The previous post talked about what motivates us to do what we do. It addressed the concepts of collaborative motivation (primarily seeking to benefit others) and individual motivation (primarily seeking to benefit the self). There is, however, another source of motivation. It is the motivation born from the belief that each individual has a unique path to follow and, if receptive, the individual can allow that path to be revealed. Let’s call it, metaphysical motivation.
Mythology is filled with characters who find themselves in the unique position to act in response to their own singular callings. Their lives and lessons reveal wisdom that can guide and inspire you. These icons serve as messengers shuttling back and forth between ordinary quotidian life and the world of ancient wisdom, of fables and oracles and Norns and Sibyls, the world of Truths, with a capital T.
There’s the story of Moses who was visited by Yahweh through a burning bush and was given guidance to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. On Mount Sinai he received the Ten Commandments and other laws, establishing the basis for Israelite law and ethics.
There is the story of Siddhartha Gautama. Born to a noble family, he ventured out of his family palace four times where he encountered an old man, a sick person, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic. These encounters prompted him to reflect on suffering, old age, sickness, and death, and he set out to seek spiritual truth that led him to enlightenment, Nirvana, becoming the “awake one.” His teachings became the foundations of Buddhism.
There’s the story of Muhammad, the prophet from Mecca, in present-day Saudi Arabia. While meditating in a cave, he began receiving revelations from the angel Gabriel that continued over the next 23 years. These revelations informed on matters of faith, morality, law, and social issues, and they formed the basis of the Islamic holy book, the Quran.
The angel Gabriel is also said to have visited Mary, a young Jewish woman in Nazareth. Gabriel told her that she would conceive of a child and give birth, despite being a virgin. The same story appears in the texts of both Christianity and Islam. The Virgin Mary’s gift to the world was her son Jesus of Nazareth. Although not much is recorded about the first three decades of his life after birth, by the time he was 30, he had become an outspoken preacher for God, forgiveness, love, and compassion. His life, messages, death, and resurrection became the foundation for the New Testament of The Bible.
History brims and bubbles with individuals who followed their unique mythical journeys, leading inspiring lives, from St Francis of Assisi to Jalal al-Din Rumi to Swami Vivekananda to Mohandas Gandhi to Mother Teresa to the Dalai Lama.
Mythological tales across epochs and cultures serve as sources of mystical reflection and introspection and act as motivators for those who encounter them. The Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia depicts the hero’s quest for immortality, the inevitability of death, and the acceptance thereof. The accounts of Perseus in Greek mythology teach about the virtues of following a righteous path, despite the oppression and wickedness of others, to overcome great odds.
Arthurian Tales describe the quest for the Holy Grail, teaching about faith, character, humility, and honor. Dante’s Divine Comedy plots a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, providing meditations on sin and redemption.
What all these mythical beings have in common is a certain otherness that separates them from the lives of ordinary people, from me and you. Their role is to commune between the people and the gods, between the heavens and the earth. Their role in human consciousness is to provide a glimpse of the divine. They reveal, they elevate, they inspire. The engender hope. They invigorate and stimulate the imagination. They alert us to something bigger than our lives, our ordinary, finite, prosaic lives.
These icons present us with a stirring sense that our existence, temporary as it is, is linked to something much bigger. A plutonium atom is linked to a bomb. It is all but invisible, patiently waiting to ignite its atomic fury. A drop of sea water contains the taste of the whole ocean. A microscopic plant spore reveals the fractal complexities of the universe. You and I and all of us are atoms, drops of water, spores; each is individual, and yet connected to the larger collective.
Mythology connects the finiteness of our lives to the infinite, igniting a metaphysical understanding of ourselves in the world. Its lessons can be motivational and powerful.