{"id":6589,"date":"2012-03-03T08:03:47","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T13:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=6589"},"modified":"2012-03-03T08:03:47","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T13:03:47","slug":"doctor-who-the-abominable-snowmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/03\/doctor-who-the-abominable-snowmen.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The classic episode from the Patrick Troughton era<\/a>, \u201cThe Abominable Snowmen<\/a>\"\",\u201d is almost entirely lost<\/a>. It is a pity, as it is an engaging episode<\/a> with a convincing story and interesting exploration of religion. Doctor Who has had a longstanding affection for Buddhism<\/a>, but in some respects \u201cThe Abominable Snowmen\u201d offers a more explicitly positive presentation of the religion than even \u201cKinda\u201d and \u201cSnakedance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The episode witnesses the Doctor and his companions Jamie and Victoria arriving in Tibet. The Doctor digs out a sacred bell, the ghanta, which we later learn had been entrusted to him on a previous visit to the monastery that features in the episode.<\/p>\n

The characters in the episode \u2013 apart from the Doctor and his companions and an English anthropologist Travers \u2013 are monks and warriors who protect the monastery. The master lama, whose name is\u00a0Padmasambhava, had met the Doctor on his previous visit. We learn over the course of the episode that he has traveled on the astral plane, where he made contact with \u201cThe Great Intelligence\u201d \u2013 apparently a \u201cspirit\u201d being, or better an astral one, which has enabled\u00a0Padmasambhava to construct robots before their time, and has a plan aimed at allowing The Great Intelligence to take physical form on Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"As in \u201cMarco Polo<\/a>,\u201d so too in this episode<\/a> Buddhism seems able to accomplish things that advanced technology can. Long life, contact with alien worlds and beings, learning to build advanced mechanical devices, and more.<\/p>\n

Of course, those who view Buddhism negatively, e.g. from the perspective of conservative Christianity, might view the possession<\/em> of\u00a0Padmasambhava by The Great Intelligence as in effect saying that dabbling in the spirit world opens one up to demon possession. Even from a more neutral standpoint, there is surely an indication that astral exploration is dangerous. But so too, after all, is the Doctor\u2019s traveling through time and space using scientific means.<\/p>\n

Prayer plays an interesting role in the final part of the episode. On the one hand, the Doctor uses (and has Victoria taught to use) the \u201cJewel of the Lotus Prayer\u201d<\/a> as a means of resisting hypnotism. It is quite something to hear the Doctor chanting \u201cOm mane padme hum.\u201d\u00a0On the other hand, when the monks promise to pray for the Doctor, he simply says \u201cthank you\u201d without criticism or casting aspersions on such practices as superstition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other aspects of religion come up in the course of the episode, in discussions of the relative merits of meditation vs. action, and the advantages and disadvantages of obedience vs. questioning authority.<\/p>\n

As The Great Intelligence was described as trying to take on physical form in a glowing mass flowing from a cave at the top of a mountain, I wondered whether there was an intentional allusion to theophanies from the Biblical tradition, such as God appearing in fire on Mt. Sinai.<\/p>\n

This is a great episode, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as an audiobook. Is there anyone out there who remembers actually seeing it on TV?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The classic episode from the Patrick Troughton era, \u201cThe Abominable Snowmen,\u201d is almost entirely lost. It is a pity, as it is an engaging episode with a convincing story and interesting exploration of religion. Doctor Who has had a longstanding affection for Buddhism, but in some respects \u201cThe Abominable Snowmen\u201d offers a more explicitly positive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,133,80],"tags":[855,1435,2765,6330,7841,8602,9411,11720,12587,13980],"class_list":["post-6589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","category-religion","tag-astral-projection","tag-buddhism","tag-doctor-who","tag-lama","tag-mysticism","tag-padmasambhava","tag-prayer","tag-spirituality","tag-tibet","tag-yeti"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The classic episode from the Patrick Troughton era, "The Abominable Snowmen," is almost entirely lost. 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