Category: Mythology

Magical Buffet Mythology: Hanuman

by Administrator, posted in Hinduism, Mythology, Religion

Article by Rebecca
Image by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com)

There are times when, if you’re like me, you look for examples of faith and piety, perhaps someone to inspire you, to teach you the power of devotion. It’s times like that when I think of a particular monkey, and no, it’s not “Monkey” from Dexter’s Laboratory, although he does kick butt! I’m talking about the Hindu God Hanuman.

Following in the fine tradition of Hindu deities with an animal/human thing going on, Hanuman has the head of a monkey or ape (choose your preference) and the body of a man.  In all fairness, to many Hanuman is technically considered an immortal, but that does not stop people from loving him! Although he would prefer you devote yourself to Rama and Sita…more on that in a moment.

At the end of the day, Hanuman is known for his courage, power, and his faithful selfless service. Yet, like all mature deities, he had his wild youth.  As a young empowered being he took flight and tried to catch the sun, Hanuman thought it was a ripe fruit. Hanuman also spent his days teasing and tormenting mediating sages, sometimes taking or moving around their personal possessions. To help keep everybody a little safer, and a little saner, a curse was put upon Hanuman that he would not remember his powers. They only become available to him when someone else reminds him that he possesses them. Therefore, Hanuman’s days of, pardon the expression, monkey business, were over.  On with the mighty heroics!

In the service of Lord Rama, Hanuman accomplished great feats. Mainly, he grew in size. I mean, HUGE! We’re talking walking over oceans, carrying mountains, limitless tail length (it mattered, trust me), levels of largeness. Hanuman’s efforts can be directly linked to Lord Rama being reunited with his Sita. Thank you very much!

At the end of the day, what reward did Hanuman ask for? He asked to live for as long as men spoke of the deeds of Rama. You may be thinking, what a kiss up! Well, you aren’t alone, that’s what many said. To silence the critics, Hanuman tore open his chest with his claws to reveal that enshrined within were Rama and Sita. From that moment forward, no one doubted Hanuman’s devotion.

What can we learn from Hanuman? For starters, he teaches us of the power that lies unused in each of us. It was through Hanuman’s undying devotion to Rama that his powers became revealed to him, thus implying that the same potential lies within each of us as well. Primarily, Hanuman embodies wholly the word devotion, and illustrates to us the strength and power that devotion can provide us. When I think of Hanuman I ask myself one question, one that I pose to you now. If I tore open my chest, to show the world what was enshrined there, what would everyone see? It’s that question, and more importantly, the answer to that question, that illustrates Hanuman’s importance.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Kuan Yin

by Administrator, posted in Buddhism, Mythology, Religion

by Rebecca

Who is Kuan Yin?  Simple answer is the Goddess of Compassion.  You may not have heard of her, but I assure you, the people of China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Buddhists, and Goddess worshipers know all about her.  Kuan Yin is She Who Hears the Cries of the World.  She is generally depicted as a beautiful white robed woman who instead of entering heaven, refused to go until the suffering on Earth has ended.

Kuan Yin (who is known by many, many alternate spellings: Quan Yin, Kannon, Kuan-shih Yin, and more) began her existence as a man.  He was (and is) the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the Buddhist faith.  The unique sex change occurred when the Bodhisattva came to China.  When this particular Bodhisattva began their incorporation with the Chinese Buddhists, he became a she!  Needless to say, this caused much confusion within the Buddhist community so at this point it has been decided, thanks to the Lotus Sutra, that Kuan Yin can take on any form necessary to help in her missions of compassion and mercy.  That is good because there are stories about Kuan Yin that do not use any of the names previously mentioned in this article.  For instance, the one I chose to use!

This story describes Kuan Yin as the daughter of a cruel king.  (In this particular legend Kuan Yin is referred to as Miao Shan, a princess who is believed to have had a religious following that has since been transferred to Kuan Yin.)

Okay, so Miao Shan’s father, the King, wanted Miao Shan to marry.  You see, the king never had any sons, only daughters, so he was determined to see them all married to wealthy important men.  But despite being a princess Miao Shan was more into the praying and less into the marrying.  She made a fuss that she would not marry unless it could ease three misfortunes.  Unfortunately for the King, marriage, although good, cannot alleviate the suffering people endure as they get older in age, ease the suffering people endure when they fall ill, or ease the suffering caused by death.  This was not your average princess!  Since marriage couldn’t take care of any of those, Miao Shan wanted permission to retire to a religious life at the temple.

The King finally allowed Miao Shan to enter the temple, but he had spoken to the monks and told them to make life there unbearable for her.  You see, he had this military man all lined up for Miao Shan once she gave up at the temple.  The monks tried to make it hard for her.  Miao Shan was forced to work day and night with little food or water and no help.  But that plucky Miao Shan was just such a good person that she didn’t complain and soon the animals there took to helping her.

