Is Buddhism montheistic

Answer 1

Henotheism is the belief that there may be many gods but one is worthy of worship. Buddhism neither endorses or condemns the belief in deities but holds that they (if they exist) need not be worshiped and have no control for good or evil over humans. A person's progress towards enlightenment is their own struggle. In this manner Buddhism is not henotheistic.

Answer 2

Yes. Any gods or deities you see associated with Buddhism have been picked up from the areas Buddhism expanded into, and retained by local populations that did not want to give them up.

Richard F. Gombrich points out that there are two common forms of religion: salvational and interventional. Salvational religions are concerned with saving you (in most religions that's saving your soul, in Buddhism it's saving you from suffering). Interventional religions are about asking deities to intervene in your daily life, to help you out. Christianity seems to do both at once (for those who pray for intervention). Buddhism is purely salvational -- consequently, it was quite easy for local cultures to keep their interventional deities right alongside Buddhism.

In its pure form though, Buddhism has nothing to do with anything you don't have direct evidence for in your own life. So as a Buddhist, if you have no evidence for deities, you don't need them.

Answer 3

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion, that is, we do not believe in a God that oversees the universe.