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Theophilia — Our Lady of America
Published: 2012-07-08 02:26:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 35044; Favourites: 482; Downloads: 268
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Our Lady of America© Cecilia Lawrence
July 7th 2012
Watercolor and Ink
8 by 11 inches
"Hail, Mary, White Lily of the Glorious and Always-Serene Trinity!
Hail brilliant Rose of the Garden of heavenly delights!
Hail, O You, by whom God wanted to be born
and by whose milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished!
Nourish our souls with effusions of Divine Grace! Amen."
Hail Mary of Gold~ St. Gertrude the Great
I finished my picture of Our Lady of America!
I had been wanting to do this for many, many years, and I had even started another picture a long time ago that is…eh…rather unfortunate-looking. 
But anyway, I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. 
I was trying to get it done by the Fourth of July, but that obviously didn’t end up happening. Ah well. Anyway, so a brief description of what I did here. Sister Mildred (Mary Ephrem) Neuzil (August 2nd 1916 – January 10th 2000), a nun of the Congregation of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio, received many apparitions of Jesus and Mary in the 1950s, finally culminating into the propagation of this special devotion to Our Lady as the Immaculate Mother of America. I put Sister Mildred’s description of this particularly apparition down below, but I added a bit more detail-wise.
Firstly, I decided that for this image of Our Lady of America (since she is the patroness of our country under the title of the Immaculate Conception), I wanted to depict her with the traditional imagery of the Immaculate Conception, namely, the description in Revelations 12:1: "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." So Our Lady is standing in front of the sun, with a halo of twelve stars, standing on the moon, and crushing Satan (represented as a black snake) under her. The earth is below her, showing the United States (or, err…most of it. Alaska and Hawaii would have been a tad bit difficult to squeeze in there, aesthetically speaking). A halo of 50 stars (obviously representing the fifty states) surrounds her (Personally, it rather reminds me of Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9, when he says: “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”). The Holy Spirit descends down from Heaven to hover above her while He sheds the rays of His Grace and Mercy upon the world. Around the corners are four seraphim—with red, white, and blue wings (okay, and some gold too.
)—adoring the Triune God, and also giving reverence to Mary as the Mother of God."Who is she that rises forth like the dawn,
fair as the moon,
pure and bright as the sun,
and as terrible as a many-bannered army?"
(- Song of Songs 6:10)
The appearance of Mary in this particular image corresponds more-or-less to the description of Our Lady of America. She appeared wearing a white robe, with a pure white mantle and a white veil. She wore a tall crown, bore a scepter comprised of three lilies, and had her hand held slightly above her Immaculate Heart, which was ringed about in flames.
And that’s about all I have to say!
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Comments: 163
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Due to the Damage fundemental Protestantism has wreaked on this nation it's only natural one would turn back to the True church.
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I'll have you know that I've been loving all your work! I often think of a line I read in the Catechism that said something along the lines of: it's the role of the laity to bring the faith to the common parts of the earth. Your work is really a light in the Deviant Art world, haha. Thank you for what you do! I'm sure God delights in it.
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Theophile, have you heard of the Lady of Kuwait? And if you have, can you possibly do an icon of her in the future?
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I think so, yeah. Nonetheless, Kuwait is in Arabia, so she could be called both.
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This would have fitted perfectly in Bioshock Infinite which would fitted Comstock's theology very well here....
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Yeah, I don't think so, seeing as how America has historically been pretty anti-Catholic.
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Well it's because the US takes it's predominant basis on puritanism which is a branch of protestantism and remains so till this day.
Well the only reason I've commented it because it only reminded me of such and also the imagery fits perfectly if not the original catholic context of it. Now if only Comstock was catholic however and since Infinite deals with Infinite universes, this could be possible somewhere....but that's unlikely though because it doesn't fit the most likely probability of what type of Christian he'll become though which the likelihood is the most obvious one.
