Ask HN: Was Douglas Adams a Buddhist?

1 points by fluxinflex ↗ HN
Hi There!

This might sound a little off the wall but I was wondering whether there has been any discussions about Douglas Adams' beliefs? Or did he admit to anything in his lifetime?

I have come to believe that Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy could be retitled to Hitchhikers Guide to Enlightenment! Hence I suspect that Adams had insights into Buddhism and perhaps even had enlightenment himself - I dunno.

Three examples that come to mind:

- the girl who finds an answer to the ultimate questsion in a cafe in Islington is Adams telling us that enlightenment can be found anywhere, you don't need to be a Buddhist in a monastery to achieve it.

- Marvin the paranoid android is Adams himself and when Marvin says: "here I am a mind the size of the Universe and what am I doing? Parking cars." This was a reference to Adams reaching enlightenment and all he's doing is writing books.

- The cow in the restaurant at the end of the universe wanting to be eaten is a reference to providing happiness to others to reach your own personal Nirvana, even if it means death.

If anyone has ideas/references/insides that would be great.

Cheers and thanks for reading this far!

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