Since the earliest of times mankind sought to seek the mysteries which surrounded him. In a purely critical environment in which survival was of the essence, he intertwined himself into a world of physical reality.  Over time man developed a deep conscious thought were through contemplation, man sought a deeper understanding of the mysteries. He stared into the night sky after a long hard day of hunting (or gathering, etc) and staring up into the majesty of heaven he understood a profound presence of something greater than himself.

The more developed and controlled the environment became, the more time man had to contemplate the mysteries. Undoubtedly, from the progressions of agriculturally-based cultures into those of great civilizations and empires we see the emergence of the Mystery Schools. Schools of thought for not just mental development, but rather for the development of his consciousness. The progression from man in the natural environmental state into that of artificial creation, man lost something, an innate part of being which became replaced with new feelings of desires and material contentment. Man lost that which rooted him with a true reality of the universe; the natural world. The more people indulged into an artificial world the more people lost touch with the natural elements. Overtime the civilization became more skewed from true progression that the natural world was forced to manifest itself and once again create equilibrium.

Again we go down the same democratic formulas as were present before and the more and more we disconnect ourselves from the lessons in our past. We immerse ourselves in artificialities and reduce our thinking into insignificancies of rational thought. Nitpicking and debating the same old ideas; it is this that consumes us. We have created a world of theoretical knowledge and formulated rationalities; and yet our mind has yet to grasp idealistic approaches. We have yet to grasp the true meaning of the infinite, yet alone the true mysteries which encompass our own bubbles. We ridicule the visionary and idealistic, we pride ourselves on the notion of knowing reality and those whom oppose it are going against science (the law of the land). We drive them into seclusion for they go against the grain and therefore prevent ‘progression’. ‘Progression’ being the one value we have truly lost a sense for. Ideas of competition, etc become the framework for progression.

We resort ourselves into mindless jobs and tasks that repeat throughout the remainder of our lives. We have lost ourselves through this sea of confusion and madness. Some people however, are still reminded of the greater picture (or scheme) and are not content with the world we have created.  They seek to know the mysteries of the past once again and feel once again the light. However, out of this eagerness and desperation they bring about their own failure. They seek out others to unveil the truths for them, giving rise to many false prophets or gurus which thrive only on egotistical values. Lectures, writers, etc all make a substantial profit from the weak and desperate. As ironic as it may seem they fall into an opposite polarity of dogmatic, categorical and close-minded forms of thinking. In times of desperation the masses easily fall prey to those willing to give answers (e.g. recent dramatic increase in Christianity in America). More and more each day fall victims to this perverse monopolization of ‘truth’.

However, not everything is in despair. There are those out there who realize that it is the answers themselves which manifest from within and not from others. In calm reflection and contemplation one finds truth; truths, unlike what people may say, change to the developing mind. A certain perception one has can dramatically change to the next. So long as one remains in calm and receptive states of mind one can perceive inner wisdoms of the soul. In time these people aspire to their dreams and fantasies and in the end live a rewarding life giving guidance to others or go around helping those less fortunate than themselves. These are the age old teachings that all religions and spiritual practices all possess. From the remote Native American tribes to the Islamic teachings of Mohammad and so on. 

“In the Beginning…”

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

םיהלא ארב תישארב
תאו םימשה תא
׃ץראה

2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.

והת התיה ץראהו

ינפ־לע ךשחו והבו

םיהלא חורו םוהת

ינפ־לע תפחרמ

׃םימה

 3 And God said: ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.

יהי םיהלא רמאיו

׃רוא־יהיו רוא

4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

םיהלא אריו

בוט־יכ רואה־תא

ןיב םיהלא לדביו

׃ךשחה ןיבו רואה

In the beginning there was an infinite void. A void where time and space ceased to exist. This concept may seem too far-fetched by any means through the limited stretch of one’s imagination. Divine light then brought forth a physical manifestation from within itself, thus creating the universe.

