The city of Nara, near Kyoto, is full of temples and shrines dating back to the eigth centruy, when it was briefly the capital of Japan. One of the largest shrines in the city, the Kasuga Taisha shrine, is dedicated to deities that use deer as their sacred messengers.
As a result, deer are allowed to roam freely in Nara, and there are times when you can almost believe that they are sacred messengers of the gods:
Other times, not so much:
(The top picture shows a deer reclining next to the stone marker at the entrance of Todai-ji Temple, which houses the Great Buddha. The bottom picture was taken near a souvenir shop on the road from Todai-ji to Kasuga Taisha. The original, un-cropped versions, can be seen in the Nara photo set on Flickr, along with a hundred and forty-nine other pictures taken that day...)
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I don't mean to be cliche, but that makes me think of the line from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
Well, in 1200 years, certainly the Coca-Cola sign will be seen as messages to the Gods, no?
Have you ever read "Motel of the Mysteries"? That people in the future will completely and utterly misinterpret our culture is very likely.
Superman flies without exhaust. This is a terrible thing - though no worse than Superman flying with exhaust. So it is with all Gods' messengers.
Man's place in the universe is to struggle, achieve, be rewarded, and retain what has been honestly gained. The Buddha is a liar and a cheat. If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.
I can't be the only person who thought of The Gods Must Be Crazy upon seeing this...
If archaeologists of 1200 years into the future interpret 'Coca-Cola' signs as religious objects, they will be right.
Ummm... you're presuming that the gods have nothing to say to souvenir shops. But who are we to dictate to the gods?