God the Creator in Buddha’s Teachings

Buddhism is one of the greatest philosophies or religions (depending on how it is viewed) in human history. To many people, Buddhism is a religion, not a philosophy, due to its apparent ceremony and rituals [1]. In Vietnam, Buddhism is the dominant religion that attracts more than 60% of Vietnam population. Buddhas teachings deeply influence Vietnamese cultural and spiritual life in many different ways. Vietnamese Buddhism has given birth to and nurtured many respected and internationally recognized intellects like Rev. Thich Nhat Hanh. The success of Vietnamese Buddhism, therefore, deserves serious study.


Due to limited resources, the author has to build his study on existing studies and analyses of the Pali Canon, believed to be the oldest surviving written record of what Buddha actually taught. It is hoped the understanding of the authors in the reference list closely match what Buddha originally taught. After summarizing some of Buddhas teachings, a comparison of his teachings with the common practices of Vietnamese Buddhists is made. Any "second hand" study can be gravely biased, and thus erroneous, but this is the best study that can be achieved. Having said that the author is still responsible for his interpretation of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Buddhas teachings
It is impossible to cover all Buddhas teachings in this brief article. Therefore, the subjects of worship practice and God the Creator are subjectively selected since they are centers of almost, if not all religions.

About worship practice
Worshipping is an act to show reverent love or alliance to some sacred object or person. Worshipping Buddhas image and/or statue is commonly seen. In Buddhist temples, followers bow down or even prostrate themselves to worship Buddhas statue. Most Buddhist homes have altars with Buddhas statue or image, candles and incense. People actually pray to Buddhas statue to ask for salvation or help. Especially, in life-threatening situations, praying for salvation is very obvious. Although the practice can be attributed to the reverence people show toward Buddha, it was never originally taught. When Buddha was passing away, he exhorted that practicing his teachings was the best way to remember him. Actually, Buddha even condemned idolatry [2], the practice of worshipping an image or statue. There are still fundamentalist Buddhists who know Buddhas teaching on this subject very well and do not practice idolatry but the number is very few.

But what is wrong with praying to someones image or statue, one might ask. The answer is an image or statue does not listen. Even if a transcendental Being hears the prayers, he does not help since according to Buddhas teachings, followers need to achieve the salvation by themselves.

Vietnamese Buddhists well understand the self-salvation teaching since they practice self-denial, mediation, doing good work, and so on so forth, to earn their salvation. This belongs to the realm of the mind. Yet, they still pray for salvation from Buddha. Praying for salvation is a burden of the heart. An individual who prays for salvation realizes that he or she is feeble and helpless and therefore, needs intervention from some transcendental being.

About God and the origin of the universe
Since Buddha does not help someone earn the state of Nirvana, according to his teachings, could a god offer any help?

In Buddhism, there is a concept of created things such as the universe and its components including human beings, that are impermanent, ill, unhappy, and so on, that are subject to the cycle of birth and death and rebirth. Usually, something that is created has to associate with a creator. Yet, in Buddhism, the concept of God the Creator did not exist. Buddha did not teach about a creator god but rather was more concerned with a solution to the immediate problem of how to release mankind all from the cycle of death and rebirth [3]. When asked about a possible creator of the universe, he refused to answer. Instead, he said it was not necessary to know it in order to achieve the goal of Buddhist practice and made an analogy with a man shot in the arm by a poisoned arrow. The wounded would not allow anyone to pull the arrow out of his arm until he had received the answer to various questions, such as: who shot the arrow; who made the feathers, etc. The Buddha said that before he could obtain an answer to such questions, the poison would enter his bloodstream and kill him [3]. Having said that, Buddha implied that even if a creator god existed, he must have not interacted with the universe nor could he interfere with someones Karma. Therefore, individual had to take full responsibility for his or her salvation [4].

The concept of the existence of the created but not a possible creator is hardly conceivable. The only way to get away from the dilemma is that the universe has always been without a cause. According to Buddhist cosmology, the present universe is one among countless millions of cycles of rebirth (Big Bang) and death (Big Crunch). According to a reference source, the Buddha even gave an estimate of the age of a single universe-cycle of around 37,000 million years. Therefore, a Creator God was redundant in this scheme [4]. Cosmologically, this model of the universe is called oscillating model.

A scientific analysis about the oscillating model of the universe is beyond the scope of this article. Readers can find the scientific refutation of this model in the referenced book [5]. Currently, the universally acceptable model of the universe is that it has a beginning called Big Bang. Prior to the Big Bang, time and space did not exist. Although the Big Bang beginning might not be sufficient for a possible creator, someone might argue, it opens the possibility for this. If there is a Creator God, He must be transcendental, and is able to intervene to save human beings.

In conclusion, Buddha did not teach his followers to worship him. The concept of God the Creator does not exist in Buddhism. However, Buddha is still worshipped as God, who can save. Perhaps, this can be explained by a possible inner struggle between the mind and the heart that tears followers apart.

If your mind has not yet settled and been crystallized on Buddhism, and your heart is still yearning and searching for your destiny, please consider the Christian faith. The questions about who you are, where you came from, and where you are going to will be answered. Still, you would not be able to understand everything because God is so much greater than we are. (If we could understand everything about God, it would mean that God is less intelligent than we are.) But you will find yourself to be at peace with Him. You, who are subject to decay:

"...will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
Romans 8:21 NIV

Huy Anh Le

References

1- Buddhist Instruction Ministry, http://www.fundamentalbuddhism.com/buddhist.htm#FAQ00007
2- Graeme Lyall, "Buddhism - An Introduction," http://www.buddhistcouncil.org/buddh.htm
3- "BUDDHISM A Way of Life," http://www.londonbuddhistvihara.co.uk/buddhism.htm
4- The Buddhist Society of Western Australia, "What Is Buddhism?" http://www.enabling.org/ia/vipassana/Archive/B/BuddhistSocietyOfWesternA...
5- Steven Weinberg, The First Three Minutes, BasicBooks, p. 154 (1988)