And Man Created God in His Image and Likeness

Human psychology is one of the most baffling, perplexing, amazing and least explored, even less understood realm of the whole of Creation. It is the source of all art, mystery, myth, symbolism, ritual and everything divine. Indeed, human psyche gave rise to such profound mysteries that have proven to be utterly and completely incomprehensible to this other level of human mind - the more approachable and transparent – intellect or rationale. Human beings today, generally, divide themselves in believers and non-believers. The believers hold dear the archaic dogmas of the past and zealously believe, while the non-believers disregard all the religious non-sense and refuse to believe any more. All of them, believers and non-believers alike, collectively don’t understand, nor do they realize.

They don’t understand, because they look at it from the wrong perspective, which, of course, provides no meaningful view. Leaving believers aside, since they don’t even try to understand, the non-believers, likewise, simply disregard, without really trying to understand either. And to understand, one has to look at religion, myth and symbolism through the aspects of human psychology. To enliven oneself in the minds of those ancient humans and see the way they saw the world, the way they came to interpret it, the way psychology works in all the various manifestation of its intrinsic mechanisms, many of which stem from our instincts, embedded in our behavioral, as well as perceptional frames. Also, there are the practical, social layers of religion that were intentionally built-in, through history, so to provide a moral frame for society, as well as a structural one. If one learns to think in this way and analyzes religion in these respects, gradually, revelation enlightens one’s mind and leaves them in awe in front of the simplicity of the profound. The topic is quite voluminous and quite intriguing too, I am discussing a good deal of it in my book, for me some of these conclusions are truly staggering for a first-time realization, considering that so millions and billions of people don’t really realize it in this way, believers or atheists alike. Later the stunned-effect settles down and ferments into wisdom. Pieces of realization that build up and expand the horizons of awareness and consciousness, as much as burdened with “new age” blink those terms may be, I am using them for what they actually designate. The title of this post says a lot, but there is even more behind it. You see, it is not a matter of whether “God exists or does not exist”, it is a matter of, I’m not really sure how to express it, a matter of psychological adultness, because a great deal of the core motifs of major religions is the Parent element, and not only in religions alive today, but also in those that were forgotten.

On the most superficial level, religion is a form of government that, as all primitive forms of governments, puts “ordinary” people in the position of obedience (thus exploitation) without the right to question or disprove and with no option not to follow, otherwise will be outcast from society. In the past, religion served well as a social glue, since people were quite ignorant and uneducated anyway. Today, it mostly serves as a social segregator and a justification for hatred and discrimination. My God is not your God, your God is not My god, The gods are not your God and my God is your god, but not the God of your Dog. And so on outrageous arguments going on and on, forever. Until, people finally begin to realize. This may never happen, it may happen after thousands of years more, it may happen in a few centuries or in a few decades. Who knows what the unfolded, inexistent future holds in its state of infinite quantum potential.

Anyway, another year, another row of profitable religious celebrations filling the medium with much exaggeration and collective emotion. Now is Hajj time. Muslims from all over the world gear up for this year’s great Mecca stampede, to see the Space Rock, round it a few times in a cleansing ritual of purification from all the sins that have accumulated during the year, throw some earthly stone matter at a Devil’s dummy and ride a new, state of the art and technology Mecca train. Ah, it is the most mysterious thing when religion and technology join hands in unison. Such an awe. Stumbled upon a news article about it earlier today and was very amused by the colorful comments different readers had left below it. About the Hajj and the Mecca train. One reader says:

“Interesting that the train for religious pilgrims was made in an officially atheistic country!!”

Indeed, considering that women may have worked on it too, it is a great sin for hard-liner Muslim men to touch a non-family woman, you know, even indirectly, especially during the Hajj. Allah will condemn them to burn in hell, those disgusting and perverse women touchers. Another reader comments:

“No, Saudi have no army, they pay US to fight their war, and you will to keep oil following, but why not just raise oil prices ans stick it to the American people, George W. Bush in his book the Decision.”

I’m not sure to which comment this not quite coherent reply responds to, but it seemed interesting. Now I saw that there are some collapsed comments, you have to press the little plus sign to see them.

“Let them permit non-Muslims into Mecca and Medina. Let Saudi Arabia permit building of churches and other religion based prayer places just as we permit theirs! One way street is not acceptable for long!”

“What's the over/under on how soon some Muslim militant will blow up this train? I'd say one week.”

“No, it will be a Christian militant. They are real dangerous and just as plentiful as the Muslim variety. Haven't you heard?”

“And in the US, depression medication advertisements on the rise, in a recession many feel hopeless in finding a job and drug companies want to profit on that. They want a train, they get it. Here’s always a fist fight between the Rep and Democrats, tell he frustrated nation, I know better, but they are all for their self interest and those who paid for their campain”

This one is more like a monologue complaint out of desperation, completely out of topic and out of corporate news channels and popular talk shows as well. We feel sincere solidarity with you, frustrated nation! We all are. Everything is wrong in this world, everywhere. We are in the wrong world, I tell you! Lol, back to the comments.

