The view of mankind in Buddhism

In Buddhism, the world begins with... well, what? There is actually no beginning. In other religions they believe in a god who created the world. Buddhists don't.

No one can have created the world in the beginning. Because there is no beginning and there is no end. Time doesn't move in a straight line. Everything is a cycle going round, round. Just like humans.

Humans are born, live, die, and are reborn again. Rebirth - reincarnation - is not a Buddhist invention. According to Hinduism it's the soul - the atma - that is reborn. But Buddha doesn't believe in atma. Instead he speaks of a non-soul, or a 'non-I': the anatma.

By anatma, Buddha means that there is nothing that is permanent, there is no "I". Remember when you were six years old? You thought and felt differently from how you do now. And almost all the atoms and cells in your body have been replaced since then. So, if the way of thinking has been changed and the body has been changed, what's left?

Can you even say that you are the same person now as you were when you were six? If it is like Buddha says, that there is no I, nor a soul, what is being reborn? Let's take a candle, and light another candle from that. Is this flame then, the same as the first one? Or is it a completely new flame?

Even if these flames are two different ones, the first flame does lead to the other. In the same way Buddha means that one life leads to another one - without any "I" coming with it. It's how you have lived your life that affects the next one. It's the consequences of your actions - the Karma - that moves on. Like a flame from one candle to another.

According to Buddha. Life is suffering. But humans are still lucky. It's much better to be reborn as a human, than as an animal. Because as a human it's possible to get out of the cycle - Samsara - by reaching Nirvana - where all desires are blown out.

The Hindu also wants to be free of Samsara, but in a different way. They want the Atma to become one with The World Soul - Brahman. Buddha does not believe in any world soul. No god has created the world. And no god is able to help humans in getting out of the Samsara cycle.

Humans need to achieve this on their own. It's hard, but everyone has equal opportunities to succeed in this, regardless of whether you're rich or poor. This differs a lot from the Hindu view of humanity in Buddha's time. At this time the people in India are divided into different classes of society - castes - that one is born into. The priests belong to the highest caste.

They also have fairer skin - which is believed to be good. Lowest in this society are the outcasts - the untouchables. Which caste one is born into depends on karma. If you are an outcast you have only yourself to blame - you have behaved badly in a previous life. Buddha criticises the caste system.

It's not birth that makes you a good person or an untouchable - he says - it's your actions. Women don't belong to castes - they hold a very low position in this society. Buddha hesitates. Should he allow women into the Sangha? Eventually he does.

Women may become nuns. Now everyone - regardless of caste, skin colour or gender - may start their journey towards Nirvana. In Buddhism, the world begins with... ... but we've already seen this? Oh, right, the Buddhist world neither starts nor ends.

But now the film has reached its end.