MYTHIC CONNECTIONS (MYTH IN PRACTICE):
ALLEGORICAL MYTH The issue of mythic knowledge is akin to the beauty of poetry in general, where poetic elements open the realm of possibilities far beyond the obvious and the literal, or the estheticism of art that surpasses our experience of said work. Allegory in myth is not a mere metaphor for the sake of embellishing the narrative, but an intentional function, an integral lens through which myth has long been observed and (what is more) debated. The teachings of the great sages such as Jesus, the Buddha or Laozi employ allegories not to confuse their followers or hide their true intentions, but to force and inspire them to see beyond the arbitrary words and understand beyond the general meaning of their phrasing. In the case of Laozi and Daoism, the issue of complexity is even greater, since one of the paradigms of his teaching is intentionally paradoxical and self-deconstructive, as the comprehension of the Dao is rooted in its incomprehensibility. Albeit quite different, the koan practice of Zen Buddhism falls into this category as well, as the seemingly nonsensical puzzles (such as What is the sound of one hand clapping?) are meant to stimulate sudden awakening. Whether or not the implied introspection and intrinsic self-awareness here are meant to be inspiring or are a way of overpassing the hardships of life that “build character”, the allegory of teaching remains. There will clearly remain the ongoing debate of what Jesus for example really taught and whether or not his followers correctly put his thoughts into words, let alone capture the magnitude of their meaning. This issue can be further emphasized by what the Buddha wanted to keep as part of what would become the future Buddhist scripture, since his teachings were riddled with “obscure” (enlightened) meaning that his followers were unable to understand fully. But this was a perennial issue of not just the times, but of powerful personas that in many cases transcend the notion they are trying to convey. Further, the famous literary example (I don’t want to say another) is Dante’s experience in Hell and Purgatory, where the pilgrim cannot fathom the knowledge his guides are trying to instill in him, let alone the divine wisdom which is by default out of reach of mere mortals. Critically speaking, taking myth as divine revelation fails to grasp the paradox of myths being written down by mortal and through mortal means. Even if Muhammad was actually taught the divine path by the angel Gabriel, the discrepancy between Allah to Gabriel, Gabriel to Muhammad (during the course of about 23 years at that), Muhammad to his countrymen and, consequently, to the mundane public is too large; the probability of the dilution of the divine message is not a question of if it occurred, but rather how much is lost. But then again, if there are many concepts of infinity and notions beyond conceptual reality, trying to think rationally may not be the best course of action. The allegorical meaning must be layered so it is slowly revealed. When the “epiphany” occurs, its consequence is that much more strong and transcending. The same can be said about all of the realizations of mythic storytelling complexity. The duality of approaches to myth is thus further stressed, as these stories range from the clear-cut etiological examples to the complex allegorical teachings … in a lot of cases even interchangeably (as in the Old Testament). Myth shares this quality with comics, which can submerge their subject-matter into predictable, cliché representations or inspire the reader with their visual cooperation and complexity. However, the interplay of how something was meant to be represented and how it actually is and will be remains the crux of the matter.
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November 2017
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