God Beyond Religion: Panpsychism, and the Christ of the Logos

 How do we define and label our beliefs? I have had many but for at least the last thirty-five years my spiritual beliefs have been eclectic and syncretistic. At least for now, and since I am in the final quarter of my life, I can be best described as a panpsychist that is indwelt by the Christ of the Logos. This most accurately sums up my belief system as far as spirituality and the nature of reality is concerned.

So, let me define what I mean by this. A panpsychist is a person who believes that panpsychism best explains the nature of reality. Panpsychism merely is the belief that there is consciousness in all of material reality. So to a degree, and there are of course varying degrees, all matter is conscious down to the smallest known particle or division.

This leaves Christ and Logos to be defined to round out my belief system concerning the nature of reality. These next two terms are Greek and became important to me as a result of my being in and studying Christianity. However, I think that the connotation that orthodoxy has placed on the terms actually cloud their relatively simple meaning.  So let’s look at them one at a time. First, Logos is word, and as such is the expression of consciousness. For my purposes I use Logos and Consciousness interchangeably. Both for me are the creative source of material and corporeal reality. I therefore see the Logos and consciousness as energetic thought. Consciousness or the Logos is the inseparable combination of energy and thought.

Now for the word Christ which again is Greek and means to anoint as with oil. In this respect it becomes a metaphor. When one is anointed with oil it soaks in and becomes a part of the skin of the person and in this way, Christ is a metaphor for the indwelling anointing of the Logos or in other words creative conscious energy. It is our divine nature and our higher self.

It is my belief that this Christ of the Logos has always been in the world. How so you ask? In conscious agents, in humanity. In John’s gospel the writer says something very interesting. In John 1:10-13, it is stated that the Christ of the Logos was in the world but not recognized by the world. Though the Logos was the creator and came to the creation in the form of the Christ of the Logos it was not received but by a few. All of those that did receive the Christ of the Logos realized that they were the offspring of the divine. Those who did receive the Christ of the Logos were the mystics and prophets that realized they part of the divine nature. Now even more interesting, it is not until verse fourteen, after it was explained that it was in the world and not recognized by the world, that John writes that the Christ of the Logos became flesh and dwelt among humanity in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus would then tell his followers according to John, that this same Christ of the Logos indwells all of us. That was one of the most important messages that Jesus brought. Coupled with his message about love and loving one another this is the good news. The good news is that Jesus was the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. That is simply a metaphor for him being the first one to acknowledge the Christ of the Logos in himself and then to share the idea that it was in everyone. This is a universal message of glad tidings. The Christ of the Logos indwells the Buddhist, the Taoist, the Hindu, the Muslim, the Shinto, the Shaman, and ALL of humanity.

God Beyond Religion: Polarity, Duality and Non-Duality

 4. THE PRINCIPLE OF POLARITY. "Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled." — The Kybalion.

~The Three Initiates. The Kybalion: A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece (Illustrated) (p. 8). The Kybalion Resource Page. Kindle Edition.

There is a debate that ensues over duality and non-duality, the right-hand path and the left-hand path. Are we one or are we separate? For me, the Hermetic principle of polarity solves the issue. If you believe as I do that William Walker Atkinson wrote the Kybalion as the three initiates, then his work the Arcane Formulas sheds some light on this subject. In the Arcane Formulas, he writes of the importance of Egohood in the process of mental alchemy. He sees egohood as something more than ego as it is looked at by psychologists. He sees egohood as a specific individual point of consciousness that he calls the will. It is a point of will within the will of the all and is individual to each conscious agent. It is achievable by establishing in the mind the I AM. The I AM is different than the self in Atkinson’s mind. It comes from meditation on the individual aspect of the cosmic will. This suggests that there is a duality.

The Jungian psychologist and philosopher, Bernardo Kastrup suggests that our individual consciousness is similar to a disassociated personality within an individual person. His idea is that we are a split personality of the All. I find that concept fascinating and if in fact, the material world is a construct of conscious observation, it could very well explain our individuality. So, for existence in the material plane, duality is important, and in the existence of cosmic consciousness non-duality is important. In looking at the principle of polarity duality and non-duality are polar opposites of the same thing. It is in this paradigm that the paradox is solved. In our conscious experience on the material plain duality is important and with our consciousness within the all non-duality is important, each with its own distinct purpose.

This transfers nicely to the higher self and the lower self. If one uses the words of the Apostle Paul, it is the heavenly man and the earthly man. It is the celestial and the terrestrial. So then, when considering the awakening and the advancement of our material self, this duality is important in developing our being in a path that accepts and cherishes dualism. And, in the awakening and advancement of our spiritual self it is the awareness of oneness that is important.

The amalgamation of the two can be understood within the hermetic principle of rhythm:

5. THE PRINCIPLE OF RHYTHM. "Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates." — The Kybalion.

The Three Initiates. The Kybalion: A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece (Illustrated) (p. 10). The Kybalion Resource Page. Kindle Edition.

