Though Buddhists don’t place as much importance on creation stories as many
other religions do, they have developed an intricate explanation for the origin
of the world and the nature of existence. This explanation tackles everything
from how the world was created to the ultimate goal of human existence.
Origin of the World
Unlike many religions, Buddhism does not teach that an all-powerful god
created the universe and now rules over it. Instead, the world we know now is
the product of an endless cycle of creation and destruction. In the Buddhist
view, the universe is infinite in terms of both time and space, and the
universe is created and then destroyed over and over again, in a process of
natural evolution. Each time the world is formed, human civilization begins,
gradually progressing until we have a world similar to the one that now exists.
It may continue like this for centuries or millennia, until the next
destruction. Then, all beings are reborn in the World of Radiance, a heavenly
realm where they live a blissful existence. Eventually, though, this heavenly realm
begins to evolve, and a lower heaven called the World of Brahma is created. At
first, the World of Brahma is empty, until some being from the World of
Radiance is reborn into this new realm. After living there alone for some time,
this being begins to long for company, and gradually other beings from the
World of Radiance join him in the World of Brahma. Eventually one of the beings
from the World of Brahma is reborn on Earth, and the process begins again,
until this earthly plane has evolved into a complex, complicated civilization
that will exist for many years until the next destruction.