Return of Darth Nazareth
Aug. 1st, 2010 02:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pasitheaA couple years ago, for fun and masochism, I made myself re-read the entire bible cover to cover.
In a nutshell: It's dull and really poorly edited (much like the geometry book I just reviewed)
One of the things that stuck out at the time was the part where I suddenly said, "DUDE! Jesus is a Sith Lord!"
See, there's this bit where Jesus decides he wants some figs but there are no figs on the fig tree so Jesus says, "If thou shalt not serve me, thou shalt WITHER AND DIE!" and then he casts out his hand and lightning flies from his fingers and the fig tree is smote.
Wicked cool visuals and sure, but still, pretty dick move. I like fig trees.
Flash forward to earlier this week. KTEH had a lovely HD program on Buddha, following the life of Siddhartha Gautama. Really a good program. I definitely recommend it. Anyhow... After the bowl of rice, he sits beneath the Bodhi tree and that is where he awakens and becomes the Buddha.
The Bodhi tree, of course is Ficus religiosa, a fig tree, and the fig tree fed the buddha during those first days.
In that context, the whole Darth Nazareth thing is even more interesting. The buddha awakens and finds peace and connects with the entire universe beneath the fig tree and the tree feeds him. Jesus on the other hand is not awakened. He is not the Buddha, and when he demands enlightenment and isn't given it, he kills the symbol of enlightenment.
When I read this story, it kind of stuck out as being a bit odd. Why is it in the new testament at all? "Look everybody! Our savior acts like an asshole to a tree! WoooOOOOooooo!!!!!! METAL!!!"
But in the context of the story of Buddha, I think it makes more sense. It's an allegory trying to say that Christianity is somehow better than Buddhism. Jesus doesn't NEED enlightenment! He's the motherfucking son of God! *ZAP*
Or maybe it's a joke. "If you meet the Buddha on the road... Kill him."
Still. Very sad. I've been investigating buddhism more seriously and... It seems like a comfortable place for an atheist. I'm still finding it interesting how closely Buddhism matches my internal whatever. I'm still hesitant to say that what I have constitutes enlightenment. It's very very hard to check this due to this filter known as ego but... Most everything the Buddha says is stuff that I find familiar. Roads I already tread in my mind. At every turn, I find I've mirrored the path of Gautama and gone the same way. Very interesting.
I am not fully awake. I can be for moments. I can even summon it if I take the time to properly focus and do it but... Really, what I've found isn't of value to anyone but me. The answer to everything is the question. Enlightenment doesn't give any mystical powers beyond the ability to enjoy hauling buckets of dirt up a hill. And there's really nothing I can say that hasn't already been said so... Generally there's not a lot of value in talking about it.
Anyhow, speaking of being awake, it's 3AM. Goodnight.
In a nutshell: It's dull and really poorly edited (much like the geometry book I just reviewed)
One of the things that stuck out at the time was the part where I suddenly said, "DUDE! Jesus is a Sith Lord!"
See, there's this bit where Jesus decides he wants some figs but there are no figs on the fig tree so Jesus says, "If thou shalt not serve me, thou shalt WITHER AND DIE!" and then he casts out his hand and lightning flies from his fingers and the fig tree is smote.
Wicked cool visuals and sure, but still, pretty dick move. I like fig trees.
Flash forward to earlier this week. KTEH had a lovely HD program on Buddha, following the life of Siddhartha Gautama. Really a good program. I definitely recommend it. Anyhow... After the bowl of rice, he sits beneath the Bodhi tree and that is where he awakens and becomes the Buddha.
The Bodhi tree, of course is Ficus religiosa, a fig tree, and the fig tree fed the buddha during those first days.
In that context, the whole Darth Nazareth thing is even more interesting. The buddha awakens and finds peace and connects with the entire universe beneath the fig tree and the tree feeds him. Jesus on the other hand is not awakened. He is not the Buddha, and when he demands enlightenment and isn't given it, he kills the symbol of enlightenment.
When I read this story, it kind of stuck out as being a bit odd. Why is it in the new testament at all? "Look everybody! Our savior acts like an asshole to a tree! WoooOOOOooooo!!!!!! METAL!!!"
But in the context of the story of Buddha, I think it makes more sense. It's an allegory trying to say that Christianity is somehow better than Buddhism. Jesus doesn't NEED enlightenment! He's the motherfucking son of God! *ZAP*
Or maybe it's a joke. "If you meet the Buddha on the road... Kill him."
Still. Very sad. I've been investigating buddhism more seriously and... It seems like a comfortable place for an atheist. I'm still finding it interesting how closely Buddhism matches my internal whatever. I'm still hesitant to say that what I have constitutes enlightenment. It's very very hard to check this due to this filter known as ego but... Most everything the Buddha says is stuff that I find familiar. Roads I already tread in my mind. At every turn, I find I've mirrored the path of Gautama and gone the same way. Very interesting.
I am not fully awake. I can be for moments. I can even summon it if I take the time to properly focus and do it but... Really, what I've found isn't of value to anyone but me. The answer to everything is the question. Enlightenment doesn't give any mystical powers beyond the ability to enjoy hauling buckets of dirt up a hill. And there's really nothing I can say that hasn't already been said so... Generally there's not a lot of value in talking about it.
Anyhow, speaking of being awake, it's 3AM. Goodnight.
