Myths to live by

[Michael LaTorra <mikel -at- ACCUGRAPH -dot- COM>]

Matt, you wrote:

> Just curious. Why are the Indian and Egyptian (ancient Egyptian, I assume)
> beliefs "mythologies" and Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity religions?

Simple. The religions are based upon the teachings of historical
persons, while the myths are based on non-historical (prehistorical?)
personsalities. This is certainly true of Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
and Buddhism. The case of Hinduism is more complicated, just as the
religion itself is, because this Indian religion includes the teachings
of real historical persons (e.g., Shankara, Ramakrishna) and mythical
ones (e.g., Ganesh, the elephant-headed god).

I once heard this joke about Buddha that has several levels of meaning:

  Buddha was exactly the same as everyone else, except that he
  realized it and they didn't.

Meaning? Buddha preached a philosophy of non-dualism ("the
same as everyone else") and Enlightenment ("he realized it...").
Or, if you dismiss all religions, you can interpret the above
as meaning he fooled everyone ("...but they didn't").


Live long & prosper,
Mike LaTorra

Documentation Supervisor
Accugraph Inc.
mikel -at- accugraph -dot- com
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The opinions expressed are my own, and not necessarily those of my
company -- but they probably should be.
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