Escaping Samsara

Fiction versus The Void

Here I am again with my philosophy du jour.

Human beings as a species require fiction in a plethora of forms to escape slipping into self-destructive nihilism. Varying forms of shared grand mythologies have been essential to the growth and sustenance of civilizations since their inception. At a microcosmic level, a belief in and indulgence in the fictional and the mythological help the individual retain their mental and spiritual equilibrium, thereon moving into and calcifying on a macrocosmic and societal level, whereupon the mythical attains a life of its own.

Religion is the first and foremost example of this idea. A body of legitimized and ritualized mythology is so essential to so many people across the globe that it dictates moral, ethical, political, and interpersonal dynamics in far reaching ways.

But what if you are not religious? Do other modalities of seeking and finding meaning involve fiction and myth?

In a broad sense, absolutely! If fiction is that which is imagined, rather than factual, there is a point in our line of thought at which facts are no longer feasible. And even the things that we do know and consider facts, what are they anyway? They are bound by the limitations of our senses and observations; the microscope can only zoom in so much. Empiricism doles out vast bodies of knowledge on the hows of existence without turning to the whys. Maybe the question of why ought never be answered. At all levels of observation, the indifference of the Universe observes us right back, only without any sense of curiosity or emotion, no assumptions or ideals lingering in its consciousness.

Boats on the Vembanadu lake, Kerala, India.

So many of human activities are a vain rebellion against the indifferent tyranny of the universe. The tyrant takes pleasure in neither our misfortunes nor our happiness. No schadenfreude, no camaraderie either.

So, what do we do collectively to make sense of this indifference? We imagine. We add colour and narrative and build tension with the unknown.

Religion, mythology, and art are products of our collective imagination, our collectively prescribed and inherited fiction that helps us face the unknown. No amount of secularization can quell religiosity and mythology. We need them and the modes of storytelling they inspire to create meaning collectively and individually.

For English speakers, the names of our weekdays are derived from associations with the Greek and Norse gods. It is a Thursday on which I write this sentence, the day of Thor, and yesterday was Wednesday, the day of Odin (Woden). A fascination with and appreciation of Greek mythology are braided into Western culture; from Marvel films to the Olympics, so much cultural capital and symbolism are connected to it, even if people are not actively aware of it.

Of course, what is mythology today is based on real and powerful gods of the days of yore. Zeus and Thor were worshipped in Greece and in the Viking domains at some point in history. So will the gods of today die and turn to relics in a matter of time.

Religion employs fiction, myth, and history to solidify its belief systems and canon. The exact particulars of the life of Christ can never be historically ascertained; nothing he has ever said or written has been directly preserved. It is from this ambiguity that the religion and its sects flourish.

The same applies to some extent to Buddhism, despite its philosophical insistence that the Buddha is not a god; one could argue that he has become almost a divine figurehead in the living, breathing form of religion, especially in his Amitabha manifestations, a Buddha who travels across the Universe bringing the praxis of Nirvana to the world. Buddhism, too, relies on fiction, myth, and narrative practices derived from mythology to tell its stories and send its messages.

Hinduism is the religion that involves imagination and storytelling to the greatest degree in the promulgation of its ideas and praxis. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, the central epics of the Hindu religion, span several thousand pages, 15 times larger than the Bible, and are riveting stories full of a variety of human themes, ranging from war, revenge, love, and jealousy. The religious tradition uses the epic tradition to relay the messages of Dharma and Karma, the universal law and its practice. Hindu mythology is very much alive, and people actively believe in it and derive inspiration from it. There are thousands of gods in the pantheon with epic stories associated with them all over the world where Hinduism is practised.

The mythos of our world will transform itself as the human species evolves. One could argue that Marvel films have joined the mythology of the modern world, and so have cult classic anime shows. They teach us to be noble and aspire to be greater than the morality of our times permits us to do. They also help us come to terms with or cope with the uncertainties of our lives. The stories we collectively share and indulge in create a separate reality that exists in our minds and culture. This common belief is essential for the maintenance of our sanity, and we must aspire to imagine more complex worlds for our children. We cannot let fiction die, whether it is on the big screen, in oral culture, or in paperbacks. Fiction is essential to who we are as a species, as it provides us with great creative impetus and the will to continue living.

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All images shot on Olympus E-M10MarkIV by Sreekuttan “Sree” P S unless otherwise credited.

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