乾县铁佛寺移动版

The third reason the Buddha did not believe in a god is because he felt that the belief was not necessary. Some claim that the belief in a god is necessary in order to explain the origin on the universe. But science has very convincingly explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the god-idea. Some claim that belief in god is necessary to have a happy, meaningful life.   But again we can see that this is not so. There are millions of atheists and free-thinkers, not to mention many Buddhists, who live useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a god. Some claim that belief in God’s power is necessary because humans, being weak, do not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence indicates the opposite.  One  often  hears  of  people  who  have  overcome  great  disabilities  and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties, through their own inner resources, their own efforts and without belief in a god. Some claim that God is necessary in order to

give  salvation.  But  this  argument  only  holds  good  if  you  accept  the  theological concept of salvation, and Buddhists do not accept such a concept.

Based on  his own  experience, the  Buddha  saw that each  human  being  has  the capacity  to  purify  the   mind,  develop   infinite  love  and  compassion  and   perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding.

QUESTION: But if there are no gods how did the universe get here?

ANSWER:  All  religions  have  myths  and  stories  which  attempt  to  answer  this question. In ancient times such myths were adequate but in the 21st  century, in the age  of  physics,  astronomy  and  geology,  such  myths  have  been  superseded  by scientific fact.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.

QUESTION: What does the Buddha say about the origin of the universe?

ANSWER: 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.

QUESTION: You say there is no evidence for the existence of a god but what about miracles?

ANSWER: 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. (责任编辑：admin)