CIA Agent Stan Marsh can be a bit of a control freak. Here, he puts a gun to God's head to get his way. And God laughs...then shoots Stan in the head because that's just the kind of god he is, all vengeful and full of love (American Dad, "Rapture's Delight").
Before Genesis
The origin of the belief in a Creator God
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| I am the Great Supremo, Almighty creator, Brahma |
When this happens, beings have mostly been
reborn [due to their previous skillful karma, their wholesome deeds] in the World of Radiance (ābhassara deva loka), and there they dwell made
of mind and feeding on joy, emitting light from themselves,
traversing the air, continuing in glory (streaming radiance). They remain this way for a long period of time.
Now, there comes a time, meditators, when, sooner or later, this
world-system begins to re-evolve. When this happens the
Palace of the Supreme (Brahmā-loka) appears, but it is empty. And some [high-born] being
or other, either because its* span of years has passed or its
merit [the store of karma that allowed it to live there] is exhausted, falls from the World of Radiance and reappears [is reborn, comes to life] in the Palace of the Supreme.
- [*Brahmas do not undergo sexual dimorphism and therefore are neither male nor female, as is true of all beings above the level of brahmas, but may be said to be androgynous, encompassing or capable of encompassing characteristics of either gender.]
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| So this God is the be-all end-all? |
Now there arises in this being, from dwelling alone there so long, a dissatisfaction and a longing: "O, would that other
beings might come to join me in this place!”
- [NOTE: Buddhism is not atheistic but ultimately nontheistic, with many polytheistic overtones. There is not just one God but many gods (brahmas and devas), none of whom are the actual ultimate creator or first cause. Because time and universes happen in cycles, evolving and devolving, there could be an alpha and omega of sorts, but it isn't real or ultimate because there are higher-born beings than that. A brahma sees to the extent of its plane of existence and not hire, where it cannot access. So it is not omniscient nor omnipotent and either is not aware of the other "Gods" or is willfully ignorant so as to not have to ponder how they came to be there.]
And, just then,
either because their span of years had passed or their merit was exhausted, other beings fall from the World of
Radiance and appear in the Palace of the Supreme as
companions, who in all respects are like it.
- There are many heavenly worlds (sagga, deva-lokas) and many Gods (brahmas) and gods (devas) among the general 31 Planes of Existence. There are countless individual worlds categorized into these general planes. See Buddhist cosmology.
On this happening, meditators, the one who was first reborn there thinks to
itself:
“I am Brahmā [the Supreme], the Great Brahmā, the Supreme One,
the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All [the Universe], the
Maker, the Creator, the Chief of All, appointing to each its place, the Ancient of Days, the Father of All who are and are ever to be. These other beings are of my creation. Why is
that so? A while ago I thought, 'Would that they might
come!’ And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings
came!”
Moreover, those beings themselves also think: “This must be
Brahmā, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler,
the Lord of All, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of All,
appointing to each its place, the Ancient of Days, the Father
of All who are and ever are to be. And we must have been created
by this being. Why? It is because, as we see, it was this being who was
here first, and we came after.”
On this, meditators, the one who first came into existence [on that plane] is of longer life and more glorious [brighter, streaming more radiance], and more powerful than
those who appeared afterward.
And it might well be, meditators,
that some being on falling from that state, should come
here. And having come here, he might go forth from the
household life into the left-home life. And having become a wandering ascetic he, by reason of ardor, persistent exertion, consistent application, earnestness, and careful thought [balanced effort] reaches such rapture of heart [piti born of meditative absorption called jhana] that, rapt in heart, he calls to mind his past life (his last
dwelling-place) but not the ones prior to that.
God didn't really create the world out of nothing?
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| Buddhism and the God-Idea |
This, meditators, is the first state of things on account of which,
starting out from which, some wandering ascetics and Brahmin priests, being
Eternalists as to some things and Non-Eternalists as to
others, maintain that the soul [self, atta, atman] and the world are partly
eternal and partly not.
- Seth MacFarlane, American Dad; Long Discourses of the Buddha (DN 1), "The All-Embracing Net of Views," Dīgha Nikāya 1, Brahmajāla Sutta, translated by Prof. Rhys Davids and edited by Dhr. Seven (Dec. 2024), from Ven. Nyanaponika (formerly Mr. Siegmund Feniger) Wheel #47: Buddhism and the God-Idea: Selected Texts, 1962 (Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka) for Wisdom Quarterly
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