Buddhist Creation?

[Capt. Haddock]

Hello, I've never participated in this particular forum.

I'm not a Buddhist, but I've always been interested in that faith.

Forgive my ignorance, but I wonder if Buddhism has a "creation story".

How was the world created according to Buddhists?

 

[Random]

Hello, I've never participated in this particular forum. I'm not a Buddhist, but I've always been interested in that faith. Forgive my ignorance, but I wonder if Buddhism has a "creation story". How was the world created according to Buddhists?

I hope you don't mind me answering, Cap.

Gautama Buddha refused to answer this question when his followers posed it. He did not consider it conducive to Enlightenment. As the legends tell it, all queries regarding the eternality or non-eternality of the Universe and many other related questions were met with silence.

Buddhism does make it clear though that there is no place in their metaphysical scheme for a Creator god. They neither worship nor attribute the present existential state of things to a Supreme Being of any sort: in fact, they reject the notion.

The Dalai Lama, perhaps the most authoritative modern figure in Buddhism, says he believes Science will answer the question of how the world and the Universe came into existence: he does not think spiritualists need invent answers to it.

Some Buddhists have attempted to postulate a beginning and end to the observable creation, but only in terms of karmic cause-and-effect dynamics: not fatedness or divine ordinance.

 

[koan]

Capt. Buddhism believes in time without begining. The cause of why we are here, is called dependent origination. The formular for this is called the 12 Nidanas or the 12 links of Conditioned Existance : with IGNORANCE as a condition, MENTAL FORMATIONS arise. with mental formations as condition, CONSCI0USNESS arises. With CONSCIOUSNESS as condition, NAME and FORM arise. With name and form as condition, SENSE GATES arises. With sense gates as condition, CONTACT arises. With contact as condition, FEELING arises. with feeling as condition, CRAVING arises. With craving as condition, CLINGING arises. With clinging as condition, BECOMING arises. With becoming as condition, BIRTH arises. With birth as condition, AGE and DYING, arise. This can also be decribed, as the Wheel of Life. I hope this has been of some help.

 

[Capt. Haddock]

Thanks for your replies.

Koan: I'm not sure I entirely follow you. If the universe is the result of ignorance and mental formations, does that mean that the universe doesn't exist in the physical sense, but only in our perceptions?

Are we living in "the matrix"?

 

[James the Persian]

Thanks for your replies.

Koan: I'm not sure I entirely follow you. If the universe is the result of ignorance and mental formations, does that mean that the universe doesn't exist in the physical sense, but only in our perceptions?

Are we living in "the matrix"?

Actually, that's not far off the mark. The universe is Maya, illusion. (I used to be Buddhist, so I hope the Buddhists here don't mind my answering).

James

 

[lilithu]

Thanks for your replies.

Koan: I'm not sure I entirely follow you. If the universe is the result of ignorance and mental formations, does that mean that the universe doesn't exist in the physical sense, but only in our perceptions?

Are we living in "the matrix"?

Do you remember the scene in the Matrix where the little boy is apparently bending a spoon with his mind? He explains the secret to Neo: "There is no spoon." The Matrix is full of references to Buddhism/Hinduism. (It's also full of references to Christianity. Neo becomes both Buddha and Christ.)

I loved koan's post. I'd just point out one thing in case it wasn't clear. That's an ontological explanation of the origins of the universe. Not so much an "in the beginning... a, b and c happened..." kind of explanation. What koan described is happening continually at every given moment.

And I wouldn't say that the universe doesn't exist in a physical sense. I'd say that we perceive the universe as something seperate from us because of this. In fact, our very awareness of self as an entity seperate from the universe is the result of this. (You can see that in the progression that koan lists.) The limitations that we perceive are the result of our having seperated ourselves from the universe.

 

[koan]

lilithu, I like your analagy to the Matrix, However I thought that generaly, it was a bit jumbled. I also read things into it, but then said to my self/non self, just relax and enjoy the movie

 

[lilithu]

lilithu, I like your analagy to the Matrix, However I thought that generaly, it was a bit jumbled. I also read things into it, but then said to my self/non self, just relax and enjoy the movie

Hi koan, namaste. The Matrix wasn't meant to be a Buddhist movie. It had Buddhist elements in it that were clearly intentionally written in by the brothers. But as I said it also had Christian elements, and others.

I loved the movie! One of my all time favorites. And I wasn't analyzing this stuff while I was watching. Well... the spoon reference was pretty hard to miss. But on seeing it again (and again) it became very clear to me that there are intentional religious elements and philosophical questions woven together into an entertaining story. It's a masterpeice.