Wednesday, November 12, 2025

The Buddha: Origin of belief in creator God

The Buddha in a heaven talking to Sakka (Indra) and Maha Brahma (right) (mesosyn.com)

Origin of the Belief in a Creator God
 
Buddhism and the God-Idea
[The Buddha explained:] Now, there comes a time, meditators, when, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long period [of devolving], this world-system passes away.

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:

By merely wishing, I am the Creator!
“O, would that other beings might come and join me in this place!” And, just then, either because their span of years had passed [in that other world] or their merit [to carry on there] became exhausted, other beings fall from the World of Radiance and appear in the Palace of Brahmā as companions, in all respects like Brahmā [other than their later arrival].

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!”

I am who/that/what I am [of which they speak] and I am everlasting!

No goddesses allowed.
“And those beings themselves, too, think thus: 'This must be Brahmā, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of All, appointing to each a place, the Ancient of Days, the Parent  of all that are and are to be. And we must have been created by that being. Why? It is because, as we see, it was that being who was here first, and we came after that.”

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].

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
We're not allowed to question in Christianity
Buddhism is a nontheistic (not atheistic) religion. It does not include the belief in an ultimate creator deity or any eternal being, divine or otherwise [4][5][6].

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?
Countless worlds in 31 Planes in three spheres
Buddhist texts posit that deities (brahmas, which are a subset of devas or "shining ones") such as Maha Brahma ("Great Supremo") are misconstrued as a creator [7].

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
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