“Buddhism doesn't need a god. It's a practical path: see clearly, live ethically and free your mind. The Buddha said speculating about big metaphysical questions doesn't help.”

Learn their school first:
Theravada Buddhism (Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar) centres on the Buddha's teaching and meditation and is generally non-theistic. Mahayana and Vajrayana schools (East Asia, Tibet) honour many buddhas and bodhisattvas; Pure Land Buddhism relies on the vow of Amida Buddha. Many Western Buddhists mainly practise meditation. Ask before you answer.

The poisoned arrow, fairly:
In a well-known discourse (the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 63), the Buddha set aside questions such as whether the world is eternal. He compared the questioner to a man shot with a poisoned arrow who refuses treatment until he knows who shot it. The point about urgency is wise. But notice: the wounded man needs a surgeon, someone from outside who can do what he cannot do for himself.

The big questions remain:
The universe had a beginning, and "since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen" (Romans 1:20). Karma describes a moral order that matches deeds with fitting results. A moral law that fits the moral quality of actions looks like the work of a moral Lawgiver, not an accident.

The problem is deeper than suffering:
Scripture says our deepest problem is not only suffering or ignorance but sin against a personal, holy God: a broken relationship. A broken relationship needs forgiveness, not only insight, and only a person can forgive.

Jesus is the Physician:
"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick" (Mark 2:17). He doesn't only show the way; He says, "I am the way" (John 14:6). And God promises to be found: "you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).