#the buddha doesnt exist to ask for guidance

[37sqrt2]

hmmm i wouldn’t say that exactly. As a buddhist adjacent hindu myself, Buddhism in it’s purest form doesn’t have the concept of deities. in fact, you could argue that keito praying to buddha wasn’t very buddhist of him at all.

I am aware that in japan, buddhism has been mixed with shinto and sometimes even christian practice, but from what I can infer from my keito knowledge, his family places a large emphasis on traditional buddhism (he doesn’t even celebrate christmas) and the events of crossroad mirror a very commonly held buddhist belief-

there is no higher power, there is no god, and you must refine your soul and fulfill your dharmic responsibility with your own power.

I think his behavior in meteor impact isn’t a result of atheism, but rather, a reflection on what Rei taught him, that he, as a human being, must achieve things with his own power. The cult is an exaggerated reflection of his previous treatment towards Rei, which is likely why he cracks down on it so harshly.

He is absolutely NOT Atheist. In fact, he continues to reference buddhist philosophy, and prays in his dorm room frequently! It’s just that he’s learned not to place faith in a higher power and instead turn to fellow humans, and his own efforts.

oh and he also still prays before he eats, and recites his sutras frequently, and is presented side by side with tatsumi as a ‘religious’ character. His religion is really important to him!

tldr: Buddhism doesn’t have any gods, so he doesn’t believe in god :)

Keito's references to Buddha, god & religion in Crossroad vs. Meteor Impact

Meteor Impact Pt 1 (Summer, 2 years ago, pre-war)

--

Crossroads (Spring, 1 year ago, pre-war)

Note: all of these mentions happened BEFORE Keito's humiliating defeat from Rei

So, from these two flashbacks, you can see that Keito doesn't want to rely on Buddha for his problems, but still fall into the habits of his Buddhist teachings like reciting scriptures. His first instincts when distressed was to pray for guidance.

--

Meteor Impact Pt 2 (Autumn, 1 year ago, after Crossroad, during war)

Some much more biting remarks on religion, and not just towards the cult for Kanata. When he say "I know how frightening religion can be" he refers to his own. His view on faith and believers was also rather callous. (Albeit he was trying to be mean to Kanzaki on purpose.) He then issue a challenge to "any god", and uplifts the power of humans.

Most significant is that when things were going out of his control, he did not think about asking Buddha for guidance even once, despite suspicions of supernatural interference.

He did, however, mention reincarnation later. Which he still believes in.

--

Conclusion

Keito seems much more religious before his defeat from Rei.

During the event of Crossroads, Keito attempted to rely on Rei, whom he considered a higher power/genius to solve his problems. (This is unfortunate, considering the whole history of Rei being worshipped as a deity for solving people's problems.) The whole thing backfired with Rei going "you can't rely on me, a genius, to solve your problems", ending in humiliating defeat.

After that, he seems to have stopped asking even BUDDHA for guidance when things gets out of hand and got really deep into the "power of humans" narrative. Take that as you will.

tldr; Rei turned Keito atheist.