Many religions have perspectives on the theory of evolution, including the degree of compatibility that evolution can have with their respective faith. Furthermore, many contend that the concepts of divine creation and evolution are mutually exclusive beliefs. Buddhism is distinctive in that it does not necessarily mandate the belief in a creator god, nor does it traditionally advocate or disparage belief in evolution. Buddhist cosmology traditionally does incorporate the notion that higher planes of existence (lokas) are real, and a being can, driven by extremely good karma, transmigrate between the human and higher planes. However, these beings are not associated with the creation of the universe or of human life. This article is about evolution in biology. ... God is the divine being that created the omniverse. ... Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. ... For other uses of the word plane, see plane. ... In metaphysics and esoteric cosmology, a plane of existence (sometimes called simply a plane, dimension, vibrating plane, or an inner, invisible, spiritual, or supraphysical world) is a theoretical region of space and/or consciousness beyond the known physical universe, or the region containing the universe itself. ... Karma (Sanskrit karman) or Kamma (Pāli) means action or doing; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma. ... Transmigration can has several meanings: Transmigration of the soul is a common term for reincarnation. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Since Buddhists do not believe in the existence of a supreme god or creator of the universe, a common question asked of Buddhism (both by new converts to the religion and to those seeking debate with followers) is "How does the universe come to be, if not by the will of god?" The debate usually relies upon Buddhist literature, the vast majority of which predates the modern theory of evolution.

Aggañña Sutta

The Buddha typically retained a pointed silence in regard to these sorts of questions, so much so that at one point he was directly asked how the universe and life came to be and simply refused to answer. This refusal to answer should not be interpreted to imply ignorance-- there were competing theories at the time which the Buddha had undoubtedly heard of. Rather, this non-response is usually understood to mean that the question is irrelevant to Buddhist theory. One does not need to know the origin of life, nor agree with Buddha's position on scientific topics, in order to become awakened.

Put another way, Buddhism is not an overly metaphysical religion. It is more oriented toward phenomenology rather than metaphysics, which has contributed to some questions as to whether Buddhism should be regarded as a religion at all. Buddhism can not be regarded as existentialism either since nothing can be proven to exist according to the teachings. And it can not be regarded as nihilism since nothing can be proven not to exist. Buddhism falls into a category by itself. Plato and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome). ... This article is about the philosophical movement. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement that deals with human existence. ... Nihilism is a philosophical position, often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche. ...

However, there is one scripture in which the Buddha does appear to give a highly detailed answer to this issue. This is the Aggañña Sutta, found in the Pali Canon, in which the Buddha, speaking to the monk Vasettha, a former Brahmin, states the following: Aggañña Sutta is the 27th Sutta of Digha Nikaya collections. ... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. ... A Brahmin (anglicised from the Sanskrit word IAST ; Devanagari ), also known as Vipra, Dvija, Dvijottama (best of the Dvijas), (god on Earth) is a member of an upper caste within Hindu society. ...

"There comes a time, Vasettha, when, after the lapse of a long, long period, this world died. And when this happens, beings have mostly been reborn into the Realm of Radiance [as devas]; and there they dwell, made of mind, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, traversing the air, continuing in glory; and thus they remain for a long, long period of time. There comes also a time, Vasettha, when sooner or later this world begins to re-evolve. When this happens, beings who had deceased from the World of Radiance usually come to life as humans...now at that time, all had become one world of water, dark, and of darkness that maketh blind. No moon nor sun appeared, no stars were seen, nor constellations, neither was night manifest nor day, neither months nor half-months, neither years nor seasons, neither female nor male. Beings were reckoned just as beings only. And to those beings, Vasettha, sooner or later after a long time, earth with its savours was spread out in the waters, even as a scum forms on the surface of boiled milky rice that is cooling, so did the earth appear."

Because the Buddha seems to present a model of cosmology wherein the universe expands and contracts over extremely long periods of time, this description has been found by some to be consistent with the expanding universe model and Big Bang. The Buddha seems to be saying here that the universe expands outward, reaches a stabilising point, and then reverts its motion back toward a central point resulting in its destruction, this process again to be repeated infinitely. Throughout this expanding and contracting process, the objects found within the universe undergo periods of development and change over a long stretch of time, according to the environment in which they find themselves. Following this passage above, the Buddha goes on to say that the "beings" he described in this paragraph become attached to an earthlike planet, get reborn there, and remain there for the duration of the life. As a consequence of this, physical characteristics change and evolutionary changes takes place. This is often interpreted as a very rough theory of evolution. Furthermore, the Aggañña Sutta presents water as pre-existent to earthlike planets, with the planet forming with water and the life moving from the water onto the earth. Buddha does not talk about a specific earth, but about earthlike planets in general. Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the universe according to the canonical Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. ... This article is about Buddhist deities. ... Accelerating universe is a term for the idea that our universe is undergoing divergent rapid expansion. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ...

