An approach to comparative religion

The closest approximation to the truth is guided by mythological narratives. Behind beliefs, history, language, culture, and the activity of people, we shape our lives through our collective memory of myths. Mythology has aided in our explanation of the world experienced around us and how the world becomes us through personal narratives. The word myth can represent true or false beliefs, but that is not the point behind the symbolic narrative, it is how we interpret our experience and define the myth's meaning in our felt subjectivity. Myths are an analytical tool that appreciates over time and exposure, our most known teachings reified, allowing us to peak further behind the illusions in our daily lives and offer a way of living with our suffering. Religion is built on myths, science is built on myths, society is built on myths, relationships are built on myths, reality itself is built on myths. Treating myths, not as authority, but as a foundational dialectic for understanding Self and meta-narratives is an approach to extracting meaning from the myths around. This module can be a helpful tool to reflect on your personal experience with religion, good and bad, and to witness levels of inquiry which you can compare to your journey and explore.

Understanding religious experience from a critical perspective of religious myths helps with meaning making in a society that prioritizes material acquisition over spiritual wellbeing. What we experience during our initial, but highly impressionable religious education is heavily colored with bias, often ignorant and intolerant of outside influence, and a lack of metaphysical connection to transcendence. What we commonly refer to as Eastern traditions is a Western label stuck on a wide range of people, culture, language, history, and their beliefs. Eastern traditions are often contrasted with the big three Abrahamic religions, serving as a modern religious lineage throughout Europe and West Asia. This label frequently excludes Indigenous and Folk traditions that existed throughout history and later assimilated to colonial conversions to Christianity (as opposed to dawah) or systematically erased over time due to invasion, occupation, or genocide.

The aim of this lesson is to introduce a perspective of analysis for religious myths. The absence of a 'mythological' connection within ourselves to the world around leads to Self (with a capital S)-underdevelopment and suffering. To resolve this, it helps to Self-investigate, compare, and explain the thought process behind religious symbolism found in myths while connecting it to the society you experience. We experience ourselves all the time through our subjective awareness, the symbolic representations that emerge in daily life can help us transcend social and spiritual barriers. Breaking the spell is to transcend limited knowing.

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Diaspora of thought

Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti, Truth is one, the wise know it by many names.

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This scenario is not too difficult to imagine; first generation "South Asian" American with a West Indian background. That means within the 20th century, my ancestors were coerced onto a boat from their colonized homeland, sailed for weeks to reach the shores of Guyana and Trinidad, struggled and upstarted for a few generations before immigrating to various countries before arriving in Florida. This is a gross over simplification of family history, but I am highlighting a spatial distance between bodies of beliefs and the parity of experience each generation passed along. This distance is beyond geography, language, food, music, rituals, or even caste stratification, it is an entire way of living that has become alienated due to obfuscation. What knowledge is lost, what is understood, what is practiced, and what is taught forms a dialectic of living information against a mental construct of the past (ancestry and religious identification). This is not to exclude "tradition" or make it an object of desire (some traditional beliefs are antagonistic towards humanity and nature), but extend our awareness of the dialectic. Within my formation of ethnic identity, there is an omnipresent nature of manifest destiny that putrefies in the Florida air. Sometimes a society is only capable of producing a commodified version of a rich and transcendental belief, while stretching their open hand out to demand tribute or indulgences.

We will revisit comparing the ethnic and cultural lineage in a later lesson, but let us quickly define spirituality as a metaphor for the wellbeing of human spirit (consciousness); the experiencer behind sense organs, which includes our mind feeling emotions, our intellect thinking thoughts, and worldly suffering. Most important of all, each person is an expression of a living moment with the ability to make their own choices and form their own beliefs. This is an important expectation we put on ourselves in a spiritual practice (or the absence and denial when there is no practice). "I am a Hindu/Muslism/Christian/Buddhist/etc.", is conditioned by societal narratives. Though it helps to identify with our background, measuring and comparing religious identity severely misses the point in discovering knowledge that leads to practices which enrich your daily awareness of life regardless of the label. What is taught as Hinduism in America is far removed from the essence of Sanatana Dharma. Similarly, what is exported from India since colonial independence heavily relies on an pervasive Western dialectic. What this points to is developing a personalized hermeneutic or an analytical way of viewing religion, scripture, and the path towards Self-realization versus a commodified version of universal beliefs through guided instruction.