There are many theories in regards to the creation of life as we know it. Stephen Hawking, along with many others, propose the ‘Big Bang’ theory which suggests over 13.7 billion years ago there was a large explosion which created the galaxies. Of course, this being the ‘mainstream’ fundamental leading theory in the origins of our universe one must then investigate more deeply into it and use philosophy as a means to analyze it. One can then say that if all matter from the universe expelled from a concentrated ball with high rate of density that later expanded into the known universe, then what created it? I am reminded of the age old saying, “what came first, the chicken or the egg?”, but rather the ‘Big Bang’ theory is on a much grander and scientific scale. It almost becomes like the fallacy of circular reasoning; begging the question. To trace back to the ultimate source of all creation into a single concentrate of matter seems almost ludicrous. Because we cannot grasp the philosophical thought concept of the infinite we must resort into a scientific inquiry in search of some physicality behind our own universe.

In order to better understand ourselves in relationship to the universe one must first understand and acknowledge the presence of ‘God’. The concept of ‘God’ varies from tradition to tradition. Despite so many variations of this ‘source being’ there is always an underlying common representation. A good explanation of why there are so many conceptions of ‘God’ is because there are so many interpretations on different levels of one’s own personal growth and specific growth within a given cultural group. It does not mean one group is more correct then another, but rather it mealy means that they are at a different stage of development.

To make things a bit more clear a good example would be by comparing the concept of “God” between the Roman Catholic Church to that of an indigenous tribe of the Americas, the Navajo. To begin with the Roman Catholic Church idolizes “God” as an independent entity who rules over mortal man from his throne in heaven. Of course there are many specifics in regards to what ‘God’ does and why that is, but for the sake of argument I will simplify the whole. ‘God’, through their eyes, has the ability to judge those who do wrong and rewards those who carry out the good. The Navajo, however, originally had the concept of ‘God’ as an entity who was granted as “the Creator”. The Creator brought all life on to this world, and looked upon us as both an independent and dependent entities. As opposed to a bearded “God” who sits on a throne overlooking Earth, the Navajo symbolically use the conception of ‘God’ to that of the Sun whose rays touch all and makes all life possible. Through balance and harmony with the Earth the Navajo maintain utmost respect for all things. The Navajo also possessed separate entities who were all mere representations of the source (“God”). Certain spirit manifestations were later combined with those of the Roman Catholic once the Spanish had over taken the land. It was very easy to assimilate the original Navajo traditions and concepts with those of the Roman Catholic. Throughout the South Western part of the United States there still remains evidence of this assimilation of ‘religions’. Some churches still stand with where this is evident, where a statue of a Saint might be placed there is a totem of that specific Saints equivalent within that certain tribe. As Saints are the visible representation of ‘God’, the various elements in nature are representations of ‘the Creator’.

‘God’ exists within all people and God exists within all elements of nature and is the common bind between all things (living or non-living). ‘God’ is Cosmic Consciousness. It is absolute radiant energy pulsating through our very being. In theory one can say all elements are composed molecules, molecules are made up of atoms, atoms are made up of electrons/neutrons/protons, and underlying below that is energy. We are mass energy, and energy exists within everything. Philosopher James Arthur Ray but as simple as such; when one goes up to a Quantum Physicist and asks what creates the world, and he or she will say Energy. Well describe Energy; Energy cannot be created or destroyed, always was always has been, everything that has ever existed, it moves into form and out of form. When one goes to theologian and asks what created the universe he or she will say ‘God’. Well describe ‘God’; God cannot be created nor destroyed, always was and always has been, it is everything that has ever existed, it moves into form through form and out of form.

To Einstein, after years and years of research, started to conclude with the idea of a cosmic consciousness- based reality. In other words a universal awareness which is inseparable from the self and overall creation. Many people deeply involved within the science community start to realize the reality behind a universal intelligence. Nobel Prize Winner in the field of physics Brian David Josephson, as well as many others, started to realize the striking parallels between Mysticism (more specifically Eastern Mysticism) to that of modern physics. It seems as if only recently this correlation between physics and mysticism is being strongly accepted. However, many within the science community would prefer to scoff at the idea than rather investigating into it deeper.

A good example of the correlation between some other variable at play within physics would be the infamous Double-Slit experiment. Because the experiment is very complex I will not go into details about how it works but I do want to talk about the results at hand. I urge those who would like to read further to please by all means do so. The main conclusion that I obtained out of reading about the Double-Slit experiment is that our consciousness does in fact have a deep correlation within the quantum reality. We live in a consciousness-based reality which is always changing and shifting at a deeper level (quantum level).