Now here is where the story branches into a million different variations.  In some versions, the King has the temple burned down.  Miao Shan puts out the fire with her bare hands and suffered no burns.  This totally freaks out the King and he goes from wanting to marry her off, to putting her to death!  Some stories say she was taken away by a supernatural tiger to one of the Hell-like realms of the dead, where she freed many of the souls there.  Other versions say Miao Shan was unable to be killed.  That axe and sword alike broke into thousands of pieces when they tried to take her head!  Another is that she allowed herself to be killed, took on the guilt from her executioner so he would have none, and thusly descended into one of the Hells.  Once there she let loose with all that good karma she had accumulated and freed many souls that were there.  This is just like the movie “Clue”, that’s how it could have ended, but here is my personal favorite ending.

In this ending the King falls ill with a jaundice that no doctor can cure.  A monk arrives and explains that the only way he can be cured is with a special medicine made from the eye and the arm of one without anger.  It just so happens that the monk knows where to find such a person, one lives on Fragrant Mountain.  Miao Shan (of course it’s Miao Shan…it’s her story, right?) when asked gives up her eye and arm willingly.

The King recovers and goes to the Fragrant Mountain to give thanks to the one who helped cure him.  When he arrives he is shocked to discover that his own daughter made those sacrifices for him.  The King begs her for forgiveness.  This version of the story concludes with Miao Shan being transformed into the Thousand Armed Kuan Yin and the King, Queen and her two sisters build a temple on the mountain for her.

As long as this article is, it barely touches on all the wonderful stories, and wonderful aspects, of Kuan Yin.  I encourage you to take a little time to learn more.  Where should you look?  Well, Wikipedia is always a good start, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuan_yin.  Or you can follow in my foot steps and read the book that got me interested in Kuan Yin, “Kuan Yin: Myths and Prophecies of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion” by Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsay, and Man-Ho Kwok.

Magical Buffet Mythology: Artemis

by Administrator, posted in Mythology

By Rebecca

Artemis is known as the goddess of the hunt, the wild, the moon, and childbirth.  The later originating from the fact that Artemis assisted her mother Leto in the birthing of her brother Apollo, which took place immediately following Artemis’ own birth.  Most women aren’t able to do much of anything following their own birth aside from wriggling, squirming, and crying, let alone assist their mother in the birth of their twin!  But it is the wild that Artemis is generally associated with.  She is known as a wild woman and gifted hunter.  Also, like the teen pop stars of our era, she gets a lot of press over her virginity.  Unlike our pop music teeney boppers Artemis kept her virginity!  (Oh yeah, I went there!)

Some say that Artemis’ mother Leto knew that neither of her children would have much luck in love.  Perhaps as a premonition, perhaps mother’s intuition, or maybe it was the fact that Artemis choose to live deep in the wilderness and spend her time hunting and protecting wildlife and not a moment on manicures!  However she knew, Leto was correct…Artemis was definitely not going to settle down with a man.  The myths vary, but all have the same theme.  At some, point Artemis asks her dad, Zeus the grand high poohbah of the Greek pantheon, to grant some wishes.  Now me, I would’ve asked for a body that wouldn’t quit, maybe some occult secrets, and some handsome Greek man to attend me, but Artemis had other things in mind.  A hunting tunic, a bow, and quiver full of arrows, hounds, stags to lead her chariot, and nymphs as her hunting companions are all things that have been said to have been requested.  Now some retellings say that Artemis asked Zeus to say that she never had to marry, others say that she asked her father to grant her eternal virginity.  Whatever she may have asked, it’s fair to say that Artemis kept her legs together tighter than a banker’s smile.

This leads us to the quintessential Artemis story.  It been told several different ways, here is my special version.  One day Artemis is bathing and frolicking in a lake with her virginal nymph companions.  Along comes this man, in most of the retellings he is the Theban prince and hunter Actaeon.  Well Actaeon had been out hunting with his dogs and decided it was time for a much needed rest.  He settles down, the dogs lounge, everything is normal.  Then Actaeon hears it; women’s voices, all giggling and being playful, and some water splashing.  Perhaps in the time of goddesses roaming the earth man should have known better, but I prefer thinking of this as a prime example of the hot blooded human male stepping in it.  Carefully he approached some brush and when he pushes the foliage aside, he sees Artemis in all her hot goddess nakedness frolicking with her not god level but still pretty darn attractive nymphs!  Now Actaeon is no dummy, he immediately recognizes the goddess Artemis but he can’t look away.  Yeah, she’s the wild huntress, but at that moment, she was also a totally hot babe of mythological proportions!  Actaeon realizes that he may be pressing his luck and goes to leave when…snap!  He steps on a branch.  Of course, Artemis turns and sees the prince.  Now most of us would’ve let out a yelp or perhaps smacked him across the face, but we are not Artemis.  She turns the prince into a stag.  In some stories, she turns herself into a hound and rouses the prince’s dogs into chasing down and eating the prince.  Other times it is just said that she causes the prince to be eaten by his hounds.  Either way, Actaeon is dog food.