Buddhism FAQ

Buddhism posits no eternal creator God, yet its cosmos is full of gods who are themselves unenlightened — and Mahāyāna adds devotional Buddha-figures.

No — the Buddha was a human being who awakened, not a god or creator. Mahāyāna, though, understands his nature as far more than an ordinary man.

Reincarnation implies a soul passing intact between bodies; Buddhist rebirth is a conditioned continuity with no permanent self transmigrating.

The Five Precepts are five training rules lay Buddhists undertake voluntarily: no killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying or intoxicants.

Buddhism teaches rebirth, not annihilation: karma shapes the next life after death, unless one reaches nirvana. Traditions differ on the journey between lives.

Karma in Buddhism is intentional action: the Buddha defined it as cetanā (intention), an ethical principle, not fate or punishment.

Nirvana (nibbāna) is the extinguishing of greed, hatred and delusion — not a heaven, and not the annihilation of a self. Here is what it actually means.