God Beyond Religion: Mystics, Mysticism, and Revelation

One of the ways we know about the creative source of the universe is through mystical revelation. Those who receive mystical revelation are mystics. Let’s look into the world of mystics and mysticism. When I was in evangelical orthodoxy, teaching seminary and preaching, most if not all of my colleagues believed that there was a difference between revelation and illumination. Their point was that only those who wrote the works in the accepted canon of scripture were able to have their writings be classified as revelation. Any insight received by a person after the time of the writing of the canon was simply illumination of the previous revelation. To this I merely call BS! First of all, if one thinks about it for more that a few minutes not guided by dogma that they are afraid to veer off from, it makes no sense that God would give final revelation to men in the Roman Iron Age that would be the final word for the rest of the time the planet exists. That makes a lot of assumptions that are not plausible. It assumes that humanity will not advance, and that spirituality will not evolve. It assumes that a small country with an insignificant population would have an even smaller segment be the arbiter of all truth for all time.

The truth is that mysticism and mystical revelation have been ongoing since the dawn of humanity. Indigenous shamanic tribes of people from all over the globe had very advanced spiritual understanding. Especially in regard to the nature of reality, and the spiritual purpose for existence. So, let’s return to the electromagnetic fields that are at the foundation of our material and corporeal world. Using the example of microwaves, and radio waves we can extrapolate that the brain waves are connected with the waves from the unified field of consciousness; in what Rupert Sheldrake has identified as the fields of morphic resonance and is the plausible source of all mystic revelation. Further, every human is capable of tapping this source of revelation. It is where all intuition comes from. Likewise, it is the source of all of the mystics over the millennia as well as the source of the creativity. In ancient Greece, they called it the muses. It is also the source of all artistic inspiration. Most importantly it is nothing to fear, and it is NOT demonic or evil. It is a natural phenomenon in reality.

It is also the source of spiritual awakening. It appears that there is a rapid growth in spiritual awakening at this time, and it is quite probably linked to our entering the Age of Aquarius. There is a prediction that the planet is transitioning into a new stage of spiritual density. This transition will result in the vibrations of everything on the planet being raised to a higher level on the spiritual plane. The Kybalion mentions three planes of existence. The material plane, the mental plane, and the spiritual plane. The change that is taking place will eventually affect all three planes. It will begin with the spiritual plane and move into the mental plane and will ultimately change the material plane as well. It will end up making mental alchemy easier. This will aid those who are practicing the law of attraction.

One important aspect of this trend is that it will initiate eclectic and syncretistic spirituality. More and more people will be able to discern the mystical revelation found in all of the world religions and religion itself and ritual will diminish. Dogma will give way to open minded acceptance and wider tolerance of individuals that have differing views of spirituality. There is a move toward truly being spiritual and not religious. Dogmatic religions are toxic and abusive, and they will diminish until they completely vanish.

God Beyond Religion: Reverse Engineering Spirituality “The Kybalion”

“ II THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCE: This Principle embodies the truth that there is always a Correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom ran in these words: “As above, so below; as below, so above.” And the grasping of this Principle gives one the means of solving many a dark paradox, and hidden secrets of Nature” The Kybalion, by Three Initiates page 17 Yogi Publication Society, 1908

The only thing one can really know is what one experiences. And now, in several scientific disciplines it is being discovered and understood that what we experience is really not reality. At least not in its fullness and underlying foundations. However, there is a way of knowing, that is in my view really reliable, and it is intuition. A common phrase would be “trust your gut!” Here is an exercise that one can do. Sit down, quiet your mind and ask yourself this question. What am I 98% sure of if anything? I am assuming that no one is actually 100% sure of anything. Then, take a piece of paper and make a list of the things that you are 98% certain of. Continue on by asking what you are 90% sure of, then 80%, and 70% on down. The test again should be, how does it resonate with my intuition?

I mention the above because, in full transparency, even when I was a pastor and preaching the evangelical gospel there were many things that did not resonate with my intuition. For example, the concept of hell and eternal torture got no more than 10% certainty ever. I actually believe that one has to be somewhat intellectually dishonest to embrace evangelical doctrine at all. The test is for the individual in the privacy of their bathroom, bedroom, or closet mirror.

