I have an interesting dilemma.

Let’s say you’re Superman. What is moral high ground for you, regarding mankind? Are you bound by ethical principles to help humans? Are you immoral if you simply ignore them and go your own way?

Are you immoral for ignoring ants, mice and crows? When was the last time you sacrificed your interests in order to help a hamster?

Is the analogy correct? Isn’t mankind a phenomenon of a higher order compared to those? I don’t know; maybe if you tried asking a hamster, it might tell you helping it is a praiseworthy effort. I know why you don’t bother with them. First, it’s none of your business, and second, you don’t really give a shit; they are beings of a lower order and bothering with them means to neglect your own, more important business. Sure, if it doesn’t cost you anything you might help an animal and feel great about yourself for doing it, but if you’re honest with yourself, it’s usually the farthest thing from your mind.

But why do the authors of the comic books and movies assume that the higher, more powerful beings would find helping humans supremely important; at least if they are “good” powerful beings, the superheroes. Why would a superhuman find humans interesting? When was the last time you were interested in a human who is 3 standard deviations in IQ distribution below you, and with whom you have nothing in common?

And yet, people assume someone like Jesus sacrificed his life for their salvation, because of course a Superman, a God would do that. He had nothing better to do but find a bunch of total fucktards, teach them something they were sure to misunderstand, and then get himself killed in a very painful way so that their sins would be redeemed, and pray for their forgiveness while they ridicule him.

Really? Honestly, look at yourself and tell me, do you consider yourself worthy of that? Of a God sacrificing his life for your salvation? Would you accept it at this cost? Let’s make it less abstract – let’s make it your best friend or a beloved family member. If you had to push a button and cause that person to die and you are instantly saved, would you do it? OK, let’s make it less causal. Let’s say someone killed that family member or a friend and you need only to accept that it was good and proper for that person to be sacrificed for your salvation, and you’re saved. When does this stop being monstrous? What is salvation, if not loving God so much you want to spend an eternity with him? And if the price of admission is signing off on his murder, isn’t it so contradictory as to negate itself?

Accepting such a sacrifice is morally wrong, but does offering it make any sense whatsoever?

I have serious problems with the bodhisattva concept, where someone renounces enlightenment and instead tries to help others. The entire thing looks like a trap, because there’s the assumption that the world is full of people who would immediately choose to be enlightened if only a bodhisattva stumbled along and offered to teach them. That certainly doesn’t look like the world I know. What would actually happen is that people would ask him who the fuck does he think he is, trying to impose his silly beliefs on them? Of course they know better. The first thing the world would tell a bodhisattva is that he isn’t needed and nobody really gives a damn about him. The saints seem to think that humans are in a terrible need of salvation and he has just the thing for them. However, what humans would actually think is that the saint is in a terrible need of psychiatric help. He needs to be taught that there’s no God or salvation, and he in fact isn’t anything special. In fact, he’s worse than they are.

So, basically, spiritual people live in cognitive dissonance compared to the rest of mankind. They think salvation is in high demand and short supply, and it’s therefore their sacred duty to provide supply in order to satisfy the demand. However, I will offer a different interpretation. Salvation is in great supply and short demand. Whoever wants it, gets it. I can’t remember a single person who was known for making a serious spiritual effort, who actually failed to attain enlightenment. People just don’t care to take it when offered. They simply have other priorities, and different ideas about what would be the best use of their time and efforts.

I once heard a story about Ramanuja, who for a long time wanted to receive a holy mantra from his guru. Eventually, the guru told him the mantra, but warned him not to reveal it to others because that would be a terrible disaster and he would end up in hell. The mantra had such a profound effect on Ramanuja that he decided it makes sense to reveal it to everybody, because it’s not a big deal if one person goes to hell and thousands attain liberation. When his guru found out what he did, he was furious, but when Ramanuja offered this explanation, he was supposedly amazed at his disciple’s compassion and holiness.

But let’s consider an alternative ending, the one I find more likely.

The guru finds out about Ramanuja’s action and his motive, and tells him this: “You stupid, ignorant fool. A mantra is not a hammer, so that anyone could wield it. It’s like a musical instrument, that produces wonderful things in skilled hands, but only terrible noise in unskilled hands. It’s a portal to higher levels of existence, but it’s a door that opens only if you approach it just right, with the proper attitude and motives, in the proper state of mind and emotions. If a mantra is revealed to the impure, ignorant people, they will defile it. They will ridicule it and contaminate its ability to reach the higher spheres of existence, for both them and those who witness such defilement. The mantra works only if it causes the subtle workings of mind in just the right way. That’s difficult to accomplish and easy to disrupt. That’s why it is kept secret, and why it is revealed only to the pure minds of dedicated and holy students, after training, purification and testing. It’s not kept secret because of my lack of compassion, because I would like nothing better than everyone to attain enlightenment, but that option simply isn’t available. What you did, exposed the mantra to the impure minds, and this inhibited its effect on you; you can now no longer use it to reach God. Those others who heard it without proper context and outside of proper training, created a wrong impression of the mantra and its meaning, and that will forever stand in the way of their ability to really understand it; they are forever lost for the mantra, and even if they went through the proper process, the wrong understanding would stand in the way so powerfully, the subtle effects would be impossible to achieve. Basically, you ruined them, you ruined yourself, and you ruined me, because the holy mantra, that was so closely bound with the inner workings of my mind, was exposed and defiled, and this path within my spirit is now broken. And now that you know what you did, tell me, was it really worth disobeying me because you though you knew better, and you thought you were more compassionate than me, in your bloated arrogance and egomania? You, the savior of mankind, will sacrifice yourself in order to save many, and will teach me a lesson in compassion? Isn’t it just great how it turned out, yes?”

As I said, this bodhisattva concept of teaching God a lesson in compassion, that looks exactly like Satan’s motive in creating this whole mess here, because he wanted to demonstrate some collective concept of evolution, that was supposed to be better and more compassionate than God’s concept of individual evolution and initiation of souls. The entire concept reeks of egomania and narcissism and I am incredibly wary of it.

Mahayana means the great vehicle, that can carry many to enlightenment. However, that sounds suspiciously like that wide road Jesus talked about, that leads to ruin and damnation.

Only the narrow path, and the small vehicle lead to salvation. The path isn’t narrow because of some intent to bar access – it’s simply because few choose to traverse it. The small vehicle isn’t small because it’s designed as too crowded – no, it’s small because it automatically resizes itself in order to fit all occupants. The concept that everybody would be doomed if not for your compassion, it’s just incredibly arrogant and deluded; yeah, God didn’t know how to design the Universe and he needs you to teach him. Stand in line, because Satan had this idea first.