Hi Joe, The ancient religions and myths, or at least some of them, were important steps in man's understanding of reality. They were the best science of the day. And they are to be revered as important steps in humanity's development.
The problem is when they become self perpetuating political cultural organizations in the face of contradictory modern scientific knowledge. In the light of modern scientific evidence to the contrary their beliefs are clearly delusion. Relative to the present moment they are reduced to the status of children's fairy tales. Nevertheless these myths, or at least the positive ones, can still enhance our appreciation, awe and wonder at the world around us. They have value in that respect. So long as their clearly incorrect delusional aspects are recognized as such and not mistaken for reality that's fine. However Zen discards all such imagery and just cuts right through to raw reality itself... It discards all crutches! Edgar On Aug 30, 2012, at 7:06 PM, Joe wrote: > Edgar, > > Only from the point of view of a non-Nature, non-Religion? > > Pretty relativist, there. > > Just noticing! Not a criticism, believe me. But we can all do better, > ...eventually. > > Our ancestors are ones who showed us "a" way, if not "the" way. > > Hats off no matter to who(m), when. We'll take it from here, yes. Still, > homage to the old-timers, and thanks. They'd hate our practice, too. Neither > of us - old, new -- is right. > > Samadhi is still most important! No disagreement! > > --Joe > > > Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: > > > > Merle, > > > > Sure there are plenty of nature spirit religions. They are ALL delusions... > >
