Friday, July 29, 2016

Templates and Temples

We read Plato and philosophy , we read religious text , we find a lot of similarity explained in a different way. One of the most fascinating  religions and philosophies  is Buddhism and another which is very close to that Christianity. So if we study Plato, Buddhism and Christianity we will find a common thread a template. In Plato's writings he speaks of perfect form for every living creature. If we are to understand this in terms of modern knowledge it would be called a template.

In Buddhism we have the Buddha who had lived his life to experience enlightenment. Dealing with past karma , and living an ascetic life for a time. Knowing deep inside he was different than others yet somewhat the same. He struggles between the human and divine nature.The Buddha could be called a template or source, each Buddha following the original an example of perfect form that Plato speaks of.

In Christianity , Jesus who was the Christ. The entirely human yet fully divine. We are to live our lives following the example of Christ. It is what Christianity is about , Jesus is our template. He said to follow him and also said those that did would do even great works. We are told we must be born again with the new nature of Christ.

I have been involved with computer science my entire life. One of the aspects of this is to have an image from which to build upon. If we through a virus or just accumulation of junk need to go back to this image we simply reload it and start over. This may also be called the source. Realizing that sometimes our identity becomes corrupted by junk or infection of a sort , we can always return to the source and rebuild our image. In computer science templates are saved as each is progressive. Actually sometimes it gets to the point where we just need to load the source over again.

I believe Jesus was this perfect image or source . It is not to say other saints or templates followed Christ, however we can say without a doubt Jesus was that perfect image.

We exist as an ID , a self. Self is a product of our genes and environment and life experience. It is in fact what we have become. However we are not limited to self, we have the other part of us that exists in an image which is the source. We are created in God own image, which exists within each of us. Yet we have this evolving identity of self. This self or identity is uniquely created to survive in our environment. We sometimes have heroes or mentors that we can mimic , sometimes saints , sometimes they are even what we would consider bad examples whatever template we choose to survive.

That is actually the whole of it , we choose. To be or not to be. We have that right to choose. To follow a leader or not . To follow one of the many Buddhas or Saints, to follow Christ. To follow a guru or other teacher.

We are temples our minds can host the most wonderful of images or even the most vile. What we allow into our temple is what will be there.

We have two parts to our brain, the first is very sensitive to change. It is connected to our five senses , it reacts to our environment. Fear , desires , anxiety and is basically its own processor of input and output. It is the survival part of us. We feel emotions , it is connected to the chemistry of our bodies. Hormones are released internally and pheromones externally we are beings of complex chemistry.
However there is another part of us few will ever find , this internal image that connects us to each other and yes to the cosmos to other forms or gods. We inherently know and seek out this connection.

Jesus said , is it not written - ye are gods.

Peace to you,
Earl