I just realised something.
In the mind of man, there is a little space reserved for a god. I have gone into the subject of my beliefs, or lack thereof, elsewhere but something made me realise, that deep down, in this ape known as homo sapiens there lies this little space.
It need not necessarily be occupied by the gods of organised religion, there may be other worldly things or abstract beliefs that sit in that space. These need not be restricted to one particular thing, depending on the person several things may occupy that space. Its purpose seems to be to sustain the soul and perhaps to give purpose to life.
Now that I have over the years dusted out and largely banished the gods from my mind it was a shock to discover that something else had taken their place. Indeed it is the shock of discovering something that should not be there that brought about this epiphany: a space exists and if not filled with gods, there will be others things that have crept into the space.
In my case it was the awkward discovery that the space for gods now appears to be occupied by a woman. Looking more closely I found that there were more than one, in fact a handful of them seemed to be sitting on the alter, so to speak.
An what lead to that discovery? One of the Goddesses, for that is what they are, almost fell off her perch.
It has dawned on me that I seem to have idolised various women who I have befriened over the years. The ones I respect seem to have been elevated to a position of absolute devotion and to whom offering of various types are made periodically. All these women are known as good friends in the real world, but in the frail human mind they have become Goddesses.
Friendships going back a decade or sometimes two must not be treated lightly but to find them in quite such an elevated stage was rather discomforting.
Man is a social animal and as I have said elsewhere relationships are very important so perhaps this is not as unusual as I first thought.
Either way, search within, for one may be surprised by what drives and sustains one.
9 comments:
Interesting.
I don't think a man has ever publicly admitted to idolizing a woman.
It's something understood by the woman folks though =)
Wow very interesting insight.
And very true. The same goes for some women who find that space occupied by certain men much to their oblivion, or even more mundane things like Work.
Makes one wonder why the human mind seemingly possesses a reserved spot for idolizing something or the other no?
Sabby, I believe the entirety of courtly love, that most peculiar phenomenon of the Medieval Europe is based on this very practice.
Some fragments of this exist in what may be considered by some to be good manners or chivalrous conduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtly_love
Makuluwo- I'm at a loss myself. Religion is a many faceted thing, the idolising forms only a part of the whole. Maybe it is about hope.
Amaradeva sings about this in the song "Paalu Anduru".
courtly love...interesting... hmm... I suppose you should be really lucky to find a woman who can appreciate it in this day and age...and i feel is it right of you to feel that about women. i like ur thoughts J...
Reminds me of something the buddha said on Critical thinking - "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
Interesting? :)
Friendship revered. How beautiful.
Serendib, Dee; thanks.
Dee, yes I rather like that quote. It was also a favourite of the Ceylon Rationalist Association, although they had it in more even more inspiring prose.
Ceylon Rationalist Association? what's that?
CRA is sadly now defunct. Its presence was never needed as much as it is now.
There are some details on their founder here
I carried a few excerpts here
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