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Your art of Our Lady is so gorgeous....I love it! Thank you for all the wonderful prayers and info about her. If only all Americans would pray to her and say her Rosary every day! We have never needed her help as much as we do in these evil times. Can I purchase this pic? What about making Holy cards w/the prayer on the back and getting her known? Keep Shining, LisaM
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THANK YOU!!!
Yes, I have prints available for purchase if you'd like. All the info is in my journal on my front page.
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With this pic you appear to be having a "God Bless America and No one else" type message, an attitude which I always disliked. But whatever, I just came across this in a random image search, sorry if you think I'm offending your obviously awesometastic opinions on stuff.
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Hmmm...ah! That's what you were aiming at. Well, that seems to me to be a rather unfair assumption about my motives on your part, because that's certainly not what I'm conveying with this image. I also happen to hate (as you call it) the "God Bless America and No one else" attitude as well. I like my country, but just because it happens to be my country doesn't mean that that somehow makes it ontologically superior to every other country ever in the whole history of mankind.
If you look through my gallery, you can come across a number of other Marian images where Mary is the Patroness of those countries under various titles. Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, for example, is the patroness of Lithuania: theophilia.deviantart.com/art/… and Our Lady of Czestochowa is the patroness of Poland: theophilia.deviantart.com/art/…
Mary happens to be the Patroness of America under the title of the Immaculate Conception. So that's what I was showing here. That's all there is to it. There's no ulterior political motivation for it.
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Thank you! God bless you too!
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God has blessed you with abundant talent and you use it well. Thank you for sharing all your beautiful artwork. God bless you.
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Thank YOU! 
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I love the work you have done, please keep it up.
Perhaps the so called "Bible Christians", one day may see that their is something called Magisterial teaching, Divine Revelation, and Sacred Tradition. These three have been apart of Real Christianity since Our lord established His Church. They read their (incomplete) Bible through the eyes of personal interpretation. St. Peter warns of this in scripture when he says there is nothing in Scripture that is personal interpretation or by man's willing it.
Our Lady is has the Highest honor amongst us humans because she completed what Abraham did not. She undid in effect what Eve did. She gave Her only begotten Son up for Sacrifice. Her "Yes" is an eteranl one becouse the sacrifice that Christ made is eterenal and not constained to a time. Our Lord gave his Mother to us to guide us to him in every human way possible. Their is never a work of art, (and let me be clear that these are works of art only to inspire our minds toward heavenly matters), depicting Our Lady or any Saint that takes one once of glory for itself, but rather it gives all glory to God.
As for more Holy Scripture, "HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE." "BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMAN, AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB JESUS." MY SOUL DOES MAGNIFY THE LORD, MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR, FOR HE HAS LOOKED WITH FAVOR ON HIS LOWLY SERVANT...." Any of this ring any kind of bells?
I will refrain from the volumes that could be said in argument to the contrary of such slander as I have seen in the previous comment.
May God Bless you Theophilia and the great talent he has given you for his greater Glory.
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Thank you very much for your comment and your response.
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Beautiful art!Great work and all ,but I must say (and dont take me wrong)SO MUCH MARY WORSHIP!BUY GOD DONT YOU SEE THAT THIS IS SOO WRONG!DONT YOU READ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES !!
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Thank you! ^^
There's absolutely no Mary worship here. Worshiping anyone other than God is idolatry, and is gravely evil. And yes, of course I read the Scriptures. 
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Thank you for your reply.Reason i bring this up is becouse this is no different then worship of Hindus and Buddhists that create images and statues and pray to lower beings other than God Himself!And no matter what you say about *dulia and * latria will change things.To The ALL Holy Trinity belongs All power,Glory worship,and prayer every praise and honor! Mary s *Yes to God is no different then Abraham s *Yes to the Same.To God the belongs the dominion over Heaven and the the Earth,Paradise and Hell,over every world ,our words,actions,emotions and everything we possess!And honestly you are blind if you dont see that you exalt Mary too high. Shouldnt you honor Paul the same if you are consistant,and Peter and Moses,and Ambraham,and the Prophets..
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Thank you very much for your reply as well. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply sooner, as I’ve been very busy this summer with work and other things, so I also thank you for your patience. I’ll go through your comment and answer your points one by one to try and give you a satisfactory answer.
