Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id SAA16446 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 22 Mar 2001 18:20:36 GMT Subject: Re: The Demise of a Meme Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 13:16:59 -0500 x-sender: wsmith1@camail2.harvard.edu x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0v3, Claritas Est Veritas From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Message-ID: <20010322181658.AAA5445@camailp.harvard.edu@[128.103.125.215]> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On 03/22/01 13:06, joedees@bellsouth.net said this-
>Every religion uses props, physical or chemical, to aid in the
>focusing of one's will upon one's purpose(s); for those who become
>adept at such focusing, these props become superfluous, and tend
>to fall away. Once one can fly, one may discard one's ladder.
Well, yes.... (Ain't that all I was saying...?)
Entry onto the ladder comes with, well, stuff. Catholicism comes with
lots of stuff. Tibetan Buddhism comes with lots of stuff. Hinduism comes
with lots of stuff. Judaism comes with lots of stuff. Sects and cults
within each major philosophy reject or mutate this stuff. The spartan
xian sect of the Quakers, for instance, or any of a ream of protestant
offshoots.
Zen requires _elegant_ stuff, but it requires stuff. That garden ain't
not there....
Cathedrals, temples, pilgrimages, shrines, statues, jewelry, idols,
icons, paintings, scrolls, clothing, bowls, rugs, candles, body
ornamentation... the list is practically endless, and no faith is exempt,
and the more organized and institutionalized (and connected to political
power) the faith is, the more stuff it has. The Vatican is another Llasa.
All I was saying.
- Wade
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