Circumambulating life experiences through Self-inquiry helps to reflect or validate the myths that define us and our relations to other people. Belief systems in diaspora are akin to standing on the shore of a vast ocean of knowledge, however you can not see what is beneath the surface until you actively move into the water to experience what is beneath. Many people only get their feet wet or remove themselves from the water completely, even denying that the ocean exists! Similarly, time spent pursuing religious or self-development activities can bypass the felt knowledge of the ocean in favor of community or institutionalized continuity far from the shore. Consequentially, what you experience in America is an invisible hand desperately grasping at your ankle to prevent you from going to the water. Institutionally, you are enslaved in an economic system of capitalism (a form of materialism) that directly effects your Self-awareness and material consumption. This feeling of inner absence, of bypassing, of the void, of material desire, of conditioned habitus, all suggest a desire for awakening from world suffering and not pedantic substitutes. Liberation, not bondage.

"Why bother going through any of this?" I know, right? There is a reason why phrases like the rat race, capitalism, or even Samsara embeds itself in our psyche, they are goals to escape from in pursuit of true freedom. It turns out you do not need to learn Advaita to come to societal realizations, American culture constantly promotes and critiques itself while allowing increasing consolidation of power over their inalienable rights by a wealthy few. This asymmetric dialectic bankrupts humanity of Self-realization in favor of a Westernized version of Eastern beliefs fit for popular consumption and not liberation. Whereas the inherent social framework found in Eastern traditions, including Islam, is grounded in cooperation, unity, organization, and cultural synthesis - it is not taught, but experienced. Once that fact settles in, liberation is socialized. We need both social and spiritual liberation. Mutual interdependence is the natural pattern of reality, realizing our shared humanity and turning away from a colonized mindset can aid in both pursuits of freedom. The arbitrary choice to separate spirit from social is a behavior that limits expression, an inbred thought that encourages dividing and conquering individuals from community. Reflecting on that, there is plenty to unlearn, relearn, and learn for the first time, ideally you can incorporate the outcomes into a daily perspective.

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Science, Scientism, and New Atheism

Science is a method for testing and understanding the observable behaviors of the world. Set aside the post-Reformation empiricism for now (that is a much longer discussion), have you ever considered that ancestral humans had to apply some degree of (scientific) reasoning to pass along that knowledge each generation to arrive to this present moment? "We had to bury your uncle Bob far away, he ate some berries that gave him the runnings until he died. Do not eat those berries or you will shit yourself to death." Bob found out through experimentation the berries' toxicity and side effects, everyone disliked that and gained collective knowledge that this berry leads to dysentery. This is obviously very useful information for survival extracted from observed experience that gets incorporated into daily life in a tribe. There will, of course, be foolish individuals who may want to repeat the experiment with a different hypotheses: "Bob was weak but I am strong, let me pick my knuckles from the floor and eat berry." This humorous story helps to illustrate what we call 'science' is a foundational part of our capacity to reason, which directly effects qualities of decision making that lead to social engineering of stupidity like credulity, risk assessment, falsifiability, and evaluation.

Science with a capital S

Bob's curiosity (experimenting with something new) and the systemic body of knowledge between botanical and human toxicology is a morbid side effect of our observations from consuming the world around us. Connecting back to a post-COVID world, where the nominal perception of Science is continually challenged by knuckle-draggers as a way to push fascist policies onto public infrastructure in the attempt to privatize and monopolize it (neoliberalism). Notice the immediate connection between stupidity and power, ignorance is a powerful tool to manufacture consent for tyranny. Those with the daemonic mind will open a bush berry story, multi-level market bush berry smoothies as the new weight loss trend, upsell through social manipulation (testimonials), and ultimately deny accountability for misgivings from the consumption of bush berry dysentery juice. What I described can be directly applied to what became the culture of Science as it faced off against the ideologically "Conservative" influenced American culture-at-large. Defining the ideological strains is a separate exploration (CivicNotes), yet the observation made is that these ideological labels carry little meaning, but what endures is a notion of distrust in core reasoning skills that adjudicates social behavior and conditions some to become antagonistic and selfish. What leads people to this reactionary response? There is some nuance, but we can simplify it to a title of a great Rancid song; Cash, Culture, and Violence.

