Essay, Research Paper: Buddhism

The idea of evolution by Darwin indicated that the world is not created by God, but through some kind of modification. This controversial idea is strongly objected by most of the religions, such as Catholic, Christian, and Islam etc. These religions sturdily believe that God is the creator of the world, the creator of everything. However, to some extent, Buddhism does teach the similar theory to Darwin’s idea, which Buddhism does not include the idea of God. Also, like the way Darwin talks about “Natural Selection”, Buddhism says that if a person wants to have improvement, he or she must do the good things and undo the bad things. Therefore, as a Buddhist, the idea of evolution shown a positive affect on my beliefs, and it emphasizes and truly proves the teaching of Buddha in a scientific way.
My Grandmother is a Buddhist and she is very devout. I remembered since I was little, she starts telling me that the world is not created by God, and also in Buddhism there is no God or creator. She tells me that in Buddhism, Buddhists believe that the world is simply there, given. They also believe that after all these years of Karma, some kind of inevitable modification, everything in the world had improved or gone backward, depends on its good or bad life or in a reincarnation. When I was little, I did not fully believe in what my grandmother said and I thought she was too superstitious. Nevertheless, after I read Darwin’s idea of evolution, I realize that my grandmother was right, and so do the teaching of Buddha. Darwin’s idea of evolution shows that every creature in the world is actually gone through a stage of modification, but not the stage of creation by God. Therefore, I think this idea can be used to support the teaching of Buddha, which there is no God, and no one created the world.
Besides, I feel that the idea of Natural Selection is really similar to the teaching of Buddha. “This preservation of favorable variations and the rejection of injurious variation, I call Natural Selection” Darwin explained the definition of Natural Selection. It means that all creatures should keep the good things and destroy the bad things in order to survive in the world. Similarly, the teaching in Buddha also mentioned that people should do good things but not bad things. It is because Buddhists want to reach nirvana. “They believe that the existence they now enjoy was shaped by the soul in a previous existence…” Therefore, if Buddhists want to achieve nirvana, and have a better “next-life”, they must do something good to make their own Karma. Both idea/teaching show that in order to have a better life later, we should stay with the good things, and stay away from the bad things. This is the only way to help us improve, or otherwise, we will either be destroyed or suffered.
In conclusion, I personally think that the idea of evolution does not show any negative affects that go against my religion—Buddhism. On the other hand, it strengthens my beliefs in Buddhism. Without all the evidences and the scientific way of proving the world is not created by the God, I may not fully believe in the teaching of Buddha, which there is not God. But now with the study of science and the study of religious, both have said that the world is not created by God, I guess I will not doubt about whether or not the world is created by God anymore.


Word Count: 595