I am with the grandchildren at the moment, so in between reading such fine works as "The Hungry Caterpillar" I squeeze in the occasional weightier tome, one of which has mentioned myth.
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| The Hungry Caterpillar |
I've often noticed this word "myth" being used and objected to when applied to certain stories in certain books. Anyway, the said weighty tome claimed that in our own time myth has, indeed, come to carry a negative meaning, i.e a fanciful story that only the credulous and ignorant might believe. It then went on to quote the view of an eminent Victorian, that religious myths are a "product of the childhood of the human race, arising out of the minds of a creature that has not yet learned to think in terms of strict cause and effect."
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| History or Myth? |
Yet, it continues, we are now "much more likely to understand Ananda Coomaraswamy's claim" that:-
Myth is the penultimate truth, of which all experience is the temporal reflection. The mythical narrative is of timeless and placeless validity, true nowhere and everywhere. Myth embodies the nearest approach to absolute truth that can be stated in words.
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| Ananda Coomaraswamy |
Just to offer a hint of my own position on the matter, as I see it the "meaning" of the story of Noah will not be much helped by making a trip to Mount Ararat looking for bits of wood from the ark.
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| Is this where we must begin our search for the meaning of the Biblical story of Noah? |
It seems to me that those who study all the various creation stories and suchlike found within world literature, seeking for the common themes, are more likely to stay in touch with reality than those who would see just one set of ancient stories as "history" pure and simple and all else as deviations from its truth. Not least because it creates the nonsensical thought that simply believing in one particular story - or set of stories - gains some sort of kudos with the Almighty. Or, worse, that believing in one particular story - or stories - is some sort of "gift of the spirit", even a sign of salvation; a claim I have had the misfortune to encounter more than once.
As I have been dipping into the works of Joseph Campbell lately, here are a couple of quotes from him concerning Myth:-
Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths
Myth is much more important and true than history. History is just journalism and you know how reliable that is
Obviously, Mr Campbell had a low view of journalism, but as far as the first quote, this of our dreams being private myths, I have to admit that my own "private myths" rarely seem to share the depth of those of, say, Jung. Once Jung had a dream of the Almighty dropping a large turd down upon a Cathedral. Such was "cathartic" to Jung.
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| A Cathedral, but no turd |
Others have spoken of dreams that I would say are profound, deep and thus significant. Alas, my own, those that I remember, often concern choosing a sausage roll from a Burger Bar, or ordering a pint in a tavern - not exactly the stuff of which "myths" are made of. There have been others, perhaps more significant, but no turds or cathedrals.
Anyway, I can't say that I'm drifting from my topic.......as there isn't one. But maybe to create a topic as I ramble along, I remember an observation of a teacher of Buddhist meditation who taught in a centre based in Europe. He stated that in question and answer sessions the students who shared a nationality would virtually also share the very same problems.
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| What is it we share? |
Thus it could be that cultural forms have much to say irrespective of whether or not we acknowledge it. We may well be "all the same beneath it all", but just how deep is that which we are beneath? Which drifts into "ego", "true self" and "false self", questions about the universal unconscious and other weighty matters.
After opening up that can of worms I will retire to say the Nembutsu and bring to mind once again:-
Whether I am falling to hell
Or bound for the Pure Land
I have no knowledge
All is left to Amida's Vow
"Namu-amida-butsu!"
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