Genesis – 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
I see the drama surrounding the debate of whether a God exists, whether Jesus Christ really performed miracles, if there truly is a deity that is concerned with our daily actions and thoughts. I do not get caught up in this play, to me there seems only ever to be a perpetuating cycle of convincing rational minds and raw artists of faith. Both able to paint the world either through fiction or observation and it does seem as though that they live together in harmony for the most part. Whilst the separation in opinion is clear, they all agree on the majority of things that pertain towards a peaceful society. If one chooses not to kill out of the fear that they might be sentences to eternal fire and hell and the other chooses the same on the foundation that they just think its not desirable for anyone, they see the consequences it has on not only the victim. The outcome is the same, no one is killed.
The drama surrounding their reasons why however seem to be nothing but a game to me. If God is real, if there is life after death, whether we were created by design. None of these concern me and maybe one day if one of these answers are proven then I will act from there and everyone will have to adjust accordingly. Although speculating this should go no further than that as it deserves no more time.
What I deem as important would be the idea of such creations and how those ideas affect us. To ponder on whether Jesus is real or if his words were truly his is none of my concern, let us assume the stories were all completely materialised, tell me what change really unfolds if this is true? I see few of great behavioural changes. Let us propose that Jesus is a man of fiction, a group of people conjured up his words, stories, parables and teachings were and currently are worth taking seriously. They created a man so convincing, so influential that his story has transcended throughout history, becoming the foundation for a society and for the most part of the wealthiest of the world. Authentic or not, the creation is parallel to the reality if it were so.
Lets suggest I created in these times, a story from my travels. I tell that once I was backpacking through some of the most dissolute villages of Congo and there was a man, so refined in character, attractive, fluent in English as well as his native tongue French. He extends to me his most grand teachings, every moment his word are understood I feel my brain learning, finding the aha’s with almost every moment. He cleans up my brain, telling me of its chaos and how to restructure it. His eyes dont sway from mine but I do not feel uncomfortable even as he continues to deconstruct my life. How could such a well mannered yet admirably adamant and sure person exist, how could he master the philosophy of approach? He tells me that not everyone absorbs his words yet he still has the patience to listen to them. He walks a middle path of the most resistance, not the least. He makes life harder but more rewarding and he seems to live out every virtue every philosopher philosophised. His understanding of science is unquestionable, he lives as a Homo Sapiens and sees himself as nothing superior. His final suggestions were that I spread his words to the world, all whilst expressing that he does not have the answer nor what is right, he only has a direction and that a direction must be chosen in order for us to not turn back to the beginning of time which is akin to death.
I then dedicate my life to passing on his words, influencing most that I speak to in the most positive fashion. His teachings travel, people speak of his existence, people search and people pray to come across him. The idea of this man spreads as an airborne virus, from mouth to mouth he travels. Soon the world is engulfed by this news of a man, a scientist and prophet. He can articulate himself profoundly as great as Jesus and cite and explain science as concise as Sam Harris.
I am then, as now known as his first western contact and his first English speaking student, summoned to speak publicly about my experience with him. Billions find a way to tune in to this speech that I am about to give. Some hope I will reveal his location, others rest on knees and expect to hear proof of a God, scientists wait with notepad expecting to be told the origin of the universe. All vary in their expectations, but what they all share is their curiosity and admiration of his character. He is seen as a man that should be respected. Even amongst the nihilists and strong sceptics, his words speak to them as he acknowledges them forthrightly as those that need to also be included despite their proclivity to isolation.
I stand by at the podium. The world is silent. It seems even though the Jungles and The Kingdom of animals takes a moment to anticipate what I have to say.
“People, I am here to tell you the most important words, straight from the words of the nameless Man himself. But first you must all look towards eachother, discuss everything that you know, not of this man, but of what he says. His character. Take on board those teachings, apply them and question them where you are unsure or disagree. Tell eachother now of those impacts, the consequences of knowing such things. I would assume that your life could be seen as better rather than worse from all this information. You have taken what is important from this because I have given only what is important. I have withdrawn the distraction of his reality from you to let you all see his words purely without having any rational expectation to come across him in the flesh, although some of you have still pondered on this, I have not alluded to his existence being of this world. I tell you now that he is not from this world, but neither is he from another… He does not exist in flesh.”
The world gasps in disgust and astonishment, most cry and fall to their knees and others turn their head to the sky for the affirmation of hope that they had just lost.
“The lessons, the teachings do not reside within his flesh, only in his idea. That is what you should take from this. Sleep, think, talk but do not shun me for your own illusion. That is your responsibility for having a taste for drama. Do not think that I think of you as lesser for this, but you must know that I made this lesson in order that you see your own distraction, let a distraction only be for entertainment in short duration. Do not link it to your identity. Take the words, the teachings and all those consequences that come from those. The drama of existence, our arrogant human proclivity to give importance to the information that truly seems to be the most insignificant. Fiction is important and it should not be confused with illusion, for the former is present in our lives for the sake of cooperation and illusion seeks to achieve the contrary. There is no community in illusion, it sways towards chaos if allowed the space to dance and convince others of its paradoxical existence.”
Now although this situation seems unlikely in these modern times, the significance transcends time as it applied through archaic times to present. Dare I say that it is the word of character that should be taken so seriously here, the character of god, the character of Jesus are what we should take to be of the most significance. I would not praise the organs and hair of any prophet as in that respect they are the same as animals in so far as that they all exist in flesh and that certainly isnt enough, as it should be spoken of, to gain respect and admiration.
To highlight the gravitation of a prophet or God having flesh, it does seem to be incredibly warming to entertain its possible truth. Its far more desirable to have a mother in flesh than one of just non material character. The attraction to flesh and what is physical is a natural point to fix ones eyes. However we should note that whilst we live in an objective world of material truths and a layered fiction, we should really choose our battles far more carefully. The existence of the objective world in its own right cannot be debated but yet we try to add the more unstable fiction into that objective world and then we have the consequences that I have alluded too. Drama that distracts us from the point in which is ought to be studied.
As Thich Nhat Hanh said, quoting words of Buddha – “My teachings are a finger pointing to the moon. Do not get caught in thinking that the finger is the moon. It is because of the finger that you can see the moon.”
To refer to the quotes of Genesis, it does not really have any importance whether there was a diabolical snake that could talk to these naked humans within the Garden of Eden that was created by a real God. Also, I do not seek to reform the words from their time to now, I do strongly believe that pre Darwinian people did take these words and ideas with great truthful conviction. It is also common to now make these stories symbolic to counter any modern critics once they draw attention to how legitimate a talking snake and God within the Garden of Eden could be.
Here I say, I do not care for either point. I take what is given, that means to take what is present and true, then I may or may not choose to apply those truths in a manner to my life which doesnt mix what is real from fictional as I know this might mix my reality in a fashion I cannot put together with any real certainty. So I look at the characters, the legends, teachings and stories of others to then apply them to my dual world of both objectivity and fiction. As those ideas that I can use to further my progression in life are the tools that ought to be used to navigate our realties, not to confuse it for reality itself be it true or not.
What is to be taken from these characters is to be spoken of separately, here I only attempt to highlight the circus which is clear when people propose impossible and misdirected questions in desperation for flesh. I suggest letting go of your taste for flesh when looking at character and focus on exactly what is so attractive about in the first place, the idea and how that helps you.
Green Dharma 