It’s All Connected: A peek into the theory of everything and the problem of evil.

First look at the preponderance of the evidence. Consciousness is indeed the foundational aspect of reality, and it is the source from which all dimensions exist. Yes, there are several dimensions. This earth plane can be likened to a laboratory and a university. It offers the chance for one to develop love in a real sense. I am speaking of genuine love for self and for the other. The only way to truly love the other is to fully love and accept oneself. It does, however, have its limitations and drawbacks. It can be beautiful and rewarding, and it can be dangerous and unforgiving. The one thing to take to heart is that each of us is eternal and exists in the eternal now. That is a difficult thing to grasp as this dimension of space time hides the eternal reality, and instead provides the illusion of temporary existence. This illusion seems more real than reality and is deceptive to say the least. It is punctuated by the fact of birth and death.

While we are one with the source we are also separate souls or conscious agents and the following paradox is real. We are one and separate at the same time and in that our oneness is greater than our separateness. These facts can be understood intuitively and quite likely will resonate with you as well. This is important foundational information to begin to look at the theory of everything. There is a problem with space-time and quantum mechanics. Physicists have been searching for a theory of everything that would unify the explanation of the material universe. To date, they have not been able to reconcile the two into one congruent theory. I believe it is because they are trying to do it with physics alone and even if they did it would not be a theory of everything.

Along with the problem of physics, there are other problems that face humanity. There is the “hard problem” of consciousness. Alongside of this, philosophers and theologians have been faced with the “problem of evil.” The theory of everything should solve all of the problems. The first problem I want to confront is the problem of evil. To do this it is necessary to create some thought experiments. The reason is that while the problem of consciousness is a more fundamental problem, the problem of evil gets in the way of exploring all the possibilities. My hope is that in presenting these thought experiments I will not create straw men but be faithful to the explanations that currently exist.

I am not that happy with the definition of theist or deist. I would say that I am an amalgamation of both, and perhaps there needs to be another term though I do not have one to offer. Here is how I currently see God. I much prefer the term creative source because of the negative connotation so many have for the term god. I also like the word parent as I want to include both genders in the creator, but I have been willing to settle for father, and I am also growing fonder of the Hermetic term “The All.” I would label myself a panpsychist. I absolutely see consciousness as foundational. There is a ubiquitous history of that concept which I will deal with at a later point.

I see each of us souls as conscious agents. However, similar to what I believe Dr. Donald Hoffman has suggested, there are conscious agents of lesser consciousness than humanity all the way to the smallest building block and it is a combination of these agents that increasingly grow intellect and understanding. I believe that creative source, which I will forward refer to as consciousness is eternal. If it is the first cause of everything, it always was and always will be. It can anticipate everything that is was and ever will be. However, as solely consciousness it cannot experience anything. So then, this is where Dr. Bernardo Kastrup comes to my rescue philosophically. Consciousness chooses to splinter into a kind of dissociative personality Hoffman calls conscious agents that has a unique place in the corporeal and material world. Our experience is that humanity is at the pinnacle, but it is possible that there are conscious agents much more advanced in experience than us. Of course, as of this date that is speculation on my part.

Consciousness is continually expanding, and this expansion is brought about by the experiences of conscious agents. What we can be sure of is that this expansion is happening in the corporeal material world. It is a logical conclusion that there are other dimensions as well. We have hints of this but do not have specific understanding of what they are or what they might be like from a conscious agent vantage point.

Since we are an agent of the one creative consciousness, our essence is eternal as well. That is why all of the mystical traditions explain our existence as children of the creator. In a corporeal, material, temporal world we cannot be sure of this by any other means than intuition or mystical revelation. However, for me it makes sense that our sense of self as conscious agents is as eternal as consciousness. So within the corporeal, material, and temporal plane there is suffering and pleasure, joy and sadness.