Your words: “Reason i bring this up is becouse this is no different then worship of Hindus and Buddhists that create images and statues and pray to lower beings other than God Himself!”
Firstly, it is plainly false and even slanderous to compare the due honor that Catholics and other faithful Christians give to God’s friends and saints. The number one reason this is untrue is because Hindus and Buddhists do not merely “pray” to the images and statues that they create but worship them as Gods. Hindus (speaking of the religion, not of an ethnic group) are polytheistic and worship many gods, and are pagans. Buddhists (to my knowledge anyway, though I could be wrong, as I have only a general knowledge of Buddhism) are divided into two camps. Some are treat Buddha merely as a great philosopher. Others worship him as a god, make statues representing him and worship them.
Secondly—and I have seen this as a common misunderstanding among many Protestants—praying doesn’t strictly mean to worship. To “pray” merely means “to ask” or “to speak to.” This usage still survives in archaic phrases, such as “I pray you hand me that shovel,” or, “I pray you listen to what I’m saying,” etc. In Latin prayers addressed to the saints, we use the word “ora” which means “to hear.”
The reason for the confusion is because when we pray (“speak”) to God, we are also simultaneously worshipping Him. That’s because in our relationship with God we are always the needy depending on the One Who Possesses All, the poor one asking for things from the Ruler of the Universe. We are always creatures to the Creator, and a fathomless abyss separates us finite beings from God Who IS Infinite Being. But because of His love for us, God bridges this gap between creature and Creator with Love, especially manifested in His great Manifestation, namely, in the Incarnation. And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt among us.
Essentially, when we pray to the saints, we are asking them to speak to God on our behalf. We say “pray” because that is how we speak to the saints through the bond we share in Christ’s Body. The Church is Christ’s Body, and death does not kill it. Catholics refer to the Church in Heaven as the Church Triumphant, and the Church on earth is referred to as the Church Militant, because we are still fighting the good fight down below on earth, the great battleground of souls. But because the Church Triumphant is still part of Christ’s Body, they are still our family, and still intercede for us.
We are not asking them to perform miracles or favors or anything else on their own. The saints have no power except that which comes from God. They wouldn’t wish it to be otherwise. The saints have no power in and of themselves. We are asking their help because we know that they love God so much, and like well-beloved children of a kind Father are powerful in intercession for our sakes. If a poor man wishes an audience with a kindly king, he may approach by himself to make his request. However, it is better for the poor man to approach with his friends and even bring along the friends of the king as well to help him make his request. The king is much more likely to answer his request favorably if men the king trusts and loves are making this request on the poor man’s behalf as well. So it is with God, who also wishes us to avail ourselves of the help of the saints—not for God’s benefit—but for our benefit, because He knows that when people begin to love his friends, they also begin to love Him, because God is what makes the saints loveable.
Thirdly, having images of people isn’t bad. There’s a reason we have pictures of our loved ones on mantelpieces or in our wallets. We want to keep them near us and to think of them often. Sometimes people will kiss these pictures, not because of the pictures themselves, but because of the people they represent, namely, the people we love and thereby honor our love for them by that action. Are they worshipping these people by having images of them? No. And so it is the same with the way we honor God’s friends, the saints, who, by the fact of being people greatly loved and honored by God Himself have a right for justice’s sake to us offering them the love and reverence due to them. Their images remind us of them, and thinking of them calls us on to love God more. Just as seeing a holy, joyful person here on earth helps to bring Christ to the world, so do images of the saints recall us to the great glory God has called us to as well.
