Expert: Bodhicitta - 12/20/2004

Question
Are there guardian Forces(angels) or and spirit guides in Buddhism?If so what are they called.Does each person have a personal
guardian(s) and spirit guide(s)?  

Answer
Hi Kennedy
In Buddhism the real "spirit guide" is our own enlightened
mind deep in our heart of the nature of wisdom and compassion.We have everything we need , everything we could
wish for is already within our own natures. The problem
is that we don't recognize it and we are essentially
confused and our enlightened mind is covered and obscure.

In Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism there are external beings
who seek to help confused beings and are compassionate. They
seek to help beings escape from confusion and seek to
protect enlightened teachings - the dharma.

In the Sanskrit languages the messengers of enlightenments
are called the Dakas (Male) and Dakinis (Female)..The
protectors of enlightenment are called the Dharmapalas.

To confuse any of these things with popular ideas of spirit
guides would be a mistake. The enlightened teachers
are transcendent beyond what ordinary beings can perceive.
They are beyond concepts and beyond definition.

Buddhism does also tell us that there are more mundane
disembodied beings connected to places, people, trees,
etc. These are more like the spirits, fairies of western
mythology. These have various names and there is a high
degree of sophistication in describing their activities
and how to relate to them in some Buddhist countries.

Hope this helps
Bodhicitta