I must add to this that within creative consciousness it seems logical that the individual conscious agents would by committee have input and say so in developing the material corporeal world. This is the place where “free will” would come into existence. Furthermore, it is logical that this committee would make certain that each conscious agent was treated in an egalitarian way. Each would experience suffering and pleasure, joy and sadness equally over the multiple incarnation process. This in and of itself would provide a type of theodicy for the creative source, consciousness. Since time is a product of material reality, at the consciousness level or the unification of conscious agents, there only exists the eternal present or the eternal now. It is in this way that suffering could be a logical choice for the expansion of conscious experience. However it would all be evened out in the eternal present. While this may not be comfort for those who are experiencing extreme suffering in the material plane, it never the less would supply a reasonable explanation of why suffering takes place.

There is natural evil and there is moral evil in the material corporeal realm. Neither of these exist in the eternal present beyond the expanding experience of consciousness. This is the place where I believe that it is all moving toward the expansion of love. I base this on spiral dynamics. Spiral dynamics shows that humanity is moving on an upward spiral toward more and more enlightenment. Of course, I acknowledge that there is much that is evil in this world, but the fact is that it is diminishing over time and more and more conscious agents are operating in a benevolent manner toward one another. It therefore seems logical that this upward spiral is the purpose and plan of consciousness. If this is the case it is reasonable to suggest that at the creative conscious source level is the highest vibration which is peace and love, and the purpose is to have conscious agents that become more aware of this concept and experience each in an ever-increasing fashion.

Yes, this concept involves reincarnation, but it is by choice. It is within the whole of creative consciousness, but it is at the individual conscious agent level that free will exists. Each individual conscious agent is aware of the potentiality of each incarnation but does not have that awareness based on experience, and it is experience that works it out in space and time. Likewise, it is experience that creative consciousness is using to expand and grow the universe or if you prefer the multiverse. Each conscious agent being a part of creative consciousness then, is totally free to choose each incarnation. It is also possible to choose not to incarnate and remain in the whole, but that does not last forever in time as challenges arise and a rested agent is ready for the next experience.

It should be stated that the goal is to create the perfection enjoyed by the whole creative consciousness in a material and corporeal world.. My experience thus far shows me that is impossible and is the precise reason for needing occasional rest after many tries. However, spiral dynamics points to the fact that it is improving on and upward trajectory. While this certainly does not explain everything, it logically goes a long way toward explaining the problem of evil and its solution.

Next, we will look at the place of the mystics, Jesus, Buddha, the Tao, and Shamanism within this explanation.

 

God Beyond Religion: Does Spiral Dynamics point toward a benevolent creator of the universe? Spiral Dynamics and Theodicy

Spiral Dynamics and Theodicy

There was a song written in 1995 that asked this question. “What if god was one of us?” It went on to ask, “a slob like one of us, a stranger on a bus?” There is a way in which that song rings far more true than at first hearing. In fact, it is plausible that it could indeed be true. Let’s assume that the creator of the universe is collective consciousness. That the reason for calling it collective is it is made up of individual conscious agents in a collective that are jointly and severally divine. I will show later on in this article that this idea is indeed the most likely of all possible scenarios. Further, I will show that heretofore all of the mystics that religions were built upon were simply misunderstood, and that their message was coopted. It is my view that the orthodox Christian view of the creator is the least likely scenario with respect to reasonable plausibility. That view makes theodicy impossible.

Here is the description of the model of deity that I believe to be the most plausible and reasonable of all possibilities and likewise, I will explain why the scenario, of not having a conscious creative source, is probably the worst of all possibilities. Eternal consciousness exists and has always existed and is dark energy that produces dark matter. This is the first and only miracle needed. The materialist view also needs a first and only miracle and that is the existence of hydrogen atoms. So, in this both theories begin with a miracle or at least an unknowable circumstance. Dark energy contemplates all the dimensions and dark matter is continuously expanding and sustaining material creation. It is by conscious energy that the waves of potentiality are collapsed into particles. We then, jointly (the collective) and severally (individual conscious agents) collapse the waves of potentiality into the particulate matter of the corporeal world.