In the natural swing of the pendulum there is a range from pole to pole. However, in the Arcane Formulas, Atkinson writes about the excluded middle. It is a way through meditation that one can stop the pendulum effect and find what he calls the excluded middle. It is the art of mastering opposites and neutralizing rhythm. Once a person establishes egohood they have the capability to use laws against laws thereby neutralizing the polarity.

To go back to a Judeo-Christian concept, I think of Jacob’s ladder. In Jacob’s ladder dream there was a ladder between heaven and earth. This is symbolic of the heavenly human and the earthly human uniting. It is bringing heaven to earth and earth to heaven and giving practicality to “as above so below and as below so above,” the Hermetic principle of correspondence. This in my view speaks to integrating and accepting both the heavenly and earthly as both having equal value. It is like acknowledging and working with the shadow self. It is melding the higher self with the natural or lower self. It is creating a whole from the dual and solving the paradox.

God Beyond Religion: Master and Disciple, demystifying terms

 

In 1993, I was in a Barnes and Noble Book Store in St Louis MO. At that time, I was heavily invested in my return to evangelical Christianity of sorts. I write of sorts because, I was not at all invested in hell and eternal punishment, nor was I invested in the party-line definition of sin. I saw sin and still do to a degree as human pathology. I am moving toward embracing the Jungian concept of the shadow self. During this trip to Barnes and Noble, before one could surf the internet, bookstores and libraries were my main pastime. Of course, having recently returned to evangelical Christianity I was looking in the Christian book section. I ran across a paperback that had a new age looking cover entitled “The Unvarnished New Testament.” While I was afraid that it may make me a heretic, I was inextricably drawn to it and in the end bought it against all fears.

This is one of many moments that shaped my theology and while it was purely serendipitous, it was very truly a “happy accident!” I have three copies now, two paperbacks and a Kindle addition. While so many of my theology books are boxed an in my garage, awaiting giving them away, these remain important to me in my efforts to follow Jesus as a metaphysical Christian who is venturing into eclectic spirituality. Yes, the goal of my eclectic spirituality is syncretism.

So back to the Unvarnished New Testament. Andy Gaus is a Greek scholar but not of the religious kind. He simply translates Greek into English. He was given as a present a Greek copy of the gospel of John and was surprised how it read so simply beautiful. He then set out to translate the gospels, and after that in 1991 he translated the Unvarnished New Testament. It is not lost on me that he wrote it in 1991 and I discovered it in 1993. I find that an interesting synchronicity.

As I read it, I was struck by chapter five of Matthew’s gospel and the beatitudes. He begins, “The poor in spirit are in luck, theirs is the kingdom of the skies.” That sentence resonated deeply in my spirit, and I then wanted to read on. I became aware of the fact that orthodoxy had given names to words that mystified them. Father in heaven was really “father in the skies.” Of course, that is a metaphor for an unreachable realm, but it makes it far less religious and much more like what a native American shaman would say.

The point of this trip down memory lane is to show that Christian religion has mystified and offered a super spiritual connotation to many words. One such set of words is disciple and master. In the Greek disciple is simply student, and master is simply teacher. This simply means that among other things these days, I am a student of Jesus teaching. I choose to demystify these words that were in my view stolen by orthodoxy.

I am not certain that these terms can be taken back and reinstated with their actual meaning. But I choose to try. I would be interested in knowing what you think. Can the jargon of orthodoxy be repurposed to its original meaning or is it simply a lost cause and the terms are too toxic for healthy consumption? I’m not giving up on the fact that they can be reclaimed.

God Beyond Religion; Eclectic Spirituality Video Session 2

This is the next video in a series of God Beyond Religion that I plan to release over the next year or so. In this one I begin to speak about my presuppositions and the conclusions I have reached and the process that got me there. I would love to have you subscribe, like and click the bell to get updates. I also would appreciate comments.

GBE session2 God Beyond Religion, Eclectic Spirituality - YouTube

God Beyond Religion: Introduction to a series of vlogs about eclectic spirituality.

 Here is the first of what I hope to be many vlogs on the topic of eclectic and syncretistic spirituality examining God beyond religion. As I get more comfortable with video, I may make these live broadcasts as well. Here is the first of many.

God Beyond Religion: Eclectic Spiritualty - YouTube

God Beyond Religion: Aquarian Age, Deconstruction and Reconstruction

 Dan 12:4  "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

I am not suggesting that this passage of Daniel was written as prophecy for today, but in view of fractals, and repetitive fulfillment of prophecy it certainly can be applied to today. One of the earmarks of the Age of Aquarius is the advancement of technology. The last four decades have been defined by a quantum leap in technology. Beginning with the personal computer, the development of the world wide web, and social media people can literally run to and fro without leaving their office chair or a recliner in their own home, and likewise it has caused knowledge to increase, and more than that, be at the fingertips of the masses.

Further, people can gain the knowledge that once was only available through the most prestigious universities without attending a class or receiving a degree. I am certain that this played a strategic role in my deconstruction and reconstruction. I am equally as certain that it played a key role in the deconstruction and reconstruction of everyone that has deconstructed and reconstructed.

