The Buddha was not concerned with affirming or denying any kind of God. What the Buddha constantly taught was for the purpose of helping people understand suffering, cut off the causes of suffering, realize the cessation of suffering, and follow the path to the cessation of suffering. Anything within the six worlds of transmigration, including the heavenly realms where gods of varying degrees of sublimity reside, was still within the purview of suffering and its causes. While union with God is looked upon as a worthy and attainable goal, it is not the final goal, for it is still involved in the impermanent flow of causes and conditions. Only the unconditioned peace of nirvāṇa can provide true peace according to the Buddha.