Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth

Joseph Campbell was an amazing man full of insight and understanding of the religions of the world and how they all are the same metaphorically, and they all share common themes since the dawn of time. I will share some of his perceptions and thoughts that are reoccurring throughout this 6-hour DVD. Every chapter is spellbinding, delightful and distinctive. There is a wealth of information here that will inspire anyone to a spiritual life and the wonders of the great mysteries of life and God as Campbell sees him. Joseph Campbell was an enlightened man full of the wonder and joy of life. Just watching him I feel a deep sense of connection to God and the mysteries of the universal cosmic truths.Myths and dreams are transformations of consciousness and are the way to a deep rich life of mystery; transforming thought. The Ego is the dragon holding you in and keeping you small. Following your bliss by doing what brings you vitality within yourself saves the world. The Buddha says that Nirvana is a psychological state of mind that is not compelled by desire, fear or social commitments or acting out of our own center. We are all seeking an experience of being alive; we are not seeking meaning of life since there is none really. It's the inner value we seek and it is not in what we do. The ultimate mystery of being transcends thought and cannot be understood. God is transcendent and God is within our world, others and us. Eternity is here and now. This is it and we must get it from within ourselves not out there and not after we die! We cannot concretize that symbols as fact. Jesus did not ascend up but within us. All the symbols are metaphors and are not fact. We are all manifestations of Buddha consciousness. Jesus is within us all just as are heaven, and Hell and all the Gods. Inward we are the source. All religions are true for their time. Open up to the mysteries of life of all things, and make a choice to stay in your life and realize the truth and depth of your experience of your own being through consciousness and bliss. Experience it here and now.Do not judge. Open-up and love thy enemy. These, Campbell says, are Jesus' greatest teachings.We need to shift the perception to joyful participation in the sorrows of life and everything changes. Find the immoveable center within yourself and we can survive anything and float down the stream of life. To save the world we must save ourselves. The influence of a vital person vitalizes the world. The world is a wasteland and we cannot save the world by shifting it around. Bring it to life by being alive yourself.Choose to affirm life. Life is great say yes to it. It is a childish way of thinking to say no to life with all its pain. We all participate in evil. No matter what we do it's evil to somebody. If all the universe is Divine how can we say no to anything in the world? Brutality, stupidity, thoughtless ness and suffering; we must say yes. Affirm the world and life. We are not to judge anything. This is the greatest teaching of Jesus. Affirm both good and evil. Do not withdrawal from the world when you realize how horrible it is, but see the horror as the foreground of a wonder. Come back and participate in it.To be spiritual we need a deep sense of mystery of the dimension of the universe that is not available to the senses. Divinity is the realization of wonder that is much larger then the human dimension. Divinity is just what we think. God is a metaphor of what is guiding you and comes from within. The transcendent mystery is where we come from and we do not have to identify it. I am the vehicle radiant of the spirit, as we all are. The virgin birth is the symbol of the birth of the heart to the awakening of the spiritual life in accord with another or a principle. To not be driven by the lower centers of lust, greed, power and wanting but to be driven from the compassion of the heart to open-up to the realization that God is within the other and us; a whole new life comes.The ultimate mystery is finding God within you. That God is within us just as he is within the earth and all of nature and everything. God is everywhere. This is the real truth- He is not up in the sky separate from us, but within us and around us supporting us always, and we just need to become awake to this fact. I can see why the goal is to die before we die. To die to our animal and material nature and become reborn to the spiritual nature, which is our true nature.And he often mentions how we are to live our lives in accord with nature and to worship nature just as most of the world does. Western Christian thought sees nature as fallen and our religion is one of exile that nature is fallen and evil. This is ridiculous Campbell says because what else do we have to worship then nature? All other religions but Christianity, teach to live in accord with nature and the God's are much more elemental of the earth. We come from the earth and are a part of the Earth not separate from it.Here is a quote from Chief Seattle that Campbell dictates and lives by:"Will you teach your children what we teach our children, that the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. What he does to the web he does to himself. One thing we know, our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of man? When the view of the ripe hills is blocked by talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone. Where will the eagle be? Gone. What is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival."

Joseph Campbell was a teacher of the great spiritual truths from all of the world's religions. Campbell shows us the difference between connotation and denotation and invites us to read the mythology of the world as a field of reference that refers directly to the transcendent. Mythology is a complicated language built on metaphors that can stump the ill-advised. In this series of interviews we learn that the organs of the body are in conflict with one another and the conflict is externalized by the creative power of our mythic imagination. The interviews are sprinkled with clips of fascinating footage from cultures around the world as well as works of art and brief illustrated stories set to music.Bill Moyers asks Campbell questions in a sometimes rigid and stilted voice but his heart is in the right place and he is certainly barking up the right tree. Together they explore difficult questions about the state of the world and the continuing relevance of mythology in rapidly changing times. Campbell as a teacher is gentle and inspires us to move forward along the course of our own lives armed with the tools of perception, wisdom and reflection. Along the way there are warnings about the dangers of rigid adherence to systems that threaten to overpower our own humanity. There are also invitations to see what is beautiful. Man has struggled over the ages to come to terms with a world that is at once both nurturing and threatening. In this modern world we wait for men like Joseph Campbell to come along and offer us the historical perspective and mental architecture that will help us build a healthy and functioning world view. We are challenged to do nothing less than bring forth the full potential of our beings for our own benefit and for the benefit of those around us. Watching these DVD's is about one of the best ways a person can spend some free time, there are very important conversations to explore here.