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The Next Joy and the Next: A Mythology in Twenty-One Lessons is a text from philosopher and playwright Stephen Evans, vaguely inspired by but somewhat in opposition to the Buddhist sutras, and well-if-whimsically intended to provide an alternate view of life, and a path to recognizing and appreciating the joys which that life offers.
From the Prologue:
One day when I was a freshman at Georgetown University, I walked into the campus bookstore and began browsing. I think I was in the Philosophy section when I spotted a small book by Spenser Brown called The Laws of Form. I opened the book and read the first line, which said:
"Draw a distinction".
In an instant, I saw that everything I thought I knew was wrong.
Illusion.
Incomplete.
I have spent the rest of my life trying to understand what is behind the illusion, and how to express it.
The human mind one day may be capable of understanding. But we do not yet have the language that understanding (and expression) requires.
But we still need to live and we hope to live lives of meaning. So we invent myths, to give us the context within which to live meaningful lives, as persons, as civilizations, as a species.
A myth is a metaphorical lens through which we attempt to apprehend our world and ourselves. Through a myth (or mythos), we attempt to guide ourselves through our contingent life. Myths may evolve as (or perhaps if) understanding expands.
I hope this lens may prove useful, this context meaningful, to others.