Say a man named John had a friend who he loved very, very much. Say this John also befriends you. You want to be a good friend to John as well because you love him too. Would it be any mark of friendship or love to your friend John to despise or ignore his first friend whom he loves very dearly, and then go on to say that it is for the sake of complimenting John that you despise the first friend? What compliment is that? Would it not be deeply insulting to him instead? Even more so with God, who expressedly puts people into our lives to help us to love Him more. God places the saints in our lives in the same way. They are our friends in Heaven who have already caught hold of the prize of eternal life and want us (more even than ourselves) to share the joy of the eternal happiness of God. The saints are not dead. They are alive. God is the God of the living, not of the dead. They are also members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church. How could the members of Christ, who have already endured bodily death but are grafted onto the immortal and incorruptible Body of Christ face eternal death? The people who have died before us don’t just disappear into some nameless oblivion. They love us even more than they did while they were on earth, because they are living with the God Who is Love. The saints are our friends, and they help us and pray for us, and are closer to God than our friends here on earth. Do we ask our friends to pray for us to God? Do we ask our friends to intercede to God on our behalf? Yes, and so do the saints. They even pray for us when we do not ask because they see our need better than we do, as any good friend would when he sees his friend in trouble. God commands us to pray for each other, because He knows how beneficial it is to help each other to grow in love. He also knows how beneficial and powerful the prayers of a holy man are. Remember Moses’ actions, when the people of Israel had broken the Covenant they had just received? God was greatly grieved and threatened to destroy them since they were already so rebellious and stubborn. But Moses begged and pleaded with God to spare them. And God granted his request. See the power of a righteous man to intercede for his brothers! How much more so are the prayers of the saints who have followed Christ as his best and most faithful friends through hardships and through death?
So no. It is not only false to make that comparison; it is also slanderous because you are accusing us of the grave evil of idolatry. We do not worship the saints, and we certainly do not worship their statues that represent them, any more than a man worships the picture of his wife in his wallet, or a citizen worships soldiers represented in a war memorial. It is not only different, it is infinitely different.
Your words: “ And no matter what you say about *dulia and * latria will change things.”
You may say what you like, but I think this is a very irresponsible comment to make. Especially in regards to theological terminology, definitions and precise terms are very important, if not eternally so. It does actually change things, because words actually matter. If words didn’t matter, not only would there not be theological disputes, there would be no disputes or communication about anything, because then there wouldn’t be language. I’ll give you an example of a VERY important theological distinction made by words. One is the orthodox term that upholds all of Christian doctrine, and the other completely undermines the entirety of Christianity, and the difference is literally one “i.”
At the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., it was proclaimed that Jesus Christ was “homoousious” with the Father. That is, He is of the same Substance as the Father, i.e. that Jesus Christ is God, that the Father is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God, and that there are Three Divine Persons but One God. The heretical view was that Jesus Christ was “homoiousios”, meaning “of a similar substance,” which essentially meant that Jesus Christ was not God, and was inferior to the Father. This understanding would destroy the very foundations of Christianity by destroying the doctrines of the Trinity and the incarnation, thereby upsetting the entire understanding of the Redemption. In fact, if that was true, then there would have been no redemption.
So yes, theological terminology does matter.
In fact, the word “idolatry” (meaning the worship of idols) is made up of the words “idol” + “latria” meaning, of course, “idol-latria” which is idol worship. So even you are using the word latria. Latria is the worship reserved to God and to God alone. We cannot worship men, or the saints or Mary or the angels, because, well, they aren’t God! It isn’t just! It’s wrong! Not only wrong, but gravely evil and disordered! We all receive our being and existence and goods from the Infinite, Good, Loving and Thrice-Hold Being God. No matter how excellent and good and holy and loving any of the angels and saints are, they can never be God. But see how much our God loves us! We could not come up to Him, so He came down to us and became a creature for our sake, so that we could go to Heaven and bask in the glorious, holy, joyful and awesome interior life of the All-Holy Trinity.
Your words: “ To The ALL Holy Trinity belongs All power,Glory worship,and prayer every praise and honor!”
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Your words: “ Mary s *Yes to God is no different then Abraham s *Yes to the Same.”
