A Buddhist reading of Harry Pottter

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 173983

---  doug rogers <dougsamu at ...> wrote:
>
> I never though there was much, overtly, of Buddhism in
> the series. My insistent theory that Magic is Mind is 
> influenced by my Buddhism...  anyway. here is an 
> interesting article as a review of the movie OOtP:
> 
> http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,4459,0,0,1,0
> 
> that some might want to consider in light of the 
> Christian readings of the themes in the books. ...
> 

bboyminn:

Very good article; actually it is a review of the OotP
movie from a Buddhist perspective.

I've alway said that Harry Potters' universal appeal was
because JKR draws on universal themes. It resonates with
Christians and Buddhists because both those religions,
as well as others, draw from a universal pool of morality.
>From a universal sense of right and wrong, and a 
universal sense that mankind is flawed and will always 
struggle toward the 'light'. 

HP draws on universal moral themes in the same sense that
pre-religion mythology draws on universal themes. It is
this universal undercurrent of right and wrong, of ethics
and morality, of human frailty and courage, that allows 
anyone of any religions to see themselves in the books. 

Is there an undercurrent of Christianity in these books?
Yes, but only in the sense that under the undercurrent of
Christianity, is a far more universal undercurrent.

So says I. (...and I've said it many many times.)

Steve/bboyminn