Conception of God and Universe Among Turks in Buddhism and İslamic Sufism

This article aims to present a comparative study on Turks’ conception of God and universe mainly in Mahayana Buddhism of Buddhist Uygurs’ between 9th-12th centuries in Turfan, and in Turkish Islamic Sufism developed in Transoxiana and Anatolia regions in 12th-13th centuries. As this is a vast and deep subject having many dimensions and reflections, only some striking examples of textual evidence are presented due to the limited scope of a paper. Buddhism and Islam are two different world religions, quite diverged in basic principles like conceptions on God and universe. However, even a few examples presented in this article point that the convergence of Turkish Buddhism and Sufism is due to the synthesis of these religions with Turks’ oldest national religion, called Sky-God Religion (or Tengrism). The endless divine love, the search for God or Ultimate Reality in the universe by always referring their mind to interpret phenomena, love for universe and all beings, finding God in their heart via annihilation of ego and the ultimate happiness reached by “unity of God with all” are some significant common traces from Turks’ amazing religious history. This article is highly inspired by and thus dedicated to our deceased greatest Turkish art historian Dr. Emel Esin who conducted most serious scholar works on comparative cultural and religious studies of Turks, starting from their oldest time until Islamic period including Sufi traditions.

Keywords

Turks, Buddhism, Islam, Sufism, God, universe, Sky God Religion