- GOOD QUESTION GOOD ANSWER
- Ven. Shravasti Dhammika
- [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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