Posts tagged ‘religions’
It’s interesting that all myths both ancient and modern are built on the same three ideas: a myth of origin, a myth of the end of the world, and a myth that lifts up a religious group, saying they are special.
Myth of origin: a religious explanation of how people or clan began.
Myth of the end of the world: an explanation of why the life of a people or clan is finite and will end.
Myth of prestige: a way to show that people, tribe, or city is special and better than others – by saying that gods or divine forces helped create these people or a hero.
This idea comes from the work of Daniel Hook.
Under “myth of prestige” we can put all those ideas like “God is with us and because of this we will win” “we are the true believers,” “we are the chosen ones” – while everyone else is not.
This three-part idea works well not only for old religions but also for all kinds of modern religious and sectarian movements.
I also have this idea in my head that good and bad deeds influence your energy body, and you get angel wings or a beastly look (hooves, hairy legs, claws and fangs). And I swear I saw wings on ER medics. And I think that when a man with sins approaches such an angelic person, his demonic appearance manifests and can be seen… I just don’t understand why there are no angels in Asian cultures. There, saints (bodhisattvas) have multiple hands to help all in need, not wings. Maybe these hands are similar to wings..
Before I discovered Hinduism, I thought that it was the Buddha who introduced the ideas of karma and reincarnation. However, he actually took them from Hinduism. The Buddha himself contributed his own insights – that the root of suffering lies in desires, and by escaping from desires, one becomes happy. But here’s my question: is that even possible through an act of will? I mean, if you try to force yourself to “stop wanting,” aren’t you just suppressing that energy and ending up wanting it even more?
So the ideas of reincarnation and karma are eternal… they have existed and will continue to exist for as long as humanity itself exists, while the ancient teachings are merely the written records that have survived to our time.
And Buddhists and Hindus do think about monotheism. And monotheists think about reincarnation and karma.
What I mean is that we need to separate the eternal Dhamma (reincarnation and karma), which is universal, and the ideas introduced by the Buddha, which are essentially his personal vision.
AI English translation of Miguel de Unamuno‘s “La oración del ateo” (The Atheist’s Prayer)
Confucius’s fundamental idea was “ren\jin” 仁 – humanity, kindness. And its essence is that you need to think of others more than of yourself. This resonated with me, and I remembered the words of one christian monk: that you should do good without expecting gratitude from people, that you should do good not for the sake of thanks, but for God, and God\Karma will repay you.
