tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8257319369481949518.post4797561921271567521..comments2020-07-29T08:35:31.464-07:00Comments on Depth Psychology: Gays in Search of MeaningPayam Ghassemlou SEP, MFT, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10828432930898392801noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8257319369481949518.post-32356127569006071242016-07-03T09:46:33.844-07:002016-07-03T09:46:33.844-07:00One of the possible myths we can hold in our minds...One of the possible myths we can hold in our minds and imaginations to enrich and explain our homosexuality to ourselves is the Mahayana Buddhist story of the androgynous bodhisattva who takes upon him/herself the suffering of the world in order to transform it. In the myth Avalokiteshvara/Kwan Yin thus reincarnates as everybody, taking on all possible reincarnations. Buddhist monks have been reciting the Bodhisattva Vows for centuries, agreeing to remain in the round of reincarnation to help others. Wouldn't being reincarnated as a gay man in the age of AIDS be a fulfillment of that vow? Not all homosexuals, of course, but among us--at least according to this myth--are bodhisattvas who've come back as gay men to save the world. Dr Ghassemlou expresses a beautiful idea that we find meaning and fulfillment by seeking to serve. <br /><br />I learned the story of the Bodhisattva from Joseph Campbell. Campbell says there are Three Wonders of the Bodhisattva: the first is that he is simultaneously both male and female transcending gender; the second is that he sees that there is no difference between time and eternity, between the world and nirvana, living in heaven now; and the third wonder is that the first two wonders are the same!<br /><br />It's just a story, of course. But what a nice way to think of one's homosexuality, as a witness to the world of how we could all live better lives. And so we have to.Toby Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04092076392397501669noreply@blogger.com