God in Buddhism

Buddhist thought consistently rejects the notion of a creator deity. It teaches the concept of gods, heavens and rebirths in its Saṃsāra (Buddhism) doctrine, but it considers none of these gods as a Creator. Buddhism posits that mundane deities such as Mahabrahma are misconstrued to be a Creator.

According to Buddhologist Richard Hayes, the early Buddhist Nikaya literature treats the question of the existence of (Creator) God "primarily from either an epistemological point of view or a moral point of view". The Buddha in these texts is portrayed not as a Creator-denying atheist and someone who claims to be able to prove such a God's nonexistence, but rather his focus is other teachers' claims that their teachings lead to the highest good.

Citing the Devadaha Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 101), Hayes states, "while the reader is left to conclude that it is attachment rather than God, actions in past lives, fate, type of birth or efforts in this life that is responsible for our experiences of sorrow, no systematic argument is given in an attempt to disprove the existence of God."

According to Peter Harvey, Buddhism assumes that the universe has no ultimate beginning to it, sees no need for a creator God. In the early texts of Buddhism, the nearest term to this concept is "Great Brahma" (MahaBrahma) such as in Digha Nikaya 1.18. However "[w]hile being kind and compassionate, none of the brahmās are world-creators."

According to Harvey, "[a]fter a long period, the three lowest form heavens appear, and a Streaming Radiance god dies and is reborn there as a Great Brahmā." Then "other Streaming Radiance gods die and happen to be reborn, due to their karma, as his ministers and retinue." The retinue erroneously believes Mahabrahma created them. When one of these ministers "eventually dies and is reborn as a human, he develops the power to remember his previous life, and consequently teaches that Great Brahmā is the eternal creator of all beings."

The 5th-century Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu argued that a creator's singular identity is incompatible with creating the world in his Abhidharmakosha.

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