The internet and social media have allowed our world to expand at a pace never before experienced. Many voices can now be heard that would not have otherwise been heard because of this advancement in technology. In many ways it is unfathomable what will continue to develop from this advancement in technology. Through the internet and platforms such as zoom people can meet, teach, and exchange ideas without the limitation of location.

One can research ideas, read, and order books, present ideas through blogs, vlogs, and podcasts and gather with others across the entire planet. This will only continue to add to the numbers of people that are deconstructing their current beliefs and reconstructing a radical new set of beliefs. It will also help people to amalgamate and synthesize their beliefs. If one does not like to read or finds reading difficult… no problem, there are apps that will read the material, and there is a plethora of YouTube videos that will inform without needing to read anything.

Prior to the technological advancements of this last half century, most people were confined to regional and local environments and social structures. It is little wonder that local norms and beliefs had such a strong hold on a person throughout their life. Most people were unable to think past the input of their family, teachers, and pastors. It is little wonder that so many were held captive to ideas that were not really beneficial beyond locality and were in reality toxic to the psychological health of people.

Think of the way in which it is now possible to synthesize and syncretize spiritual beliefs and practices. All of the mystical revelation from across millennia are now available. It is easy to pick and choose ideas and beliefs that resonate with ones being and reject those ideas and beliefs that do not resonate. It seems like the technology of the age of Aquarius creates fertile ground for eclectic and syncretistic spirituality and spiritual practices. As we begin to understand who we are as conscious agents in a world that is created by consciousness, we will be able to find more and more common ground of beliefs for more and more of the population of the planet. Instead of being tribal our new tribe will be global.

In this way we will be able to incorporate all of the ancient mystical wisdom of eastern, western civilization and will be able to embrace the wisdom from the indigenous people of the Americas. Through our spiritual and mystical discernment we will be able to incorporate the beliefs and ideas that resonate with the spiritual nature of the universe, and thereby reconstruct a spirituality that is global, syncretistic, and genuinely eclectic.

God Beyond Religion: The Unified Field of Divine Consciousness Defined

Do you sense that you are more than your physical self? Does it seem that your consciousness is outside of you as well as within you? Are you sensitive to feelings that inform you of people and situations without actual firsthand knowledge? Do you feel that you can communicate telepathically with your pets or other people? Can you sense when someone is staring at you from your back? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you are participating in the unified field of divine consciousness. The fact is that on an unconscious level we all do. It is the realm of dreams and visions, and it is the creative source of the universe.

So, what do I mean by the unified field of divine consciousness? In order to answer that one needs to look at a narrative that developed over time, from at least 5,000 years ago in Egypt and Sumer to cognitive studies in universities across the planet today. It is being investigated by quantum physicists and theorized by psychologists and philosophers. And I believe that it should be of interest to anyone who is seeking and experiencing spiritual enlightenment.

Over the millennia it has been called by various names. It has been called the Logos, the Tao, God, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Atum. Recently it has been called the Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden in his book of the same title. It is suggested by quantum mechanics, quantum entanglement, and by the discovery of the Higgs Boson. Likewise, it is proposed by the fields of morphic resonance of Rupert Sheldrake, and the theories of Carl Jung. The ancient Greek Meta physicists called it the ether. Whatever it is called it is logically only one thing and most important of all, its existence resonates with my consciousness.

Like the wind, it is an unseen force that is only visible by its effects on material reality. It is a gnosis that lies deep within the human soul, and yet it is elusive and mysterious. It is the fact that it has been thought about, written about, spoken about by a preponderance of humanity over millennia that points to its existence. While it does not have to be acknowledged as any one of the many ideas about the creative source, it must be given consideration by the sheer ubiquity of the concept of something beyond the material that is greater than and the source of material existence.

Gregg Braden in his book “The Divine Matrix” puts it this way: “As far-fetched as this idea may sound to many people, it is precisely at the crux of some of the greatest controversies among some of the most brilliant minds in recent history. In a quote from his autobiographical notes, for example, Albert Einstein shared his belief that we’re essentially passive observers living in a universe already in place, one in which we seem to have little influence: “Out yonder there was this huge world,” he said, “which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking.”

“In contrast to Einstein’s perspective, which is still widely held by many scientists today, John Wheeler, a Princeton physicist and colleague of Einstein, offers a radically different view of our role in creation. In terms that are bold, clear, and graphic, Wheeler says, “We had this old idea, that there was a universe out there, [author’s emphasis] and here is man, the observer, safely protected from the universe by a six-inch slab of plate glass.” Referring to the late-20th-century experiments that show us how simply looking at something changes that something, Wheeler continues, “Now we learn from the quantum world that even to observe so minuscule an object as an electron we have to shatter that plate glass: we have to reach in there… . So the old word observer simply has to be crossed off the books, and we must put in the new word participator.” The Divine Matrix, Gregg Braden, Introduction, page x.

He goes on to make solid case that science, metaphysics, and religions all point toward a divine field of conscious creation, and since that resonates with me, I accept it, and I will encourage others to embrace that which resonates with them.