Divine Cobblers Believers conceal their contempt for Atheists under a cloak of innate divinity and bluster. Dissonance between the faithful and rational agnostics abounds in all religions. In Indian mythology there is an apocryphal story of a boy wonder whose body is deformed. In the court of king Janaka the courtiers make fun of the hunchbacked Ashtavakara. Instead of breaking down or wallowing in self pity the polymath laughs back, shocking the contrite audience. The king demands an explanation – Ashtavakara replies that he finds it funny that confederations of cobblers are contesting the contours of the truth. Like cobblers who can only see the hides or goatskin they see the deformed body but not my mind. Oh! King is the sky curved because the dome of the temple, mosque, or church? When the pot is smashed does the space within fragment into smithereens? How can cobblers and carpenters parley about truth, it is a sign of their bondage to their kings and religion that they cannot use their minds and senses. But the true thinker is one who is unbound and changeless beyond dissonance.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:09:03 +0000
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