Axiom # 8 – All created things whether tangible or intangible are endowed with the inescapable need and compulsion to express themselves.
If it is given that the above stated axiom is valid then it necessarily follows that it applies equally to each and every quality and characteristic of both the physical and spiritual worlds inasmuch as we inhabit both at the same time and are simultaneously subject to the prompting and urging of both.
It is inconceivable, therefore, that each and every member of humankind could be endowed with each and every attribute of God and that any or all of these qualities would fail to exert their influence or refuse to manifest itself within the makeup of any individual. It is equally inconceivable that each and every non-human organism, each of which has been endowed with at least one attribute of God, would with stubborn perversity fail to express this bounty. It is this inherent dynamic quality of each and every particle of matter, and of each and every attribute thereof up to and including every complex combination that arises therefrom, that forms the basic competitive and confrontational engagement between the spiritual aspect of humankind and the unrelenting demands of nature.
It is inherent in the makeup of all things that they evolve from the simple to the complex, whether it be the electrons that form the molecules, the molecules that form the elements, or the elements that form all the mineral, vegetable, and animal varieties that cover the face of the planet. It is irreversibly inherent in all things that they advance and evolve toward a higher and more complex form and that this dynamic attribute will express itself despite all opposition to the contrary. It is equally inherent that the moment this dynamic quality comes to rest that the dissolution of all of its component parts, that is to say, decomposition and death will ensue. There are no static particles in nature and action is either forward or backward without the allowance for indigence. Innate qualities allow nothing to stand still except as a balance of dynamic forces. This is the middle path, the equity of life, the justice of existence, the nicety of variety, and the lifelong and infinite battle for dominance between the spiritual and the physical forces of nature. However, only the physical form is composed of matter and is, therefore, the only aspect of humankind that devolves and returns to its original constituent parts through the process of decomposition and death. The spirit is not composed of matter and, therefore, cannot devolve and, hence, must act in obedience to its inherent attributes and will continue to advance and evolve even after the death of the physical form for which it was the temporary host and through which it was enabled to express itself in a physical world.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Axiom # 7 – Humankind is a dichotomy
We live in a contingent world which is to say that we know a thing because of some other thing upon which it depends. This may be described as a duality of knowledge or, stated another way, recognition through the two aspects or dichotomy inherent in all information.
Each piece of information that we acquire, each event that we observe, each particle of evidence that we analyze, each experience that we encounter, and each emotion that we undergo cannot reach the intellect until it has first been filtered through the process of comparison by which likeness and/or difference is identified and enables us to distinguish one piece of information from another.
The process of comparison extends from the tangible world of concrete information into the intangible and abstract world of thought and ideas. We cannot know that something is hard unless we have something against which to compare it that we know to be soft. We cannot know that something is cold unless we have already determined what it is to be hot. The knowledge of one condition depends on the knowledge of the other. This is the world of contingency and it is the world of dependence and all our knowledge, one way or another, is filtered and acquired through this process. The very language that we use is an expression of this process and is the very sophisticated tool that we have invented by which to describe that which is intangible, and which belongs to the world of ideas and thought, by associating it with that which is tangible and which belongs to the world of the senses.
This is the dichotomy of humankind. It lives in two different worlds simultaneously. It occupies the world of thought while at the same time occupying the world of matter. It has an animal nature and it has a spiritual nature and, despite their separate and distinct identity, they co-exist and struggle for dominance throughout each and every human lifetime. This elemental truth is not only reflected in our language and inherent in the process by which we acquire information but is also strongly suggested by the way in which we think of our bodies and by the implied mechanism by which certain phenomena operate.
Firstly, let us examine the universal way with which each and every person considers their body. When you think of your body you always think of it in terms of ownership, that is to say, you think of you and your body as two separate entities. One is owned and the other is the owner. When you describe your body you say, ‘this is my arm’ or ‘this is my leg’ or ‘this is my head’ or even ‘this is my brain’ but at no time do you ever think that the ‘you’ that is doing the describing is the same as the arm, the leg, the head, or the brain. It is implicit in the way that you describe your body that ‘you’ are one entity and that the body is another that belongs to you and without which you would still continue to exist. You know that if you lost both arms, both legs, both eyes, both ears, one lung, one kidney, or part of your stomach and bladder that ‘you’ would still exist and that the most that could be said is that your ability to function in a physical world was severely impaired. There is no doubt that trauma would arise, that emotional adjustment would be necessary, or that the remainder of your life would be irreversibly altered but, and this is the universal axiom of human existence, your mind and soul would remain whole and intact. Each and every person believes both intuitively and instinctively that their body belongs to them but is not them and that when the body dies that ‘they’ go somewhere else wherever that may be.
Let us examine a phenomena that reflects this dichotomy between the animal and spiritual natures of humankind. A phenomena that has been rigorously and thoroughly studied and employed by the scientific community and one whose underlying mechanism seems to corroborate and exhibit the characteristics that suggest that the animal and spiritual nature are two separate and distinct entities. This phenomena is called hypnosis and, although its most minute elements of operation may not be fully understood, its existence is, nonetheless, recognized and its behavioural effects employed.
Various institutions have conducted serious and long term studies of the phenomena of hypnosis with similar observations but with varying conclusions as to the nature of the mechanism involved, however, none of these studies advanced the theory that this phenomena had as an essential root of its operation the dichotomy of animal and spiritual partners. It is only when this dichotomy is introduced as an essential element in the operation of the phenomena that the differences in the conclusions by each of the studies coalesce into an integrated whole.
