Editing Divine retribution (section)

==Buddhism==
The concept of divine retribution is resolutely denied in [[Buddhism]]. [[Gautama Buddha]] did not endorse belief in a [[creator deity]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Thera|first=Nyanaponika|title=Buddhism and the God-idea|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/godidea.html|work=The Vision of the Dhamma|publisher=Buddhist Publication Society|location=Kandy, Sri Lanka|quote=In Buddhist literature, the belief in a creator god (issara-nimmana-vada) is frequently mentioned and rejected, along with other causes wrongly adduced to explain the origin of the world; as, for instance, world-soul, time, nature, etc. God-belief, however, is placed in the same category as those morally destructive wrong views which deny the kammic results of action, assume a fortuitous origin of man and nature, or teach absolute determinism. These views are said to be altogether pernicious, having definite bad results due to their effect on ethical conduct.}}</ref><ref>''Approaching the Dhamma: Buddhist Texts and Practices in South and Southeast Asia'' by Anne M. Blackburn (editor), Jeffrey Samuels (editor). Pariyatti Publishing: 2003 {{ISBN|1-928706-19-3}} p. 129</ref> refused to express any views on creation<ref>{{cite book|title=The All Embracing Net of Views: Brahmajala Sutta|year=2007|publisher=Buddhist Publication Society|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.01.0.bodh.html|author=Bhikku Bodhi|editor=Access To Insight|location=Kandy, Sri Lanka|chapter=III.1, III.2, III.5}}</ref> and stated that questions on the origin of the world are worthless.<ref>{{cite web|title=Acintita Sutta: Unconjecturable|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.077.than.html|work=AN 4.77|publisher=Access To Insight|author=Thanissaro Bhikku|language=en|year=1997|quote=Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html|publisher=Access To Insight|author=Thanissaro Bhikku|language=en|year=1998|quote=It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him. In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that 'The cosmos is eternal,'... or that 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,' the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.}}</ref> The non-adherence<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhikku|first=Thanissaro|title=Tittha Sutta: Sectarians|year=1997|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.061.than.html|author-link=Anguttara Nikaya, 3.61|language=en|quote=Then in that case, a person is a killer of living beings because of a supreme being's act of creation... When one falls back on lack of cause and lack of condition as being essential, monks, there is no desire, no effort [at the thought], 'This should be done. This shouldn't be done.' When one can't pin down as a truth or reality what should & shouldn't be done, one dwells bewildered & unprotected. One cannot righteously refer to oneself as a contemplative.}}</ref> to the notion of an [[omnipotence|omnipotent]] creator deity or a [[Primum movens|prime mover]] is seen by many as a key distinction between Buddhism and other religions, though precise beliefs vary widely from sect to sect and "Buddhism" should not be taken as a single, holistic religious concept.

Buddhists do accept the existence of beings in higher realms (see [[Buddhist cosmology]]), known as [[Deva (Buddhism)|''devas'']], but they, like humans, are said to be suffering in [[Samsara (Buddhism)|samsara]],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Thirty-one planes of Existence|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html|publisher=Access To Insight|access-date=May 26, 2010|author=John T Bullitt|year=2005|quote=The suttas describe thirty-one distinct "planes" or "realms" of existence into which beings can be reborn during this long wandering through samsara. These range from the extraordinarily dark, grim, and painful hell realms to the most sublime, refined, and exquisitely blissful heaven realms. Existence in every realm is impermanent; in Buddhist cosmology there is no eternal heaven or hell. Beings are born into a particular realm according to both their past kamma and their kamma at the moment of death. When the kammic force that propelled them to that realm is finally exhausted, they pass away, taking rebirth once again elsewhere, according to their kamma. And so the wearisome cycle continues.}}</ref> and are not necessarily wiser than us. The Buddha is often portrayed as a teacher of the gods,<ref>{{cite book|title=Teacher of the Devas|year=1997|publisher=Buddhist Publication Society|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/jootla/wheel414.html|author=Susan Elbaum Jootla|editor=Access To Insight|location=Kandy, Sri Lanka|chapter=II. The Buddha Teaches Deities|quote="Many people worship Maha Brahma as the supreme and eternal creator God, but for the Buddha he is merely a powerful deity still caught within the cycle of repeated existence. In point of fact, "Maha Brahma" is a role or office filled by different individuals at different periods." "His proof included the fact that "many thousands of deities have gone for refuge for life to the recluse Gotama" (MN 95.9). Devas, like humans, develop faith in the Buddha by practicing his teachings." "A second deva concerned with liberation spoke a verse which is partly praise of the Buddha and partly a request for teaching. Using various similes from the animal world, this god showed his admiration and reverence for the Exalted One.", "A discourse called Sakka's Questions (DN 21) took place after he had been a serious disciple of the Buddha for some time. The sutta records a long audience he had with the Blessed One which culminated in his attainment of stream-entry. Their conversation is an excellent example of the Buddha as "teacher of devas," and shows all beings how to work for Nibbana."}}</ref> and superior to them.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bhikku|first=Thanissaro|title=Kevaddha Sutta|year=1997|publisher=Access To Insight|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html#bigbrahma|author-link=Digha Nikaya, 11|quote=When this was said, the Great Brahma said to the monk, 'I, monk, am Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Sovereign Lord, the Maker, Creator, Chief, Appointer and Ruler, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be... That is why I did not say in their presence that I, too, don't know where the four great elements... cease without remainder. So you have acted wrongly, acted incorrectly, in bypassing the Blessed One in search of an answer to this question elsewhere. Go right back to the Blessed One and, on arrival, ask him this question. However he answers it, you should take it to heart.}}</ref> Despite this, there are believed to be enlightened devas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.himalayanart.org/pages/Visual_Dharma/yidams.html|title=Yidams|website=www.himalayanart.org}}</ref> But since there may also be unenlightened devas, there also may be godlike beings who engage in retributive acts, but if they do so, then they do so out of their own ignorance of a greater truth.

Despite this [[nontheism]], Buddhism nevertheless fully accepts the theory of [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]], which posits punishment-like effects, such as rebirths in [[Naraka (Buddhism)|realms of torment]], as an invariable consequence of wrongful actions. Unlike in most Abrahamic monotheistic religions, these effects are not eternal, though they can last for a very long time. Even theistic religions do not necessarily see such effects as "punishment" imposed by a higher authority, rather than natural consequences of wrongful action.