The Chereionites have concepts similar to Buddhism.
(i) Liannathan:
"'...the others have gone before us. We are those who have not yet reached the Goal; the bitter need of the universe for help still binds us.'" (p. 597)
This is a contradiction. Are the few remaining Chereionites still present because they have not yet reached the Goal or because, having reached it, they have opted to remain to help the universe? A being may be in either of these states but surely not in both simultaneously?
Two words of caution here:
first, personally, I regard this aspect of Buddhism as mythological;
secondly, we soon learn that Liannathan and the other Chereionites visible in a deserted city of their planet are not in any case really present but instead are holograms projected by Aycharaych.
However, regarding that second point, the ideas expressed by the hologram must be derived from Chereionite philosophy or spirituality. Further, the idea that "'...the others have gone before us...'" ties in with the later human Cosmenosis philosophy.
(ii) Aycharaych has access to the recorded likenesses of the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus, Hillel, Rumi and others. (Here I mention only the spiritually significant names.) These likenesses would have answered Fr. Axor's questions about the Universal Incarnation.
(iii) When Flandry has refused to help Aycharaych, the latter brings his fingers together as if in prayer. That is our last sight of this last Chereionite.
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
As regards your point "i," I can't help but wonder if that Chereionite philosophy was created by Aycharaych merely as a means of bamboozling the Merseians and keeping them deferential to a planet they thought populated by beings of awesome powers.
Correction, what Aycharaych actually said was: "If you could have the likenesses to meet whenever you would...of Gautama Buddha, Kung Fu Tse, Rabbi Hillel, Jesus the Christ,..." He was not claiming they had been scanned and hologrammed.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
If Aycharaych invented that philosophy, then he created as a fiction what has been presented as the truth on Earth!
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Let's see if I understood you! To me, all that we see here, esp. since it ties in with the Cosmenosism seen in THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN, is merely another kind of pantheism. And I disagree with all pantheists. I assume what you meant by "...presented as the truth on Earth" is that pantheists believe their philosophy is true.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Not necessarily pantheism. Liannathan says that many Chereionites have gone before the few who remain, those who have not yet reached the Goal, and also speaks of remaining here in order to address the needs of the universe. These are Buddhist ideas. Cosmenosis is about the Ancients who have gone before but also want to help the less evolved.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And that first part, about "Liannathan," was merely a fiction cooked up by Aycharaych to help deceive the Merseians. I don't think the last Chereionite believed those Buddhist ideas.
I agree with what you said about Cosmenosism. But Commissioner Desai also talked about contradictions Aycharaych apparently built into that fake philosophy/religion. Such as whether God was the Creator or Created. Which looks like pantheism to me.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Of course HE didn't believe those ideas. My question was where did he get them from? I thought that he must have got them from other Chereionites but you suggested that he invented them.
Cosmenosism was on Aeneas before Aycharaych arrived and suited his purposes.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I now think we might both be wrong. Aycharaych could have picked up these Buddhist ideas from his personal study of Terran history and culture. And found them useful in making Cosmenosism more than an academic fad, to turn into an instrument for convulsing and shattering the Empire.
Ad astra! Sean
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