So, God sends the angel Gabriel as His ambassador to the humble Hebrew virgin of Nazareth and honors her by hailing her with the name “Chaire kecharitomene” (“Rejoice, Ever-full of Grace!”) which means “It denotes one who has been and still is the object of divine benevolence, one who has been favored and continues to be favored by God, one who has been granted supernatural grace and remains in this state.” On God’s behalf, the angelic messenger tells Mary God’s plan for the Redemption of the world that would be fulfilled through her “Yes” if she said so. God does not force us to do anything He sends an angel to ask the humble virgin for her permission. “Mary I have a great plan for you and for the whole world. I want to redeem the world through your Son and my Son, what is your answer? The whole universe waits on your word.”
And the Virgin says “Yes.”
Mary gives her FIAT, God becomes Man, a Virgin becomes a Mother, God becomes wedded to the human race, the Woman becomes the New Eve, the Man becomes a New Adam, the world is renewed, the Redemption of man by a Man has begun and the Incarnation takes place. The Infinite God has become a Child in a woman’s womb—HE who the Universe could not contain, becomes a helpless Baby in His Mother’s womb, and Mary becomes the Mother of God, and the Mother of the King of the Universe. Mary has become the Daughter, the Spouse and the Mother of God. Who else, besides Jesus Christ Himself, can boast of such close and intimate union with God? The angels themselves cannot.
As wonderful and as important as Abraham’s “Yes” was, Mary’s “Yes” gave us Jesus Christ Himself. You decide for yourself how important her “Yes” was.
Your words: “To God the belongs the dominion over Heaven and the the Earth,Paradise and Hell,over every world ,our words,actions,emotions and everything we possess!”
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Your words: “ And honestly you are blind if you dont see that you exalt Mary too high.”
How can I exalt too highly the Woman whom God Himself has specially chosen and prepared before all the ages of the world to be His Daughter, Spouse and Mother? What can I do to exalt Mary? God has already exalted her beyond all praise, wonder and awe. The angels are speechless in her presence, as are all the saints and all men and women of the earth. What need has Mary of my exaltation? God has already exalted and praised her above all other creatures. My praise is poor and worthless compared to the praise of God Himself.
Besides, you seem to be under the erroneous impression that praising Mary somehow steals honor and glory from God. I’m afraid I don’t understand this at all. If her Magnificat is not evidence at all of her humility, then I don’t know what is. Elizabeth praised her, saying; “How is it that this should happen, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me.” What does Mary do? She praises God: “My soul magnifies the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” “Mary receives praise as a mirror receives light: She stores it not, nor even acknowledged it, but makes it pass from her to God to whom is due all praise, all honor and thanksgiving.” - Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World’s First Love).
So why are you afraid of people praising Mary? Of all people she can the most worthily turn it to praise of God. The things we praise in Mary are all of God’s gifts. Mary knows this, and we know this too. All of the good virtues and faith and works and thoughts of all peoples in all times and places are all of them God’s gifts to us. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize and applaud virtue when we see it. We don’t live like that! If you see someone doing a good work, like giving to the poor, or teaching children without pay, or serving as a doctor or missionary to people in far off places, and we see people saying, “Oh, what good work they do!” we don’t censure them. We don’t say, “No, no, don’t praise them, praise God instead. To praise them is insulting to God.” Instead, we praise them as manifesting God’s goodness, as being good imitators of Christ. Acknowledging the good things they do doesn’t detract from the praise of God, rather, it is a witness to His goodness and gives Him greater glory and honor!
It is the same with all of the saints. To honor the saints is to honor God. To despise the saints is to despise God. To despise a man’s mother is to despise him, and to despise the Mother of God is to despise God Himself.
