karma, because the human state is the best state on which one is able to practice the "Perfections" or Paramitas. In fact, one has to be born a human in one's final birth to become a Buddha. One finally becomes a Buddha only on the human plane of existence. So, to answer your question, NO DEVA OR BRAHMA-GOD CAN BECOME A BUDDHA!

[Midakpa]

the current bodhisattva of the Tu?ita heaven is now a deva. In his next life, however, he will be reborn as a human – the Buddha Maitreya.

Tushita heaven is one of the six Deva realms. It is said that Bodhisattvas who have achieved the 10 perfections (paramitas) are born in this realm and there await the opportune time to be reborn among humans and attain Buddhahood. The Bodhisattva Maitreya is currently residing there. 

The term Deva is used to describe 3 kinds of beings: (1) Sammuti devas (kings), (2) Upapatti devas (those who live in the celestial realms), and (3) Visuddhi devas (arhats).

Thus, Maitreya is not a Deva although he resides in a Deva realm.  Lord Buddha was also residing in Tushita as a Bodhisattva before his final reincarnation.

[dondrup]

Devas or gods are sentient beings of the six realms.  When their life spans expire, devas will die and take rebirth as humans or animals depending on their karma.  Before devas die, they experience great fear and tremendous amount of suffering.   Devas have the clairvoyance to know the type of rebirth that they will take and they know that they will never become deva again and will become beings of the lower realm.

Bodhisattva or Buddha Maitreya manifests as a deva who descend from Tushita heaven to become a human. Then in the human form Buddha Maitreya enacts the twelve enlightened deeds of a Buddha just like the thousand Buddhas of this fortunate eon will perform.

A bodhisattva is person who has generated spontaneous bodhichitta but who has not yet become a Buddha. From the moment a practitioner generates a non-artificial, or spontaneous, bodhichitta, he or she becomes a Bodhisattva and enters the first Mahayana path, the path of accumulation. An ordinary Bodhisattva is one who has not realized emptiness directly, and a Superior Bodhisattva is one who has attained a direct realization of emptiness. 

Devas are still sentient beings.  However, a deva who has generated spontaneous bodhichitta becomes a bodhisattva too as described above.  However it is harder for a deva to become a bodhisattva or Buddha because devas are constantly distracted with enjoyments in the god realms and seldom find the time to practise Dharma.

[Aurore]

Devas are , according to the Lamrim, samsaric gods. They may be form or formless. In a formless state, they will be in seeming 'bliss' and may remain in this state for a billion years or more. However, once their karma to be in the devas' realm is exhausted, they will still have to die and will normally have to leave this realm to go to a lower realm.

It is very sad that though they may possess the power of clairvoyance to know where they will go after death, yet they become so distracted by the pleasures that engulf them, they will forget that their time here is finite until they are about to die and then it's too late. Because the bliss of the gods in the gods realm is so intense,they will have exhausted all their merits and will have not acquired any new merits via considering the practice of renunciation or bodhicitta, there will be no choice for them but to plunge into the Hell realm. It is said that the mental suffering of a god at point of death - the anguish and fear of knowing for sure they will be going to the lower realms - is sixteen times  greater than that of the hells.

Yet though devas cannot be Buddhas , Buddhas, out of compassion, can take rebirth in the Devas' Realm.

The gods of the form realm will experience five signs of distant death and five signs of approaching death, and they suffer when these ten omens appear.The gods undergo this suffering for seven of their god days, which is probably, in some case, equivalent to 350 human years.

The best realm to be in as long as we are in samsara is the human realm. In this realm, humans have the best condition to practice dharma and purify all the negative karmas by accumulating merits to reach Enlightenment. There's many opportunities to give and benefit others who is in need and suffering.

With this said, you can see many examples of people living in the god realm in the human realm itself. We see the rich and famous. We see people around us enjoying good material life. With deeper understanding and wisdom, there is really nothing to be envious about for the real truth of what is to come after all the good karmas has been "enjoyed" is really nothing to be envious about.

[Q]

Interesting question.

Well, my answer would be yes... as the Dharma is taught by the Buddha to eliminate all samsaric sufferings, so this would include all 6 realms. That's why Buddha is also known as the 'Teacher of devas'. All beings die, and when there is death, that's suffering. All beings including humans, sub-devas, devas etc... they all die and reincarnate, except Arhats, they do not die.

Just like what Big Uncle mentioned, being in this realm really can be intoxicating and distract them from Dharma. Being in the god realm doesn't necessarily mean that the person reincarnated there have an abundance of Dharma knowledge, because existing in all 6 realms depends solely on karma, to exist in the god realm, one merely need good karma of generosity and morality. Mind transformation or development through meditation of Dharma is not a pre-requisite to exist within this realm. Therefore, for  most of the part, many devas are still ignorant towards the cyclic existence called Samsara. On top of that, with all the pleasures surrounding them, it is even more difficult to practice the Dharma.

However, there are devas that are particularly curious and seek the Dharma. Infact, there are gods that wish to be born into the human realm to practice the Dharma as they understand the unsatisfactory nature of existence despite all the pleasures that is available to their back and call.

[buddhalovely]

Yes, they can take bodhisattva precepts provided they can understand the language of the precept master.

In some deva realms the pleasures are too intense for them to break away and cultivate merit or a spirit of renunciation.

As one story goes one bhiksu died from getting bit in the head by a snake while meditating and was reborn (and woke up) in Indra's realm, full of many great pleasures and delights. A goddess was dispatched to greet him. She met him and asked him to pay homage to Indra. The bhiksu, clearly irritated, said Indra should come pay homage to him as he was a member of the sangha. The goddess said Indra would only pay homage to renunciates who settled in a certain monastic park in that realm. So, the bhiksu went to that park thus forsaking all the pleasures of that celestial realm.

[thor]

Why not? Buddhas can emanate in whatever form they choose. So if they choose to emanate in the deva realm as one of the devas there, they could definitely do so. Perhaps their motivation is to give teachings to the devas in that realm, or perhaps it is something else altogether, but I still say it is possible and will give two examples.

1) Firstly in the case of Buddha Maitreya and Asanga, where Maitreya emanated as a sick dog. And only Asanga could perceive that the dog was actually Maitreya. Others could not even perceive the dog except for an old lady who could see the dog, but could not see Maitreya.

There is no difference between this example and the case of a Buddha emanating in the deva realm. Maitreya emanates as a dog, a buddha emanates as a deva, and only those worthy are able to perceive their true form.

2) And what about the case of Buddha Shakyamuni who emanated as Heruka in the deva realm to subdue the god Ishvara?

Nuff said.