On the other hand, the principles in the Kybalion have a very high resonance, and I have a certainty of 90% that they are correct. Yes, I can say this while all alone looking at my countenance in the mirror. I think that principle 2, the principle of correspondence is a very important axiom and that it alone can go a long way toward helping us reverse engineer the creative spiritual source. This is especially true of the second clause. It reads as below so above. The statement is that as above so below, meaning that the creative source created the material, corporeal world to match the source world. It does not mean that above is corporeal and material as well. Science sees it as a field of potentiality at the behest of conscious agents. That also resonates with me, but the second part of the principle, as below so above gives us a great place to begin our reverse engineering of the spiritual world. Since I do not believe that it is corporeal or material, then it follows that it is spiritual. This lines up nicely with the many sources over millennia that have suggested that the creative source is the Logos or Logoi. The concept goes back over 5,000 years to Egypt and Thoht. The Greeks called him Hermes. It was brought to Greece by Pythagoras and many different Greek Philosophers wrote about the Logos.

Back to the Kybalion and as below so above. By means of extrapolation one can begin to understand the spiritual world, the world of creative consciousness. This extrapolation enlists the principle as below so above. Everywhere we look there are cycles. There is the water cycle, the cycle of the seasons, the cycle of the rotation of the planets and so on. It is therefore reasonable to assume that there are cycles in the spiritual realm as well. One such cycle would be conscious agents reincarnating into corporeal material reality. However, there are many things in material reality, in the human condition that can be used to reverse engineer the spiritual world of creative consciousness. I will explore many over time, but beyond cycles in this one, I want to imagine what might be the purpose of existence based on this principle.

Imagine that at the creative conscious level there is complete knowledge. Further, there is eternal existence without beginning nor end. Imagine if you will what would be the result of not having challenges on earth. It would be boredom. This is why it is important for a person who retires to have something meaningful to occupy their time. Those who don’t go stir crazy or end up going back to work just to keep busy. So, I think it is safe to extrapolate that one of the reasons for corporeal and material existence is to alleviate boredom. I am not suggesting that it is the only reason but definitely makes sense that it is one very good reason. Keep in mind that we want to have rest and vacations as well. Perhaps we reincarnate until we are exhausted, and then take a rest break, a sabbatical until boredom once again settles in and we then look for a fresh challenge.

God Beyond Religion: An Egalitarian Gnosticism

The case against Christian orthodoxy is really solid when viewed with an open mind. The practices of the orthodox movement in general are shady when it comes to deciding what is orthodoxy and what is heterodoxy. The facts are undisputable. There was a rich variety of Christianity’s in the second through third centuries. Further, one can surmise that there was a rich variety of literature produced in the second and third centuries. It is very probable based on the Nag Hammadi find that there was much more literature that did not meet orthodox standards that was destroyed and will possibly never be seen. Let’s face the fact. It was serendipitous that we found what we found in the nineteen-forties.

Please do not jump to the conclusion that I think everything orthodox was wrong and evil and everything Gnostic and heterodox was right and good. That is not my view at all. You could say that I was born an egalitarian. From my earliest recollections I was always deeply concerned with what was fair and right for all. I still am. Its probably the reason that I see the error in the extreme polarization of our country these days. It almost seems like a plot of a bad movie but that is another topic for another time. Suffice it to say that egalitarianism in important to me.

While orthodoxy was not egalitarian neither was Gnosticism and the other heterodox views. I guess this makes me one following the left-handed spiritual path because for all of my years I have been a rebel. In a variety of ways, I hate conformity. My main criticism of Gnosticism is that it is exclusive. That is also my critique of Christianity, especially evangelical orthodoxy. I would argue that it is exclusivity that has alienated so many from Christianity. It creates an us verses them atmosphere. It creates a saint verses sinner when the truth is we are all a little of both. It reminds me of the Eagle’s lyrics “I’ve been searching for the daughter of the devil himself, I’ve been searching for an angel in white, I’ve been waiting for a woman who’s a little of both, I can feel her but she’s nowhere in sight” ~(One of These Nights) I think that these lyrics could be a metaphor for what most seek.

