--- In [email protected], "Stu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > snip > > I'm suggesting that this focus extends to the myths that > > we revere, and that we should take some care about which > > ones we choose to focus on. > > Here is my myth: > > I believe that the mind is structured in language, which > effectively is saying this cultural phenomenon called myth > is part of our physiology. > We think in terms of stories.
Exactly. We tell them to others and we tell them to our selves, and unfortunately the selves tend to listen. :-) > Fortunately we have a pre-frontal lobe > that can be put to use for discerning facts from fiction. > Everyday we play a cosmic dance of between mythos and logos. Exactly the distinction I've been rapping about lately with regard to tales of power and the *intent* behind them. Richard Burton once did a cool thing. (This is not as total a non-sequitur as it seems...be patient.) A friend attended one of his stage performances of a play for which there were no props -- only a chair onstage -- and no costumes. After the play, the friend said, "I loved the part where you made everyone in the audience laugh." Burton said, "Oh? Did you like that? Come back tomorrow night and I'll make everyone in the audience cry on the same line." And the friend did. And Burton did. Same tale of power, different intent. Same mythos, different logos. > We live myths everyday. We are not subject only to classic > myths like the Vedas or Sisyphus. I just want to go on record as saying that I think you're contributing to creating a myth on television, and a very nice one, with a really clean intent. > For example I have been plagued with intestinal > problems as long as I remember. I have been treated by alternative > and conventional doctors. Each offering their mythology about what > was happening and how it should be treated. I know the placebo > effect is 60% effective in relieving intestinal problems. This > means both alternative and conventional medicine can not fully > tackle what is wrong with me. In the end I am left with having to > objectify this malady as best I can. I write down what I eat or > which pill I take and how it relieves symptoms. I keep my eyes > open for the next myth that may offer solace. This is Just Another Story, certainly not a myth, but if you haven't tried Chinese tonic herbs yet, since you live in L.A. you might look up the name of Ron Teeguarden. I had dyspepsia for many years, had grown so used to it that I didn't even mention it when I consulted with him about some other issues, and within a few days of taking the tonic herbs he suggested, the dyspepsia went away. As did the other issues I'd been more concerned about. It might help, might not, but I just thought I'd mention it. > Buddhism calls this action discernment. Fortunately, meditation > is an excellent exercise to strengthen discernment. I would say also that practicing discernment in one's daily life is an excellent exercise to strengthen meditation. > We learn that thoughts > come and go, they can be held before us for observation. This > is an important step to moving in the direction of understanding > the interlocking and important motion of mythos and logos. I like that -- "the interlocking and important motion of mythos and logos." It's another way of expressing the interaction of karma and free will. > It is an action > that is not intellectual or intuitive, it certainly does not > depend on feelings. But it does require mindfulness, clear > centered awareness. And it's fun to boot.
