Expert: Joe McSorley - 9/24/2009

Question
what is a buddhists beliefs on creation?

Answer
Dear Kylie,
Thank you for your question.  There is no creation myth in Buddhism.  The Buddhist idea is that the universe is ever coming into existence and ever going out of existence much like the idea of the Chinese yin-yang symbol.  Many religions have the philosophy that all things must have been created, thus there must be a creator, but this excuses the creator from having to have been created. If all things must have been created then the creator too must have been created. If the creator does not need to have been created then the universe does not have to have been created. In the Eastern paradigm creation and dissolution are mutually defining and inter-dependent.
  Take care,
       Joe