Along time ago people lived in constant fear that a deity would smite them should they do wrong. Every civillisation had some onipotent force who ruled their life and ruled their hearts. But as time passed people evolved, they grew and understood. They asked where was this “God” in times of need a worry? Why did the “Sinners” not be struck with lightening like those in the old stories? And they understood slowly that this “God” Whether he existed or not, was no longer with them. God had Died.

Thats what I would like to say about society.

 But instead all I can say is that people never really moved on from these dark times. So many people still fear the wrath of a Shadow. A story. A legend.
 
 I don’t want to go on a rant like so many people do on this forum. I don’t want messages filled with hate or Zeal or ignorance. I want an intelligent discussion on why people think a God or power external to them, exists. What is the cause of it, and is there anyway to retain these beliefs, but avoid the negativeside effects like Terrorism, unwanted births etc…etc.

 From conversation on stevepavlina.com/forum

I think what is dead and/or dying are the symbols that point to something greater.  But that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Unfortunately, people worship the symbols and forget what those symbols point to.  Words like God, Allah, Jehova are symbols and hold ZERO relevance outside of their respective contexts (bibles, stories, korans, torrahs).  They are mere pointers to explain something greater.  For science “something greater” is evolution, species survival, the big bang… none of us has answers, all we have is perspectives of what is real.

But we ALL know that “something greater” definitely exists. 

Take a look at consciousness:
Some would reduce awareness to the side effect of the human brain, but there is something very special about consciousness.  Given time and the knowledge, is there any doubt that humans will eventually be able to manipulate the solar system and the surrounding universe.  What can’t be done with a sentient mind? 

Is it such a stretch to believe that there is a sentience beyond humanity?  With billions of stars (some of which we now KNOW can harbor life as we know it) is it such a stretch to believe that some life can do what we can do and more. 

Our know universe (that which we can currently perceive) has a begining, a middle, and an end.  Something (be it sentient, accidental, or natural unexplainable phenomenon) started the universe.  That (whatever it is) could be called God.
 

The pinnacle of what I have come across so far is Ken Wilber’s Integral Spirituality. Although I don’t yet fully “grok” his stuff on metaphysics, his ideas on religions, science and states of consciousness are GROUND BREAKING!

For one thing he has what is known as the Wilber-Combs Lattice

The Wilber-Combs Lattice is a matrix that maps states of consciousness with types of religious belief.

I’ve written a little blurb about this on my post “What is an Empirical Spiritualist”
I have been in several religions, faiths and/or societies (but currently hold no allegiance to any one organization). I have had experiences with almost all. Each of these experiences have been colored by the culture, beliefs, dogma of the organization I was in at the time.

Here are some examples of religions that influenced by spiritual experience:

Christian - as a penecostal I was worshiping Jesus surrounded by some of the praising, shouting congregation and I felt an energy bolt going through my body. A penecostal might call this the holy ghost (aka Holy Spirit).

Eckankar – I was in a state of great peace and saw/felt a blue light shine down on me. Eckist call this one part of the “Light and Sound of God” (aka Holy Spirit)

Integral Spirituality – After a session with a Zen Buddhist Genpo Roshi conducting what is called a Big Mind exercise I felt a profound (overwhelming) oneness with anything I looked at.

Each experience has been shaped and interpreted by the culture/religion/faith I was apart of at the time. This in NO WAY INVALIDATES the phenomenon. It did happen. They were very real and in some cases have changed the course of my life.

The religion/culture/society in which I live gives me the language to explain what has happened and simultaneously shapes the experience.  Sometimes the language is to crude to give an effective account.  I believe that many times the original message gets “lost in translation”.  Many religions have been founded and shaped on these crude interpretations of real experiences.

The source of the phenomenon is a different kind of discussion. While we might agree that the phenomenon happend in the brain (or perhaps merely recorded there) from the ‘mind’ we may disagree on whether the source was from subtle energies and/or spirit. We can only theorize and assume what the source of my phenomenon is.  And we can only prove the orgins to ourselves as we can not share PHYSICAL evidence of anything happening with electroencophalographs and other tools used to measure the activity of the brain. Those tools are too crude to tell us anything beyond the brain. Whatever we believe the hows and whys are, it is very important to realize the context to which these phenomenon occur. For example, if I was scitzoprenic and my dog was telling me to kill my landlord, that experience may be real to me, but the phenomenon occuring is dangerous and more than likely pathological.  The best way to make a clear judgment  on  any interpretation is to look at all (or as many as possible) sides: physical history, cultural background, stage and state of consciousness.  All are important factors in examining an inner experience.  AQAL is a perfect map for such an examination.
Language/Semantics/culture/religion and their contextual meaning shape not only altered states of consciousness but “normal” states as well. As in a dream, we construct the meaning as well as the happenings of the experience consciously, subconsciously and/or unconsciously.

I suspect that our perspective is completely relative to our constantly shifting meaning. Ego, states of consciousness, and stages of conscious experiences do have some level of reality and so they do deserve our attetion and management but the only *absolute is Being, Here, NOW. All else is real ONLY relative to something else. The “suchness” of the moment is really all there is.

*The only absolute is being, here now (nowness, the suchness of this single moment – or perhaps the only absolute is NO-absolute or as Wilber says the combination of Form & Emptiness – nondual).