“Only the men get to ride inside.. the women are strapped to the top like luggage.. so as not to offend the morality police....”

Another reader replies to the above comment:

“Wow, Ignorence is a disease with an optional cure. You need to get cured my dear.”

And a reply to the reply from yet another reader follows:

“Sweeping the realities and problems under stinking carpets are another kind of disease requiring treatment!!”

The debate continues on furiously:

“Just because there are so many Muslims in the world means that there are a lot more ignorant people in the world!!!!”

“That is true for all religions !”

“only stupid people believe in any thing as stupid as religion.”

What did I told ya. They’re all stupid.

“You people do know that all there doing is Worshiping a Asteroid.right?”

“With all of them facing each other's butts, they could be worshipping a hemorrhoid!”

“How is this any more strange than Christians making pilgrimages to various churches built to house the preserved remains of body parts of long dead saints?”

“Another instance of China beating the U.S. in competition for relatively new technology.”

“Yeah, all the U.S. can do is give them the most technologically advanced weaponry on the planet. We suck.”

“Non-Muslims are not permitted even in roads leave alone to the "holy" place!”

Aah, now isn’t this such a dreadful discrimination. Non-muslims must ride on camels through the desert, if they don’t have an off-road vehicle.

“Why don't they just take a flying carpet ?”

Now that’s the solution!

“R.B. continue with that belief at the risk of your enternal soul. There is only one was to true salvation and eternal life; Maximus speaks the truth. Just curious. what is your "religion" anyway?”

Yeah, the usual question does the job in friend-making and foe-telling. Here is the link to the article with all the comments.

Questionnaire:

Basic questions.

What is your race: Homo Sapiens

Where are you from: Earth

What is your religion: God doesn’t have religious preferences, don’t be ridiculous, only humans do! LoL

End

P.S. It is interesting to note, in regard to the alleged healing properties of religious artifacts, usually bodily remains of death saints or icons, that the "miracle" effect does occur. However, it is not the bones themselves that create it, but the channeled collective believe that boosts and amplifies the individual self-suggestion. This is the same as the Placebo effect. The mind-power of the believer heals the body through the power of suggestion. It is quite an interesting effect, very little explored and acknowledged by contemporary science. Probably because pharmaceutical industries doesn't want people to heal themselves, 'cause they'll be out of business.

These potentials of the mind are very real, as well as telepathy-related and similar shrouded in mystery abilities of the mind. It is just that the way these things work and occur is different than what the movie and entertainment industry had come to present them as. For instance, when you experience "telepathy" you don't actuallty read a mind like a text book, but rather you tune into certain intuitivie suggestions pointing to certain aspects, mindsets, tendencies related to a certain person, usually a person that you know. Something related to frequencies again, that we don't really understand yet.


Finally, back to speaking of poorly understood religion and religious fanaticism, here is an interesting video to see:

Title: Jesus Camp (2006)




Uhum, religion can be quite a disturbing ideology. Just as any rationality-deprived ideology. This is another problem in our postmodern world that needs to be properly addressed and resolved in the future. Yeah, let's just fix it then. Look who's talking of fasting (clip above).

Why Has The Multicultural Model Failed (In Western Societies)

Here is a very interesting recent issue voiced in Europe’s politosphere that caught my attention and today I decided to write on it, because it is a rather rare event to hear rationality speaking openly, especially from current political leaders (who all try to adjust their speeches to the agreed-on opinions and generally refrain from expressing views that differ from the popular ones, because of lobbyist-attacks, PR and censorship concerns). 

A few days ago, the German chancellor Angela Merkel finally gathered courage to state that “The multicultural model has utterly failed” (She looked very anxious on different social occasions on TV, there was this concert for an official event, a week or so ago, and she was sitting there uncomfortably on her chair with the audience, her body language conveying inner unsettlement).

I’ve been thinking on the cultural integration issue in Europe since some time now and I was honestly perplexed as to why it was not addressed rationally, but only defended by privately-funded lobbyist organizations, who only defended their payrolls and address the unintegrated minorities’ issue with poor and one-sided arguments. I guess politicians were too busy to argue with those lobbyists, many of which come directly from the European Council, arrogantly flashing sanctions threats. 

So, let’s begin our rational interpretation of the Social Integration concept by drafting a definition of it. To integrate in a society means to adopt the host societies’ laws, conducts, learn the official language, become a part of the work force, pay your bills and taxes. To integrate into a society basically means to adopt its culture, apart from becoming a part of its social system (leisuring around on undeserved social benefits doesn’t count).  

