Book Review: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

At one of the most conservative universities on the planet, Brigham Young University, I was first introduced to Joseph Campbell through a wonderful (and in hindsight, courageous) pair of Honors History instructors that elected to teach history of the world through the cultures and myths of their traditions. It was by far the best class I took while there. I just completed another read of this work and, although the structure is conversational and disjointed in places, was reminded how dramatically Joseph Campbell’s work saved my life and faith from my own mind’s attacks of reason and irrational rationalism. No, I do not accept everything taught by my chosen faith, just as I find aspects of science and other traditions equally difficult to accept. Campbell’s research shows how deeply important to our own mind, heart, and world these deep seated traditions are, and what just might be wrong with dogma and societal interpretations of once pure ideas adapted for less than altruistic intentions. Understanding Campbell allows me to quietly synthesize the best of my core tradition with inherent truths of others as well as fully embracing science and empiricism. Looking at all belief systems both as possibly literal and always possibly metaphorical opens up child-hood teachings with new insight and potential. I find I am a child of God, a child of Mother Nature, and as such carry the stuff of both in me. Read this and believe, no matter your path, not just for yourself, but all those in need of compassion around you.

The Benefits of Distraction and Overstim …

The Benefits of Distraction and Overstimulation:

The brains of Buddhist monks asked to meditate on “unconditional loving-kindness and compassion” show instant and remarkable changes: Their left prefrontal cortices (responsible for positive emotions) go into overdrive, they produce gamma waves 30 times more powerful than novice meditators, and their wave activity is coordinated in a way often seen in patients under anesthesia.

Ooo, here’s another good one:

This sort of free-associative wandering is essential to the creative process; one moment of judicious unmindfulness can inspire thousands of hours of mindfulness.

Which just goes to show that Daniel H. Pink might be on to something in his book A Whole New Mind, Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, which I find interesting being overly left-brained but constantly working on developing the other part.

This has been an interesting Sunday. Wha …

This has been an interesting Sunday. What a world we are in when a Mormon and a Muslim can have an anonymous, civil discussion of belief from their own homes across the globe.

Don’t worry, I won’t get preachy, just amazed at the irony of this age of communication combined with the general movement away from any belief. It is almost as if technology is destroying belief rather than encouraging it through communication. Of course that is only an impression.

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It’s no secret I am Christian and LDS (Mormon). Oops, marginalized already aren’t I.

I generally refrain from discussion of belief, or even bringing attention to it really, because of the heavy weight of assumption and bigotry immediately assigned to most believers today–especially to us Mormons. Tell people I grew up in Utah and I can feel the wind from their eyes rolling and darting around searching frantically for the closest exit.

It’s O.K. I understand. So much hate and suffering have happened in the name of religion through the ages including today that, like Ivan Karamozov, I very seriously question God myself, and that’s a good thing. We should constantly question what we believe, test it, revalidate the truth we have found. Belief, like anything, needs cultivation and validation to grow. Stagnated, dogmatic belief has never served humanity well.

I get exposed to a lot of middle-eastern traditions being a programmer. One day, over some mango pickle and bread, a very good Hindu friend and I discussed where our very different beliefs might converge someday. We concluded:

The important thing is that we believe in something.

I keep coming back to that. Sure it is easy to say belief is foolish, but that is easy, even cowardly. It takes courage to face the big questions head on without brushing them aside for lack of time or other priority: Why the heck are we here? “To love and learn to be loved,” like Baz Luhrmann says in Moulin Rouge. That’s his take, sounds pretty good. Then there are the other big ones: Where did I come from? Where am I going? And perhaps the biggest of them all:

Did universal values come from God? Or did God come from universal values?

I don’t mean to sound pedantic, pretentious and certainly not pious, just curious is all. Why have people seemed to stop believing anything? Science has certainly advanced us a long way but it does not answer all the questions.