At 04:59 PM 05-11-02, wewynal wrote:

>Hi,
>Can you help me to understand the phrase "brahmabhuuto" and "brahmabhuutena attanaa" in the context of Buddhism? Some friends told me that the Buddha taught that nibbana is synonym for "become Brahma (God)"

This is new to me. How did they come to have such an idea?

I've heard of teachings (particularly that of Hindu) that says enlightenment means union with Brahma (God) though.

>"brahmabhuuto" have been translated as "(has) become like Brahma", "(he) is brahma", "become brahma". Which is best and how would you translate it?

Ven. Buddhadatta's dictionary says: "most excellent".

> "brahmabhuutena attanaa" have been translated as "with his self self/essence become brahma". is this correct? How would you translate it?

The main thing I see here is that one should consider that there are other meanings to "brahma" besides "god". Example:
brahmacariya: holy life
brahmavihaara: divine abode, excellent state
brahmada.n.da: a kind of monastic punishment whereby the offender "may say what he will, but the bhikkhus should neither converse with him, nor exhort him, nor admonish him." This was meted out to Ven. Channa. (DN16)

So, there's no reason to limit one's understanding of the word "brahma" to "god".

with metta,
Ven Kumâra