This is why I see the Gnosticism in some of John and some of Paul (not the Beatles.) Both writers have an egalitarian Gnosticism. In fact, universal reconciliation is an egalitarian doctrine, and it is present in both the writings of John and Paul. I know, they also sound exclusive at times, but that simply means they need to be discerned, and in my view that is exactly where gnosis comes into play. We are first and foremost conscious beings. If in fact we were created in the image of God, then that is consciousness. The Logos is consciousness. I believe it is fair to equate consciousness and spirit. In fact, we are tripart beings. We are body, spirit, and soul. The body is our flesh, our corporeal, material existence. The spirit is universal consciousness and our link to it. The soul is our individual psyche or our individual consciousness.

That was the egalitarian message of Jesus according to both John and Paul. We are the Logos in earthen vessels. This was the essential spiritual (universal consciousness) message that Jesus brought to humanity. YOU, I, and the FATHER are one. We are ALL wrapped up in each other because we all proceed from consciousness. That is egalitarian Gnosticism in a nutshell. That is the truth whether comprehended or not. All of us are moving in an upward spiral toward that ever unfolding and expanding realization. The way to grasp it with ever increasing degrees is to use our most important asset. It is our spiritual intuition. It is the amalgamating of the spirit and the psyche. Trust your gut! Both the orthodox scripture and the gnostic gospels contain spiritual revelation from source. You are capable of deciding which!

God Beyond Religion: Cell Phones, Radios, and Consciousness

What do cell phones and radios have to do with consciousness? Well perhaps nothing, but I sense that there is a comparison there. Let’s begin with the Hermetic principal as above so below and as below so above. Nikola Tesla was an eccentric genius and among many things, he researched electromagnetic energy. He had predicted that electricity could be transported freely through the air. Of course, Edison won out and created an electric grid of wires that ended up costing humanity money but that is another story and off the point.

While Tesla never achieved the success he desired, his work has continued with others and has ended up producing a plethora of wireless inventions, gadgets, and uses. Another pioneer in wireless technology was Guglielmo Marconi. He is credited with the invention of the radio a similar use for a different type of electromagnetic energy called radio waves. Whether radio waves or microwaves our communications will never be the same.

This brings me to my point about consciousness. Where does human creativity come from? The ancients used to credit the muses as being the sources for creative people such as writers, poets, musicians, and artists. I listened to a YouTube video of Michael Jackson in court when he was sued concerning his song “Dangerous.” I would recommend you listen to it, at least mid-way through where he demonstrates how he wrote songs. He stated that it came into his head, and he would begin with beat-boxing the bass part. Next would come the overall chords of the music with the same method of beatboxing. Next would come the melody and lyrics. He would record each part and then he would go into the studio and show the musicians what each part would sound like.

I myself, though not the genius that many are, have creative and new ideas just pop into my head. Much of my blog writing is inspired by these thoughts that seem to appear out of nowhere. This leads me to believe that our brains are in fact a type of transceiver. We receive and transmit ideas via this sort of electromagnetic waves. The brain and brain activity is the result of oscillating waves of electronic impulses called brain waves. Is that what links us to universal consciousness?

Science now understands that at the basic level of reality are fields of energy. Of course, quantum mechanics suggests that there is a unified field. Rupert Sheldrake has theorized that there are morphic fields of resonance. Several other biologists have done experimental studies with these fields and have found evidence that they exist, and that various species communicate through them. Carl Jung the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst that pioneered psycho analysis theorized that there is a collective unconscious that people communicate with, get ideas from and transmit ideas too. There is also a phenomenon in science called multiples. These are cases where more than one person, not linked by locality or in any other way came up with the same theory or equation at roughly the same time. By the same token, roughly around 500 BCE give or take a hundred years or so, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, the Greeks were writing about the Logos, and the Buddha was developing his teaching.

As I have studied these fields, I am becoming more and more aware of the reality of them. To me, they seem like an ocean and flowing freely within this ocean of electronic energy are all of these various fields. I suspect that both, the microwave and radio wave energy that is used by the materialistic world is hovering, swimming, floating in this ocean, but also simultaneously are the morphic fields of resonance that include human and animal consciousness, and if I may speculate plant consciousness and that the indigenous description of the great spirit and mother earth, the sky, the rivers, the mountains, the rocks, humanity and all flora and fauna share this same cosmic soup of potentiality. One could apply the prefix morpho to all of them because morpho means taking form. This is the way in which we participate in creating reality.

