Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
In Buddha's days there were many many different teachings, one
popular one was Brahmanism. In fact the Brahma was still worshipped
nowadays. Brahma was known to be "The Supreme One, the All-mighty,
the All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Creator,
the Chief of All".
In Buddhism, the Mahabrahma resides in the 1st Jhana plane, the
first plane among the 8 jhanic planes. There were higher realms
above where he lives that he was unaware of, and above it all,
beyond the 8 Jhanic planes and all Samsaric planes, is Nirvana.
Nevertheless all the devas below the 1st Jhana planes considered
him as the Creator God. Buddha did not suscribed to the belief of
such a notion that the Universe and its Inhabitants were the
Creation of the Mahabrahma. He met with the Brahma, asked him
questions which he could not answer. Eventually he has took refuge
in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.
The Buddha was also known to have said this,
If the creator of the world
entire
They call God, of every being be the Lord
Why does he order such misfortune
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?
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!
When the previous universe was destroyed and this universe was
formed, the Mahabrahma was first to be reborned. Other subsequent
brahmas/devas were to be reborned.
'On this, brethren, the one who
was first reborn thinks thus to himself: " I am Brahmà, the Great
Brahmà, 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 are
and are to be. 'These other beings are of my creation. And why is
that so ? A while ago I thought, 'Would that they might come!' And
on my mental aspiration, behold the beings came." DN 1
2:5
In reality, the universe works by the law of Karma and he has no
control over the system of karma.
The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw, a
highly renowned Myanmar scholar-monk of the first part of this
century, gave a careful analysis of the powers of Maha Brahma in
his Niyama Dipani (MB pp. 138-39). He states that although Maha
Brahma can perform all sorts of transformations, he cannot actually
create independent creatures, change the kammic law of cause and
effect, or keep anyone from growing old or dying. Brahma can use
his special powers to transport a man to the brahma plane for a
short visit, but he cannot ensure that someone will be reborn
there.
from http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol5no3f.htm:
When he came to know about Sakyamuni Buddha in the human world who
speaks of the universal truth, he was curious and arrived at the
human world with the intention to debate with the Buddha. The
Buddha, with his ability to know another's mind, knew his intention
and asked, "You claim to be the creator of the human race and all
things in the universe, is this a fact?"
The king replied, "Yes, it is."
Buddha continued to question him, "Since you created life, why did
you also create death? Is death created by you too?"
The king paused for while, and thinking that everyone loves life
and nobody welcomes death, he replied, "I did not create
death."
Buddha asked him again, "All human beings experience sickness, did
you create sickness also?" The king knew that nobody likes to be
ill, and he replied, "I did not create illness."
Buddha asked many questions in succession, but the king denied that
he created them. Eventually, he admitted that he did not create the
universe and all things in it, and certainly not the human race.
The king of heavens was full of regrets and he felt ashamed.
Finally, he accepted Buddha as his teacher and invited Him to
spread the Dharma in the heavens.
-----------------------------
http://www.mahindarama.com/e-library/whybuddhism2.html
"To those who talked about the first cause of this world, the
Buddha responded by saying that it is impossible to find a first
cause since everything is changing, interdependent and conditioned
by other things. Something that acts as the cause in the present
may become the effect in the future. Later that same effect may
again become the cause. Such phenomenon continues ad infinitum. It
is called the universal law of Anicca or impermanency."
However, Buddhism is largely Agnostic rather than Atheist. We
believe that speculations on creation does not help in our
spiritual practise, enlightenment, and liberation from
samsara.
"Malunkhyaputta Sutta stresses that whether the universe was
created or uncreated, finite or infinite, is irrelevant to our main
spiritual concerns: the cause and cessation of suffering:
"Therefore Malunkhyaputta, bear the undeclared as undeclared.
Malunkhyaputta, what are the not declared? The world is eternal, is
not declared by me. The world is not eternal, is not declared by
me. They are not essential for the principles of the holy life,
they do not lead to turning away, to detachment, to cessation, to
appeasement, to realisation, to enlightenment and to extinction.
Malunkhyaputta, what are the declared by me? This, is unpleasant,
is declared. This, is its arising, is delcared. This, is its
cessation is declared. This is the path to its cessation, is
declared. Malunkhyaputta, why are these declared by me? These are
the essentials for the principles of the holy life, they lead to
turning away, to detachment, to cessation, to appeasement, to
realisation, to enlightenment and to extinction. Malunkhyaputta, I
declare them." MN 64"
