Looking for this fable

[crossfire]

I'm looking for the fable Joseph Campbell refers to in this quote:

​

There is an Indian fable of three beings who drank from a river: one was a god, and he drank ambrosia; one was a man, and he drank water; and one was a demon, and he drank filth. What you get is a function of your own consciousness.

~Joseph Cambell​

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[Jainarayan]

I'm looking for the fable Joseph Campbell refers to in this quote:

​

There is an Indian fable of three beings who drank from a river: one was a god, and he drank ambrosia; one was a man, and he drank water; and one was a demon, and he drank filth. What you get is a function of your own consciousness.

~Joseph Cambell​

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

I never heard a Hindu or Indian story like that (not that I've heard ever story), but there is a Chinese story of The Vinegar Tasters.

 

[ajay0]

I'm looking for the fable Joseph Campbell refers to in this quote:

​

There is an Indian fable of three beings who drank from a river: one was a god, and he drank ambrosia; one was a man, and he drank water; and one was a demon, and he drank filth. What you get is a function of your own consciousness.

~Joseph Cambell​

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

I do not know the fable, but the fable is insightful.

The god is charecterised by sattva, and he gets sattvic ambrosia.

The man is charecterised by rajas, and he gets water instead.

The demon is charecterised by tamas, and he gets filth instead.

Sattva, rajas and tamas can be termed to be states of consciousness charecterised by peace, restlessness and dull insensitivity respectively.


I just read half an hour back two quotes with a similar theme by Emmet Fox thus and was pondering over it.

Life is a state of consciousness.

Supply yourself with a mental equivalent, and the thing must come to you.

 

[Shantanu]

I do not know the fable, but the fable is insightful.

The god is charecterised by sattva, and he gets sattvic ambrosia.

The man is charecterised by rajas, and he gets water instead.

The demon is charecterised by tamas, and he gets filth instead.

Sattva, rajas and tamas can be termed to be states of consciousness charecterised by peace, restlessness and dull insensitivity respectively.


I just read half an hour back two quotes with a similar theme by Emmet Fox thus and was pondering over it.

Life is a state of consciousness.

Supply yourself with a mental equivalent, and the thing must come to you.

Consciousness is the reality, awareness is the fruit of surrender to that Being. It comes from a sattvic existence, would you agree?

 

[Jedster]

I'm looking for the fable Joseph Campbell refers to in this quote:

​

There is an Indian fable of three beings who drank from a river: one was a god, and he drank ambrosia; one was a man, and he drank water; and one was a demon, and he drank filth. What you get is a function of your own consciousness.

~Joseph Cambell​

Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

I can only speak about the first and would rather not speculate on the 2nd or 3rd.
Ambrosia is the fluid one can experience in the back of the mouth, either naturally or from meditation(Kechari Mudra)
the taste is intoxicating and can be interpreted as being in 'God consciousness'. I personally believe that all the poetry about nectar & ambrosia was written by those that have experienced it.

 

[ajay0]

A similar saying of Swami Chinmayananda I came upon recently....



On an innocent wayside post, it is reported that some travellers saw a grinning ghost, others a smiling ghost, and yet others, a ghost with a bleeding mouth and sparkling eyes, naked and horrid, and some an innocent ghost, dressed in white, invitingly smiling and lovingly guiding them onto the right track.

All of them saw delusory projections of their individual minds upon the same wayside post. Naturally, the post is the "Abode," of the smiling, of the grinning, of the bleeding, of the horrid, and of the tender ghost, that different minds, on different occasions, projected upon the same post. Similarly, wherever our equipments of experiences gain the apprehension of the pluralistic phenomena, for all of them the Self, the Awareness, is the ABODE, the place of existence and security.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

Is Soma the Indian equivalent of Nectar from Greek mythology? This question has often occurred to me.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Is Soma the Indian equivalent of Nectar from Greek mythology? This question has often occurred to me.

Not all the time. Soma was an invigorating, intoxicating drink in the Vedas, but yes, in later Puranic times, the word is used for nectar also.