What does Buddhism say about how everything came to be?

Buddhism has no "creation myth", thus adherents have no need to even consider this question. The universe simply is...

For a buddhist to engage in an examination of the beginnings of the universe, he would be merely exercising an intellectual pursuit, not a philosophical or "religious" one.

Now that, indeed, was what I thought.

Then, on a Buddhist education and discussion site, I happened upon references to how the universe came to be.

And....?

And....it mentioned the belief system in passing, as one its audience would know...but there was definitely a theory of creation going on in there.


It is a Tibetan Buddhism site...and I know Tibet combined much of its pre Buddhist beliefs with Buddhism, so perhaps this is part of this cross fertilization.


So, anybody know anything?

memory is weak but I do remember a concept from buddhism in which the universe was chaos that began changing into order sans divinity.

Buddhist philosophy is evolutionary. Buddha taught that all things are impermanent, constantly arising, becoming, changing and fading. Nothing exists 'from its own side' or by reference to its own essence (see sunyata). Buddhist philosophers rejected the Platonic mechanism of production from 'ideal forms' as being the fallacy of 'production from inherently existent other'. To the Buddhist the idea of the species does not correspond to any inherent reality, but is merely a concept that the mind imputes over interbreeding groups of plants and animals with similar characteristics (and the majority of their genes in common). The boundary between one species and another is not necessarily clear cut, either in terms of changes in the course of the fossil record, or of hybridising populations at the present day.

ie. It's the only religion that has got it together.

I recently had dinner with a buddhist lady. She put it very succinctly. "We don't believe in miracles".

Does the culture, technology, political systems, level of freedom, etc produced by the predominantly Buddhist countries impress you? It doesn't impress me.

Japan is a Buddhist nation

Saying Japan is a Buddhist nation is akin to saying America is a Christian nation...both are false.

As opposed to the fascist sh!t pile that is the US? Get real.

real life

I am not a Buddhist but it seems to me that "nationhood" would be considered even more illusary and impermanent than anything else.

lani, Make your point rather than generalizations that Japan is not a buddhist nation or the US is not a christian nation.

Although most Japanese in Japan are shintoists, Japan is not considered one religion over another since most practice both shintoism and buddhism on a regular basis. Have you ever visited Japan? Most of the temples are buddhist temples - not shinto, and most were built during the 8th and 9th centuries as buddhist temples. Please clarify for us why Japan is not a buddhist nation?

It was not a generalization and what I said was exactly my point. Perhaps I shouldn't be so succinct next time....



How does the proportion of Shinto to Buddhist temples in Japan relate to whether or not Japan is a Buddhist nation? Also, how can Japan be a "Buddhist nation" when, as you state, most Japanese are shintoists?



Japan is not governed according to religious law; its government and laws are secular in nature. The people of Japan are free to practice whatever religion (or none at all) they so desire. Japan is ranked at or very near the top of secular countries in the world. As a matter of fact, most Japanese are not very religious at all and although they may subscribe to one religion or another and make use of their temples for weddings, funerals and other special occasions, religion generally does not play a significant role in their daily lives. A little research will bear this out. Or, if you have a large circle of Japanese nationals as friends, you might ask them.

What the majority of the populace believes in any religion in a secular country doesn't influence the majority's beliefs. That the root of Japan's religion was based on shintoism does not mean most Japanese "practice" shintoism. The majority practice both shintoism and buddhism. Most go to buddhist temples to pray simply because there are more buddhist temples in Japan. If "practice" is any indication of a country's religion, it's buddhism hands down. It's only when you begin to ask the Japanese where we learn that the Japanese doesn't favor one over the other. There is no line drawn where shintosim ends and buddhism begins.

According to US polls, about 80 percent are christians. We can assume that this is a "christian" nation validated by the majority. To say that the US is not a christian nation is blind to the obvious facts.

Trying to argue about "secular" countries as proof that one or another country is not a buddhist or christian nation is ignorance of the highest order.

Wrong....making ad hominem attacks to bolster an argument while perhaps not "ignorance of the highest order" is unsavory and unecessary.

In any event, whether or not Japan is a Buddhist nation has nothing to do with the original question posed: "What does Buddhism say about how everything came to be?"

Fascist...... ......? That's news to me!!

I assume you have been locked in a basement your whole life or....?

lani wrote:
Saying Japan is a Buddhist nation is akin to saying America is a Christian nation...both are false.

If you don't like challenges, don't make general statements you can't support.

I didn't call you ignorant, but if the shoe fits...