namaste,
well student, there are probably other people on here more versed in buddhism as myself, however, i assume that u would like many points of view and therefore, i will give u mine and u can use them as u will...
how do u define god and his attributes? well, in buddhism there is no one god. there are the god realms within the 6 main realms of existance. there are many other realms, i think 32 to be exact, but i may be off by a few. different gods have different attributes, but none of them are permanent. they all suffer and all eventually die. however, the life of a god typically has less sufferring and is typically longer than other beings lives.
do u believe in religious experiences... wel, yes, i personally do believe that religion in general is an experience, as well as all things. i have had a few very personal experiences with my religion. they are called 'insights' which means having a realization about an aspect of the buddhas teachings or about the true nature of reality. i have had a few, with my most recent one being an insight on the interbeing of all things. i was sitting reading a book, and suddenly i was hit with this beautiful realization and it was so astonishing that i literally started crying out of joy. i sat there for a long time, just looking at the world with this new realization and everything was so beautiful. it was very nice. but, thats my experience.
do u believe there is evil in the world... well, myself personally, i dont believe there is some evil force or something that lives within us or something. everyone has the capacity for evil doings, as well as the fact that everyone has the capacity for loving kiindness and enlightenment. we are all born with seeds or anger, hatred, ill will, love, sympathy, and enlightenment, as well as others, within our conciousness. it just depends on us as to which ones we want to develope to its fullest. and as far as why does evil exist, that would be because we all havent acheived enlightenment yet and we all have to make a concious effort for change, but we cant force our beliefs and values on others as well.
what is the afterlife like... well, it depends on which afterlife u are talking about. the 6 main realms of rebirth are: hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, demi-god, and god. there are many websites about the differences within the realms that i can give u, if u would like them, feel free to message me on here and i will gladly give u the links. im sure that someone will probably give u a link to one of the great websites like buddhanet or one like it.
have u tired googling buddhism? there are many great websites on buddhism, however it really depends on what school of buddhism that u are researching, because they all have a rather different approach to the dharma (the teachings of the buddha). do u know which school u are interested in? the three main schools are (and please excuse my mispellings) theravadin, mahayana, and vajrayana. if u have any specific questions? that may be a bit more helpful than trying to tell u all about buddhism when im not sure what u want to know about it. what is the thesis of the paper that u are writing? that may help me understand what approach u are taking.
be well in peace