We create these modalities of existence to expand consciousness. Further, we are divine and eternal being a part of the collective. This eliminates completely the concept of an all wise and potent creator apart from us and creates us as divine agents experiencing the expansion of consciousness. All of the various religions have created metaphors to explain the collective. The metaphors are father and mother, and the individual conscious agents are the offspring or the children. It is in this realm that free will exists. It is likewise in this realm that eternity exists and therefore, being eternal, no actual lasting harm can come to any. While suffering is real in some realms of existence it is not eternal and all experience it. Likewise, what one could call fortunate, pleasurable, and beneficial, though not eternal is experienced equally by all from time to time as expanding consciousness dictates. This is not meant to minimize the suffering or the contentment, but rather places each in perspective of the eternal purpose of expanding consciousness. It makes conscious agents masters of their own fate with free will. This alone provides complete theodicy.

So where does spiral dynamics enter the picture? It is evident in the upward spiral of humanity over the millennia.  Individually and collectively, we are creating a better, more loving, more equitable world. Further, consciousness is expanding toward a more widespread and eventually enlightened reality. Examples are everywhere. Medicine and quality of life is expanding, equity of opportunity is expanding. Statistics bear this out. The amount of people living in extreme poverty has dropped from 2 billion in 1981 to 1.2 billion in 2011 according to the World Bank Poverty: the past, present and future | World Economic Forum (weforum.org). We have progressed from the archaic, through the tribal, the authoritarian, ethno-nationalistic, democratic, and are heading toward the democratic social stage. I realize that there are remnants of many of the stages still present or coinciding with the highest achievement, but that is the way spiral dynamics works. In addition to this, there are more and more people headed to the tier two aspects of spiral dynamics, with the ultimate being enlightenment.

Here is an image that shows the stages of spiral dynamics.

So then, of the three explanations of reality, the emperor god, atheism, or panpsychism, the latter is by far the best choice, and it completely eliminates theodicy. One can equate monotheism with the emperor god and of course atheistic physicalism speaks for itself, there is no god and no purpose just accidental evolution, and with the panpsychism explained in this article there is a purpose and a reasonable explanation of good and evil, and more specifically the existence of evil. Both moral evil and natural evil (earthquakes, disease etc.) are a natural result of the material corporeal experiment but conscious agents being eternally divine experience an "evening out" of suffering and comfort.

The reason that the panpsychist view is superior is that it ultimately produces hope and a reason to love. While the emperor god view promotes trauma, guilt, and shame, the atheistic physicalistic view is ok for those who are encountering even a modicum of comfort but, it is devastating to those who were born into poverty and harshness. In those cases, atheism can lead naturally to one becoming a murderous outlaw. It increases crimes against people and property. Without eternal hope and understanding, deep suffering can produce a complete disregard for life.

Let’s examine the three positions in terms of what they provide most individuals that have ever lived. The emperor god cannot be absolved of creating suffering no matter how one looks at it. It is a view that makes the divine creator arbitrary and capricious and no, giving human’s free will and choice does not eliminate culpability. So many people have been born into poverty and suffering, or just vary hard living conditions that overall life was not that great a gift. They would have been better off not existing.

The same thing rings true for the atheistic view. If there is no purpose and life evolved for no reason, then this view is the most toxic of all. It leaves everything in life to chance. If one was born into wealth and comfort, great but if not, they simply lose. Further, when you consider the numbers of people who were born prior to the last two centuries it was really an unfair plight to have been born.

Finally, the panpsychist view, that all is consciousness and is created by consciousness is a view that offers eternal equilibrium and justice. If we are in fact all divine and individual conscious agents that participate in developing the material corporeal experience, and also have a multitude of other dimensions, worlds, circumstances that cannot even be imagined, we then have a narrative that will allow all to feel that over time and development all will experience the expansion of consciousness by participating in each creative experiment available to conscious agents that is ever expanding in an upward spiral. Further having each dimensional experience adding to the whole in the same way that humanity has developed as viewed by spiral dynamics and seeing that the potential for growth is well beyond imagination. In my view this is the best possible scenario, and it resonates well with me.

