Image via WikipediaInterrelation of world religions was integral to last week's Wednesday post about Goddess Culture. Lots of you had thoughts on that, so this week I'll try to give you more of what you want. Some of you are going to think I'm way out there today. But after all, I write fantasy and if I want to unlock a portal to another world, an open mind is a requirement.
You might remember my post about the meditative whirling dervishes of the Mevlana Sufi? They belong to a mystic branch of Islam. The poet Rumi formed the order in Konya, Turkey, influenced by Persian and eastern theologians. Meditation, eastern theologians in Islam...a light bulb went on in my head.
My head, by the way, functions in interesting ways. It's like a cabinet with the most random form of filing. One word often links two things in the same folder. Remember how your teacher taught you to associate things in order to study them? My system uses the same scheme. Hey - it works for me!
So Sybil uses Yoga to deal with her predicament, but also for other reasons (no spoilers). The whole meditation idea set me thinking and led to further researching. Basically, as eastern philosophies like Yoga, Qigong and Aikido become mainstream in western culture, we (researchers) discover more and more shared principles in our own religions.
Take the third or inner eye, for example, a gateway to inner realms and higher consciousness. Mormonism calls it the spiritual eye, there is suggestion that the Book of Revelations references it many times, in Kabbalah, its the sphere of chokmah, the highest potential of thought. Just think of all the places you can go with that... I can't tell you what I did with it, but lets just say Avatar wasn't necessarily a new idea.Kundalini is another important and related topic but I think I'll save it for next week.
Unfortunately, the only eyes I have right now are red ones from staring at this computer screen all day. I used to find time for yoga classes once. Life gets busy, though, and "me" time fell by the wayside. My mind often wanders to solving plot holes or creating better twists. Maybe I should try a class to get some perspective, since I've been stuck in a parallel universe! Anyone else find something (besides spinning in circles) that you find especially therapeutic?
Thanks for reading!
I love how you are discovering all these inner similarities. As the Stupidness church of Idiocy in Floriday plans to burn the Q'uran, I think this focus on oneness, and what we all have in common is way cool and helpful. (I like, too, how you are thinking of it in terms of building realistic fantasy stuff)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hart! Comments like these are why I get up in the morning :)
ReplyDeletesheesh, I missed the Q'uran burning in Fla.--I've been all up in my alternate universe of WIP3... whee! :D
ReplyDeleteThis is good stuff--so is that where Qui-gon jinn got his name in Episode 1??? ;p That totally sailed right over my head, so thanks Carolyn for the education! :o)
(I miss yoga classes, too.)