Something for Kate

Kate, rejoice for I have discovered that the Tibetan/Nepalese God ofWisdom, Manjushri, has a flaming sword.
You and I have riffed about cleansing the stupid from the face of the planet by way of a Flaming Sword (of Righteousness). I believe you also wanted to be Benevolent Dictator of the world too. I will be the Beneviolent Dictator and we can take turns with the sword.

From some random website: "Manjushree is known as the God of Divine Wisdom, and is considered the founder of Nepalese civilization and the creator of the Katmandu Valley. Devotees believe that he confers wisdom, memory and intelligence."

Obviously I am his most recent incarnation and you all owe me some rice.
Or Kate is and you can send her rice because she has better hair.

"Manjushree is a Bodhisattva (one who has forsaken Nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment), and according to legend, his intuition told him he could find the blue flame symbolizing Adibuddha in the big lake in Nepal. As he tried to make his way there to offer worship, his path was blocked by a vast ocean of water. Using the sword of wisdom and light, he cut away from the southern wall of hills, thus draining away the water and creating the Kathmandu Valley."

There you go - The Flaming Sword of Wisdom and Light!
Also useful for drastic garden make-overs.
Death to the frigging water features!

And you'd all better be grateful that I gave up Nirvana to guide, nurture and teach you, you worthless mortals (although truth be told the Seattle Sound has run it's course).

Anyway, I'm currently searching for nuggets of nirvana in Progressive Trance music and today found these lyrics:
"Do you believe in a god that satisfies
Do you believe in a god that opens eyes
Do you believe in a god that tells you lies
Or do you believe in me?
Do you believe in a god that brings you down
Do you believe in a god that wears a crown
Do you believe in a god that makes you bow
Or do you believe in me?"

And The Cat Empire in 'Two Shoes' sing:
"Around my neck is superstition hanging from a chain
Because I've got my gods, but in the end I made my own way."

So, I've been thinking about deities again and whether they should be worshipped or not.
I cannot be a friend to a god who orders me how to behave. I cannot love a god I don't respect. I dislike the idea of heaven because that offers deification as the point/reward of life; whereas the point of life is to be the best human you can, and the rewards spring from that. Also I prefer the idea that this life is the one that matters, and that what we do with it is what matters. Obviously I'm not Christian. My gods look me in the eye and we speak face to face. They are there as examples and agents of inspiration. Gods are expressed through people and the way to be closer to the divine is to be closer to people through which s/he shines.

We do make our own way, and it shouldn't matter if the gods don't actually exist. To me, that is empowering.