The whole Church agrees with me. Don’t take my word for it. Read the writings of the early Church Fathers. St. Cyril of Alexandria was at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. where Mary was proclaimed “Theotokos” literally “the God-Bearer”, but more commonly known as “the Mother of God.” The dispute at Ephesus was whether or not Mary should be called the “Christ-bearer” (Christotokos) or “God-bearer” (Theotokos). A man named Nestorius essentially argued that God could not have become man, and that Jesus wasn’t equal with the father, which was why Mary could only be called the Mother of Christ, not the Mother of God. Again, he denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. The orthodox view won, and Mary was proclaimed Mother of God. You may notice in Church History that there’s a trend in Christology that whenever people try to propound heretical doctrines about Mary, they are at the same time propounding heretical doctrines about Jesus Christ. Mary is not called “Mother of God” for her own benefit. She is called Mother of God so that we clarify our understanding of who Jesus Christ is. Anyway, this comes from St. Cyril’s homily at the Council:
“I see here a joyful company of Christian men met together in ready response to the call of Mary, the holy and ever-virgin Mother of God. The great grief that weighed upon me is changed into joy by your presence, venerable Fathers. Now the beautiful saying of David the psalmist: How good and pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity (Psalm 133) has come true for us.
Therefore, holy and incomprehensible Trinity, we salute you at whose summons we have come together to this church of Mary, the Mother of God.
Mary, Mother of God, we salute you. Precious vessel, worthy of the whole world’s reverence, you are an ever-shining light, the crown of virginity, the symbol of orthodoxy, an indestructible temple, the place that held him whom no place can contain, mother and virgin. Because of you the holy gospels could say: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
We salute you, for in your holy womb was confined him who is beyond all limitation. Because of you the holy Trinity is glorified and adored; the cross is called precious and is venerated throughout the world; the heavens exult; the angels and archangels make merry; demons are put to flight; the devil, that tempter, is thrust down from heaven; the fallen race of man is taken up on high; all creatures possessed by the madness of idolatry have attained knowledge of the truth; believers receive holy baptism; the oil of gladness is poured out; the Church is established throughout the world; pagans are brought to repentance.
What more is there to say? Because of you the light of the only-begotten Son of God has shone upon those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; prophets pronounced the word of God; the apostles preached salvation to the Gentiles; the dead are raised to life, and kings rule by the power of the holy Trinity.
Who can put Mary’s high honor into words? She is both mother and virgin. I am overwhelmed by the wonder of this miracle. Of course no one could be prevented from living in the house he had built for himself, yet who would invite mockery by asking his own servant to become his mother?
Behold then the joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us with awe and adoration. Let us fear and worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the praise of the ever-virgin Mary, the holy temple of God, and of God himself, her Son and spotless Bridegroom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
So don’t believe my word only. Look at what the early Church has said about Mary.
Your words: “ Shouldnt you honor Paul the same if you are consistant,and Peter and Moses,and Ambraham,and the Prophets..”
Who says we don’t? We do honor them. We honor them very highly. We call them saints. St. Paul, St. Peter, etc. Abraham and Moses and the Prophets are also saints, and the friends of God. Mary is honored the most though, because she is the Mother of God. No one else can say that.
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Perhaps if lukaxp wanted to be taken seriously...well they wouldn't accuse Catholics of worshiping Mary at all, actually, that's just silly. The object of worship is not itself depicted as performing worship, and many images of Mary are depicted in precisely those poses. But then they really shouldn't add insult to injury by then bringing Buddhists into it, none of whom worship anything (there are not two camps of Buddhists—there are three—and all have the exact same view of "Buddha"). No Buddhists regard the Buddha (more properly the Shakyamuni Buddha, since there are others, like Amitabha, Akshobya, and Maitreya) as just a "great philosopher", anymore than 5th-century Arians regarded Christ as just a "great philosopher". That's the post-19th century Westerner reading his own view of the world into a totally different culture. Neither do Buddhists regard him as a god. Buddhists view a Buddha as a being significantly superior to a god, a tathagata, which is only sorta translatable (it literally means "thus gone away"—Sanskrit "tatha" is cognate with Latin "tantum"—and idiomatically means "one who has achieved salvation from the cycle of reincarnation").
