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Description
This transcript (edited by Alexander Bazelow) of a 1967 lecture by Heinrich Blücher titled "Buddha and the Mythopoetic Tradition." The lecture explores the transition from a collective, dream-like "mythical mind," exemplified by Hindu traditions, to a new era of individual consciousness and reason.
Blücher posits that around 600 B.C., key philosophical figures—including Buddha, Lao Tze, and Zarathustra—emerged to challenge and break down this collective consciousness. He focuses on Buddha as a primary example of this shift, arguing that Buddha was a philosopher, not a religious founder, who offered "enlightenment" rather than salvation.
The lecture analyzes core Buddhist concepts, identifying the cause of suffering as blind passions and "selfhood." Buddha's solution was to overcome this self to achieve "Buddhahood," a state Blücher equates with true "manhood" or becoming fully human. Nirvana is presented not as an eternal hereafter, but as a state of "mindfulness"—a purified will and understanding achieved in life. Blücher concludes by noting that Buddhism, unique among world religions for its non-violent history, was later embellished with the very myths its founder sought to dismantle.
Publication Date
1967
Recommended Citation
Blücher, Heinrich, "07-VII. Buddha and the Mythopoetic Tradition (1967)" (1967). Bazelow Transcripts. 7.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/blucher-bazelow-transcripts/7