Culture kills you, culture is a murderer, culture is a slow poison -- it is a suicide.
~ from When the Shoe Fits: Commentaries on the Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu ~
What do you think about this Osho quote? Agree? Disagree?
I don't have an opinion at this point. I'm pondering. I will say however that, were there no culture, how could there be yogurt?
I don't have an opinion at this point. I'm pondering. I will say however that, were there no culture, how could there be yogurt?
oooh bad pun! ;)
ReplyDeletewhy would culture be either good or bad? culture is more or less the societal background of a particular region or time. since culture is created by humans, it's a product of what humanity values at that particular moment in time and that particular place.
if you believe that humanity is essentially corrupt then you would probably believe that culture is bad. if you believe that humanity is basically good, then culture would also be construed as a good thing.
personally i believe that humanity is essentially corrupt but also essentially good- society does tend to bring out the worst in humans, but any culture would incorporate both the light and dark side of human nature.
from a taoist perspective, culture can "kill" if it is allowed to completely envelop a person... but that can be said of anything. culture doesn't necessarily lead people away from the natural state of things, rather it's more of a mirror showing us what we value and what we are capable of. it does tend to lead toward humanocentricity but that's not inherent. tendencies and definitions are not the same.
I had an idea that a commentary from Osho would open new avenues.
ReplyDeleteYou, in this case is not ego you but the true self.
And flits and fashions of thought or otherwise are deviations.
Iktomi,
ReplyDeleteTa-Wan is on to Osho's point. I will post the rest of Osho's quote on this topic in a bit. This is not to say that you're wrong; the issue is not of the true/false kind. Each person must answer it for themselves.
Yogurt?
ReplyDeleteWhat is yogurt?
Obviously, in this context, Osho, whoever he is, is referring to black gangsta-rap music.
I think he is right.
But try substituting any number of labels for things that groups of people do, and it might read very similarly.
At least he has an opinion.
Strangely - for once - I don't.
Crow,
ReplyDeleteYou really don't know what yogurt is?
Osho was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. I think he had a Rolls Royce for a while.
ReplyDelete'Culture' leads us around and brainwashes us into what it holds dear.
ReplyDelete