God in Buddhism

Throughout most of the world’s religions, the concept and belief in God dictate the fundamental ideologies and pillars of those respective religions. Whether it be the belief and worship of one God, many Gods, or distinct Gods that represent different aspects of life, civilisations throughout history have put their faith and dedicated their lives to a “higher power” or “divine power” watching over them from the heavens. Despite such a widespread ideology dominating much of the world, Buddhism does not adhere to such beliefs.

Before elaborating further, I think it’s first important to understand clearly what the concept of God is. Different religions and different schools of thought all have varying definitions for who/what God is. In the monotheistic school of thought, “God is conceived as the supreme being, creator of the universe and the principal object of faith. God is seen as being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnibenevolent.” These beliefs are common amongst Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), whereby God is the sole creator of the universe, is supreme, almighty, and has unparalleled power over the universe. 

Some Dharmic religions such as Hinduism believe in supreme beings and deities who are seen and worshipped as different manifestations and incarnations of a single God. Other religions believe in many Gods and divine beings that represent different aspects of existence such as “the God of love”, “the God of war”, “the God of fire” etc. This brings to question, does Buddhism follow similar beliefs? Did the Lord Buddha preach the existence of a God? 

Through the remainder of this article, I will aim to address this question as accurately as possible through general research, understanding, and interpretation of Lord Buddha’s teachings. The short answer to my questions above is no, Buddhism does not subscribe to the belief in God, and no, the Lord Buddha did not preach the existence and religious observance to a God. Although Buddhists believe in divine beings such as deities (devas), they do not believe in a single supreme God as defined earlier.  

At its foundational beliefs, Buddhism focuses primarily on spirituality and achieving a higher sense of mindfulness through various forms of meditation. It emphasises the importance of leading a righteous life full of peace, love, and equanimity to the benefit of the broader community. Buddhist teachings essentially direct focus away from speculation and servitude of a supreme god or deity in the heavens and rather focus on achieving enlightenment and higher spiritual existence. Furthermore, Buddhism follows the laws of cause and effect (i.e., Karma) and the belief in the continuous cycle of birth which in turn encourages the followers of Buddhism to lead a life focused on serving the people and animals around them rather than serving a God above. 

A common motif that’s attached to the belief in God is the idea that God created the universe and all beings within it. So, if Buddhist teachings don’t agree with the existence of a god, then this brings to question; from a Buddhist lens, who/what created the universe? When it comes to answering such questions, Lord Buddha often avoided giving a direct response but instead insisted that there are some aspects of life that humans are incapable of understanding and the universe didn’t necessarily need a creator. He explained that pondering on such questions does not provide much value to an individual’s life. He explains that Buddhists should focus on their self-liberation and attaining Nibbana rather than constantly questioning the past or the future. To elaborate, he used the analogy of a man who was shot by an arrow that refused to have the arrow removed and his wounds treated until he found out who shot him in the first place. Wasting his time on such unnecessary questions would ultimately lead to his demise. Similarly, the Lord Buddha promoted concepts of spiritual awakening and righteous living instead of chasing after answers that may not be beneficial to begin with. 

Although he refused to give a direct answer to the question of creation, Lord Buddha still suggested that if one insisted on pursuing such questions, they should investigate the sciences, astronomy, geology, biology, and anthropology of the universe. He taught that the world functions in cycles and that this universe came into existence following the destruction of a former world or universe. Similar to a circle or a wheel that has no starting point nor endpoint, the universe is an eternal existence that operates in different phases. This also correlates to scientific theories on the big bang and the big contraction(crunch) in which scientists hypothesise that the universe will keep expanding to a point in which its matter and components will collapse upon itself and contract to a minute element in which the resulting forces and pressure will cause another big bang and hence lead to the creation of a new universe. From a Buddhist perspective, this cycle of life and death, creation and destruction, happiness, and sorrow, and so on, are eternal and so Buddhist strive to be free of such cycles by attaining Nibbana.  

The absence of a creator God or an almighty being watching over humans and their actions then brings into question the need to lead a righteous life. If there is no God watching over us to hold us accountable for our actions, is there a need to follow rules, be good people, and do good? Although Buddhism doesn’t believe in a God that will punish us if we lead sinful lives, the laws of cause and effect (Karma) are still prevalent in Buddhist teachings. This means that if one does bad deeds and leads an unjust life, they will generate bad karmic energies which will have negative consequences on their life because as mentioned earlier, the universe works in cycles, and “what goes around, comes around”. The same is also true when it comes to the law of attraction, which is a western concept that Buddhist ideologies coincide with. If one has bad intentions, surrounds themself with bad people, and leads an immoral life, they will only continue to attract bad consequences into their lives. The opposite is also true which is why Buddhism promotes and teaches its followers to lead a wholesome and spiritual life so as to generate positive karmic energies and in turn attract good fortune into their lives.

In saying so, the beauty of Buddhism as a religion is that it is a very flexible religion in which followers have the freedom to subscribe to ideologies and concepts provided, they process them thoroughly through their own thought filters and opinions. The Lord Buddha himself said, “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

There’s a myriad of concepts and philosophies within Buddhism that discusses the notion of a God or rather the lack thereof. This article only touches on a handful of these ideas and hence, I hope it has inspired interest and curiosity to do further in-depth research on the wealth of knowledge and wisdom shared by the Lord Buddha some 2600 years ago. 

With Metta