I wrote an in-depth review of Bernardo Kastrup's Analytical Idealism: In a Nutshell which covers how Science as a culture developed and grew out of post-Reformation elite hegemony. My recommendation is to review how post-Reformation influenced metaphysics as we know it today and the Physicalist claims (myths) that apply to granular claims of reality. Another recommendation is to the two part blog articles by Joshua Scott Hotchkin called the "Religion of Science" (One and Two) as it compliments Kastrup's specific critique of the growth of Scientism with a broader comparison of religious and modern scientific dispositions of power in society. I am not claiming that everything referenced is symmetrical to my beliefs, but it certainly opens the conversation to legitimate felt experience of the deeply rooted infested nature of materialism has on the West. Kastrup traces modern science back to the post-Reformation split that further dissociated the human spirit to a habitus built for the desires of the ruling elite. Hotchkin offers a nuanced explanation of the resulting religion of Science that emerged from the outgrowth of cultural capital invested into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Do review these materials as they both critique the naivety of highly intellectual people and their attachment to being right at the cost of Self-awareness or egoic satisfaction.

The Four Horseman of Bollocks

Atheism is the rejection of the claim that deities exist. This is a rather important perspective to consider, as skepticism and (meta-)reasoning are complimentary processes of realizing the truth. Whether or not this metaphor of god is correct and through a cultured faith we allow its volition to guide our thoughts and action. Many people in history have profited from the suffering of others through religion, myth, and the socially constructed power that dictates their culture. Those who indeed suffered from institutionalized exploitation have every right to be skeptical or hold alternative perspectives to their associated religion and culture. We have to filter out a lot of bullshit from the culture we experience in order to progress towards peace of mind, which may include non-belief and opposing the concept of organized religion all together. Societal trauma does alienate part of ourselves from transcendence and awareness, which is unfortunate and worthy of receiving support and community, yet we may not have the philosophical rigor at an impressionable age to reflect on previous experience.

This vulnerability creates an opportunity for grifters and charlatans to influence society at large through the use of media and "debate" to prey upon credulity, risk assessment, falsifiability, and evaluation. The Four Horsemen of Atheism; Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett represented a part of a 'secularized' (or Zionist) Western culture that metastasized over global thought in the early 21st century. Besides their publicly criticized Islamophobia, which lended authority within their respective work fields on events in the Middle East as a Western crusade against savages, there was a lot of money and exposure to be made at the expense of their audience or following. Biology, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind, Journalism (Hitchens stands out, but his criticisms of Islam exposed his ignorance and bigotry) - professional fields that became saturated with anti-theistic thought transformed into an object for American Evangelicals to rally against. This created a pathway for fascist-leaning new media groups to target the vulnerable and emerge as "influencers" or professional talking heads that appear in our social media feed.  

A rational, logical, reductionist, uniform worldview that used S.T.E.M. as a cudgel is used to beat you over the head and concuss you from Self-realizing reality and pursuing activities or social relationships that fosters care and mutual development. This is all said not to agree with the position of atheism, it is to acknowledge that strains of thought found within this group is toxic with high profile exposure to the broader public. Manufactured toxicity pushes us away from understanding mythological narratives, promotes regressive behavior, and increases our suffering through its limiting worldview. We will revisit this topic on apologists later, because there are historic periods of debates between various Dharmic (Hindu, Buddhist, Jains in this case) and Yogic traditions (Samkhya) found in ancient India that is far more healthier to contemplate over theism and atheism without dehumanizing other belief systems. We will cover that in an upcoming lesson on what they were debating over and why.

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More than Allegory & The Medium is the Message

What sort of methods and resources help with analyzing religions? Book recommendations will be mentioned below, but there are two phrases to highlight that are coincidentally the name of the literature; More than Allegory & The Medium is the Massage. More than Allegory (2015) is a another Bernardo Kastrup book I would recommend, check out an external summary here. The Medium is the Massage (1967) expands on Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan's catchphrase, The Medium is the Message, a link to a documentary containing interviews by McLuhan is recommended viewing (below). Both phrases compliment each other and create an analysis of experience.

More than Allegory

Bernardo Kastrup's More than Allegory is another Kastrup recommendation that highlights the inadequacy and potential of religious experience and reality itself. I previously reviewed Analytical Idealism: In a Nutshell that covers the philosophical foundations of Kastrup's philosophy of mind here. I found common interest in this particular book as it revisits myth, narratives, and the mythical connections between ancient teachings with modern scientific observations to be refreshing without getting into heavy technical discussions on metaphysics or liturgical comparison. It expresses a journey on wanting to know what you are taught beyond the pews while addressing the pitfalls of beliefs that remove us from transcendence.

