You appear to be suggesting that myth-making is useful in glimpsing something beyond. That may be true to an extent, however, the problem is that the glimpse that guides may be the glimpse that shapes what is seen, and what you end up with is largely a self-fulfilling prophecy and reification of traditional views.Grigoris wrote: ↑Sat May 19, 2018 7:06 pmOr it may lead to a suspension of disbelief that lasts long enough for a glimpse of something beyond rational mind (rationality is kind of overrated at times) that may lead to real change.boda wrote: ↑Sat May 19, 2018 6:42 pmThat might be true if we humans were rational beings, but we’re not. A person may fully know that a myth is symbolic and not literal, and nevertheless it may effect them in unexpected ways. Take Seeker’s apparent belief that zen masters are ninjas or whatever. Seems innocent enough, yet it may indicate a kind of guru worship that at best serves no useful purpose and at worst is dramatically counterproductive.
There is tonnes of stuff out there that rational mind cannot grasp and yet...
I had a kind of mini revelation the other day when reading the book How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/366 ... -your-mind). Much of the book explores psychedelics (entheogen) as they relate to spirituality. A claim is that entheogens have a 'depatterning' effect. There are theories that this depattenring effect may be useful in terms of survival and evolution and that may be why psilocybin mushrooms, for example, may contain psychedelic compounds. A characteristic effect of psychedelics is a temporary dissolution of self, as well as other classic mystic qualities. Not sure how close this is to what a Buddhist may try to attain in medication but it seems to be in the same ball park. Maybe not, but anyway, there has been a great deal of clinical work done with psychedelics and there's a lot of evidence that it can be very beneficial for treating addiction and anxiety disorders. In a more recent study with terminal cancer patients, it proved to greatly reduce or eliminate existential anxiety.
So my mini revelation was that an awakening experience, via meditation or entheogens, can be depatterning, and this depatterning is the basis of iconoclasm. Real iconoclasm in zen is expressed in kensho, or deep samadhi I suppose. It never made sense to me before that any religion could have an iconoclastic quality because if such a quality became characteristic it would merely be another ‘pattern’.
It seems that organized societies and institutions, even religiously based ones, are somewhat at odds with awakening. This is very unfortunate. Long live the disco inferno!