Moderns tend to think of myth as a false story told in ancient times to explain the workings of the natural world before we had science. Most cultures have a foundation myth that explains and legitimizes the culture. It also serves as a warning, there be dragons here! In other words, foundation myths point to the line beyond which it is not healthy for reason to go. In Blog No. 57 I said:
Can any experience be trusted? Can only experience be trusted? Assume that there is more than our subjective reality, an objective reality; God’s reality as it were. How exactly could we know it? For that matter, how would any physical being know it except through experiencing it? In the end does this mean that we must trust to our humanity because we have no other choice?
Also, I pointed out in Blog Nos. 54 and 55 that we are essentially supernatural creatures. Taken together these observations point to the need for myth; not myth in the sense of simply being a false narrative to sooth our quite logical insecurities living as we do in this awesome place, but myth in the sense of something mysteriously truthful that can poetically help us understand our experience of life as a supernatural creature in a natural world. In other words, don’t think in terms of Athena being born from the forehead of Zeus, think of Homer or the Psalms.
This is an argument for the value of art in its broadest sense. Myths have been artfully created over time and throughout human history to explain our experience of existence in a material world because we are at the limits of our reason and sense perception. We feel these tools, sense perception and reason are lacking and that more is needed to express and explain to each other what we experience.
Christianity has provided the central myth of western man for two millennia, combining as it does Greek thought and Christian revelation. As such, it has provided a magnificent narrative about how we got here, how we became flawed in our materiality and how we can return to our true selves through love. Of course other major cultures have their central myths too. Plato discussed the need for a noble lie in the Republic. I disagree. We humans search for a noble truth that reflects our reality as supernatural creatures imbedded in a material existence.
“What is truth?” is of the course the famous question. As mentioned numerous times in this blog, the central problem is our limited capacity; “the truth” in its totality is too complex for us to grasp, so, given our limitations we can only understand shards of it. Religious belief of some kind is good because it acknowledges the supernatural nature of our experience and therefore incorporates more truth in its explanation of human reality than reason alone can provide. This is not to say that the form of belief isn’t important, because of course it is, but it is to say one must have faith first to have even a limited understanding of the truth. The Dali Lama once commented that westerners should remain Christian and not try to convert to Buddhism because Christianity is a beautiful version of the truth as western culture understands it. He was acknowledging that one should not try to step out of one’s culture because that cannot be done. We need true myths, but they must be completely a part of us to have the magical power they need to allow at least a little more light into our cave.
No. 58: The Necessity of True Myths
Moderns tend to think of myth as a false story told in ancient times to explain the workings of the natural world before we had science. Most cultures have a foundation myth that explains and legitimizes the culture. It also serves as a warning, there be dragons here! In other words, foundation myths point to the line beyond which it is not healthy for reason to go. In Blog No. 57 I said:
Can any experience be trusted? Can only experience be trusted? Assume that there is more than our subjective reality, an objective reality; God’s reality as it were. How exactly could we know it? For that matter, how would any physical being know it except through experiencing it? In the end does this mean that we must trust to our humanity because we have no other choice?
Also, I pointed out in Blog Nos. 54 and 55 that we are essentially supernatural creatures. Taken together these observations point to the need for myth; not myth in the sense of simply being a false narrative to sooth our quite logical insecurities living as we do in this awesome place, but myth in the sense of something mysteriously truthful that can poetically help us understand our experience of life as a supernatural creature in a natural world. In other words, don’t think in terms of Athena being born from the forehead of Zeus, think of Homer or the Psalms.
This is an argument for the value of art in its broadest sense. Myths have been artfully created over time and throughout human history to explain our experience of existence in a material world because we are at the limits of our reason and sense perception. We feel these tools, sense perception and reason are lacking and that more is needed to express and explain to each other what we experience.
Christianity has provided the central myth of western man for two millennia, combining as it does Greek thought and Christian revelation. As such, it has provided a magnificent narrative about how we got here, how we became flawed in our materiality and how we can return to our true selves through love. Of course other major cultures have their central myths too. Plato discussed the need for a noble lie in the Republic. I disagree. We humans search for a noble truth that reflects our reality as supernatural creatures imbedded in a material existence.
“What is truth?” is of the course the famous question. As mentioned numerous times in this blog, the central problem is our limited capacity; “the truth” in its totality is too complex for us to grasp, so, given our limitations we can only understand shards of it. Religious belief of some kind is good because it acknowledges the supernatural nature of our experience and therefore incorporates more truth in its explanation of human reality than reason alone can provide. This is not to say that the form of belief isn’t important, because of course it is, but it is to say one must have faith first to have even a limited understanding of the truth. The Dali Lama once commented that westerners should remain Christian and not try to convert to Buddhism because Christianity is a beautiful version of the truth as western culture understands it. He was acknowledging that one should not try to step out of one’s culture because that cannot be done. We need true myths, but they must be completely a part of us to have the magical power they need to allow at least a little more light into our cave.