Is Buddhism an Atheistic Religion?

Is Budhhism an atheistic religion?
History of Buddhism
One of the most important religions in Asia, Buddhism was pioneered by Siddhartha
Gautama in the 6th century B.C.E. While this religion has different forms, its main inspiration
is derived from the teachings of Gautama, also known as Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha’s
experiences in life and his teaching, i.e. dharma paved the way for this new religion. Buddha
was born to a king and queen and it was predicted at the time of his birth that he would one
day renounce the material life. To prevent this, his father brought him up amidst luxuries.
However, one day when he was travelling on a chariot he came to experience the three forms
of human suffering which are old age, illness and death. While comparing these experiences
with his own life, he realized that all his pleasures are only temporary and they can only mask
human suffering. Realising this truth, he left his wife and new born son, Rahul and left for
forest to live a life of renunciation. However, when he realized staying hungry also adds to
suffering, he ate food and sat under a tree to meditate. It is believed that after six months of
meditation, he achieved Nirvana which means he got the answers of the root cause of human
suffering and how to get released from such suffering1. Religion and God or deity based
religion mainly has the purpose to end all suffering of people. Human beings of any
civilization search for some peace and relief from worshipping deities and idols. The main
essence of religion is therefore to bless the followers with happiness and eradicate their
sufferings. In this sense Buddhism has incorporated all the devotional elements of a religion
and it does not really oppose to the existence of a God in a form or shape. But it resents any
kind of belief in an external supreme power. So the paper argues that Buddhism is an
atheistic religion.
1 The origins of Buddhism. Asiasociety, n.d. retrieved from:
https://asiasociety.org/education/origins-buddhism

For the next forty years he travelled on foot across central India to teach his findings
that were both profound and enlightening. His teachings and explanations formed the
Buddhist doctrine that was both spiritual and psychological and also provided practical
answers to all the sufferings of human beings. This doctrine began to pass on to many
generations in the hands of unbroken lineages of teachers. Buddhism religion consists mainly
of these teachers and their followers2. According to Buddha, there are five skandhas – body,
feelings, perceptions, impulses and emotions, and consciousness.3 Now all these components
can work together to relieve human beings from their sufferings just like their belief in a deity
or God does. So once again the essence of godly cannot be denied by the religion. Yet this
God lies within us and not outside ourselves. So God determines some kind of external power
which people can look up to. Buddhism want to make the followers self dependent and
generate wisdom within themselves so that every time they can find answers within
themselves instead of going to prayer to some Supreme Being for turning their lives around.
Buddhism: an atheistic religion
Atheism essentially means non-believer of God or in the non-believer of any Supreme
Power who have created the Universe. According to a scientific atheist, science is related to
the physical world while spirituality, i.e. religion is a misconception formed by the physical
brain4. Lord Buddha did not want to believe in such power and his faith manifested in moral
values and beliefs. He believed and preached the existence of moral and spiritual values and
denied the worship of any Supreme Power. Buddhism can be described as atheistic religion
because of Buddha’s denial of “the existence of an eternal omnipotent God or God-head who
is the creator and ordainer of the world”5. However, for Buddha the true meaning of atheism
2 Kohn, Sherab Chodzin. A short history of Buddhism, tricycle, 2008 retrieved from:
https://tricycle.org/magazine/a-short-history-of-buddhism/
3 Conze, Edward. Buddhism: its essence and development, Courier Corporation, 2012
4 Atkins, Peter. "Atheism and science." In The Oxford handbook of religion and science. 2006.
5 Maha Thera, D. Is Buddhism atheistic? Budsas, n.d. retrieved from:
https://www.budsas.org/ebud/whatbudbeliev/128.htm

is different from the conventional definition of the term. While, conventionally atheism is
associated with material happiness and renouncement of God as creator the same is not
believed by Buddha. He believed that the true happiness for human beings do not exist in this
material world nor does it exist in any supernatural world that is coined as Heaven or divine
world. Lord Buddha believed that happiness can be found in a state that surpasses the
material world and that can be attained by Nirvana. However, he does not distinguish
between the world that is now and here and the world that is beyond. He has taught his
followers that the spiritual values are deeply rooted in our current world and can be achieved
only when one can reach the peak of realization of one’s existence6.
According to the Buddha there is no Supreme Power or God that exists to protect
mankind. It is the inherent fear of man that urges him to believe in such power and ingrains in
us religious impulses. Therefore, according to Lord Buddha the need is to get a grip on our
fears and this can be done not by expecting some power to come and rescue us from our
suffering but to understand the true meaning of things and accept those things. The concept of
Buddhism is often culture based which means in many cultures the religion is associated with
local gods. In these cultures, it is believed that these gods have adopted Buddhism and are its
reflections. In many place, one deity is given the responsibility of particular temple or place
of devotions. However, unlike eternal Gods of other religions these gods are not eternal but
are transitional and go through the process of life and death just like human beings do7.
Buddhist tradition does not really discard the existence of a creator. However the
religion does not talk about who actually created the universe. The purpose of the lessons of
the religion is to release people from suffering from both material and immaterial objects. So
who created the universe are of little relevance the preachers of this religion. So, one may say
that Buddhism did not come out of the idea of any God or any kind of idol worship. If for the
6 Batchelor, Stephen. Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Random House, 2010
7 BBC. Atheist Buddhism. BBC, 2017 retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/buddhistatheism.shtml