What is Mythology?

A fact is everybody's truth, based on measurable evidence. Fiction is nobody's truth, based on fantasy. Myth is somebody's truth, and establishes a culture's world view.

The words 'myth' and 'mythology' are controversial only if one sticks to their nineteenth-century definitions, where myth is a synonym of fiction and fantasy. This simplistic binary world has long since collapsed. In the twenty-first century, our understanding of the world is far more nuanced. It must be kept in mind that the meaning of words changes with time. The word 'gay' today refers to homosexuality and not carefree as it did a century ago; for the Greeks 'justice' meant the natural order of hierarchy, not equality as it does today. Myth therefore has to be seen in the modern context, not the colonial one.

The Age of Enlightenment was also the Age of Colonization, a fact that is rarely pointed out. During this age whatever the European colonizers believed in was the truth, and whatever their subjects in Asia, Africa and America said was deemed as falsehood and myth. In the twenty-first century, following the rise of science, we have realized different people have different truths, because they have different experiences of the world. European or American truths are also a form of myth constructed through stories, symbols and rituals. Therefore the word 'myth' refers to a subjective or cultural truth of the people.

Lady justice

Myth is not just a religious concept; it is also a secular concept. The two most popular example of myth are God and justice. Some people believe in God, some don't. For believers, God is true, for non-believers God is not true. What about justice? Is it fact, fiction, or just an assumption, hope or belief ? Does justice exist? Some people will say justice exists; some that it does not. Again, for the believer, it is true, while for the non-believer it is not true. Neither God nor justice is a universal concept, though many want them to be, assuming that these will make the world a better place.

Myth is an idea and the vehicles that transmit this idea over time and space are stories, symbols and rituals. Mythology is the study of the stories, symbols and rituals that communicate myth. When we decode them in the course of trying to understand the cultural truth of a people, we realize how mythologies change and why myths are different across history and geography.

Every human being lives in myth. This is an important point to remember. A common misconception among people is that modern, civilized people don't live in myth, while primitive people or exotic cultures do. This is not true. The difference between human beings and animals is that human beings seek meaning in life. In order to bring meaning to life, we frame the world in a particular way. We have assumptions about life, death and purpose. Therefore, we tell each other stories and through them construct a world view; this is our myth. Thus, every tribe in the world, whether in Africa or in America, every person living in New York, Mumbai or Tokyo has a particular view of the world: that is the myth he or she lives in. In most cases, these myths are inherited, they are transmitted over generations. However, in the twenty-first century, the respect for inherited traditions is dwindling as our faith in technology rises.

Gradually, we are living in a world of ideologies which are transmitted through educational institutions and social media, and which in turn transmit new myths that are constructed on a day-to-day basis. A tribal society will have a tribal myth, a civilized society will have its own 'civilized' myth. Communism and capitalism are as much a myth as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. The nation state is a myth, too – these are frameworks in which we live. If tribal mythology creates tribal loyalty, nation-state mythology establishes patriotism. Capitalism creates a sense of purpose based on creating value, Communism creates a myth that privileges labour. Everyone who is in a myth, insists that his or her myth is true, and that those who disagree live in falsehood. Money is the most powerful myth in the world today. A coin, a piece of paper or numbers on a computer screen are deemed to have value, because the buyer and the seller believe in the underlying story and respect the symbol and rituals around it. Take away this myth and modern society will collapse.

Just as science rejected myth in the nineteenth century on grounds of evidence, post-structuralists, social justice warriors and cultural Marxists reject all myths of the twenty-first century as conspiracies to create oppression. In their discourses, Capitalism was created to make the rich richer, Communism to establish mediocrity and kill enterprise, Hinduism to enslave people through caste, Christianity to establish empires, Islam to wipe out free will and diversity. All religions are considered tools to create gender, class and cultural hierarchies, to create value for the favoured few. By such analysis, post-structuralists, social justice warriors and cultural Marxists create their own hierarchies and meanings, establishing their own myth of a world without myth.

For the purpose of yoga, it is important to understand the myth of Judgement Day. Judgement Day is a concept that is found in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It was also found in ancient Egyptian, Persian, Mesopotamian and Greek mythology. The idea is that when you die, you are judged on your actions, and sent to heaven or hell accordingly. In the case of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, God is the judge. And therefore, God creates the rules one must follow.

Judgement Day

If one follows the rules, they go to heaven or else, hell. Secular nation states also follow the framework underlying Judgement Day, though they exclude the idea of God. Instead of God, they speak of citizens as a collective, and commandments take the form of a constitution. The citizens are expected to live by the nation's law: those who don't are judged and penalized. Structurally, then, the notion of Judgement Day is implicit even in the secular idea of social justice and corporate social responsibility.

The concept of a judge, Judgement Day, and the binary between heaven and hell are not dominant motifs in Hinduism, Buddhism or Jainism. In Buddhism, the Buddha is not a judge. The idea of heaven and hell exists, but is not quite based on judgement or commandments. Buddhism speaks of the

concept of karma and the belief in rebirth, based on your actions in this life. The rules of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are restricted to religious ascetic orders and communities, more for functional than metaphysical reasons. You go to heaven not by following rules but by restraining senses and seeking wisdom. Thus, the Buddhist concept of heaven and hell is not based on following or breaking rules, but on psychological transformation, and accumulating karma that either raises us or casts us down in the many-tiered cosmos.

The concept of judgement comes in a society that believes in equality, and therefore strives towards homogeneity, shunning heterogeneity. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are based on diversity which is often misread as inequality. Every human being is different, because we all carry different karmic burdens from our previous lives. Each one has different strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. So, one rule cannot apply to all. Likewise, different people need different forms of yoga and different kinds of teachers. There is no one yoga for all, no one guru for all. The yoga that works for our particular context and our body, is best for us, but might not work for others. Yoga cannot be benchmarked or indexed or standardized. Nor can gurus, yogis or yoginis.

Contrasting worldviews

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