The Buddhist View of God
In the Buddhist texts Mahâ Brahmâ is represented as claiming the
following attributes for himself:
"I am Brahmâ, the Great Brahmâ, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the
All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator, the
Chief of all appointing to each his place, the Ancient of days, the
Father of all that is and will be." (Dîgha Nikáya, II, 263).
The Buddha dismisses all these claims of Mahâ Brahmâ as being due
to his own delusions brought about by ignorance. He argues that
Mahâ-Brahmâ is simply another deva, perhaps with greater karmic
force than the other gods, but nonetheless a deva and therefore
unenlightened and subject to the samsâric process as determined by
his karma. In such Suttas as the Brahmajâla sutta and the Agga¤¤a
Sutta the Buddha refutes the claims of Maha Brahmâ and shows him to
be subject to karmic law (i.e. cosmic law). Even though long-lived
Mahâ Brahmâ will be eliminated in each cycle of inevitable world
dissolution and re-evolution. In the Khevadda Sutta Mahâ Brahmâ is
forced to admit to an inquiring monk that he is unable to answer a
question that is posed to him, and advises the monk to consult the
Buddha. This clearly shows the Brahmâ acknowledges the superiority
of the Buddha.
The Buddhist view is that gods may lead more comfortable lives and
be addicted to all the sense pleasures, but in terms of wisdom
might be inferior to humans. They are even represented as coming to
receive instruction from monks and even lay persons. Later on with
the Hindu revival and proliferation of God-cults the Buddhists were
increasingly vocal against the pretensions of God and his retinue
of lesser gods. Nargarjuna the Indian Buddhist philosopher of the
2nd century CE expressed a commonly shared Buddhist view when he
wrote:
The gods are all eternal scoundrels
Incapable of dissolving the suffering of impermanence.
Those who serve them and venerate them
May even in this world sink into a sea of sorrow.
We know the gods are false and have no concrete being;
Therefore the wise man believes them not
The fate of the world depends on causes and conditions
Therefore the wise man many not rely on gods.
Mahâpajâpâramitâshâstra [Lamotte trans. I, p.141]
In the West a number of "arguments" have been adduced to prove or
disprove the existence of God. Some of these were anticipated by
the Buddha. One of the most popular is the "first cause" argument
according to which everything must have a cause, and God is
considered the first cause of the Universe. The Buddhist theory of
causation says that every thing must have preconditions for its
existence, and this law must also extend to "God" should such an
entity exist. But while the "first cause" claims that God creates
everything, it exempts God from the ambit of this law. However if
exemptions are made with respect to God such exemptions could be
made with respect to other things also hereby contradicting the
principle of the first cause.
But the argument which the Buddha most frequently uses is what is
now called the "argument from evil" which in the Buddhist sense
could be stated as the argument from dukkha (suffering or
un-satisfactoriness). This states that the empirical fact of the
existence of dukkha cannot be reconciled with the existence of an
omnipotent and omniscient being who is also all good. The following
verses from the Bhûridatta Jataka bring this out clearly:
If the creator of the world entire
They call God, of every being be the Lord
Why does he order such misfortune
And not create concord?
sace hi so issaro sabbaloke
Brahmâ bahûbhûtapati pajâna.m
ki.m sabbaloke vidah alakkhi.m
ki.m sabbaloka.m na sukhi.m akâsi
If the creator of the world entire
They call God, of every being be the Lord
Why prevail deceit, lies and ignorance
And he such inequity and injustice create?
sace hi so issaro sabbaloke
Brahmâ bahûbhûtapati pajâna.m
mâyâmusâvajjamadena c'api
loka.m adhammena kimatthakâsi
If the creator of the world entire
They call God, of every being be the Lord
Then an evil master is he, (O Aritta)
Knowing what's right did let wrong prevail!
sace hi so issaro sabbaloke
Brahmâ bahûbhûtapati pajâna.m
adhammiyo bhûtapat Ari.t.tha
dhamme sat yo vidahi adhamma.m
(Translated by the Author)
The Buddha argues that the three most commonly given attributes of
God, viz. omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence towards humanity
cannot all be mutually compatible with the existential fact of
dukkha.
From the Buddhist standpoint the classic theistic statement that
"God created man in his (i.e. God's) image" has actually to be
reversed. It is man who has created God in his (i.e. man's) image!
And as man's own image changes so does that of his God. Thus in the
present time with the rise of feminism there is an attempt to
change the gender of God from a man to a woman (or perhaps even to
a neuter). To liberate himself mankind has to shed his delusions,
and one of these is the existence of God.
