oys_chill i get ur point. but here is why i discredit it. hindu religion is not the only one that has all these "vivid adornments". every single religion in the world offers myths and legends that are "enthralling" and supernatural. unless u want to argue that allll religous authoriteis were on drugs when they create these stories, u cannot make the assumption that its only our monks . its all relative u know. secondly, we think they are works of imagination becasue they dont fit into our neat little cubicle of rules and laws and theores. read works of Romanticism. they are wild! ofcourse one or two of these romantic writers are well known for thier fun little trips like Cooleride (read Kubla Khan), who used to pass out, expereicne ecstasy and then come back to reality just to create poems. tara most of romantic writers realized that they did not want to be confined to the rigid rules and they just flowed with thier imagination. we all imagine wild things ...does that mean we are all on pyschoactive drugs??? ofcourse not! besdies, what about our dreams?? our dremas represent our subconsious in which we imagine ALLL KINDS of stuff...they are not produced by drugs are they? i dont' think we need dautra as a tool of imagniatin. only if we set aside ourselves from our monotonous and confined soceities,we would be able to narrate pretty "fantastic stories". when u hear little chidlren's storeis, they dont' make sense and they sound just like these myths of hindu religin. tara u know why chidlren are capable of doing that? because thier brains have not been washed away yet. they are holding on the power of imagination, which unfortunately fades away with their uptight schooling....in most cases. why aren't we able to narrate such cute little stories we grow up? imagination is our most powerful tool u know! tehse monks knew how to work it.