The God Idea
Was there a "beginning" -- "of course there was, the Bible says
so!"-- Or is a beginning or "First Cause" even necessary?
If you consider that at one time you were not, then what has
brought you into existence as this being known by the name you care
called?
The usual answer is that a God or impersonal Power created this
universe, this planet, and the beings on it.
Considering the above, a further question can arise: Where has this
God or other power come from? If the reply is that He (or in some
cases, "She"!) is eternal then why did He decide at some point in
time to bring all this into existence? What for? His pleasure? Our
tribulation? If the answer can be given in either way, He can
hardly be called Compassionate. An answer to all such inquiries
which kills further investigation of this subject, is that he ways
of God are inscrutable and we should accept this as fact without
any need of investigation.
It is interesting to examine and observe how people relegate the
God to the distant past of Creation or to the distant future of
Judgement. This means that He has little relevance in and to their
daily lives, for if He did, those very people who claim to have
unshakable faith in this God would live different lives and leave
the rat race, the competitions, the politics of violence, warfare,
and social injustice.
Perhaps "He" is a belief that arises out of a very real need for
security, or maybe even a craving for some authority figure like a
father -- or for the New Agers who prefer "goddess" -- a mother, or
even a craving for eternal life. But when it comes to everyday
living, the God idea really takes second place and the evidence
lies in the very behavior an actions of people all over the
planet.
Where is God intervening in the unspeakable crimes against humanity
that are perpetrated and viewed on TV like a regular daily show?
This is a fair question, if you assert, which you probably do if
you are a "believer", that we are all made in God's image. Put the
actions with the image, together, and that is one nasty God! Put
forward "belief", and "doubt" will be found, too.
From a Buddhadharma perspective, even if "He" does exist, what
practical difference does it make to one's life here and now? Is
not the distant past and the distant future, strictly irrelevant to
us in the present -- in the here-and-now?
It is always the present, which is important in the Dhamma, not the
past, often compared to a dream, and certainly not the future,
which we can liken to a mirage seen by one thirsty in the
desert.
What I do NOW, how I react/respond NOW -- these things are
infinitely more relevant than speculations over distant events.
(And notice there is a difference between "react" vs.
"respond".)
These are said by Buddha to be the "tangle of Wrong Views", "wrong"
since no firm conclusions can be reached on the bases on which they
are reared. And what are these? Blind faith is one and craving is
the other. Ignorance is the root.
Moreover a hornet's nest is stirred up whenever opposing sets of
"beliefs" come into conflict, and so-called "religious" wars and
persecutions are a pointer to how strong the attachment can be to
Wrong Views. Why be tangled up in them? Why get stung when the
venom as well as the stinger is avoidable? Take a look at the
atrocities that are ongoing and given such insidious and guileful a
term as "ethnic cleansing". Religious differences play a bigger
role than political ones in many cases.
When Buddha was asked about the length of an eon, He answered, "No
beginning can be seen to beings, blinded by unknowing and driven by
craving who are hurrying through the round of birth-and-death".
Thus for the practitioner of the Buddhadharma, i.e., the
"Buddhist", "in the beginning" has no meaning, and no point in time
can be found when there was a Creation. Nor is there found any
Creator (though we create things through cause and effect (kamma)
and bring about a seemingly continuous sort of creation.
The Buddhadhamma-Vinaya practitioner knows well at some point,
sooner or later, that unknowing and/or ignorance is the seed of
(karma) kamma sprouting into the various stressful and
unsatisfactory experiences termed "dukkha". "God" is a concept, a
mix of ideas -- as evidenced by so many traditions holding the view
of a god or gods under a Supreme Being or Creator God. "Buddhism"
does not lump these ideas together calling them "God". If one
speaks of "eternity", it is dealt with as it is -- Dharma; if one
speaks of judgement and retribution -- Karma; if you want to know
about beings -- there are other sentient beings seen and unseen
through out the cosmos. And this area is more scientific and better
explained than even some so called Buddhists know!
And since this matter deals with ideas, it is not more puzzling to
comprehend an infinity of birth-and-death rounds rooted in
unknowing than it is to communicate about a "Creator" who was never
born. Indeed, the former has great advantage over the latter since
unknowing is in one's very own heart and may be removed by
education, investigation, and directly experiencing Reality as it
is.
It is complex sets of conditions that give rise to dependent
events, though the co-dependent arisings may not be clear to one's
own awareness. Thus, all dhammas (paramattha dhammas) come into and
go from existence in this way. One does not have to seek a
beginning, nor does a "Maker" or "Creator" need be sought
after.
In the Visuddhi Magga, XIX, translated by Nyanamoli Thera, we have
this verse:
"No god, no Brahma can be called
The Maker of this Wheel of Life:
Just empty phenomena roll on
Dependent on conditions all."
The cosmology found in the Buddhadhamma not only takes into account
the existence of innumerable systems of worlds grouped into what we
should call galaxies, but has equally vast conceptions of cosmic
time.
What did Lord Buddha really have to say about God? At times, He did
remain silent on this topic. But there is an account given by Him
on the genesis of the "Creator" and this should settle the issue.
But before going on with that, we should note that Buddha was not
an agnostic (one who does not know). In fact, He was a gnostic or
'one who knows' (in Pali: "janata") and was also called "Sabbannu",
the 'All-knower". This means that to whatever subject Lord Buddha
attended to, He knew all the contents of that subject. It does NOT
mean that He always knew everything about every subject all at
once, for this very claim was one He emphatically and specifically
denied about himself. Now, to settle this question of "God" we can
investigate. It happens that in the beginning of a new cycle (after
one of the periodic cosmic collapses), a being according to his or
her kamma (karma) is reborn into a heavenly realm or state where no
other beings are to found. (That one's kamma being a condition for
the arising of that particular heavenly experience.) That one does
not remember her or his past life among other "gods" in the
"higher" heavenly realms, and comes to believe during the passing
of ages that s/he has lived there forever. With the passing of
immense time spans, that one wishes for the company of others and
then, since according to their kamma some other beings appear in
that realm, s/he comes to believe that they were produced by her or
his will. From this s/he goes on to glorify herself or himself, her
or his supposed "creation" and this aids that being's vanity since
such a being does not remember the past life it was subjected to
and so imagines that it is a creature of Brahma. One of these great
Brahmas called by the name of Baka, was made to see the emptiness
and futility of his claims to eternal existence and creatorhood
when Lord Buddha while in meditation paid a visit to that
realm.
And not only that, the "Buddhist" attitude to Brahma or God or "the
Creator" is fairly if somewhat seemingly acridly summed up in these
translated verses:
"He who has eyes can see the sickening sight;
Why does not Brahma set his creatures right?
If his wide power no limit can restrain,
Why is his hand so rarely spread to bless?
Why are all his creatures condemned to pain?
Why does he not to all give happiness?
Why do fraud, lies, and ignorance prevail?
Why triumphs falsehood -- truth and justice fail?
I count your Brahma one the unjust among
Who made a world in which to shelter wrong."
-- Bhuridatta Jataka, No. 453
Consider this: the greater the power of a so-called God then the
less will be the ability of the human being to do skill or do the
unskillful (as found in pre-destinarian doctrines). Thus the
provocation for the following:
"If there exists some lord all-powerful to fulfill
In every creature bliss or woe, and action good or ill,
That Lord is stained with sin. The human being does but work his
will."
-- Mahabodhi Jataka, No. 528
