It's common for people to think of inanimate objects as being alive, though not many are bold enough to talk about it, afraid they might be thought of as odd... but the fact is that everyone's done this, and it's always been that way. It's one of the peculiarities of the human worldview. Most people wince at the pitiful wings of broken umbrellas, and there are works of art that rely upon the surge of sympathy a person will feel when they see a ragdoll slouched in what would be a painful position. Maybe it serves some behavioral purpose in our species; as it is, it's an innocent quirk.
There's an old Buddhist story I wanted to mention when I made this comic, since it was part of the inspiration for the tiger's "don't die!" interjection, but I can't remember where I read it, or any keywords for finding it again. If anyone recognizes it, I'd like to know. A boy was playing and accidentally broke an older monk's teacup, and he felt terrible because he knew that it was very special to the monk. So the boy approached the monk, and sadly talked to him about the ephemerality of this world and how eventually all things die, and then silently showed him the broken teacup.
The reverse of seeing inanimate objects as alive is when people start thinking of living creatures (and other people) as being sensationless, soulless, inanimate objects. That's the worldview that causes horrible things to happen, because the person is convinced that there is no cruelty in acts bestowed upon something that cannot feel. That's the worldview that people should be ashamed to have, the one that people should instantly recognize as being crazy, and so more readily avoid it, and be reluctant to act upon it. Sadly, it's been all too abundant in our culture to think of life as mere machinery, to such an extent that sometimes it's a struggle to convince anyone otherwise.
"...sometime I feel like inanimate ojects have a soul, especially my car." A Pagan book, "Urban Primitive," has a chapter talking about how people feel that their car is alive, has a spirit, or has a guardian spirit of its own. It has anecdotes about rather supernatural things that happened with their cars, so it's perhaps more than just a vague feeling that one's car has a personality.
"...wonder how many otherkin identify themselves as posibly being one of these inanimate objects in spirit." I've met/heard of a few people who were cyborgs in other lives, but that's the closest I've heard of. Not quite the same thing as being an ensouled inanimate object.
A Buddhist story concerning a broken teacup, and ephemerality....this sounds familiar, but the version I am remembering is Zen, and had a somewhat different conclusion. Let me see if google can help...
/me googles "drink from the cup as if it is already broken."
The first result, from everything2.net, is where I read this. But the koan mentioned in that write-up seems like it could be slightly different. Does the conclusion, however, match with your memory?
strange.....oh, wait! I don't think I used the quotes.
here's the link: everything2.net/index.pl?node_id1005188
Is anyone here familiar with everything2.net? It's a fascinating website to browse--set up on the same sort of premise as, say, wikipedia, but the parts of it that I find fascinating tend to be like the above: people's commentaries or reviews or recipes to make the perfect chocolate mousse. There are stories and dream journals and all kinds of stuff...
It's also designed, in a sense, for browsing. You'll see what I mean when ze link is clicked.
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therithere
Re: tea cup
Date: 2006-04-12 05:47 pm (UTC)There's an old Buddhist story I wanted to mention when I made this comic, since it was part of the inspiration for the tiger's "don't die!" interjection, but I can't remember where I read it, or any keywords for finding it again. If anyone recognizes it, I'd like to know. A boy was playing and accidentally broke an older monk's teacup, and he felt terrible because he knew that it was very special to the monk. So the boy approached the monk, and sadly talked to him about the ephemerality of this world and how eventually all things die, and then silently showed him the broken teacup.
The reverse of seeing inanimate objects as alive is when people start thinking of living creatures (and other people) as being sensationless, soulless, inanimate objects. That's the worldview that causes horrible things to happen, because the person is convinced that there is no cruelty in acts bestowed upon something that cannot feel. That's the worldview that people should be ashamed to have, the one that people should instantly recognize as being crazy, and so more readily avoid it, and be reluctant to act upon it. Sadly, it's been all too abundant in our culture to think of life as mere machinery, to such an extent that sometimes it's a struggle to convince anyone otherwise.
"...sometime I feel like inanimate ojects have a soul, especially my car."
A Pagan book, "Urban Primitive," has a chapter talking about how people feel that their car is alive, has a spirit, or has a guardian spirit of its own. It has anecdotes about rather supernatural things that happened with their cars, so it's perhaps more than just a vague feeling that one's car has a personality.
"...wonder how many otherkin identify themselves as posibly being one of these inanimate objects in spirit."
I've met/heard of a few people who were cyborgs in other lives, but that's the closest I've heard of. Not quite the same thing as being an ensouled inanimate object.
Re: tea cup
Date: 2006-04-12 07:26 pm (UTC)/me googles "drink from the cup as if it is already broken."
The first result, from everything2.net, is where I read this. But the koan mentioned in that write-up seems like it could be slightly different. Does the conclusion, however, match with your memory?
Re: tea cup
Date: 2006-04-12 11:08 pm (UTC)Googling that phrase, in quotes, brings up zero search results. Would you mind linking to the everything2.net page in particular?
Re: tea cup
Date: 2006-04-13 02:57 pm (UTC)here's the link: everything2.net/index.pl?node_id1005188
Is anyone here familiar with everything2.net? It's a fascinating website to browse--set up on the same sort of premise as, say, wikipedia, but the parts of it that I find fascinating tend to be like the above: people's commentaries or reviews or recipes to make the perfect chocolate mousse. There are stories and dream journals and all kinds of stuff...
It's also designed, in a sense, for browsing. You'll see what I mean when ze link is clicked.