Myths Are Real Reality Is A Myth
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Myths Are Real, Reality Is A Myth

By Awdhesh Singh​

New realities are being created every moment. But how really are they taking form? Certainly, an existing reality can’t lead to a new one by itself. The genesis of new realities lies in–believe it or not–fiction. It is fictions, myths and legends–our imagination–that has shaped and is shaping our world. This highly evocative and analytical book by Dr. Awdhesh Singh digs deep into the secrets of consciousness of societies, religions and nations to unravel the myths of reality and reality of myths.

“With a perspective that cuts across religions, this is an engagingly written book…about human values and the role of religion in shaping them.” – Bibek Debroy

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Reviews From Amazon

Helps in creating a better reality

A book to understand more on the chaos in India because when you understand it you can rewrite and can lead better. It provides the basis of creating Reality distortion field by showing how realities are formed.

Thota Madhu Sudhan Rao

Very well researched book

You can refer it to know how the mythologies affected people in various fields of life. If you are interested in philosophy and have curiosity about various religions and their practices in the world, you can read it.

Chaitreya S Hegde

Exploring vicious cycle of fiction becomes reality

Awdhesh sir rightly pointed out the contentious impact of myths on our society since it is started and proved this fact with pragmatic ways.

Pradeep

A captivating and thought-provoking read

One of the strengths of the book is the author’s ability to provide concrete examples to illustrate the points, which made the content more relatable and accessible. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in exploring the complexities of myths and reality.

Shank

Mind boggling

Food for thought. Practical understanding of the world. Very useful to understand ourselves and others too.

Amazon Customer

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1.1 Myths and Truths

“Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.” – Joseph Campbell

Mythologies are the collection of myths dealing with the gods, demigods, and the legendary heroes of a society. One myth is supported by another myth, which is further supported by several other myths. Nobody knows from where the myth started, but new myths are continuously created by people taking the clue from the earlier myths as if those were truths.  No amount of scientific and rational explanation can alter the value of the myths for those who believe in them.  

A well-known scientist once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. 

At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant turtle.” 

The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the turtle standing on?” 

“You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!” 

Miracles of God

Mythologies are the stories woven around God, which often form an important part of a religion.  Not everyone gets attracted towards a religion due to its complex philosophies, ideologies and principles. People often follow a religion because God does everything for the believers and give them hopes.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and his brother, John. When they came to the house  of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went inside and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him.

After sending them all out, He, along with the   child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, went to  where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. At this, they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and instructed them to give her something to eat.  (Mark 5: 35-43)

While the scientists and rational people disbelieve such stories, the same stories about miraculous power of Gods are the fundamental reason why so many people believe in God.   For believers, there is nothing that God can’t do. If He can’t do something, He can’t be God since God is Omnipotent —All Powerful. There can be no limitation to the power of God in the eyes of the believer. There can be no natural or man-made law that can ever bind God. It is belief in the miracle that binds a devotee to God. You remove all miracles from a Scripture and it loses all its charm for the believers. 

Truth Can Be Dangerous

We have learned several moral lessons during our childhood. But only a few lessons are as universal as that of always speaking the truth. Truth is considered valuable   enough to be even compared to God. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.” The Bible, too, emphasises the importance of truth.  Jesus Christ said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

However, there are very few people who speak truth all the time. This story explains the dangers of always speaking the truth. 

A couple was driving when they were stopped by a cop.

Cop: Sir, you realize that you were speeding. 

Husband: I am sorry officer, I didn’t know. 

Wife: What the hell, that’s a lie I have been telling him for miles!! 

Husband: Shut up!! No one is talking to you!! 

Cop: Ok then, did you know that your license plate was expired? 

Husband: No Officer, I didn’t know. 

Wife: He’s again telling a lie!! I’ve been telling him for months!!

 Husband: Shut the hell up! Nobody is talking to you!!! 

Cop walks over to the wife’s side and says, 

Maam, does he always talk to you this way? 

Wife: No. Only when he’s drunk!!

You can easily imagine the fate of the poor husband who had such an honest wife. He had to perhaps spend couple of nights in the prison thanks to his brutally honest wife. 

Magical Power of Untruth

While truth can send you to jail sometime, speaking intelligent lie can save your life and even earn you handsome awards. 

Two men were travelling together in a jungle. One traveller had never spoken a lie. The other traveller had never spoken a truth in his life.  Soon they reached the land of Apes. 

The King of Apes ordered they be brought to the court.  To impress them, he sat on a magnificent golden throne and   his subjects sat on either side. The King of Apes asked the traveller who never spoke the truth, ‘What do you think of me as a King?’

The lying traveller said, ‘Sir, everyone can see that you are the noblest and mightiest King in the whole world.’ 

The King was quite pleased and continued, ‘And what do you think of my subjects? 

‘Sir, your subjects are all worthy of their great royal master’, said the lying traveller. 

The King was delighted with this answer and   rewarded him handsomely. 

Now the King of Apes asked the honest traveller, ‘And what, Sir, is your opinion?’

The honest traveller replied, ‘I think you are simply a very fine ape, and all your subjects are fine apes, too.’ 

The King of Apes got very angry. He ordered him to be put to death. 

This Aesop’s Fable explains why people avoid speaking truth when it may be bitter to the listener or harmful to them. In real life, truth is not always God. Rather, it may sometimes send you to God.  But a lie spoken tactfully may prove beneficial as we have seen in this story, though not all the time.  People easily believe a lie when it looks like a truth to them.  

Speaking a truth does not need any application of mind or intelligence. A computer always tells the truth, but it has no intelligence. You must have great intelligence to speak beautiful lies.  The lying traveller was awarded not for telling just any lie.  He was awarded because he spoke a   lie which   the King of Apes believed and wished to hear.  The lying traveller used his intelligence to realise that the King’s intent in   asking the question was   to hear him being praised before his subjects. And he spoke exactly what the king wanted to hear. 

Truth is transparent. It is powerless and colourless. It speaks about reality but can’t alter the reality. On the other hand, a lie which is spoken beautifully is powerful enough to alter the reality. This is what we have seen in this fable.   The traveller lied and praised the King as   a true ‘royal king’.   His action resulted not only in saving his life but also in getting a great reward and honour. The king lived up to the image of a ‘royal king’ which the lying traveler built for him. On the contrary, the honest traveller paid the price of speaking the truth with his life, as the Ape behaved exactly as a strong Ape would behave with a weaker man. 

Speaking a beautiful lie is a great art, which is often presented to us in the form of fiction.

Truth and Fiction

Fiction is defined as the written stories about people and events that are not real but imagined by the writer. Fiction means something that is not true. Yet fictions are extremely popular all over the world because they are beautiful and we love them.  “It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction,” said Mark Twain. “Fiction has to make sense,” he added. 

Truth is colourless, while fiction can be filled with a million colours. If we equate truth to plain white light, fiction is like the beautiful spectrum made from that same light when it passes through a prism.  Therefore, all fictions have some shade of truth in it even if they are created from the imagination of the writer. 

We like a fiction which suits us and justifies our actions. This fable in its own way justifies the telling of lies and also illustrates the pitfalls of speaking the truth at time.  We readily accept the message of the story because it is true and useful, which is why such stories become popular around the world.

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