GOOD QUESTION
GOOD ANSWER
Ven. S.
Dhammika
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03]
Buddhism and the God-idea
Do Buddhist believe
in god?
No, we do not. There are
several reasons for this. The Buddha, like modern sociologists and
psychologists, believed that religious ideas and especially the god idea
have their origin in fear. The Buddha says:
"Gripped
by fear men go to the sacred mountains,
sacred
groves, sacred trees and shrines".
Dp 188
Primitive man found
himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not
being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural
phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him.
Finding no security, he created the idea of gods in order to give him
comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when
things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more
religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a
god or gods gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will
hear them explain that they believe in a particular god because they
prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this seems to
support the Buddha’s teaching that the god-idea is a response to fear
and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to
lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we
cannot change. He replaced fear, not with irrational belief but with
rational understanding.
The second reason the
Buddha did not believe in a god is because there does not seem to be any
evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming
that they alone have god’s words preserved in their holy book, that they
alone understand god’s nature, that their god exists and that the gods
of other religions do not. Some claim that god is masculine, some that she
is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that
there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their god but they laugh
in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of
another god. It is not surprising that with so many different religions
spending so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their gods
that still no real, concrete, substantial or irrefutable evidence has been
found. Buddhists suspend judgement until such evidence is forthcoming.
The third reason the
Buddha did not believe in a god is that the belief is not necessary. Some
claim that the belief in a god is necessary in order to explain the origin
on the universe. But this is not so. Science has very convincingly
explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the
god-idea. Some claim that belief in god is necessary to have a happy,
meaningful life. Again we can see that this is not so. There are millions
of atheists and free-thinkers, not to mention many Buddhists, who live
useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a god. Some claim
that belief in god’s power is necessary because humans, being weak, do
not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence
indicates the opposite. One often hears of people who have overcome great
disabilities and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties, through their
own inner resources, through their own efforts and without belief in a
god. Some claim that god is necessary in order to give man salvation. But
this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of
salvation and Buddhists do not accept such a concept. Based on his own
experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to
purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect
understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and
encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through
self-understanding.
But if there are
no gods how did the universe get here?
All religions have myths
and stories which attempt to answer this question. In ancient times, when
many simply did not know, such myths were adequate, but in the 20th
century, in the age of physics, astronomy and geology, such myths have
been superseded by scientific fact. Science has explained the origin of
the universe without recourse to the god-idea.
What does the Buddha say
about the origin of the universe?
It is interesting that the
Buddha’s explanation of the origin of the universe corresponds very
closely to the scientific view. In the Aganna Sutta, the Buddha described
the universe being destroyed and then re-evolving into its present form
over a period of countless millions of years. The first life formed on the
surface of the water and again, over countless millions of years, evolved
from simple into complex organisms. All these processes are without
beginning or end, and are set in motion by natural causes.
You say there is no
evidence for the existence of a god. But what about miracles?
There are many who believe
that miracles are proof of god’s existence. We hear wild claims that a
healing has taken place but we never get an independent testimony from a
medical office or a surgeon. We hear second-hand reports that someone was
miraculously saved from disaster but we never get an eye-witness account
of what is supposed to have happened. We hear rumours that prayer
straightened a diseased body or strengthened a withered limb, but we never
see X-rays or get comments from doctors or nurses. Wild claims,
second-hand reports and rumours are no substitute for solid evidence and
solid evidence of miracles is very rare.
However, sometimes
unexplained things do happen, unexpected events do occur. But our
inability to explain such things does not prove the existence of gods. It
only proves that our knowledge is as yet incomplete. Before the
development of modern medicine, when people didn’t know what caused
sickness people believed that god or the gods sent diseases as a
punishment. Now we know what causes such things and when we get sick, we
take medicine. In time when our knowledge of the world is more complete,
we will be able to understand what causes unexplained phenomena, just as
we can now understand what causes disease.
But so many people believe
in some form of god, it must be true.
Not so. There was a time
when everyone believed that the world was flat, but they were all wrong.
The number of people who believe in an idea is no measure of the truth or
falsehood of that idea. The only way we can tell whether an idea is true
or not is by looking at the facts and examining the evidence.
So if Buddhists don’t
believe in gods, what do you believe in?
We don’t believe in a
god because we believe in man. We believe that each human being is
precious and important, that all have the potential to develop into a
Buddha – a perfected human being. We believe that human beings can
outgrow ignorance and irrationality and see things as they really are. We
believe that hatred, anger, spite and jealousy can be replaced by love,
patience, generosity and kindness. We believe that all this is within the
grasp of each person if they make the effort, guided and supported by
fellow Buddhists and inspired by the example of the Buddha. As the Buddha
says:
"No
one saves us but ourselves,
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the
path,
But
Buddhas clearly show the way".
Dp 165
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Update : 01-03-2002
