Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Creation Myths

By Mackenzie Meitner through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org
In this project we are first introduced to the Hindu notion of the Golden Egg, a cosmic egg from which all sprang. The next segment introduces Jain cosmology as a series of four ages, slowly degenerating from giants to modern human sizes. At one point during the documentary, an image of Shiva is referenced as Rishabha Deva, the first tirthankara or ford-maker. Also, the Jain ultimate state is not nirvana but kevalajnana or wisdom-only as one becomes a being of pure wisdom. 18000years remain for this age and the disappearance of Jainism and its re-emergence anew. Buddhism has no particular opinion and the importance of creation is far less relevant that stopping mental turbulence. Nevertheless, a parody of creation exists in Buddhism as beings became greedy for edibles, particularly ancient fungi. Social hierarchies emerge as ignorance descends on the wise beings through their desire. For Hindus, the universes cycle again and again like the other too. From the cosmic egg, Brahma creates as part of Vishnus dream. Meitner has a nice way with crisp and clear visuals, the panning and transitions are excellent. No video elements in this would mean a loss of a point, but I am counting the brilliance of the other components as an A for this interesting work. jp

Category:

Education

Tags:

• philosophy
• religion
• creation
• myths
• jainism
• india
• buddhism
• hinduism
• cosmology
• origins
• tirthankara
• buddha
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[templar333]

there is no "Creation" it has not "start" the very idea of a start go's against all logic,

for the very idea of a Creation means nothing to some thing, in then a claim that there was a "god" in that nothing, that made every thing, how can you use a user name that u have with out knowing this? to us there is no start to time, its endless

[opensourcebuddhism]

@templar333 Fair enough and I know that templar, that Buddhist (and Jain and Hindu) time is endless, but there are cyclings in that endlessness.  The Aganna Sutta may in fact have been written as a joke response to Hindu accounts, but it is there, nonetheless.

[Tauron68]

I am a Buddhist, and i don't know where you get your information, but, you better go back to "school". You are lacking in knowledge about the Buddhadhamma. Therefore, you should not speak about things you don't understand.

[opensourcebuddhism]

@Tauron68 That was my student's work Tauron...perhaps you could enlighten us where she went wrong rather than suggest she go back to school...or better yet, make another, better video and let me know when you do. i will watch it!

[helical4]

It never ceases to amaze me how people over the ages have continued to anthropomorhise the universe around us. Keeping explainations about origins within the confines of what is familiar to the human experience. It is interesting to learn about these stories, it is baffling to learn that there are many people who believe them to be true. When, I wonder, will human beings grow out of this phase of childish thinking?

[opensourcebuddhism]

@helical4 How different is the Big Bang from the ancient Sumer myth of the emergence of a great mountain from the primordial sea, for example? One of the oldest known creation stories. The idea of infinite Big Bangs from infinite Black Holes is how different from one of the Hindu myths of the earth sitting on top of infinite turtles? And I prefer the "Blooming Lotus" creation imagery more than the term "Big Bang" and "Black Hole". So darkly Western, no?

[TinSoldierPhoenix]

i am a buddhist who doesn't think about the creation of the universe, i think it is an unanswerable question, a question which looks for an unnecessary answer...

[OASKI123]

i couldnt hear her voice. ridiculous

[z3r006]

@opensourcebuddhism the buddhist creation myth or how the universe works is probably one of the most scientific theories in religion, and reflects what modern scientists believe about the mechanics of the universe. The Buddha states that the universe continually expands and retracts through cycles. Its more in depth, but too long to describe.

[satjathamma]

Time is endless only in ignorant viewing,

in the ultimate reality time is just illusion,

therefore there can be no cycles because a cycle

implies a begining and end which implies time

[templar333]

***Buddhism has no particular opinion and the importance of creation is far less relevant that stopping mental turbulence**** we do,, there is more then just 3 books u know,, there is 49,000 sutras, in all of them that talk of time, say its "beginning-less"

[templar333]

@meekus02 the LHC was made for that very reason,

[meekus02]

@helical4 Please explain to me why "evidence" is limited to non-human evidence. What does the scientist do with millenia of human culture telling creation stories and believing in them? Is "evidence" only that which can be re-created in a laboratory? If so, what does one do when the evidence points toward a scientific Truth, say, the Big Bang, without being able to actually reproduce it? Penrose proved singularities, but the big bang itself remains a theory. Why? Can we reproduce that?