The sects of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana) do not dispute the status of the Buddha. They dispute the character of his enlightenment. All are, in Western terms, atomist/nominalist, and believe that the miserable cycle of reincarnation (borrowed from earlier Indian thought) is due to the belief that the self, or any identity, has any reality in and of itself (desire arises from the clinging to identity). But while Theravada largely stops there, the Mahayana and Vajrayana follow from that to the assertion that nothing has reality except what Platonists call the Monad (it's also what Christians call "God"—the simplest description of Buddhism is "absolute monism, so extreme it denies 'logical negation'"). The dispute between Mahayana and Vajrayana, meanwhile—Vajrayana reveres all the same figures and accept all the same scriptures as Mahayana—is the idea, in a few Vajrayana scriptures that Mahayana Buddhists don't accept, that liberation from reincarnation can be achieved in a single lifetime by means of special practices.
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As I said, I only have a cursory knowledge of Buddhism. So you're saying that Buddha (I'm speaking of the "supreme" Buddha, ie. Siddhartha Gautama) is regarded as...what then? So some Buddhists claim his enlightenment reached the point that he reached what, ultimate being/existence/reality? And one group asserts that he simply got himself out of the cycle of reincarnation? So in terms of hierarchies, how does Buddhist thought work? I didn't think they believed in gods, though I could be wrong. Culturally they're also pretty mish-mashed with Hinduism, so I'm sure there are a lot of exchanging influences there.
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All Buddhists claim that the Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment reached the point of being released from reincarnation. Theravada is pretty vague about what that means, apart from cessation from desire and suffering. Mahayana and Vajrayana (Zen and Pure Land are Mahayana, Tibetan and Shingon are Vajrayana) believe that it means that he was released from the illusion of having an identity, and, basically, re-united with what Greek thought would call the Monad. Nearly 70% of Buddhists are those latter two traditions, and they both accept the Mahayana scriptures, so I'll omit Theravada from here on out.
In terms of hierarchies, Buddhists (real ones, I mean, not Western hippies) do, in fact, believe in gods—their cosmos has six realms, basically gods, titans (well, the Indian equivalent), humans, animals, monsters, and the dead. Fully orthodox Buddhists pray to the native pantheons throughout East Asia; Buddhists believe that living by the various purity-codes and sacrificial rites of those gods can grant luck and good fortune, and is an aid to living virtuously. But gods, being "empty" (what Western thought would call "contingent creations"), just like humans, cannot "save" you, and being reincarnated as a god is a calamity, because having so much power will blind you to the condition of suffering inherent to "conditioned existence".
See, the thing to remember about Buddhism is that, in Christian terms, it is the opposite of atheist. It is a-everything-else-ist. In Buddhism (again, restricting ourselves to those that accept the Mahayana sutras), fundamentally, the only thing that is real, rather than just a temporary concatenation of traits, is the thing that Christians call God. From the teaching of anatman, "no soul" ("atman" in Sanskrit is cognate with "anima" in Latin), which is basically nominalism, they come to the position that the only thing that has actual being is the uncreated primal unity; that monism is called "advaita", "non-duality". They then say that the delusion of identity independent of that primal unity—in our terms, the idea that there are subsistent forms aside from the Subsistent Acts, that there are any Essences except Existence—is what causes separation from that primal unity. Each illusory "self", trying to cling to its own false "identity", reaches out to desire and ego and, all too often, evil, because no single thing can substitute for the One Thing that it comes from.
Hence why Buddhism is a philosophy about cosmic suffering. That primal unity, that "selves" seek to separate themselves from, is the thing Christians call God...and what's separation from God? To a Buddhist, this is Hell (they also have Naraka, the realm of the dead where sinners are punished to purify them for reincarnation, but that's not what Christian hell is).
PS. It's important to remember that Francis Xavier, when evangelizing in East Asia, chose a title of the primal unity, Mahavairocana (Dainichi in Japanese, Dari in Chinese), as the name for the Christian God. He soon switched to using Deus, since people were assuming that his version of the One was also part of a monist cosmos and its personhood was purely a metaphor, but he wasn't wrong, that is what—or rather Who—Buddhism considers to be the ultimate reality.
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So, in a nutshell, the whole aim of Buddhism is to become "absorbed" (if you will) into God (or the Primal Unity).
Do they have a highly developed theology about what that is exactly? Is this Primal Unity a Person, or is it just some kind of vague, Essence or something or other?
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