Kris, It's been a while since I read Campbell's The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, but what you said in your last post about Jesus sounds just like another story about archetypes and is, like you said, full of metaphors. Such stories are plentiful. That's not to demean them at all (The Power of Myth), but the story of Buddha is all I need, at least at this point. Guatama Siddharta might never have existed, it doesn't matter, but his story is a closer metaphor for the journey this miserable sinner is on. Thanks for your posts tho, I'm learning a lot more about the other side of Christianity compared to what is usually on offer.
Mike ________________________________ From: Kristopher Grey <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 6 August 2012, 16:59 Subject: Re: [Zen] Samadhi On 8/5/2012 4:30 PM, mike brown wrote: > ancient legends of virgin births are plentiful. "Virgin birth" a metaphor for what in Zen is often called Original mind/Buddha nature, without beginning or end - without cause and effect. Resurrection, a metaphor for awakening to/realizing this. (and to understand the symbolism of the cross, the cave, the death and rebirth - all purposefully borrowed and used - takes some understanding of far more ancient practices/traditions/stories that these point to. A retelling yes, as each culture does). All the fanciful historical mystical wrappings my delude the masses caught in their own thinking, but also offer clues, and cannot hide what is in plain sight. KG