God Beyond Religion: Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Consider a panpsychism view of reality. That view suggests that at the source of the universe is consciousness. So far as we know consciousness is invisible. Both the Hermetica and the Bible speak about creation coming from darkness. “Darkness was upon the face of the deep,” and “hovering over the dark waters of potentiality.” Panpsychism believes that within consciousness lies all potentiality. Quantum mechanics speaks of potentiality instead of materiality. Lao Tzu said that the ineffable Tao was the mother of all spirit and matter. Again, the spirit is likened to the wind or the breath because it is invisible. Therefore since there is an ubiquitous idea that consciousness or mind is the creative source of the universe in ancient writings and philosophies, I think it is safe to assume that the bible and the hermetica are both referring metaphorically to dark matter and dark energy.

Here is a quote from an article about the effort to find out more about dark matter...

 "One part of the mystery is dark matter, which has by far most of the mass in the cosmos. Astronomers know it's there because when they measure the stars and other regular matter in galaxies, they find that there is not nearly enough gravity to hold these clusters together. If nothing else was out there, galaxies would be “quickly flying apart,” Manalaysay said.

“It is essentially impossible to understand our observation of history, of the evolutionary cosmos without dark matter,” Manalaysay said.

 Lippincott, a University of California, Santa Barbara, physicist, said “we would not be here without dark matter.” ~ Here is a link to the article Huge underground search for mysterious dark matter begins (msn.com)

 Look at this quote from the Hermetica.....

"Bless me with Knowledge of Atum,' I begged. Suddenly everything changed before me. Reality was opened out in a moment. I saw the boundless view. All became dissolved in Light — united within one joyous Love. Yet the Light cast a shadow, grim and terrible, which, passing downwards, became like restless water, chaotically tossing forth spume like smoke. And I heard an unspeakable lament — an inarticulate cry of separation. The Light then uttered a Word, which calmed the chaotic waters. My Guide asked: 'Do you understand the secrets of this vision? I am that Light — the Mind of God, which exists before the chaotic dark waters of potentiality. My calming Word is the Son of God — the idea of beautiful order; the harmony of all things with all things. Primal Mind is parent of the Word, just as, in your own experience, your human mind gives birth to speech.”

Freke, Tim. The Hermetica: The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs (pp. 32-33). Tim Freke Publications. Kindle Edition.

Also, look at this quote from the New Testament: Heb 11:3  “ faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.”

COULD THE METAPHOR OF HERMES "THE DARK CHAOTIC WATERS OF POTENTIALITY BE "DARK MATTER"?

I personally find that the preponderance of evidence shows that mystical revelation from source has suggested for millennia that consciousness is the creative agent. This would be true of the Greek Logos, and the Chinese Tao as well. The descriptors of dark and invisible fit nicely into this theory.

 

God Beyond Religion: Looking at the Arcane Formulas; Egohood

Egohood

Everywhere you turn these days you can find people who suggest that in solving our most perplexing and disabling problems that the answer is to let go of ego and become one with all. Further that we should deny ourselves and work toward the good of a whole and become one with it. Many spiritual paths suggest that the ego is essentially bad, that is our enemy and needs to be brought under control by denying it.

However, in reading the “Arcane Formulas” by William Walker Atkinson one finds a different view of the ego. The Arcane Formulas is a small written work by Atkinson that gives practical steps and exercises to enable one to do mental alchemy and spiritual feats. First among the steps is the developing of what he calls egohood. For Atkinson, egohood is a goal to be reached and not everyone reaches it. One is not born with egohood. Rather it develops or is developed by awakening. For many esoteric teachings initiates are awakened to an egoless state, but for Atkinson, initiates are awakened to egohood.

With Atkinson, egohood is synonymous with the awareness of the I-AM within the individual. This is differentiated from the me or self. Here is an excerpt from the Arcane Formulas that explains that concept. “Just as one is bound by the illusion of the corporeal nature of the “I,” so is it further bound—and even more closely bound—by the illusion of the personal nature of the Ego. The Ego is not only more, and greater, than the physical body it uses—but it is also more, and greater, than that part of the mind, consisting of a series of inherited or acquired impressions which constitutes the “Me.” There is a great difference between the “Me and the I.” The “Me” is the individual as he thinks he is—a bundle of prejudices, tastes, ties, etc. The “I” is the Individual as he is in reality—free from mental ties of all Lesson IV. Establishing the Ego III. 21 kinds. The “Me” is the character being played by the Ego—the “John Smith” part of him. The “I” is the real player of the part. It is often very difficult for one to disentangle and free himself from the overwhelming force of Personality, so completely is the average person self-hypnotized and race-hypnotized with the “John Smith” idea. The Arcane Teachers have several Formulas for unloosening the bonds of Personality. Let us consider them” ~ The Arcane Formulas, William Walker Atkinson, Timeless Wisdom Collection, 2016, page 14

