Songs of Harmony

Mythology is a collection of old stories. It is even older than religions. Through honest selection called time, then stories that are left are not the ordinary ones. It is similar to rocks with millions of years old that has passed all kinds of weather. Only the highest quality of stones remain. However, like interpreting dream - one definition of mythology is collective dream - it requires sensitivity, connectivity and arts to interpret myths. When it is interpreted by sensitivity, connectedness, arts, then myths can transform life into songs of harmony.

Cosmic Order

Anyone who was born and grew up in the East still remember, parents prohibit children to sit on cushions. In the logic of today's people, it will invite unfriendly smile. In fact, the elders left a message on the social, cosmic and spiritual order. The pillow is the friend of head, when it puts under the ass, then cosmic disorder happens. It is similar to the position of mouth and eyes in the head. The message is simple, always talk and look under the guide of nobility. Once people talk and look in a dirty way (like footwear), then cosmic disorder occurs.

The United States is a good teacher. Again, a good teacher. There men/women love to raise foot to the top of table for hundreds of years. And look at the statistics, very scary cosmic chaos happened there. The sleeping pill consumption per capita is the highest in the world, high and rising divorce rate continues, the stories of children who were stress then shooting gun at the school was very threatening. World report on happiness in 2012 reported, the U.S. was not even in the top ten of happy nation. At a high school in Brooklyn, students were asked what do they want to be in the future? More than two-thirds of students answered, they wanted to be celebrities. Simply want to be famous, a form of life that is unstable and fragile.

Urban life with tall buildings is another example. In the old days, the highest place is always filled by holy place. Nowadays, in the tallest office buildings people who work there are the ones who only think about money and power. Notice, what a mess cosmic order in large cities with many tall buildings. Robbery, rape, murder are every day routine stories.

Take Good Care of Life

The second old story, in the East people are often reminded to be careful to hurt the cat. In Bali in particular, elders advised when the vehicle crashed into a cat, grab the cat then buried in a place of honor. This is similar to many friends of the west who believe that cats are angels. In southern part of France and northern Spain, archaeologists discovered caves in length with tens of millions years of old. There sculpted many animal carvings in beautiful and sacred way. If in our time God is drawn in the form of human body - like the Hindus Avatar - in those days the Lord was visualized with animal body.

Long ago, in the days before agriculture, human saved their life by eating meat. In that period there was also circulated myth that knowledge and wisdom were given to animals, not to humans. Equipped with this profound knowledge and wisdom, then animals sacrificed their bodies for the sake of human growth.

By sharing this old story, certainly it is not the intent of this article to persuade people to worship animals. But feel deeply within, it is not just human who want peace, animals and other creations also want peace. When we injure animals and trees, as a matter of time the same pain will return back to us. With touching feeling like this, it is more probable to make life as song of harmony if we learn to take good care of animals, trees and other creations.

Old Roots of Civilization

In all religions, the new generation is very distant to rituals. Some even perform excessive judgment. Anyone who take time to learn rituals, not only in the sense of logic but deep feeling as well, there are a number of important messages behind rituals. From the hidden holy books, the means of connectedness with a larger Self, until the intent that community gathered based on more noble social order.

Ceremony as hidden holy books have been replaced by paper, computer, internet. But as an effort to create a more noble social order, rituals have not been replaced yet. Through rituals, men and women gathered with a better level of self-control than usual, thinking about noble life. Likewise the ceremony as a means to connect with the unseen life, it has not fully replaced yet. The effect of rituals to subjects of offering can be discussed further, but rituals also make people more well-connected more humble and peaceful as well.

With a full of apology to the anti ceremony friends, stopping ceremony is similar to burn one of the old roots of civilization. And when the roots are burnt, the tree is also burned. This explains, in places where humans rarely connected with the larger Self through ceremony, the air is very dry of peace. Europe in general are good teachers. The humans who visit church are very small percentage of people. European financial crisis uncovers, life is more than just collecting money. From all of these old stories, many hearts are intended to be touched. Logic, theology, philosophy are indeed partly explain life. And under the light of literature, arts, feeling, sensitivity, connectedness, these old stories are knitting life into songs of harmony. Songs that make life well-connected to the roots from a very distant past.

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Notes:

In the old mythology of Bible, there was story of Adam and Eve who were expelled from Garden of Eden because of eating the fruit of knowledge. The Garden is the place of unity, of non duality of male-female, good-evil. And the knowledge is fruit of duality. Through years deep practice of meditation, people learn not to "eat" the fruit of duality, and at the same time return back to Garden of unity (non duality). In the language of Bible, Garden of unity (non duality) is a holy place where the Father and I are one.