God Beyond Religion: Mystical revelation across the centuries

This is not written to the ashiest nor even the agnostic. This is aimed at the religious person who has developed and adopted a belief system of faith in a specific religion, who believes in a creator God. It is only reasonable to agree that there is but one creator God. If there is a God and I am addressing those who believe there is, then it is also reasonable to believe that such a God is the one and only creative force of the universe. It seems equally reasonable to me that the one creative source of the universe is a monotheistic entity. It may make sense here to ask the question what is personhood? Personhood is the quality of an individual entity that has the ability to think, reason, act and communicate. It is within this definition that the creative source of the universe indeed has personhood. 

Therefore, if there is a creative source for the universe it is necessary that it is indeed conscious, reasonable, and able to act. Aldous Huxley in his book "The Doors of Perception" referred to the Mind at Large. In his view, the Mind at Large is available to all, but our brains actually act as a reducing valve to limit the amount of stimuli and information we take in. Could this Mind at Large be the consciousness of the creative source or God consciousness? Huxley encountered the Mind at Large while on mescaline but acknowledged that mystics and psychics experience it as a natural occurrence. Is it God consciousness that all of the mystics have tapped into? Did Lao Tzu tap into the Mind at Large--- God consciousness when he wrote the Tao Te Ching? Did Heraclitus and the Stoics after him tap into the Mind at Large--- God consciousness when they wrote about the Logos? I most definitely believe they did.

Let me include some incontrovertible facts predicated with an if__

If there is a creator God who created the universe it follows that there is but one creator God.

If the creator God is love, and the definition of love is this 1Co 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (5)  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  (6)  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (7)  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  (8)  Love never fails. It follows that this is the definition of God.

If the Stoics identified the creator God as the Logos, and it was substantiated by the John’s gospel, then the Logos is one name for the creator God. If Lao Tzu identified the Tao as the creator God it is yet another name for the one God. If quantum mechanics has identified the unified field as the creative source of the universe, then it is also a name for the one creator God.

If Jesus, and subsequently us are/were the incarnation of the Logos, first it would not be the totality of the Logos, and secondly, it would also be the incarnation of the Tao and the Unified Field.

I think that it is time that we begin to look at all of the mystical revelation throughout the centuries, and synthesize the message the spirit has been sending to humans over the years. So much of the past has resulted in tribal exclusionary beliefs. Yet, the human race is indeed one race and there is a sibling relationship amongst all humanity. There is a way that adopts tolerance that would allow individuals to maintain the unique positive aspects of their belief systems, and still be accepting of the beliefs of others. 

I was born into a family that held fundamentalist, evangelical, Christian beliefs. That in no way prevents me from seeing the universal nature of other mystical revelation and incorporating it into my belief system. I was only able to adopt this view as I began to see that it was reasonable to look at the sacred texts in a different way. I began to see that some of it was mystical revelation from the creator and some of it was cultural based on exclusive religious practice. Even in the writings of the apostle Paul, one needs to be able to discern between Paul the mystic, and Paul the second temple Jewish Rabbi.

This brings us to the point of this. It is important to look at an inclusive universal spirituality as opposed to an exclusive tribal spirituality. The sooner we embrace this the better off we will be. The error of exclusive theology and apocalyptic theories are being addressed within Christianity. Below is a telling table that explains the demographics of world religions today. You see a total of all the population accounted for including those who are secular, nonreligious, agnostic, and atheist. There are a total of roughly 7.8 billion people here on earth. Less than a third are Christian, and there are only 500 million evangelical Christians world wide. That is only about 5% of the world population. Isn't it interesting that this 5% of the religious world are certain that they alone are the only correct religion and the only ones that will go to heaven. This leaves 95% of the world in their view doomed to eternal torturous punishment for not believing the correct set of facts. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in.  

World Religion Demographics 2020 List of religious populations - Wikipedia

Religion	Adherents	Percentage
Christianity	2.382 billion	31.11%[3][2]
Islam	1.907 billion	24.9%[2][3]
Secular[a]/Nonreligious[b]/Agnostic/Atheist	1.193 billion	15.58%
Hinduism	1.161 billion	15.16%[2][3]
Buddhism	506 million	5.06%[2][3]
Chinese traditional religion[c]	394 million	5%
Ethnic religions excluding some in separate categories	300 million	3%
African traditional religions	100 million[6]	1.20%
Sikhism	26 million	0.30%
Spiritism	15 million	0.19%
Judaism	14.7 million[7]	0.18%
Baháʼí	5.0 million[8]	0.07%
Jainism	4.2 million	0.05%
Shinto	4.0 million	0.05%
Cao Dai	4.0 million	0.05%
Zoroastrianism	2.6 million	0.03%
Tenrikyo	2.0 million	0.02%
Animism	1.9 million	0.02%
Neo-Paganism	1.0 million	0.01%
Unitarian Universalism	0.8 million	0.01%
Rastafari	0.6 million	0.01%
total	7.79 billion	100%

Don't misunderstand me. Not all of the religions listed in the table are of equal value in mystical revelation about the true nature of God. However, they all contribute to the understanding. One glaring omission for me is Taoism. It is not missing but included in 394 million Chinese traditional religions. I mention Taoism because the Tao Te Ching is one of my favorite writings available to humanity. There is a close correlation between the Tao and the Logos in my view. 

I make no claim that I understand all of the religions mentioned. I am somewhat familiar with many. Second temple Judaism, which coincided with the time of Jesus of Nazareth was greatly influenced with Zoroastrianism and Greek Philosophy. The Logos was first written about by Heraclitus and the Stoics 500 years preceding Christ.

All of these can wrap into the suggested spirituality of quantum mechanics. The unified field likely describes the creative source, which is also been called the Logos and the Tao. An understanding of many of the traditions and the mystics that are associated with them can add a richness to the spiritual experience. This is from one who considers himself spiritual but not religious. I would even go so far as to say mystical but not religious. I am a peaker as defined by Abraham Maslow in his "Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences." 

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