Another thread triggered a train of thought that I think is brilliant. I know, I know- I'm so humble. But here we go:

At this time of year we are constantly being encouraged by some segments of society to remember "The True Meaning of Christmas". I never could grasp why those people were convinced that everybody else didn't understand it and needed to be reminded every ten seconds by the Christians. But the fact is that over-emphasizing Jesus is exactly the opposite of the true meaning, and as usual Christianity leads us away from the true path.

Like all rituals, Christmas is a re-enactment of the perennial theme of death and rebirth of our psyches. And the point of all that re-birthing stuff is to achieve a new state that is more expansive than what we left behind. If we keep coming back to the old ways we haven't learned a thing and our time has been wasted. Each person's transformations are individualized, and IMO there is not one universal final state. Buddhism and other pathways (such as Maslow) in their best forms recognize this- that your Nirvana is different from anybody else's enlightened or self-actualized state. We are all different. But here's the thing: if we fixate on one single object, like The Baby Jesus, we entirely miss the point. Then that object becomes an idol, and we have lost the game. The current hell in America caused by the Christians proves my point.

Jesus is supposed to be an exemplar of transformation. I get that. But, to paraphrase a Zen admonition, if you run into Jesus at a party kill him again. Do not worship him. "He" is only a pattern, not the endpoint. Jesus did not come to save. Like the Buddha, he came to show us that it can be done. The True Meaning of Christmas is to become more expansive, more tolerant of human variety and more willing to listen.

Now you know why I was never very popular in Sunday School.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2022 07:54AM by slskipper.

Aren't you a bit early? Its not yet close to April 6th.

" . . . if we fixate on one single object, like The Baby Jesus, we entirely miss the point."

Made me remember the title of that movie, "Eyes wide shut". Never saw the movie but always think of church and religion when I think of that phrase. And worse, in religion, you have someone directing which object to fixate upon. I truly believe that the second you worship something, your eyes do indeed become wide shut.

Your post is a very positive read and I do see why you were not popular in Sunday School, haha. My personal motto in life is, "Never level off". The working principle for accomplishing that seems to be always "see the big picture". Your post is a perfect illustration of that for me.


Got this email being making the rounds that says it all about how I feel about Christmas:

"Can't believe the kids have fallen for that Santa shit again. Bloody unbelievable. Anyway, I'm off to church now."

Thank you.

I bet Jesus had purple eyes. Johnathan Livingston Seagull reference.