DECLINE OF THE PRINTED WORD

This post is written as a response to Jerrod's latest blog entry, regarding the increasingly book-less world we live in. As a literature major, I take it for granted that most people read on a regular basis, but this is by no mean the case.

After a quick google search I found a truly startling statistic form the Washington Post. According to a survey they had conducted, one in four American adults admitted to not having read a single book over the course of the past year. At first I found this statistic to be unbelievable, so I decided to conduct my own survey on the matter. There are four people in my house, myself being the only humanities student, one business student, and two engineering students. Two of them said that they read for pleasure during Christmas and summer breaks, but the third said that he does not read at all. I was flabbergasted, the very statistic I found on the internet was accurately represented in my own house! What are the chances of one in four roommates not being a reader? Simple, one in three...

BEAL & DEAL: ICONIC SCRIPTURE

 Earlier tonight I attended the lecture "Iconic Scriptures in Buddhism and Christianity", presented by William Deal and Timothy Beal (yes, those are their real names). The title on the ticket, "Symbols and Scriptures of Jesus and Buddha", made it appear as though the evening would be centered on the focal figures of the two respective religions, but I found it to be much more focused on how the sacred texts of the two religions function.

William deal opened the presentation with an overview of what exactly the two men studied, and whether or not the study of comparative religion is in fact a viable field. Deal referenced Max Muller, said to be the founding father of the discipline, and discussed his philosophy that the true fundamentals of any given religion can be found by examining the text upon which it is based. Towards the end of the introduction, Deal gave the audience an idea of the definition of scripture is through the eyes of someone who studies religion at the professional level: he stated that it is a sacred text that has some sort of interaction (be it religious or cultural) with a community of persons.

Timothy Beal then proceeded to present facts and some of his ideas surrounding the Bible, with a particular focus on the King James Version (the 400th birthday of which is this year). He discussed the idea of scripture (the Bible) being an aesthetic, cultural, and highly visual medium versus the more traditional idea of it being a disembodied collection of words that is to be studied as such. This idea was elaborated upon in an examination of how the bible has morphed into an ideological icon. The term "bible" no longer necessarily refers to the Christian sacred text implicitly, but can also be used to refer to other authoritative works. Some examples Beal included to illustrate his point are the Shooter's Bible, the Bartender's Bible, the Hot Rodder's Bible, etc. The final interpretation I gathered of the modern cultural use of the word "bible" can be described by the following characteristics:

- It is the ultimate authority on the subject matter it covers
- It speaks for itself, and does not contain any contradictions
- It is practical in nature
- It is accessible for the common man to read
- It is comprehensive
- It is exclusive (admits no rivals)
- "the book of books"

After Beal concluded his discussion of Christian scripture, Deal began his lecture on the Lotus Sutra scriptures of Buddhism. I found this portion of the lecture to be particularly intriguing because I know very little about the Buddhist religion. According to Beal, a sutra is the discourse of the Buddha (his actual words), that are written down by a disciple. Most of the sutras begin with the phrase"thus I have heard", and most of them are recorded by the disciple Ananda. There are four major teachings of the sutras that Deal presented:

1) One Vehicle
             - The diversity of the doctrines are gathered into one Buddhist teaching vehicle
2) Universal Buddhahood
             - The promise that all sentient beings will someday achieve buddhahood (enlightenment)
3) Hoben
             - This will be achieved with an expedient device and skillful means
4) Mappo
             - There will be salvation in the period of the end of the Dharma (teaching, law), when the people          
                of the earth have grown the farthest from the Buddha and have the most difficulty
               understanding his teachings

Within the Buddhist religion, there are 5 practices when it comes to the scriptures:

1) upholding
2) reading
3) recitation (chanting)
4) preaching
5) copying

Deal's portion of the lecture seemed to be less focused on how the scriptures of Buddhism function as a cultural icon, and more of an examination of how they function as a tool for the religiously devout.

While I certainly enjoyed listening to what Beal & Deal had to say about their respective academic pursuits, I felt that there was something lacking from the presentation. Beal succeeded in getting his ideas across about the ways in which the bible functions as a cultural icon, but Deal was cut short and was not able to finish his lecture on how the Sutras function culturally. I think I would have gotten a lot more out of the evening if their had been more time allowed for the two men to build upon what the other said, and form some sort of discussion based upon the comparison of how the two texts function similarly and differently in their respective cultures.

