@poemblaze @robfwtx @MLClark I'm just happy to see people sharing what they believe. Believing in something can be a wonderful thing. I'm not of the Judeo-Christian faiths but there is much in common with early Christianity and Buddhism. A similar birth story too, interestingly. Mysticism from early parts of both faiths share much. I'm Theravadin (a tradition of Buddhism) which is one of oldest Buddhist traditions and pretty conservative (small C) and scripture based. xx
Thanks for sharing, Florence!
I'd caution against using the term "Judeo-Christian", which is upheld by a lot of nasty anti-Semitic Christians to erase the thriving existence of Judaism and its peoples. "Abrahamic faiths" covers Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in a much less dangerous manner.
Have you come across the discourse suggesting the figure behind Biblical Christ might have spent his missing years wandering and learning from Indian mystics, among others?
@MLClark there's a story somewhere in the Avatamsaka sutra about a king's compassionate son who offers to take on the punishment that his irate father is about to inflict on the population for some wrong or other. it's been awhile since i read that😵💫. it struck me then how close the message is to the Christian. Jesus as bodhisattva.
@MLClark very good point! but he WAS a god, so he's got superpowers. like the elf in LOTR who gets hung by his wrist for eons on the outside of a stone tower for daring to counter Sauron/Melkor. or Sisyphus.
the ideal, at which human intention may aim, but never match in heroism. although Camus did challenge us to imagine Sisyphus happy.
@MLClark actually, that's the problem with making Jesus a god. it actually lessens the impact of his sacrifice.
@holon42 I have spent much of my life imagining Sisyphus happy. :) Glad to have a fellow traveler in the wackiness and wonder of all our broader mythologies.
@MLClark someone posted a youtube solution to that when i me it awhile back. the answer was that struggle gives meaning to life, so long as you continue to confront the task with imagination and determination, the task itself is meaningful.
@holon42 Well put, Holon42. And I sorely appreciate the smile your comment gave me. :) Hope you're having a good one!
@MLClark to you also🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 the struggle is easier when shared with a smile.
@holon42 For me, I read the myth of Prometheus waaaaay too young not to think that his was a far more exemplary story of sacrifice. He creates a people, he loves his people dearly, he tries to protect his people against the fickleness and cruelty of the other gods, he steals fire for his people, and he allows himself to be cruelly punished by the other gods for it, that his creation may thrive.
Supremely badass mythmaking there.
But the other stories are neat, too!