It is my belief that all of the mystics and masters of the past were actually trying to communicate this idea but were misunderstood. Sometimes it was from real misunderstanding and in some cases, it was purposefully misrepresented to favor those who were passing on and writing down the message. Those who wrote their own like Lao Tzu and Rumi had a clearer more pure message, and of course, Jesus who had all of his teachings passed on by second hand and third hand messengers was likely the least clear. However, with our intuition and the divine spirit that indwells each and every one of us, even there the real message can be discerned.

God Beyond Religion: Mystical Revelation and the Ongoing Illumination Toward Spiritual Enlightenment

Proposition: It is my belief that there is mystical revelation from source in all of the sacred writings over the millennia. Finding and refining it is the process of illumination and has been done over the centuries and is still taking place today. It can be likened to spiritual spiral dynamics and needs to be an ever-ongoing process.

Let’s face it, orthodox Christianity did no real favors with canonization of certain scripture. Mystic revelation from source should be ongoing as people develop culturally, socially and spiritually. It should be obvious that at least some of those writing down the narrative about Jesus did not believe they were codifying anything but acting as a reporter. This is obvious from Luke’s writings and also from whoever wrote the Johannine epistles. Here are three examples:

Luke 1:1-3  “Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,  (2)  just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,  (3)  I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,”

Act 1:1-3  “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning  (2)  until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  (3)  After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

1Jn 1:1-4  “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—  (2)  this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—  (3)  we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  (4)  We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

It seems rather clear to me from the above passages that they were not trying to codify but rather report an important phenomenon that they had witnessed, and that it was meant for them within the context of their culture and time. In other words, it was for their contemporary audience, based on their cultural norms. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that what they wrote included mystical revelation from the creative source but also contained the input that they naturally inherited from their culture, beliefs, and customs. It is likewise reasonable to assume that those cultural and customary aspects were not meant to be codified into perpetuity. At the same time it is also reasonable to conclude that some of what they wrote as witnesses reflected enlightened revelation they received from a messenger whose mission was to further illuminate and correct what they had erroneously or mistakenly believed from past revelation.

Therefore, it seems incumbent on those who follow these traditions to apply the same kind of reporting and illumination into the application of these mystical gems using spiritual discernment and mysticism. In fact, it is an edict in the Johannine gospel. John 16:12-13  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  (13)  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” There is absolutely nothing in the above writing from John’s gospel that states that shortly after the spirit comes it will then reveal a set of principles and beliefs that can be codified as the final message from source. In fact, that idea is preposterous. If one looks at the evolution of culture and enlightened awareness that is set forth in spiral dynamics it demands that this edict from John’s gospel be ongoing, and that the actual canon can never be codified and sealed. However, neither does it mean that it cannot be helpful in the effort to provide greater and greater illumination with all of the spiritual and scientific discoveries that regularly change our view of reality.

It is in this view that proposition above is stated. Wouldn’t it be interesting to have a group of modern Christ followers take the edict of John 16:12-13. This could be accomplished by using an understanding of the first century history and culture coupled with spiritual illumination and discernment to put together those aspects of the scripture that are indeed mystical revelation from source and what is actually a product of the culture that created them.

One thing is certain, the concept that the entire canon was codified for perpetuity two thousand years ago in a culture that was far less humane than our current culture. I know, many may try to point out the evil that seems rampant in our culture today, but two things must be considered. First, most people are kind, and spiral dynamics has shown that there is an upward spiral of enlightenment that has increased the humaneness of humanity. Secondly, the media and news outlets emphasize the apparent evil so that it holds a higher place in our awareness, and it is likely that the incidence of what we call evil is less in relation to overall population than it was in times past.

This would enable Christ followers, who believe there is a command to create a better, more peaceful, and more loving humanity use the best parts of their tradition to facilitate this growth and build a bridge that is syncretistic and eclectic that could show the similarity of the mystical message across cultures and religions. Further, it could create and environment that would build tolerance of all people of all religions and likewise include those who are completely non-religious.