More than Allegory suggests that there is a deeper connection between (religious) myths and the personal narratives that make up our everyday experience. Myths allow us to explore and live in this felt reality. There is a section dedicated to Advaita Vedanta that creates a bridge between the pre-cursors to Analytic Idealism and the broader Indian philosophies, utilizing the myth of Hiranyagarbha (the source/womb of manifestation) and connecting it to Quantum mechanics (in particular, the wave function collapse). The book also ventures into Bernardo's time as a lab rat on psychedelics (in a joking description, he volunteered for research and came back with incredible insights that enriched his philosophical outlook on life). Under the influence of a psychedelic brew and brain scanning/electro stimulation, Kastrup and other volunteers held multiple conversations with an impersonal Other (or Daemon) that deliberated metaphysical questions (in his experience) and answered through his sociocultural references that gained appreciation of what myths were telling us all along.

Myths are often misunderstood or condemned, where the author demonstrates the neutrality of the term similar to Joseph Cambell's influential work on mythology and literature. The power behind a myth, such as Christ and the Passion, or Arjuna's dialogue with Krishna on the battlefield, or a wide variety of indigenous beliefs covered in More than Allegory point to a sense of Self-enquiry. The struggle to identify who we are in a world built on alienation and exploitation. When we are able to add a mythological layer to our everyday awareness, we are analyzing the meaning of experience that guides our participation in life. There is a graduating sense of meaning that enriches art and symbolism because of its felt connection to individuality and the culture that produced the myth or symbol. Myths draw upon our collective unconscious to guide us on a pattern of emotions, thoughts, and course of action. That course of action led by a conditioned perspective can be self-binding or self-liberating.

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Tetrad of Media Effects

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Marshall McLuhan is a trip. This framing of McLuhan's work and what it is like to engage in researching Media Ecology fits the conversation of gaining analytical literacy (including the 1960's Western psychedelic movement that gave rise to Kastrup's experimentation). In an attempt to understand the (Ok) Boomer generation, the 1960's did see a shift in political, cultural, economic, and ecological awareness. This shift in perspective away from the violence and trauma from the previous generations to the peacemaking and opportunity chasing is a small part of a massive global struggle for freedom from colonial relationships. An observation of how empires extend its influence was not new to McLuhan's evolving work, rather it extends how Western society rapidly globalized through the metaphor of electric technology (radio, television, radars, satellites, computers, etc.). Comparing the electric man (adapting to the use and development of electronic media) to previous generations who were never "turned on" to this expansion of human communication.

McLuhan's style of meta-commentary forces us to think of the stratification of the way we experience reality through our sensory perception. The phrase "The Medium is the Message" is a brain worm that wiggles itself into every possible object of our perception. Referring to the diagram below, the Tetrad of Media Effects helps us to analyze media or objects of our perception (namarupa, name and form) with a figure-ground relationship that questions what the medium; enhances and obsolesces, retrieves and reverses. Notice the "and", media are in a dialectic (conditioned experience) with the subject (you). In a variety of publications, primarily the index in The Medium is the Massage (1967), McLuhan analyzed different forms of commercial media (televisions, radios, fax machines, visual space, light bulbs, etc.) to extract deep meaning into the behaviors produced by media. For example, a television changes a "living" room by orienting the design of the room to the anchored position of the television, forcing us to physically sit down and watch what comes out of the tube (TV's were not flat with LED's, CRT's sucked you in). Once you are gripped by this new electric medium, whatever content that emanates out of this experience becomes your programming.

By framing the new technology that began to appear in living rooms, dining room tables, and in the broader Western public space, McLuhan tapped into a deep cognitive shift in how technology and power influences our attention in the present moment. McLuhan created the academic field of media ecology which points us to the seeing beyond what is immediately presented to us through our technologies. We will cover McLuhan's work and further application of the Tetrad, I developed an educational critique called the Finance Model of Education that utilizes this tool with societal concepts we are taught, the module can be found here. I would highly recommend watching the above documentary a few times as an object of study, McLuhan as an orator is a performance worth reviewing.  

Final Thoughts

This introductory post to this module is a personal approach by reflecting on a select view of my experience. There are many positive things to discuss which we did not get too in this lesson, but it helps to get the most troublesome aspects of learning our beliefs through religion, myths, society, charlatans, and more. Also, what are some examples that help to open up a form of analysis for inner reflection that you apply to your life? It serves to keep an open mind and validate your concerns peacefully, though religious intolerance has exposed itself in "leaders" amongst scientific fields and media. Theology can lead to strange or severe reactions from people. It helps to understand why and reason towards the best course of action. Also, do not eat bush berries if you don't want to shit yourself to death.

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