Now, let’s tackle those elusive principles of Democracy concerning human rights and freedoms. Europe, these days, considers itself a world leader in Democratic human rights and tolerance. You could come in any EU country and settle in, find a job, raise a family. So long as people are respecting each other and everyone adheres to the given social standards in education and culture, all is basically good. You have the freedom to practice your religion and your cultural traditions alongside, as long as those traditions, in particular, does not seriously collide with the higher human rights principles in place at the culture you wish to integrate in. For instance, it is quite conceivable that if you live in any European country and practice traditional under-age or forceful marriages, you will be opposed by the society, which holds the values of Democratic human rights and freedoms. 

Thus, we come to a controversy. On the one hand, the Democratic principles hold that people have the rights to practice their alien traditions and religious beliefs and on the other hand, at some point those same Democratic principles of higher understanding for the individual’s rights and freedom are demanded to be waived, because they clash with the traditions and religious beliefs of immigrants. 

I have long realized that other cultures, in particular Muslim ones, blatantly exploit western societies’ Democratic tolerance values and are consistently trying to establish a sort of sub-societies that refuse to follow western values, laws and conducts, demanding that they live by their own laws, customs and paradigms. Alright then, considering that this trend of sub-societies based on religious views is highly unhealthy for the harmony of the entire social unit that is being defragmented in this way, I wonder then why are those people living in western societies at all? If they want to live by their own laws and traditions, refusing to integrate, then why don’t they just go back to their home countries and live there in peace the way they want? So here is the cynicism. They want the social well being and convenience of western societies, that is why they persistently stay. They want to live in western societies, but in the same time don't want to fit into its cultural standards. This creates a controversy and social strain.

I like semithic people, their emotionality and exotic culture, but I don’t like the cynicism in Islam and its orthodox dogma that makes people retarded. And indeed, if western societies continue to lower their social standards and humanity values in order to suit the demands of less culturally advanced social groups, then our societies are at a real risk of downgrading in a cultural sense. 

You cannot call a society that treats women with lesser rights then men “advanced”.
Muslim women claim they veil themselves by their own choice, but this is of course a lie out of no choice. They simply cannot express any other opinion than this, otherwise they will suffer consequences in their sub-societies, sometimes even very serious ones. 

Yes, there are the Indian women, dressing traditionally as well, one might argue. The problem is that Indians are not aggressive, as opposed to Muslims. And yes, I do realize that one is ethnic designation and the other religious, I do make a point with this too. It is way too long to discuss it here, but Islam hasn’t been always like this, in terms of its aggressiveness, but in recent history it had became like this, as a sort of collective psychological defense-mechanism reaction. Things are complicated, as usual when human issues are involved. 

A Theory of Everything seems inapplicable to humans, unlike the Universe. When you think about the Universe, the more you contemplate it, the simpler it seems, while when contemplating on human society, the more you think about it all, the more complex and entangled it gets. 

Actually, all religious dogma is retarding to modern culture. And not just Islam is cynical, Judaism too, Christianity and secular ideologies like politics as well. The real problem, in the bottom of it all, are people themselves and their  narrow interpretation of it all, short-sightedness, ignorance and selfishness. People's cultural primitivity, in short.

Of course, there is a solution that can disentangle this Gordian Knot. And that is when all the different peoples finally agree that religious dogma is archaic and has served its time. When people agree on a new, more advanced and rational interpretation of the historic function of religion, the source of its symbolism and myth. When we all adopt a new, more advanced understanding of ourselves, of this Universe and this reality we all live in. 

However, such a collective realization requires mental effort, a release from willful ignorance, certain levels of intelligence and knowledge too. And these qualities are not as wide spread, as profane religious zeal, so such a reconciliation seems all but improbable in the near future. It is alive and existing in potential today, but humanity is not ready for it yet. Which is very sad, because we just prolong this Idiocracy we all live in, to the collective suffering of us all. 
People are idiots. Don’t want to offend anyone by saying that, I am an idiot too, so relax.

This topic is far from encompassed, even in brief, as I said, it’s deep and complex. As a post scriptum, in regard to the part of the title in brackets – duh, as far as I am aware the concept of multiculturalism exists mostly in western societies. You can’t obtain a permission to build churches here and there in Muslim countries, you know. In fact, there aren’t really any well-being Christian sub-cultures in Muslim societies, for that matter. Don’t wonder why. Because they demand tolerance from us, but don’t return us the favor. This is just not right. Such a dupes.


By the way, social integration has nothing to do with racism and skin color. It is about culture and values. Just to make this one clear.


In conclusion, the lack of social integration of minorities in a larger social group inevitably leads to social defragmentation, tension and general degradation of the collective well-being. It is interesting to note, that in the US we observe just the same trend. The lack of proper cultural integration of all immigrant groups leads to social problems and social degradation, which, if left unaddressed, will only get worse. Despite their very well conceived artificial culture in the face of American Patriotism, that has been designed exactly for reasons of providing a cultural glue for social integration of all the different peoples. They should have devised a new, American Religion as well, this would have ensured a complete social integrity. lol

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.

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