The Unnecessary Theology or is Religion Obsolete? A Short Reflection

Ritual behavior is as old as human societies. It is intrinsic to the primal human psyche and served as a social basis of tribal communities. Early shamanism and tribal spirituality gradually evolved through the ages into religion, as every other generation expanded and built upon the spiritual beliefs of their ancestors. It is uncertain as to when religious influence was utilized as a tool for social control, but probably that has been done ever since shamanic times, since the shaman had a very special role in tribal societies and he or she was considered an important authority. And with authority comes influence and power. And with power too often comes abuse, especially later on and into the Medieval of Europe (and even more so today, though the sources are shifting from religious authorities to corporative and political, but that's another subject to discuss). 

Religion is quite a peculiar phenomenon of human mind and in particular of this domain of it, that we know as Psyche. Symbolism is one of the earliest representations of spiritual believes, along with rituals. For some unclear reasons as of yet, psychologically humans need ritualistic assertion and reconciliation of their whatever deeds. Evolution of symbolism and religious thought are vast topics, hard to cover in brief. Actually, in brief one can give only the conclusions. That is, religion in all of its forms, had, historically, a major role in social governance and pharaohs, emperors and kings alike were attributed divine rights given to them from the God entity itself, so that to ensure public acceptance and so on pragmatic reasons. On the other hand, religion has a very important psychological function in giving hope and meaning to those unfortunate masses that weren't born with kingship rights, because those downthrotten masses needed all the hope for justice they could get, even though illusionary, since priests and popes alike always have been on the side of the ruling parties with the function of public speakers to tame the peasant crowds. Leaving satire aside, religion and religious esoterism are very interesting to study all in respect to psychology and the workings of  the unconsciousness. For the serious explorer a few major points are established and these are as follows: 

• If we consider the Universe as a representation of a God entity, then it would be inconsistent to ascribe particular religious preferences to it. That is, put archaically, God does not have a religion. 
• All the evil in this world comes from the irresponsible, selfish and primitive actions of humans. Natural disasters, for instance, cannot be described as evil, because they are part of Earth's climatic and geologic life, thus they are as necessary as good weather. If humans ascribe their own evilness to outside forces, this is only their own inability to take responsibility and self-control, unless they have mental disabilities in the psychiatric sense. 
• There is no need for special places of worship in order to attain personal insight nor does continuous, entranced pray bring deeper awareness. These are achieved by mental effort of thinking, not by memorizing and repeating old verses. 
• Ignorance is not a bliss, it is a concept for control over the masses still very much in use today.

In short, religion has served its role and can no longer positively serve as a unifying agent, but on the contrary, religion is a major segregator in our contemporary globalized society. And humanity better realize this sooner and take the next step in our mental advancement. So, yes, religion is obsolete and theology is a thing of our more primitive past and understanding. 

Religion must be interpreted through the aspects of psychology. This is the only way to realize its meaning and understand its essense. Nevertheless the seriousness of this pressing topic, let's conclude this article with a sense of humor:

• God

The Outer Journey of a Wandering Soul

In this twisted world with so much delusion, propaganda and adjusted information a person ends up wondering in confusion what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is not. Science and the philosophies are so much simpler in this regard, so much purer and easier to comprehend than politics, for instance.

Never before have I paid attention to the so called conspiracy theories, nor economics, nor politics. Those things didn’t really interested me, I saw them as trivial, banal and so much lacking of inspiration. I was interested in science, philosophy, psychology, religion and the esoteric. I remember about ten years ago reading in a book on Kabbalah by Papius about a magic head, just head without a body, that was able to speak and that gave answers to any question that its owner asked. A talking head with infinite wisdom that held the answers to everything. Wow. I remember I was so impressed by this supposedly existent magical source of knowledge, that I dreamed of owning such a head, I thought I would do nothing else but ask it questions until there are no questions left without an answer. On another occasion later on, doing a sacred incantation guided by another book, The Keys of Solomon, I made a wish to an all powerful dark angel demanding that “I want to know everything. I want wisdom and knowledge of it all.” I was 17 or so, alone in my room, sitting in a circle of salt surrounded by hand-drawn magic squares and symbols in front of the mirror. I saw nothing in it but my own image that almost shapeshifted the longer I starred at it. No eternal wisdom struck me at that time and I finished the ritual rather disappointed.

Back then I still didn’t knew that knowledge and wisdom are the result of much effort and persistence in learning and that those weren’t something that just come out of nowhere as a divine revelation neither are something that necessarily come with age. One doesn’t necessarily get wiser the older one gets if one doesn’t puts conscious effort in thinking. Even learning alone is not enough, one has to think, to contemplate and comprehend, to analyze and synthesize.

