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The main topic of mindfulness discussion in the sixth class on Mindfulness Course is THE CREATION MYTH.
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Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their centralworldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.
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In these creation myths, deities represent natural forces and phenomena; symbolic narratives describe them; and ritualistic appeasements try to control them.
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Today, we have scientifically precise language available to accurately describe the natural forces and phenomena. We know that workable methods to control these phenomena come from consistency among observations and the precise abstraction provided by the language.
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So, we are going to look at the traditional stories in their symbolic form and see what their modern abstract version is going to be like when everything is made consistent with observations.
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A well-known example of creation myth is the one found in the Bible. This and many other creation myths fall in the category of creatio ex nihilo. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilo
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The classical tradition had been “creation out of chaos”. This tradition first came under question in Hellenistic philosophy on a priori grounds. Ex nihilo, meaning “creation out of nothing” seems to be a second-century theological development.
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Direct observations seem to support the classical tradition of “creation out of chaos”. There is no “absolute nothing”. There is only “relative nothing”. God is the concept of divine order, balance and harmony.
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The ancient creation hymn of Rig Veda seems to suggest “creation out of chaos”. Reference: https://vinaire.me/2011/04/08/the-creation-hymn-of-rig-veda/
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We may define CREATION as follows:
SUBJECTIVE DEFINITION: Creation is “something out of nothing”.
OBJECTIVE DEFINITION: Creation is a CHANGE from chaos to order.
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This universe is essentially a UNIVERSE OF CHANGE.
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