Karma? Why atheism with Ricky Gervais

(Felepa) Atheist comedians, Part 1: A variety of comedians go on about religions oppression

Ricky Gervais: Why I'm an Atheist

By Ricky Gervais, Wall Street Journal via Dan Pizarro

"You can't say that!" - "You can."

Ricky Gervais is the writer and star of HBO's Ricky Gervais Out of England 2: The Stand-Up Special (website: rickygervais.com).

"Why don't you believe in God?" I get that question all the time. I always try to give a sensitive, reasoned answer. This is usually awkward, time consuming, and pointless.

Buddhism and the God-Idea

People who believe in God don't need proof of his [her, its] existence, and they certainly don't want evidence to the contrary. They are happy with their belief. They even say things like, "It's true to me" and "It's faith."

I still give my logical answer because I feel that not being honest would be patronizing and impolite. It is ironic, therefore, that to say, "I don't believe in God because there is absolutely no scientific evidence for his existence" or "from what I've heard, the very definition is a logical impossibility in this known universe" comes across as both patronizing and impolite. More

Stand up comedian Ricky Gervais: I am WOKE now! - I'll be a humanist, a hedonist, a materialist

For those who care about this sort of thing, here is a link (wsj.com) to an essay by British standup comedian Ricky Gervais about his reasons for being an atheist and how he deals with it in a world that is predominately hostile towards his lack of belief. His views also happen to be my own (Dan Piraro).

Buddhism is non-theistic, not atheistic

All of them seem convincing. I won't believe any

What's the difference? Well, a theist thinks he knows there is a God. An atheist thinks he knows there isn't. An agnostic doesn't know, isn't sure, or is afraid to say/decide, whereas a nontheist knows and says that whether there is a God or not, what has that to do with my enlightenment, my awakening, my liberation (salvation, emancipation, deliverance) from ignorance, craving, hatred, fear, suffering, and rebirth? The disappointment/pain I experience comes about as the results of my deeds (actions of mind, speech, and body), my views, words, and conduct. If there is a God that's still true. I can see it as true. If there is no God that's still true. I can see that for myself, reflecting in my own life along the lines of the Buddha's discourse called the Kalama Sutta.

Why did the Buddha have so many followers?

Now, people think the Kalama Sutra says, "Think whatever you want, and don't believe whatever you don't want." That's not what it says at all. Keep reading. The Kalamas didn't know how to decide which spiritual teacher or teaching (doctrine) was right. They all sounded good and said the others were wrong. When the Buddha came to teach, they first questioned him about this problem of not knowing who or what to believe since they all sounded good and had a point. So the Buddha taught them in such a way that it did not depend on him or his authority, reasoning, charisma, or anything else but their own experience. He asked them the question, Can you see from your own experience that greed, hatred, and delusion arise in a person for their own harm, the harm of others, and the harm of society? Or how is it? In the same way, the same question may be asked in reverse: Can you see from your own experience that nongreed (letting go), nonhatred (love, compassion, joy in others' joy, unbiased calm), nondelusion (wisdom, knowing, clarity) arise in a person for their own benefit, the benefit of others, and the benefit of society? The Kalamas could see that, not as a belief or blind faith in this or that teacher but from their own personal experience in life. If you can see that, then maybe you can see that bringing about the end of greed. hatred, and delusion is good and a teaching (doctrine or Dharma) that does that is of benefit and maybe something you'd like to learn. They did. So the Buddha taught them without reference to books, authorities, teachers, views, or biases. They were amazed. This made sense. This made sense because they could see that it was true from their own observations and experiences not someone else's.

The Buddha was not a teacher of God, not a prophet or disciple of God. He was a teacher of Karma, an advocate of the right understanding that things happen to us because of our deeds, life after life. What happens to us in any existence is intimately wrapped up in our deeds of body, speech, and mind (the views, opinions, preferences, and biases we hold). "Karma: It's everywhere you're going to be."

Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi on Karma as "God"? - The founder of Hindu-ism is Adi Shankara

who did not invent the Eternal Way of Life (Sanatan Dharma), Vedas, yoga but turned made the ism

• Could Christians mean impersonal Karma when they speak of a personal God alive in the world? "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows [whatever deeds one does], that will one also reap [experience the result of]" (Christian Bible, Galatians 6:7, biblehub.com).
• Deeds (karma, actions) are like seeds (things we sow) capable of maturing (vipaka, ripening) and bearing much fruit (phala, results). This impersonal karma process is unfailing, all-knowing, all-seeing, as the Abrahamic "God" is said to be.
• Better translations? Amplified Bible: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt, nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a [person] sows, this and this only is what [that person] will reap." Christian Standard Bible: "Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows [one] will also reap," Contemporary English Version: "You cannot fool God, so don't make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant." GOD'S WORD® Translation: "Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you'll harvest [as a result of having planted it]." Good News Translation: "Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap [in return] exactly what you plant."

• COMICS: Dan Piraro's Bizarro on religion
• Ricky Gervais on science, Ricky Gervais (blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy, Dec. 19, 2010) via cartoonist Dan Piraro ("Holiday Message," BizarroBlog);Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly