Sergio zenere maisl016 are all religions the same

SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita SERGIO ZENERE

MAISL016 (Research in the Bhagawad Gita)

ISBN 978-1-387-44390-1

ESSAY

ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

Presented to

International Centre For Integral Studies

AUGUST 2015 Are All Religions The Same?

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INTRODUCTION

Are all religions the same? From Gandhi to the Dalai Lama; from partisans of existentialism to votaries of philosophia perennis, many seem to think that, indeed, religions are one. Professor of religious studies Prothero, author and advocate of religious literacy, thinks exactly the opposite. Both sides have a point to make, the present writer argues. In the end, the present writer hopes to support the claim that – just as the Hindu scripture Gita impels- all religions are indeed the same, but in a different way from what is commonly thought.

The truth lies within the vortex of the human mind that is essentially a storytelling machine:

Each night, a near-majority of the population -...-sits down to watch actors simulate situations which the producers devoutly hope millions of people will recognise. What does it matter whether we call it art or not ? Nightly, we expose ourselves to countless myths, both uniform and uniformed. -...- we rarely pause to ask ourselves not just whether the consumption of endless parallel narratives to our own is necessary, but what on earth we think we are doing when we indulge in it, or rather when we indulge in it to such extraordinary excess. People seem, in the twinkling of an eye, to have gone from finding everything in one book – the Bible, the Koran - to finding very little in very many. -...- Why fabulate ? Because if we do not, everyone else will. (Hare 2004, 1-7, emphasis added).

Which stories can truly be about everyone, if not stories that revolve around those elementary ideas (Hindu marga), petrified mythologies and obtuse allegories? Ethnic ideas

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(Hindu desi) then represent the facade people can grasp, and actually hold onto, which is what Prothero focuses on to argue religions are not the same. The present writer will not attempt to draw a clear line between religious and secular forms of storytelling precisely because “mythology is other peoples' religion”:

In general, all cultures have a therapeutic function, insofar as they are systems of symbolic integration-whether these systems be called religious, philosophical, ideological, or by any other name. (Rieff 2006:56).

After proposing the above, the present writer shall move next to a series of examples drawn from world religions of past and present vintage in order to show how different traditions make the same ethically supercharged philosophical points that -in turn- are possibly rooted in human mind's innately schizogenic operating system. A conclusion shall summarize the essay.

One of the most common misconceptions about the world’s religions is that they plumb the same depths, ask the same questions. They do not. Only religions that see God as all good ask how a good God can allow millions to die in tsunamis. Only religions that believe in souls ask whether your soul exists before you are born and what happens to it after you die. And only religions that think we have one soul ask after “the soul” in the singular. Every religion, however, asks after the human condition. Here we are in these human bodies.

What now? What next? What are we to become? (Prothero 2010:17).

The birth of theosophical orientalism coincided with a wave of interest

in the philosophia perennis, the primordial tradition supposedly underlying all the major religions of the world. -...- Both the emphasis on individual experience and the psychologizing defense of the belief in a philosophia perennis are, of course, profoundly resonant with the concerns of New Agers. Spokespersons of the New Age would soon claim transpersonal psychology as a part of the ongoing consciousness revolution. -...- Esoterically, they are all stations in the Are All Religions The Same?

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transmission of an ageless wisdom, a philosophia perennis that has been accessible to the initiates of all times and places. -...- The belief in a philosophia perennis presents those who would rely on such a strategy with a particular problem. How does one account for overt differences between religious traditions? A strategy more radical than either synonymization or pattern recognition is the wholesale denial that the most spiritually advanced adherents of a certain religion actually believe in the doctrines of that faith.

According to this strategy, most believers are caught up in a superficial, exoteric mode of belief. Those who have been initiated, whether by others or through their own insight, have reached an esoteric understanding. It is thus significant that one of the earliest exposĂŠs of theosophy is entitled Esoteric Buddhism. -...- Universalism becomes an effective remedy against doubt. If in the ultimate analysis, all religions are merely variations of a philosophia perennis, the differences between Hindu, Christian or Spiritist beliefs are simply details. The question whether present-day reincarnation beliefs, as set out in the latest texts, were actually created (or discovered) by Allan Kardec, Helena Blavatsky or some nameless Oriental sage becomes a matter of no great concern.(Hammer 2004: 62,72,170,173, 493).

I see all the gods in thy body, O God, -...-I see numberless arms and bellies and eyes and faces, I see thy infinite forms on every side, but I see not thy end nor thy middle nor thy beginning, O Lord of the universe, O Form universal‌ Thou art the supreme Immutable whom we have to know, thou art the high foundation and abode of the universe, thou art the imperishable guardian of the eternal laws, thou art the sempiternal soul of existence (Hindu Gita as Aurobindo translates it in MAISI014 no date:lecture 5:3).

Whatever form of Godhead any devotee wishes to worship with faith, in that very form do I confirm his unwavering faith (Krishna in the Gita, in MAISI015 no date: lecture 1:6).

A great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last (John Steinbeck).

When you see someone who has fallen on hard times, overwhelmed with hard times, you should conclude: 'We, too, have experienced just this sort of thing in the course of that long, long time.' (Gautama Buddha, Duggata Sutta).

When you see someone who is happy & well-provided in life, you should conclude: 'We, too, have experienced just this sort of thing in the course of that long, long time.' (Gautama Buddha, Sukhita Sutta).

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There is pity for the human sufferer – who is actually a counterpart, in this context, of oneself. (Campbell no date:no page).

Now I Aggivessana, am aware that when I am teaching Dhamma to companies consisting of many hundreds, each person thinks thus about me: ‘The recluse Gotama is teaching dhamma especially for me'” (Gautama Buddha, Mahasaccaka-sutta. M.1.249, emphasis added).

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SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita THE VORTEXES OF THE HUMAN MIND

Aurobindo explains:

every Scripture must necessarily contain two elements, one temporary, perishable, belonging to the ideas of the period and country in which it was produced, the other eternal and imperishable and applicable in all ages and countries (in MAISI014: unit 1:5). the life of Rama and Krishna belongs to the prehistoric past which has come down only in poetry and legend and may even be regarded as myths; but it is quite immaterial whether we regard them as myths or historical facts, because their permanent truth and value lie in their persistence as a spiritual form, presence, influence in the inner consciousness of the race and the life of the human soul. (in MAISI014: unit 4:6).

Mythology -hence religion- is a “Pictorial representation of psychic processes”1; “mythology is basically a system of analogies -...- and these analogies can begin working under symbols, and begin to tell you something about the bringing forth of the gold of your own spirit” 2;” Mythology is basically pictorial: it's visions; and the language is to elucidate the pictures, or to communicate a story of pictorial transformations”3;”Any image termed archetypal is immediately valued as universal, transhistorical, basically profound, generative, highly intentional and necessary ”4”;”the symbol works as an automatic button -...- an energy-releasing and directing image”5: 1 Jung, cit. in Angelo 1992:74.

2 Campbell&Toms 1988: vol. 3.

3 Campbell&Toms 1988:volume 1.

4 Archetypical Psychology Lecture 2007: no page.

5 Campbell 2002:Society And Symbol.

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SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita the origin of the mythological symbols is not pseudo-scientific, pseudo-historical -...- they [=mythological symbols] are not the consequences of observations; they are the consequence of observations misinterpreted through projections from the human psyche (Campbell 1972-2:The Function Of Mythology.).

This is what I call the pathology of mythology: when the appeal to the inward life is translated into a giving of credentials to this, that or the other group by interpreting the spiritual symbols historically (Campbell&Toms 1988:volume 1).

All the (mis)interpretation notwithstanding, religious -hence mythologicalimagery reflects the very idea of a generalized collective unconscious overarching humankind, and of localized manifestations comes back circularly:

Jung's idea of the "archetypes" is one of the leading theories, today, in the field of our subject. It is a development of the earlier theory of Adolf Bastian (1826-1905), who recognized, in the course of his extensive travels, the uniformity of what he termed the "elementary ideas" (Elementargedanke) of mankind.

Remarking also, however, that in the various provinces of human culture these ideas are differently articulated and elaborated, he coined the term "ethnic ideas" (Vรถlkergedanke) for the actual, local manifestations of the universal forms. Nowhere, he noted, are the "elementary ideas" to be found in a pure state, abstracted from the locally conditioned "ethnic ideas" through which they are substantialized; but rather, like the image of man himself, they are to be known only by way of the rich variety of their extremely interesting, frequently startling, yet always finally recognizable inflections in the panorama of human life.

(Campbell 1960:32, emphasis added).

The same myth may be taken as seriously as some Puritans took the story of Pilgrim's Progress, or played with as casually as the animated adventures of Godzilla and Kikaider (Goodman 1993:109).

Again, the shaking of fists, the gasping for breath, the feeling of oneness, the

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SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita heart-warming fallacies, shifting goalposts and multiple standards take center stage (=marga=elementary idea) irrespective of who or what are people supposedly at one with, shake fists at or gasp for breath about in that instance, place, historical period (=desi=ethnic ideas).

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IMAGES FROM THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS

If religious -hence mythological- imagery represents a garbled reflection of the collective unconscious, it ensues that religions are very much the same after all.

A couple cross-cultural examples may prove the point:

Fantasy and imagination is a product of the body. The energies that bring forth the fantasies derive from the organs of the body. -...-All of these different forces come into conflict within us. And the function of mythological imagery is to harmonize them, coordinate the energies of our body, so that we will live a harmonious and fruitful life in accord with our society (Campbell no date-1: no page).

Such allegories may be more or less explicit. Shiva as world teacher wears both a male and a female earring. Achilles, Tiresias, Thor, Hercules and Arjuna all served, dressed up as, turned into and/or lived in the garb of a woman.

More explicitly, Arjuna's garb was an eunuch's following a goddess' curse.

Seer Tiresias -possibly attested in Minoan culture at Knossos around the XIV century BCE- turned into a woman, then back into a man. Thor dressed up as a bride to impersonate Freya so that he might recover his hammer a giant had stolen while he was asleep: echoes of allegorical dismemberment.

Hercules had wounded Zeus' wife Hera; he had savagely murdered his wife, children, and his mentor Linus, much of which happened to Yoruba high god Ogun6. Both Ogun and Hercules would subsequently atone for their misdeeds. The 6

Very common mythological mytheme of transgression, trial and redemption. Yoruba god Ogun:�went into

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Jesus Sutras (VII to XI century CE) expound a mixture of Nestorian Christian, Confucian, Daoist, Mahayana Buddhist doctrines in Chinese milieus. The Nestorian

Stele (781 CE) celebrates the alleged establishment of Christianity all over China under the name of “the luminous [=solar connection] religion of the Roman Empire”.

Readers may notice the fire/solar connection 7 (=light), which was also present in the Amitabha Buddha religion, and earlier still in the characterization of Gautama Buddha (=”the lion (=solar symbol) of the Shakya clan”) and Jesus (“the lion of Judah” or “the chief corner stone”). Zoroastrian gods also have luminous faces that mortals cannot bear to behold. Gods and Saints the world over – and by extension powerful rulers- were often portrayed with a halo around their heads: the luminous face.

The Jewish apocryphal Book Of Enoch (III-I century BCE) also details Enoch's ascension to heaven. With god's favor, Enoch becomes like one of the angels. His face shines so bright he can't behold it. At the dawn of civilization, Hindu Rig Veda battle while under the influence of palm wine, and in a drunken rage slew friends and foes alike -...-Withdrawing to the surrounding hills, he spent his time beating swords into plowshares as a farmer (and/or a hunter). He did not give up alcohol, however, and neither do his devotees. In another version of the story, Ogun turned his sword on himself after he saw what he had done and then disappeared into the earth. ” (Prothero 2010:75).

7 A solar symbol. The lion is often associated with the sun. Vishnu and Parvati are often associated with the lion.

Hercules kills the divine Nemean lion to subsequently wear his skin (=solar connection) as an armor. Also, Hercules in his journeys might be construed as reenacting the sun's course. The Sun is also associated with the symbol of the pyramid (in religious and masonic lore the capstone is often used). Following biblical imagery, Jesus too is also likened to a lion (“Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." ” Revelations 5:5).

Jesus is also likened to a corner stone ( Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6, akrogoniaios in Greek), the symbol of the Sun by the proxy of the pyramid.

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SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita (XV century BCE or older) also claims brilliance and luminosity to be attributes of the gods who naturally shine like gold.

Ulysses' men slaughter cattle belonging to the Sun, thus attracting divine retribution (Odyssey XII:338ss). The imagery goes back to Hindu Vedas at the dawn of civilization, well before Homer, as Aurobindo explains:”This Seer-Will becomes the guardian of the illuminations of knowledge—herds of the Sun that graze in the pastures of life secure from the Sons of division and darkness, protected by the warrior force of the Will that knows.”8.

Already in 1880, British scholar J.E. Carpenter expressly recognized on which ground similarities between Gautama Buddha and Jesus could subsist:

That a life of self-devotion thus conceived and fulfilled should remind us almost at every stage of the life which we have hitherto regarded as the highest type of self-sacrifice, is not perhaps after all so remarkable. The needs and cares, the desires and fears of men, do not change from land to land, or from age to age (Cit. in Almond 1988:69).

The scope of the present essay does not allow to pursue this line of thought any further: the point in favor of the existence of the collective unconscious has hopefully been made.

8 Ghose 1995:361.

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SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita CONCLUSION

Are religions all the same? Prothero, a religious scholar and author, thinks they absolutely are not as he considers how at odd with one another the beliefs and practices of various religions are. Following a line of thought from the Gita, the present writer has tried to argue that religions are indeed all the same. In order to do so, the present writer has considered the divide between the elementary ideas that populate the collective unconscious (Hindu marga), and ethnic ideas (Hindu

desi) that vary across the hues of the manifold human experience.

Examples have been offered to suggest that the same imagery – such as solar connections- recurs in different religious milieus as a gage of what goes on behind the human mind's curtain. Religion draws on imagery that is a pictorial representation of psychic processes, in turn driven by the configuration of the human body that is the same for all, hence one might say that religions are the same.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Almond, P.C., 1988, The British Discovery Of Buddhism, Cambridge University Press.

Angelo, M.L., 1992, “Image Intelligence”, D.Phil thesis, University Of Sussex.

Archetypal Psychology Lecture, 2007, URL: http://pacificastudent.info/?page_id=257 (Accessed 17 January 2013).

Campbell, J., no date, Myths To Live By, URL: http://www.dgswilson.com/pdf/Myths%20to%20Live%20By.Joseph %20Campbell.Foreword%20by%20Johnson.1972.154p.pdf (Accessed 1 May 2011).

Campbell, J., no date-1, Understanding URL:http://www.yessaid.com/jc1.html (Accessed 19 March 2002).

Mythology,

Campbell, J., 1960, The Masks Of God (Primitive Mythology), Martin Secker&Warburg.

Campbell, J., 1972-2, World Mythology And The Individual Adventure , audio lectures, Big Sur Tapes.

Campbell, J., 2002, Man And Myth, audio lectures, HighBridge Company.

Campbell, J. & Toms, M., 1988, The Lost Teachings Of Joseph Campbell , audio interviews, Zygon International.

Ghose, A., 1995, Secret Of The Veda, Lotus Light Publications.

Goodman, L.E., 'Mythic Discourse', 1993, in Myths and Fictions, Biderman, S. & Scharfstein, B. (eds.), Brill.

Hammer, O., 2004, Claiming Knowledge, Brill.

Hare, D., 2004, 'Why Fabulate?', The 8th Philip Parsons Memorial Lecture , Currency House.

MAISI014 (The Crisis And The Query), no date, electronic materials, New Delhi: Are All Religions The Same?

SERGIO ZENERE (MAISL016) Research in the Bhagawad Gita International Center For Integral Studies.

MAISI015 (The Secret Of Deliverance),no date, electronic materials, New Delhi: International Center For Integral Studies.

Prothero, S., 2010, God Is Not One, HarperCollins Ebooks.

Rieff, P., 1966/2006, The Triumph Of The Therapeutic, ISI Books.

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