Joseph Campbell is known world-wide for his research on comparative mythology to which has had a profound influence on the way we observe the world of today. He had written several books on the subject of comparative cosmology and mythological parallels between cultures until his death in 1987. Campbell was better known for his ideology which was used in the Star Wars film which very accurately depict the parallel idea of ‘God’ through various means. The representation of a Cosmic Consciousness was in the film referred to as ‘the force’. And no matter how much we progress with our technology or society there will always remain a underlying set of ideas. Ideas which obey certain ‘Cosmic’ or ‘Universal Laws’ and which will always be present no matter how much one becomes ignorant of it.

The following is taken from an interview which was later published into a book entitled “The Power of Myth”:

“God” is an ambiguous word in our language because it appears to refer to something that is known. But the transcendent is unknowable and unknown. God is transcendent, finally, of anything like the name of “God”. God is beyond names and forms. Meister Eckhard said that the ultimate and highest leave-taking is leaving God for God, leaving your notion of God for an experience of that which transcends all notions.

The mystery of life is beyond all human conception. Everything we know is within the terminology of the concepts of being and not being, many and single, true and untrue. We always think in terms of opposites. But God, the ultimate, is beyond the pairs of opposites, that is all there is to it.

…The source of temporal life is eternity. Eternity pours itself into the world. It is a basic mythic idea of god who comes many in us. In India, the god who lies in me is called the “inhabitant” of the body. To identify with that divine, immortal aspect of yourself is to identify yourself with divinity.

Now, eternity is beyond all categories of thought. This is an important point in all of the great Oriental religions. We want to think about God. God is a thought. God is a name. God is an idea. But its reference is to something that transcends all thinking. The ultimate mystery of being is beyond all categories of thought. As Kant said, the thing in itself is no thing. It transcends thingness, is goes past anything that could be thought. The best things can’t be told because they transcend thought. The second best are misunderstood, because those are the thoughts that are supposed to refer to that which can’t be thought about. The third best are what we talk about. And myth is that field of reference to what is absolutely transcendent.

…Everything in the field of time and space is dual. The incarnation appears either as male or as female, and each of us is the incarnation of God. You’re born in only one aspect of your actual metaphysical duality, you might say. This is represented in the mystery religions, where an individual goes through a series of initiations opening him out inside into a deeper and deeper depth of himself, and there comes a moment when he realizes that he is both mortal and immortal, both male and female.

Joseph Campbell beautifully illustrates the concept of ‘God’ so that we can fully appreciate something ‘higher’ than ourselves. The representation of ‘God’ as a dualistic entity through which all life emanates would by many means contradict the mainstream misconception of ‘God’. If we are a physical and living conception of a cosmic source, than we too, on a metaphysical level, are immortal beings capable of transcending various planes of existence. Because there are so many concepts of a higher divine entity throughout so many cultures, we must realize and learn the true underlying meaning which are a clear representation of a single truth.

We were manifested with an internalized reason and purpose. We progress through life as human beings, but without beginning there will be no end. This progression of man does not, on any level, mean one thing is greater than another. We are all equals striving from the same common source to our same end through means of progression on different planes of existence. Man and beast are but one and the same, maybe one is at a different evolutionary stage than the other, but that does not mean that it is inferior. In time, it will progress to the evolutionary stage that we might be at. The fundamental progressions of reincarnations, and soul evolution will be addressed in a later chapter. But the main concept to understand is that we are all equal, we all came from the same source and we all progress towards the same end both on a spiritual evolutionary path and on a life cycle process. Tolerance of all things is crucial to the understanding of life that which emits through all. All men were created equal; Tolerance and respect is needed to progress into a unification of consciousness towards all things living or ‘non-living’. This unification of consciousness, once reached, will leave a profound humility and clear understanding of all the things manifested from the one true ultimate source. Then, by those virtuous understandings one can then become free from what may seem as a physical dependence and transcend beyond time and space. For uplifting those limitations one may become in a true sense of the word, ‘one’. One with the cosmic, one with all, unification,… Nirvana.