After listening to what the two men had to say, I thought of a potential discussion topic for class. I think it would be interesting to explore the idea of how (or if) ideological texts within mythology function in today's "post literate" world.

DAY OF THE DEAD

Four Beasts

Oftentimes rituals are associated with some sort of solemn ceremony pertaining to religion or some other highly organized meeting, but the more common rituals are the ones that we conduct as a part of our everyday lives. The best definition that I found for this type of ritual came from the dictionary app on my computer: "a series of actions or type of behavior regularly and invariably followed by someone". I have many of these types of rituals in my life, such as taking my dog for a run every morning before class. Another activity that I do ritualistically whenever I drive anywhere is listen to country music, and as a result of this activity I know the lyrics to many songs by heart. Today in class Dr. Sexson mentioned the image of the four beasts and the white horse from the bible, and instantly it made me realize where the lyrics of one of my favorite songs comes from.

"And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts...
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him"

- Johnny Cash

This quote from Revelation was used by one of my favorite musical artists in one of the last songs he wrote before he died. Another place that this subject appears in the bible is in the book of Daniel, which I recently read for my Bible as Literature class. In one of Daniel's dreams, he sees four beasts arise from the sea. The first beast is a lion with eagle's wings, the second a bear with three tusks protruding from its mouth, the third a leopard with the wings of a bird on its back and four heads. The fourth beast is described as the most gruesome of the four, "terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong", with ten horns.

According to the interpretation of the dream, the four beasts symbolize the four kings that are to arise out of the earth, and the 10 horns of the fourth beast represent the smaller kingdoms within it. In his dream Daniel also saw an additional horn emerge out of the fourth beast and three of the original horns were plucked out by the roots to make room for it. This in turn symbolizes the emergence of a new kingdom that is to take out three of the existing kingdoms, and rise to power. After a time the emerging power will be crushed due to to its king's ill spoken words against the most high, and "the holy ones of Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever". The ability of the holy ones to suddenly arrive and possess others reminded me of the powerful deity Dionysus, and his track record of stripping people of their power through possessing them.

On the same note, I found connections to the theme of possessing in The Magus. After spending time at Bourani, Nicholas Urfe is so captivated that it is all he can think about when he is not there. The mysteries surrounding his visits are so intriguing that they totally possess him and do not allow him to focus on anything else. 

This is how rituals are for some people, they possess them so totally that they cannot function without performing them on a regular basis. Some people take this to the extreme, like the example that Megan shared about her ex-roommate's specific cup spacing requirement of 1.5 inches. From a medical standpoint, this condition is referred to as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. If one were to view the subject in a more mythological light however, it may be interpreted that these people are possessed by some external factor, like a deity. Who knows, maybe those people are destined to perform a task that will only be possible with the aid of godly power. While our everyday rituals may seem trivial, many of them are "heroic" ( according to Dr. Sexson), and possibly contribute to the fulfillment of some larger task not yet known to us... 

Day dreamin'

In Thursday's class, professor Sexson gave us the requirement of having a dream over the weekend. Due to my undying loyalty to LIT 285 (as well as some significant sleep deprivation) I obliged to this requirement on Friday afternoon. It was roughly 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and I decided to take a quick 20 minute power nap in between classes. At the end of said nap is when my dream occurred, albeit short in duration. In the dream I was walking my dog through the neighborhoods of Bozeman, and from behind a hedge a lion leaped out and attacked my dog and I. I awoke right as the mouth of the lion was about to close upon my face. To think that a lion would be prowling right here in town! After regaining consciousness for a few minutes I realized the obvious link between my dream and our discussion of how the incredibly mythological Oz can be found right here in Bozeman. While I don't foresee experiencing an actual lion attack while walking my dog, I do think that this dream is symbolic of how prevalent mythology can be, we simply need to open our eyes in order to see it.

For various reasons it may appear as though we need to dig deep in order to search for mythology in the world around us, but in reality it can be found in our everyday lives. Sometimes it will even jump right on top of you, so keep your eyes peeled.