At the time of the Buddha, there were two opposite extreme views on the origination of life. One was eternalism or the belief that life was created by a supreme being that shape our lives, and our actions would be judged by the being. The other view was nihilism that believed that there was no deeper meaning to life and there was no relationship between action and result. Contrary to these two views, the Buddha expounded the Twelve links of Dependent Origination or The Twelve-linked Chain of Causation, which described how existence and suffering came about and in turn how it can be ended.

In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha states the Twelve-Linked Chain of Causation as: "ignorance causes action, action causes consciousness, consciousness causes name and form, name and form cause the six sense organs, the six sense organs cause contact, contact causes sensation, sensation causes desire, desire causes attachment, attachment causes existence, existence causes birth, birth causes old age and death, worry and grief, suffering and anguish. If ignorance is wiped out, then action will be wiped out. If action is wiped out, then consciousness will be wiped out. If consciousness is wiped out, then name and form will be wiped out. If name and form are wiped out, then the six sense organs will be wiped out. If the six sense organs are wiped out, then contact will be wiped out. If contact is wiped out, then sensation will be wiped out. If sensation is wiped out, then desire will be wiped out. If desire is wiped out then, attachment will be wiped out. If attachment is wiped out, then old age, worry and grief, suffering and anguish will be wiped out."

1. Ignorance
2. Action
3. Consciousness
4. Name and Form
5. Sense Organs
6. Contact
7. Sensation
8. Desire
9. Attachment
10. Existence
11. Birth
12. Old Age, Death, Suffering

So the origination of all life and suffering is ignorance, more specifically the ignorance of self. And it is only with the eradication of the ignorance that one can find relief from the suffering of birth and death. When asked what was the origin of life, the Buddha replied "Without cognizable beginning is the Samsara (recurrent wandering). The earliest of beings who, obstructed by ignorance and fettered by craving, and wander and fare on, is not to be perceived." The life stream flows ad infinitum, as long as it is fed with the muddy waters of ignorance and craving. When these two are completely cut off, then the life stream ceases to flow and rebirth ends.*

Therefore, whereas science might say that life originated from the chance meeting of organic compounds in ancient heat vents after the formation of the earth, and many religions say that life was created by a supreme being, Buddhism says that life originated from ignorant thinking. Therefore, rather that the being creating the thought, it is the thought that creates the being. Since thought precedes action, it makes sense that thought would come before action in the twelve links. Remember when Buddhists speak of actions, it is always volitional actions.  Since the thoughts producing actions are misguided, the actions will likewise be faulty, which leads one down the road to bad karma and suffering.  
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"There is no creator or created;
They only arise from habitual conceptions
How can we know this so?
Because other than this naught is."
                                                                 ~The Buddha