The Aggañña Sutta is often regarded with great reverance for an apparent theory about cosmology which predated similar theories in western science by well over two thousand years.

Additional views

It would be rash to conclude that what the Buddha is saying in the Aggañña Sutta is in complete agreement with scientific evolution. The Buddha also says that the reason beings are attracted to the earth is because it tasted good to them and they enjoyed eating the substance. This should be seen as attachment to likes and dislikes in former lives which result in the rebirth at specific locations according to the impressions mind has gathered in the past lives.

Because of some rather strange details found in the sutta, and more importantly because the sutta is quite long and overall is not about the creation of the world at all, some have interpreted this account to not be a literal description of the creation of the world and the process of life. Some scholars and practitioners believe that the Buddha is speaking metaphorically about the nature of attachment, and is thus giving a teaching about how the mind forms attachments to material things and objects of awareness, thus causing suffering. On the other hand, some scholars, such as Richard Gombrich, argue that the entire sutra was intended as a parody of contemporary Hindu metaphysics, and therefore it should not be interpreted literally. Such interpretations are supported by the fact that there is no apparent reason why the Buddha would describe the creation of the world to Vasettha yet remain pointedly silent on the same question when it was directed to him at another time.

This is often not accounted for by those who interpret the Aggañña Sutta to contain a theory of evolution, but it is an issue: if the Buddha regards the answer as meaningless, why would he give a teaching on it? And if he does not regard the answer as meaningless, why did he not provide it to another person who asked? One of the answers could be that he gave the teaching to people who had a very fixed idea of the existence of the universe or tried to explain the creation seen on a relative level. Buddha recognized the world as a relative phenomenon, but ultimately saw it as none existing and as a part of minds infinite cycle of creations.

Buddhist theory ultimately states that everything is mind. The infinite recreation of the universe is connected with the idea that the universe is real and substantial. In Buddhism there is no duality with an object and an observer. This is explained in more details in the Dzogchen and Mahamudra tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Mahamudra bases some of its teachings on the Indian philosopher Nagarjuna and his Madhyamaka teachings. Fully understanding Madhyamaka removes the reason to be interested in the creation of the universe. This article refers to the primordial state as considered in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. ... Mahamudra (Sanskrit: great seal or great symbol) or Chagchen (Wylie: phyag-chen) (Tibetan) is a method of direct introduction to the nature of Mind (or Buddha-nature) and the practice of stabilizing the accompanying transcendental realization. ... A statue depicting Nagarjuna at the Samye Ling Monastery, Dumfriesshire, Scotland Nāgārjuna (నాగార్జున in Telugu, 龍樹 in Chinese) (c. ... Madhyamaka is a Buddhist philosophical tradition that asserts that all phenomena are empty of self-nature or essence (Sanskrit: Svabhāva), that they have no intrinsic, independent reality apart from the causes and conditions from which they arise. ...

Modern Buddhism

Aside from scriptural study, since no major principles of their religion contradict it, most Buddhists tacitly accept the theory of evolution. As Buddhism does not concern itself with these kinds of issues, many Buddhists also do not think about these kinds of questions as particularly meaningful or helpful from a religious perspective since the Buddha said that the only reality is perceived reality.

The Buddha argued that there is no apparent rational necessity for the existence of a creator god because everything ultimately is created by mind. There is no direct experience involved and no rational necessity. Belief in a creator is not essential to a religion based on phenomenology. Since belief in a creator is not necessary, a particular theory about life and the cause of the universe is also not necessary. Some of Buddhas famous last words were "Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All conditioned things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Try to accomplish your own liberation with dilligence". By this the Buddha meant that no one should believe a single word of what he had told them. They should go out into the world and experience it. This article is about the philosophical movement. ...

Ultimately, then, Buddhism is quite comfortable accepting the theory of evolution and modern scientific theories about the formation of the universe. This can be argued either from an interpretation of the Agañña Sutta favoring the notion that it is a theory of evolution (though this can be difficult to sustain), or from the above standpoint that it simply does not matter. This article is about evolution in biology. ... According to the Big Bang, the universe emerged from an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ...

External links

• Diamondway Buddhism
• An Analysis of Madhyamaka Particle Physics
• Nagarjuna (c. 150-250) at The International Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Agganna Sutta Translation