The ancient Chinese believed the universe began inside a cosmic egg. In Japanese mythology, two gods, Izanagi and Izanami, stirred the oceans with a giant spear, forming the islands of Japan and, eventually, its people. There are countless more creation myths. Every culture has them. But I like to think that the Buddha understood the absurdity of speculating about the origin of life, when he reportedly said the following:
"Conjecture about the origin of the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness and vexation to anyone who conjectured about it."
I think he's right, because conjecture based on mythology can only bring madness, or delusion. He was a wise man to see that.
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