God as Creator

Asian Traditions

When looking at India, for example, amid all the conflicting interpretations one could read into the Vedas, there is little to support the idea of God as a creator from nothing. Among the many speculations is the admission that maybe even the gods do not know, because they emerged after the universe derived its form. The closest parallel to the word creation is the Sanskrit word Srisbti, or “projection.” So when it is said that God created things out of nothing, it is meant that the universe is a projection of God, with the extra understanding that the universe creates itself and falls back into itself, in endless cycles, for all time. Other understandings have this projection as a never-ending process of God realizing himself in the universe.

It is also true that no god in the Hindu pantheon was credited with Creation. Brahma is given such an age that even talk of creating the universe seems a paltry exercise. Hinduism divides time into cycles, called kalpas. One kalpa consists of 1,000 cycles of 4,320,000 years, which are made up of 12,000 divine years, each of which lasts 360 solar years. And for Brahma one kalpa equals one day.

Another trend in Indian philosophy known as the Kalavada derives its name from kala, which originally meant “right moment” but came to mean “time” itself. Kala was used in that sense in the Sanskrit writings, where it took on the mantle of being a fundamental principle of the universe and that existed before all other things. It may be that Kali, one of the avatars of Shiva, is also derived from kala. Kali (“the Black One”) is, like time, merciless.

In China there is the tale of Pangu (P'an-Ku in the old spelling) who is the child of yin and yang and who fashioned the cosmos out of the primeval chaos. But he is not a deity to be worshiped, and neither is he credited with actually creating the universe. Then there is the celestial spirit Tai Sui, who presides over the structure of the year. He is, in fact, president of the Celestial Ministry of Time, a prestigious and highly feared office. Tai Sui was venerated as the deity able to influence human destiny. Astrologers were kept busy analyzing dates for auspicious signs that a new project would meet with Tai Sui's approval. The Yuan dynasty (1280–1368) began the practice of sacrificing to Tai Sui before any momentous project was undertaken.

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