I began reading a lot, books and in the almighty Internet, watching documentaries was also something I used to do a lot, I’ve had periods doing just that all days long. Yes, you can call me a retard in a way I guess. I mean, I was 17 when I just discovered the riches of learning. But it was rather a rediscovery. I’ve been an inquisitive child ever since I learned to speak and an excellent student up until the fifth grade. But then in my early teenagehood I fell under the influence of bad company in bad social times. Between the ages of about 10 and 16 I used to drink, a few beers were all that I needed and then later the bad company I hooked up with introduced me to hard drugs, so I got addicted. Crazy huh, all this at such a tender age. A child. I was escaping family turbulences and I guess I needed some sort of everyday meaning that the drugs just provided. Anyway, the dark ages of my youth were ended for good at the age of 16, when my father finally took some parental responsibilities, beat me up seriously and locked me up at home for over a month. That was his way of dealing with family issues. We changed neighborhoods too and this was the beginning of my personal Renaissance. He left us after a few years and this was the end of the beginning of my new life without oppression and domestic tension.

And so my conscious quest for knowledge and wisdom began. I was mesmerized by the profound mysteries of the esoteric teachings and religions. Back on track in search of God after I got disillusioned about Her, never answering my prayers when I was 10 about peace and love between mother and father. By that time (after my dark ages) I already had come to the conclusion that there was something else guiding human behavior and relationships, so I got interested in psychology. I read two thick books of Pier Dako and a high school book on psychology before stumbling upon a book of Carl G. Jung’s. Not sure which of his works was the first I read, I think it was EON, in line with my esoteric interests as well. I also marveled at the amazingness of the Universe and began reading cosmology articles in astronomy websites. Then biology, the mysteries of life and evolution. Little by little, piece by piece the big picture of everything assembled in my mind. Sufi poetry filled my heart with bliss and inspiration. Zen sayings brought food for contemplation, though that was further later on. I read the entire bible and the quran too, along with some idiotic literature like the bible of the mormon. Lastly came quantum physics to the reaches of my horizons, connecting the big pieces with the little ones, the vastness within with the vastness without. Gradually I began realizing things, some of those were so profound to me that I was stunned for days. By then I realized another thing, that I didn’t needed a talking head, I had a head of my own and that no answers come to you until you are ready for them and also that wisdom takes time, apart from effort.

The big picture assembled from the beginning to the end, from the composition of atoms to the fusion of galaxies, from carbon to single celled organisms and following the logical branching and workings of evolution up to Homo Sapiens. Everything was getting clearer and clearer the more I learned and the more I contemplated. The old wisdom was finding its peculiar correlations with modern scientific ideas and observations on the cosmos. Then one day I thought, that the nature of black holes or Singularity was closest to that supreme God entity that esoteric teachings envisioned. Then I noticed the patterns in evolution and that there was no beauty in nature, but only pragmatic behavior, every element in it had a purpose and was directly related to another element with which it interacts. Every single design detail has a purpose that is directly influenced by the environment to which the organism is adapted. The different levels of evolution, some are really fast paced and other take tens of hundreds of years.

One of the most altering realizations I’ve had was about religion and that it is a product of human mind and the collective need of social order. Religion is quite a complex phenomenon of human society indeed and it is composed of many different levels. The most superficial are those related to framing society in order to create social order, which was essential in the development of civilizations and the most profound levels spring deep from the hidden layers of the human psyche. Human psychology is a very intricate and complex mental structure too with its most basic frame rooted in our mammalian instincts. That is why the God figures throughout the Evolution of Religious Thought always bear strong parental qualities. I realized that the religious concept of God is a projected construct that served a major balancing role for the human psyche and that without it humans may have as well gone mad. Not that they are not behaving quite insanely with it, fighting and killing each other off because “Your god is not my god”. So ridiculous, if only people could realize it and go through this realization without going mad, since the psyche is such a fragile structure, so easily destabilized and illusions can prove so hard to let go of. There are so many humans in this world whose sole meaning in their lives are their religious beliefs. So sad, who knows how long this will go on. Of course, the lack of a religious God-figure in this Universe does not by any means make it a cold and pointless space. Not at all. There are levels of truth and levels of reality. The Universe, it seems, is an amazing quantum structure of energy that behaves as a system, an organism even that we are all part of.

