Good Question Good Answer

All religions have myths and stories which attempt to answer this question. In ancient times such myths were adequate but in the 21^st century, in the age of physics, astronomy and geology, such myths have been superseded by scientific fact. Science has explained the origin of the universe without recourse to the god-idea.

It is interesting that the Buddha’s explanation of the origin of the universe corresponds very closely to the scientific view. In the Aganna Sutta, the Buddha described the universe being destroyed and then re-evolving into its present form over a period of countless millions of years. The first life formed on the surface of the water and again, over countless millions of years, evolved from simple into complex organisms. All these processes were, he said, without beginning or end, and are set in motion by natural causes.

There are many people who believe that miracles are proof of existence of some sort of god. We hear wild claims that a healing has taken place, but we never seem to get independent testimony of this from a medical office or a doctor. We hear second-hand reports that someone was miraculously saved from disaster, but we never seem to get eye-witness accounts of what is supposed to have happened. We hear rumors that prayer straightened a diseased body or strengthened a withered limb, but we never see X-rays or get comments from doctors or nurses to prove these rumors. Wild claims, second-hand reports and hearsay are no substitute for solid evidence, and solid evidence of miracles is very rare.

However, unusual and unexplained things sometimes do happen. But our inability to explain such things does not prove the existence of gods. It only proves that our knowledge is as yet incomplete. Before the development of modern medicine, when people didn’t know what caused sickness, they believed that God or the gods sent diseases as a punishment. Now we know what causes such things and when we get sick we take medicine. In time, when our knowledge of the world is more complete, we may find out what causes unexplained phenomena, just as we can now understand what causes disease.

Not so. There was a time when everyone believed that the Earth was flat, but they were all wrong. The number of people who believe in an idea is no measure of the truth or falsehood of that idea. The only way we can tell whether an idea is true or not is by looking at the facts and examining the evidence.

Unfortunately this idea breaks down as soon as you look at the other side of nature - leprosy bacteria, cancer cells, parasitic worms, blood-sucking insects and plague rats. Why would a higher intelligence design things that cause so much misery and suffering? Then stop to consider how many people die or are injured in earthquakes, droughts, floods and tsunamis. If there really is a loving creator, why does he create such things or allow them to happen?

People who believe in a supreme being think that that they are being helped or protected. But actually they are not. The comfort and confidence they might feel has come from their belief, their mind, not from anything a deity has done for them. There is no evidence that people who believe in a supreme being have less accidents, live longer, have lower rates of cancer, do better in the exams, are richer or are different in any other way from people who do not believe. A jumbo jet can carry 600 passengers. If one crashes, as occasionally happens, all 600 people die, those who believe in divine help and those who do not.

All of us have the psychological resources and the intelligence to deal with the difficulties of life. We should try to develop and strengthen these resources rather than rely on pleasing but unfounded beliefs.

We do not believe in a god because we believe in humanity. We believe that each human being is precious and important, that all have the potential to develop into a Buddha – a perfected human being. We believe that human beings can outgrow ignorance and irrationality and see things as they really are. We believe that hatred, anger, spite and jealousy can be replaced by love, patience, generosity and kindness. We believe that all this is within the grasp of each person if they make the effort, guided and supported by their fellow Buddhists and inspired by the example of the Buddha. As the Buddha says:

‘By oneself is evil done, is one defiled.

By oneself is good done, is one purified.

Good and evil depends on oneself.

No one can purify another.’ Dhp.165