“I am an empirical spiritualist because the only way one can know truth is by experience. Observing with our eyes, sensing with our intuition, feeling with our emotions: these are all necessary parts of discerning truth. We must trust them. That is how God communicates with us, by providing emotional, visual and intuitive information qued to the empirical experiences of nature.” — Center for Unhindered Living

This is similar to how I feel about how to attain “truth”.  Some would immediately discount things like “out of body experiences” and even lucid dreams as having little or no value and then call themselves “scientists”.  A real scientist looks for proof prior to making hasty assumptions about what is and is not probable/possible. 

On the other hand, I don’t instantly believe or agree with everything I hear preached in the pulpit  or claimed in books.  I like to experience things for myself (if possible) prior to making an assumption.

Jesus, Buddha and other enlightened beings actually had direct contact and experience.  Their teachings have been taken and interpreted by the masses and the results have been social stability at best and subversive population and resource control and manipulation at worse.

The problem with Direct Experience: Interpretation 

Because interpretation plays such a huge part in how we use what we know, I don’t believe that even direct experience is a “cure all” for the current human condition.  Anyone can have a phenomenological experience, and their interpretation of that experience will be based on their current psychological-sociological (and unfortunately pathological) stage. 

How a person interprets those experiences can be seen in the Wilber-Combs Lattice:

The lattice shows the spiritual/religious belief level (or type of belief) a person can have ranging from Archaic to Integral (this is taken from James Fowler’s research on stages of faith).  The top of the W-C Lattice shows the type of phenomenological experience a person can have.

A person at an Archaic level can have a phenomenological experience (i.e. feel a holy presence, feel one with all things ect), however their interpretation of the experience will be much difference than someone at say and Integral level.  A person on the lower end of the W-C Lattice might come away from an experience of oneness and suddenly think that they are a Messiah or even God. 

So a person such as Vernon Wayne Howell (a.k.a David Koresh), may have indeed had visions, however the interpretation is determined by the psychological make up of the individual.  Vernon’s beliefs and vision (an alleged phenomenological experience he had while on a trip to Israel) guided him to take control of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, break a bunch of federal laws and get subsequently killed by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) when the Branch Davidian compound was raided. 

*There are many variables that can be considered which led up to the terrible tragedy that took the lives of 70+ victims (including children), and I won’t disrespect these people by claiming that faith and religion had everything to do with their deaths.  For one, there were alot of mistakes made by the U.S. government.

From a different Perspective

When ever we have experiences it is imperative that we keep them in context.  Merely keeping all phenomenological experiences in perspective (this doesn’t at all mean ignoring them or devaluing them) we can have the wisdom on how to act.  Having perspective means acknowledging biases, assumptions and psychological/physical make up that come from our social upbringing and genetics.  Unfortunately, this is a big hurdle for many religious traditions as they claim exclusive rights to all truth and perspectives leaving no room for evaluation and questions. 

Pathological disorders and phenomenological experiences are a whole different ball game.  The truly ignorant would put both in the same category (very 18th century “lets lobotomize and shock everyone until they think like us” kind of dogma).

Ken Wilber is America’s (and perhaps the worlds) greatest philosopher.  His is perhaps the most important vision in the world as he has dedicated his life to an integral paradigm that allows religion and science to co-exist not only in theory but in practice.

Ken Wilber is a recepticle delivering one the most important messages that humanity has ever needed.  I am so happy this man is here with us.

When you look at the dilema that both heartless flat Western science and mindless world religions have gotten humanity in, it is very clear something needs to be done.

Regardless of how you feel about either science or religion it is fair to say that most humans rely heavily on one and/or the other.  They have been at each others throats for centuries now.  Religion one the first round by trying (unsucessfully) to abort science before it could fully develop, get out of the womb and walk on its own.  Science is now a big mean teenager and is beating the TAR out of is old prudist relative, religion.

Some Atheist believe (no pun intended) that religion is pure superstitious ignorance that is the primary cause of all human suffering.  Prominent scientists such as biologist Richard Dawkins are very outspoken against religion:

“This final scientific enlightenment will deal an overdue death blow to religion and other juvenile superstitions.” guardian uk

With events like the destruction of the World Trade Center and other suicide bombings around the world being inspired by religious fundamentalist, people like Richard Dawkins are being heard; though, the acts of a few fundamentalist should not at all reflect all religious people in every part of the globe as the new breed of Atheist seems to be saying.

In some cases I agree with their arguement.  Humans have used religions to do bad things.  However, the same can definitely be said about science.  Both are used to justify and implement the unjustifiable, but I guess that is entirely dependent on your perspective of “just”.

Regardless of the agressive stance of the new athiests, the fact remains that religion remains the primary method of human development all over the world.  And in that way it is still necessary.  I don’t believe that the “God” of religions (dogma & belief) can be replaced with the ”God” of science (empirical evidence & rationality). 

I don’t believe either of their Gods can explain everything.  And they definitely can not acurately perceive everything because their perspective is most of the time completely biased about EVERYTHING. 

Which brings me back to Ken Wilber and his Integral team.  The integral paradigm that they are introducing includes all the strengths of religion and science and none of the weaknesses.  Whether you are an atheist or a tele-evangalist you should be able to appreciate the importance of allowing people the freedom to be peacefully stupid in one big stupid family.

Ken.. thank you for living another day.  I love you (but not in a homosexual way.. although I think that you have a great ass ;). 

“… Ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency.  At the end of the day, its our actions, not our beliefs, that define who we are and what we are.”

When religion and dogma replace God the meaning begins to decay (as Bauldrillard talks about in his book, Simulacra & Simulation.