It was tough to realize that the grown ups aren’t really grown up in their minds. The realization that mostly just the bodies of people aged, but their minds remained on more or less basic levels of knowledge and understanding without ever going beyond the dogma and paradigm discouraged me greatly. Such a tough coming to awareness. The more I realized the more lonely I began to feel, seeing that this uncommon knowledge was not in the possession of many, none of my peers. I’ve always wanted to have a teacher, as described in the esoteric books, I never met one anyway. But then I realized that the Universe itself has become my teacher and this became my personal “religion” if you will. The Universe is always around and one is always in her embrace, like a womb that cares for you, even if at times somewhat indifferently. But that again, most of the times things do flow in ways that correlate, fit in my attitude, my mindset, my path, Synchronicity is something I experience a lot, not to mention the strange telepathic-providence instances that I’ve been through on many occasions that still remain rather inexplicable and beyond willful control. Though quantum physics does shed some light on these, still a lot to learn, a lot of expanses beyond the horizon to be revealed. Not long ago I understood what they meant by “Wisdom is a heavy burden”. It is. Though, I can bear it and much, way much more.

So there, the short story of my life. Not as short as I intended it I must say. Blog posts are meant to be somewhat shorter, well, it is not Twitter either, lol. But just those words, they are like a river, pouring on and on and on into an ocean. At some point you find yourself completely surrounded by its waters, lost sight of the land. The land is here, though, very close, just beyond the next sentence. I think humanity is on the verge of something, a great potential that can bring something that has never been before.

When Man Created God. Genesis of Religious Thought and the Spiritual Need [part 1]

"The experience of being the knowing subject . . is only one half of the process of knowledge. The other half is the experience of being the known object.”
E.Edinger

To know yourself. This shrouded in mysticism ancient concept brings a sense of esoteric mystery in modern thought. But the human soul has been an object of exploration and contemplation since tens of thousands of years ago. It has been the tool for spiritual insight of the first shamans of ancient tribal communities, who felt there is more to themselves than can be seen. Self-knowledge was born back then, when people for the first time began to interprete their dreams and the symbolism that sprang out of the depths of their minds. When people began to search for the source of their thoughts that appear in the mind as if having a life of their own. The source of their emotions to which they were subordinate.
Since then the great endeavor in search of answers that human though embarked on gradually gave birth to all the legends, philosophies and religions we have today.

Spirituality is a fundamental and intrinsic quality of Homo Sapiens. Our ancient predecessors felt their intangible connectedness to those invisible aspects of nature, to this hidden life-giving Source that was behind everything. And thus ritual was born, out of the need to communicate with the intangible that was later recognized as God.

The perception of the mystic, hidden, spiritual and this intimate connectivity of all that is visible with something beyond ordinary senses do not spring from anywhere else, but the human soul. Satori, enlightment and divine insight do not come from anywhere outside, but take place in the soul. All this is important to mention, because worldwide there is this prevailing age-old delusion that the Divine is situated somewhere outside ourselves, what is more, somewhere far away and far above up in the unreachable heavens. We are used to perceive God as a human-like figure with human emotions who sits authoritatively on a throne in the skies forever watching the crawling little specs below, may be eating chips while following up the developing intrigues, war conflicts and newest technological brake-throughs.
Of course, our whole view of the world from a religious perspective is old and inconsistent with modern humanity and this is why there is so much tension between peoples and religions. We need a new, wider, deeper and more encompassing view and understanding of God, the Universe and our place in it, a view that will suit our mental potential and capacity as intelligent, civilized beings. We do not live in the middle ages anymore, despite that the new pope seems to have been living under a rock.

And there is only one way to achieve the next level in our social advancement as one humanity – by realizing and understanding ourselves deeper and better. The change must begin in the mind of the individual, the transformation from the primitive levels to higher levels of self-awareness and realization on the whole.
Which returns us to the ancient notion of knowing yourself.

To know yourself is the process of self-realization, self-contemplation and self-improvement. It is the active consciousness that is aware of its mechanisms, that observes itself, takes notes of its behavior and reactions, understands and realizes the psychological motifs of others as well as those in itself. Active consciousness that operates on a higher level than the average awareness we have as a social standard today.
The science of contemporary psychology, as though still in its infancy, has organized and synthesized all the empirical knowledge we have thus far about the mechanisms and structure of human psyche into an elegant and comprehensive system. Psychology is the modern analogue to the ancient practice of knowing yourself.
People from the past had always perceived this inmost, invisible darkness that has control over them and filled them with fearfulness. This darkness is the very nature of the predominant part of our psyche – the unconsciousness, the contents and mechanisms of which are unseen and unknown to our regular “I” consciousness that is by default our self-perception and all this that we call “Me”. When you say “I” you address this limited perimeter of awareness that floats “on top” of the depths of your complete Self.

So, what exactly is this unreachable unconsciousness? And if our wishes, moods, affections and behavior are predominantly set to motion by psychological motifs that we are not aware of, then how can we realize all these so that we expand the limits of our minds?

The unconsciousness contains all the mechanisms that drive us in life, its roots begin from our DNA, where the fundamental instincts are encoded (Self-preservation and Reproduction instincts that we share with all other life on this planet, as well as many other forms of behavior which we will discuss at another lecture). The structure of our psyche is in layers and as we pointed out the deepest layer begins in our DNA that contains all the information from the very beginning of life on Earth. We have much to understand about this and much to learn. This is what the old Sanscrit esoterics call “Akasha”, the Informational pool of Earth or what Carl G.Jung describes as the Collective Unconscious, the source of primal symbolism. In brief. Then comes the personal level of the unconscious where all those emotional affections, events, twists and turns that shaped our personality throughout our lives are contained. In the universe energy is never lost, information is energy, memories are information. From the very moment when your brain is complete in the womb you start the record button and it never stops until your death. The psyche records your life completely, even though consciously you forget many things and remember just a few of all.
Having described these very basics of the psyche you may argue that if your psychology is rooted in your DNA then personality is predetermined genetically. The answer is a firm No. Firstly, you cannot dismiss the influence over ones personality the family setting has. The influence that the setting where you grow up has on your personality is tremendous and is the main shape-giver of what you are as a person and character. Then when the child is older it is greatly influenced by its peers, the “spirit of the era” in terms of the most fashionable stereotypes, mind frames and traditions that prevail in the society it lives in. And until it is adolescent and able to think and analyze on its own, this child` psyche is already fully formed and in most cases it remains in this shape with very little change throughout its life. That is why how you rear up the child is of utmost importance about what it is going to be when it grows up.
Of course, this is the case for most people who never embark on the journey of self-realization, observation and improvement. Because whatever your psychological start in life, when you grow up you have the ability to consciously reshape yourself, rebuild your personality and radically better yourself as a self-aware individual.
Considering the more or less uniqueness of every individual psyche, the process of self-improvement thus cannot have one universal formula that will work for all. However, there are certain key points that are collectively applicable to all and a must in order for you to achieve results, these are as follows: to put yourself at the place of the object of observation, to ask questions about yourself to yourself and search for the reasons behind your behavior, character, personality traits, moods, affections and reactions; honesty and sincerity with yourself. Perseverance and persistence in your will to achieve results and attain insight.

The first steps are the hardest. For me, after a decade of active mentality and self-analyzes I have achieved remarkable results that are already visible for everyone who knew me since back then when I first began. And even, I can say that I truly put my will into this some five years ago when I overcame my worst teenage years. So, in this period of five years I improved my character and relationships greatly, attained amazing insights about the nature of human mind, soul, society, religions, God… during the last two years I`ve increased my IQ with 30 points and my understanding about myself and the world is increasingly deepening and widening. Also, I notice an acceleration in the rate of sudden realizations and profound insights. A truly remarkable journey that sadly very few people undertake.

In the beginning it is hard, confusing and seemingly futile. The hardest part is being honest with yourself. It is very hard to admit to yourself that you were wrong, that you reacted inadequately, that the blame is in yourself and to acknowledge your negative personality traits. But if you persist, the results gradually come and in time you expand your awareness and the process of self-analyzes becomes a state of your mind. Your ability to communicate with others improves as well as all of your relationships. And problematic relationships are a plague for modern societies, resulting in all those ridiculous intrigues, constant fights, brake-ups and divorces.
Just imagine if everyone consciously betters him/herself and heightens his and her awareness. Humanity will radically transform into something unforeseen by grim science fiction views of the future where the same people fight with better guns.

Let us turn our attention now towards the introductionary quotation of E.Edinger and analyze that, which it describes.
In order for any knowledge to exist two fundamental factors must be present – observing subject and object of observation. When the scientist examines the atom, he or she is the observing subject, while the atom is the object of observation. When we explore the world we live in, the world is the object of observation and we are the observing subject.
During the predominant part of their life, the average person is mostly in the role of the observing subject, experiencing the world with our senses that connects us to reality outside and our consciousness with gaze fixed on the scene from without. It happens more or less to occasionally reflect on oneself, but so rarely this self-contemplation is persistent and consistent enough so to lead the personality to realization and awareness, to improvement, unfoldment and perfection.
In the process of self-knowledge and self-awareness, you put yourself at the place of the observable object, while the observing subject is you again. This is the consciousness that is aware of and observes itself. And in this process of self-observation your inmost universe becomes alive and fills up with forms, emotions and symbols that were previously unseen by your minds` eye.
Self-knowledge, as the highest aim and spiritual meaning to human life has been a central part in all philosophical and esoteric teachings since the most ancient of times.
Yet, our psyche remains largely unexplored and poorly understood to this day. The average levels of self-awareness being so low worldwide and humans still primarily driven by their most basic instincts. Mostly incapable of self-control, slaves to destiny, relying on the main stream to guide their thoughts, behavior and life. Still living by the laws of the herd and mental passivity.

[continues..]

Questions, thoughts and reflections

"... I feel endless torment deep in my inmost self which grasps my soul like a cold gust of frost that engulfs my heart when I see all the sorrow, all the pain, all the tears, all the hatred, all the violence, all endless conflicts that engulf our world like the frost engulfing my heart. It burns of sorrow and melts the ice off of it, and bloody tears leak through my being, soaking my mind.."
Ateviel, October 28, 2006

Why people learn to apologize at an early age, instead of learning not to behave in a way that will require an apology?
Why when we meet something different our first reaction is aggression?
And why when our beliefs are questioned, we always assume defensive positions, without even taking the time to think about what is being said?

Why we overuse the words, so they loose their emotional meaning for us? For instance, we use "love" for just about everything we like and find agreeable - "I love chocolate", "I love pink", "I love this movie" and then we look at the people we share emotional affection with and say to them with the same "passion" that we love them too (almost as much as beer).

As for the opposite emotion - "hate" - things are the same. Just that I want to ask, why do we need to use this word at all? Why do we have to hate?!

Why we need religion to believe in God?
Does God need religion in order to exist?
If we do not think about the Universe, does it vanish?
Why we act first and then think about the consequencies?
Why there is so much discontent, unhappiness and conflicts in the world?
Why the human mind is constructed in a way, so that it prefers ignorance and inactivity rather than expantion of its conscious horizons?!
Why we don`t pay attention to the reasons behind our reactions and behavior?
Why we are used to not think too much and why it is so hard for the ego to overcome itself?
Why do we prefer to be instinctive, and unaware?
And why we prefer someone else to think for us?
Why people behave aggressively and become racists when meeting with different peoples?
And why we need to fill our lives with intrigues, lies, fights, insincerity and problematic relationships?
Why do we always search for the blame only in others and never in ourselves?

And why we read a question and forget about it at the moment we finish reading the sentence, instead of reflect on it and search for the answer and then imply it in our daily lives?

Know yourself is the answer key. You know, in my life so far I came to the conclusion that the ancient proverbs are indeed true. You do get to know other people and understand them much better when you understand yourself. When you understand the reasons behind your reactions, moods, affections and characterological traits.

In the upcoming series of lectures we will search and discuss the answers to all those questions and more that will raise in the process. I wish to share some poetry with you. The first is written in the old Persian Sufi style and the second is a spontaneous product of rushing emotions written in the summer of 2004 and it is an appeal to all those who are love-sick or brokenhearted.

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Look outside and see the morning glory blooming under the inspiring rays of the morning sun.
It`s light spreading across the blue sky, touching the clouds with mild pink and purple smile.
Hear the song of the birds, praising life and the air we breathe.
See the playful dance of the wind with the leaves of the lush trees - green, red, yellow and orange, like the rainbow in the summer sky.
Feel the tranquil rush of the river down the mountain hills, reaching towards the ocean.
Become one with the sounds of the Universe preaching a perfect unity of the whole of Creation.
Each atom resonates with the beat of your heart. Submerge into yourself, dissolve in yourself, fuse with yourself.
The whole Universe is listening to your song, don`t stop dancing, become One.
Fly with the light across every corner of the cosmos, reach each molecule with your thought.
Fire burns within your soul of water, filled with fresh air from the soft Earth.
Open your eyes and see the beauty all around, that fills your being and makes it shine as the brightest star!

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What is Love?
It is the fire within our souls!
What is Hate?
It is the fire within our souls!
What is the difference between Love and Hate?
The difference is that one is constructive and the other - destructive.
But to destroy, you must first create.
Don`t destroy what you have created!
Don`t hate what you have once loved.

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There are two criteria for the utter happiness - a sense of meaning and inspiration!
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This girl is not me, it is a photo I stumbled upon searching for visual material on a specific topic,
but her eyes got straight into my heart - as if they speak to you with the language of the soul, expressing thousands of words, as if you can peer into her young soul. Those innocent eyes of a child hiding much pain, yet a subtle smile is stretching for the photo, after all the smile is an international language that all people understand.