In this quote, found in the third chapter of this booklet entitled Egohood III, Atkinson points out the difference between the I (I-AM) and the me. He sees the me as a part in a play that the I-AM is acting in. The I-AM or egohood is directly tied to the Will. And as one moves on in the Arcane Formulas it is evident that the Will is the I-AM within the cosmic I-AM, or the cosmic will. This is the source of being able to manipulate and manifest from the infinite potentiality.

Atkinson claims, and I am not certain that I agree or that it resonates with me, but nevertheless, the claim is that no all people have the potential to develop egohood, the I-AM, the will within the cosmic will. That does not resonate with me like the concept of egohood and the I-AM does. I think it is because I see each of us as individual conscious agents on a journey of incarnations that has us at different stages in the growth spiral, and while I have no problem with accepting that some people within a specific incarnation may not be able to achieve egohood, I think that eventually they will. I see our spiritual journey as an upward spiral that may from time to time take downward movement but is ultimately on an upward trajectory. Do not despair about being locked into a cycle of karma. While there is not time to discuss this in this particular article, I believe that we are each in control and there can be rest from the cycle when necessary, and a return when rest has refreshed our spirit.

God Beyond Religion: The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace

 Eph 4:2-3  “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  (3)  making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

There is a difference between the spirit of unity and the unity of the spirit. What could Paul have meant by verse three? I hate to use too much of the passage because evangelical and orthodox Christianity has added so much connotative dogma that at times I wonder if it is even possible to extract mystical and metaphysical revelation from within the pages of the New Testament.

For me the idea that stands out in this passage from the letter to the Ephesians is that Paul is insisting that there is but one spirit. In my journey toward eclectic and syncretistic spirituality I have above all else come to the realization that there is but one creative source. For me it is consciousness, and I believe that spirit is a descriptive term to describe the indescribable. I see the concept of the logos and spirit as essentially the same, and I see the Christ or the anointing as a metaphor for the way that humanity is imbued with spirit via universal consciousness. Our consciousness is the way in which we participate in the divine nature, universal consciousness.

We do not have to see the spirit in the same way to experience the unity of the spirit. We simply need to accept the fact that we are spiritual beings which as a description of conscious agents. There is no need for a spirit of unity because the fact is that we are all unified in universal consciousness.  A spirit of unity is simply people striving to achieve what is already a reality. When we are motivated by a spirit of unity, we are actually admitting that we are different, and we are other. That simply is not the reality. That is an illusion.

The fact that we are individual conscious agents is not an illusion. That is not what is meant by the above paragraph. I am not suggesting that we should try to eliminate our ego and by ego I mean as William Walker Atkinson meant it in his “Arcane Formulas,” and “Arcane Teaching.” Those are two works that are in the public domain and can be found in PDF form downloadable on the internet. They also can be purchased in paperback and kindle forms from Amazon.

What Atkinson described as egohood is the total awareness of the individual I-AM in each of us. That is our connection to the unified field of universal consciousness, and in my view, a description of the unified field of quantum theory, the field of morphic resonance as defined by Rupert Sheldrake, and any other known or unknown field underlying reality. This egohood or I-AM-ness is a very important part of or individual experience in material reality. It does not negate the connection and oneness that exists through the universal consciousness. It actually adds to the sum of the whole.

Therefore, the bond of peace exists in the fact that there is unity in the spirit. Of course, no one can be sure exactly what Paul meant in the above passage, but it resonates with me that the actual mystical message was that there is simply unity in the spirit. If we would be at peace with that then we could peacefully coexist with each other without judgment. This could end all proselytization. It is actually proselytization that causes all the division and strife. The only unity we need is the unified field of consciousness and our common corporeal reality. There is a big difference between proselytization and simply offering ideas in the marketplace of thought. In the marketplace of thought one can simply explore ideas they run across and then when appropriate, incorporate them when they resonate.

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