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| The Buddha in a heaven talking to Sakka (Indra) and Maha Brahma (right) (mesosyn.com) |
Origin of the Belief in a Creator God
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| Buddhism and the God-Idea |
When this happens, beings have mostly been
reborn in the World of Radiance, and there they dwell made
of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from themselves,
traversing the air, continuing in glory; thus, they remain
for a long period of time.
Now, there comes a time, meditators, when, sooner or later, this
world-system begins to evolve again. When this happens the
Palace of Brahmā appears, but it is empty. And some being
or other, either because its span of years has passed or its merit has become exhausted, falls from the World of Radiance, and
comes to life [is reborn] in the Palace of Brahmā.
There also this being lives made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from
itself, traversing the air, continuing in glory; thus, does it remain for a long, long period of time.
Now there arises, from dwelling there so long
alone, a dissatisfaction and a longing:
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| By merely wishing, I am the Creator! |
On this, meditators, the one who was first reborn thinks: “I am Brahmā [Supreme], the Great (Maha) Brahmā, the Supreme One,
the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All, the
Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all [the Alpha and Omega, the I am that I am], appointing to each its place, the Ancient of Days, the Parent of all that are and are
to be. These other beings are of my creation. Why is
this so? A while ago I thought, 'Would that they might
come!’ And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings
came!”
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| I am who/that/what I am [of which they speak] and I am everlasting! |
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| No goddesses allowed. |
On this, meditators, the one who first came into existence there
is of longer life and more glorious and more powerful than
those who appeared afterward. And it might well be, meditators,
that some being on falling from that state, should come
hither [to be reborn].
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| Well, they're allowed, just don't call them goddesses like Sophia, Mother Mary, wife Asherah |
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And having come hither [to the human plane] that being might go forth from the
household life into the homeless state [of a monastic]. And having thus
become a recluse that person, by reason of ardor, of exertion, of
application, of earnestness, of careful thought, reaches such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart [jhana], he calls to mind his last
dwelling-place but not the previous ones.
He says to
himself: “That illustrious Brahmā [Supremo], the Great Brahmā, 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 its place, the Ancient of Days, the Father
of All that are and are to be, that being by whom we were created is steadfast, immutable, eternal, of a nature that knows
no change and will remain so forever and ever. But we
who were created have come hither as being
impermanent, mutable, limited in duration of life.”
This, meditators, is the first state of things on account of which,
starting out from which, some recluses and Brahmins (shramanas and brahmanas), being
eternalists as to some things and non-eternalists as to
others, maintain that the soul and the world are partly
eternal and partly not eternal. More
Misconstrued as the "creator" deity
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| We're not allowed to question in Christianity |
The universe (multiverse) comes into being due to causes and condition, but the Buddha did not declare an ultimate first beginning to it. It is cyclical and all beginnings, like all endings, repeat. There a "laws" that govern this impersonal process but not an ultimate creator God.
This may be hard to understand because there are gods, many of them, and they of different kinds and orders: devas, brahmas, asuras, maras, nagas, and so on. They abide on different planes, of which there are at least 31; however, these general planes contain countless worlds. All of these worlds are divided into three spheres: sensual, fine material, and immaterial.
- Among these "gods" or deities are powerful beings who wield the power of creation and other, higher order beings who enjoy the creation of others. These, however, are not ultimate creations; that is to say, they are not really making new "things" such as a new soul (atta) or a new ultimate materiality or mentality. To give an example, say there were a pile of tiny bricks and a bucket of mortar and one were to release bricklayers to have at it. How many structures could they create? How many fabulous Lego-toy like "creations" could they put together? Presumably, they could fashion together a countless number of "things," but -- in an ultimate sense -- what is there but the same old building blocks? What is there but just ultimate materiality (form) arranged in an immaterial way (name) that looks new but is only really bricks, mortar, and arrangement?
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| Countless worlds in 31 Planes in three spheres |
During the vivarta kalpa (some previous aeon), a deity from Abhassara (radiant) plane was reborn on the lower Maha Brahma plane. As many living beings forget about their past life as soon as they are reborn, this also happened with Maha Brahma. No longer being aware of the higher planes of existence, this being felt alone in the universe (or world-system, cakkavala).
This being longed for the presence of others. After some time, other deities (devas) from higher planes were also reborn on those brahma planes as ministers and companions, an entire retinue [8].
Seeing this happen and having wished for it, this being falsely believed, "I am their creator." This belief, according to Buddhist texts (like the Brahmajala Sutta), was then shared by those other deities.
Eventually, however, one of those deities passed away from that world and was reborn on the human plane. Through meditation, that person gained the power to remember past lives [7].
That person went on to teach what was remembered from that previous life in that glorious (but relatively low) heaven, namely, that Maha Brahma was the creator of this universe.
- There are countless world-systems ("universes"?) in 10,000 directions, each with its own Maha Brahma and Mara and Sakka, all of which are really stations (positions, seats, thrones, chairs, offices held by living beings).
The teaching of this person led to the widespread human belief in a creator god, according to the Pali canon [7], which refers to the Buddha's words and other teachings preserved in the Buddha's language (Pali or the lingua franca of Magadhi). More
- Creator in Buddhism?
- Mahayana Buddhism has a different Brahmajāla Sūtra
- From Dīgha Nikāya ("Collection of Long Discourses") No. 1: Brahmajāla Sutta ("The Supreme or All-Embracing Net of Views Discourse") translated by Prof. Rhys Davids)
- Buddhism and the God-Idea: Selected Texts (Wheel #47) edited and introduced by Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Buddhist Publication Society, 1st ed. 1962, 2nd ed. 1970, 3rd printing 1981; edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly with Wiki edit
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