In Buddhism Can Devas do Something For Us? My mother is a christian woman but has strong traditional roots in voodooism and ancestral worship.My question is,Is it possible for human beings to invoke a deva/gods/territorial spirits(nagas etc) to do our bidding? In a Buddhist context Can a Deva help a human being? Is there such a story in the suttas.Why would a Deva help a human being? According to my mother a particular deva helps us because he was our family/relative/ancestor.Is this compatible with Buddhist Beliefs?
In Buddhist scriptures, devas are described as powerful beings who often interact with humans. So assuming devas are real, they can surely hinder or help humans in a material way. What no being can ever do is force or hinder another's spiritual path. There we are truly alone. Even Mara can only tempt beings to stray from the skillful path but can never succeed as long as we can see through its illusions.