When we observe the phenomena and then reduce it to its simplest elements it becomes clear that the person under hypnosis is giving way to and allowing the hypnotist to give commands directly to their body which strives to execute those commands as literally and completely as is within its ability. The notable difference being that the body will perform and accomplish for the hypnotist what it will not necessarily or seems incapable of normally performing and accomplishing for its lifelong host and partner. This enigma although recognized and utilized was not understood because the separate and distinct nature of the body and the spirit that inhabits it was neither considered nor accepted as a contributing factor. The body and spirit were considered as one, indivisible, entity and, had this really been the case, the phenomena of hypnosis may never have emerged.
Hypnosis occurs because each person is both a physical being and a spiritual being that are separate and distinct entities that co-exist in a perfect partnership. Let us, however, before a person encounters a hypnotist for the first time, retreat into the past and trace the process that has preceded this encounter.
Each person is endowed at birth with a DNA blueprint that dictates all of their physical attributes and abilities. Whether they are male or female, white or black, tall or short, blonde or brunette, agile or clumsy, healthy or sickly, strong or weak, is predetermined by their ancestry and genetically encoded in their DNA blueprint from which their is no escape and within whose restraints and limitations their entire lifetime is dictated. But, and this is the pivotal point, the DNA blueprint is a product of a physical world and dictates only the shape, form, and ability of the body. The body is simply an instrument, a tool, a vessel that enables a non-physical soul to manifest itself in a physical world. In the same way that the artist is separate and distinct from the portrait that they have shaped upon the canvas, and in the same way that the artisan is separate and distinct from the tools they employ in the practice of their trade, so too is the human soul separate and distinct from the human body that enables it to emerge and express itself in a physical world. The survival of the soul after death is a universally held belief and reflects the intuitive, instinctive, and intellectual recognition by every society in ever age that the soul and the body are distinct and separate entities that only co-exist in this physical world and that, upon the dissolution of the elements that form the body back into the bosom of nature, the soul is free to pursue whatever path its Creator intended. This dichotomy is the common property of every sentient being.
We live in a contingent world which is to say that we know a thing because of some other thing upon which it depends. This may be described as a duality of knowledge or, stated another way, recognition through the two aspects or dichotomy inherent in all information.
Each piece of information that we acquire, each event that we observe, each particle of evidence that we analyze, each experience that we encounter, and each emotion that we undergo cannot reach the intellect until it has first been filtered through the process of comparison by which likeness and/or difference is identified and enables us to distinguish one piece of information from another.
The process of comparison extends from the tangible world of concrete information into the intangible and abstract world of thought and ideas. We cannot know that something is hard unless we have something against which to compare it that we know to be soft. We cannot know that something is cold unless we have already determined what it is to be hot. The knowledge of one condition depends on the knowledge of the other. This is the world of contingency and it is the world of dependence and all our knowledge, one way or another, is filtered and acquired through this process. The very language that we use is an expression of this process and is the very sophisticated tool that we have invented by which to describe that which is intangible, and which belongs to the world of ideas and thought, by associating it with that which is tangible and which belongs to the world of the senses.
This is the dichotomy of humankind. It lives in two different worlds simultaneously. It occupies the world of thought while at the same time occupying the world of matter. It has an animal nature and it has a spiritual nature and, despite their separate and distinct identity, they co-exist and struggle for dominance throughout each and every human lifetime. This elemental truth is not only reflected in our language and inherent in the process by which we acquire information but is also strongly suggested by the way in which we think of our bodies and by the implied mechanism by which certain phenomena operate.
Firstly, let us examine the universal way with which each and every person considers their body. When you think of your body you always think of it in terms of ownership, that is to say, you think of you and your body as two separate entities. One is owned and the other is the owner. When you describe your body you say, ‘this is my arm’ or ‘this is my leg’ or ‘this is my head’ or even ‘this is my brain’ but at no time do you ever think that the ‘you’ that is doing the describing is the same as the arm, the leg, the head, or the brain. It is implicit in the way that you describe your body that ‘you’ are one entity and that the body is another that belongs to you and without which you would still continue to exist. You know that if you lost both arms, both legs, both eyes, both ears, one lung, one kidney, or part of your stomach and bladder that ‘you’ would still exist and that the most that could be said is that your ability to function in a physical world was severely impaired. There is no doubt that trauma would arise, that emotional adjustment would be necessary, or that the remainder of your life would be irreversibly altered but, and this is the universal axiom of human existence, your mind and soul would remain whole and intact. Each and every person believes both intuitively and instinctively that their body belongs to them but is not them and that when the body dies that ‘they’ go somewhere else wherever that may be.
Let us examine a phenomena that reflects this dichotomy between the animal and spiritual natures of humankind. A phenomena that has been rigorously and thoroughly studied and employed by the scientific community and one whose underlying mechanism seems to corroborate and exhibit the characteristics that suggest that the animal and spiritual nature are two separate and distinct entities. This phenomena is called hypnosis and, although its most minute elements of operation may not be fully understood, its existence is, nonetheless, recognized and its behavioural effects employed.
Various institutions have conducted serious and long term studies of the phenomena of hypnosis with similar observations but with varying conclusions as to the nature of the mechanism involved, however, none of these studies advanced the theory that this phenomena had as an essential root of its operation the dichotomy of animal and spiritual partners. It is only when this dichotomy is introduced as an essential element in the operation of the phenomena that the differences in the conclusions by each of the studies coalesce into an integrated whole.
When we observe the phenomena and then reduce it to its simplest elements it becomes clear that the person under hypnosis is giving way to and allowing the hypnotist to give commands directly to their body which strives to execute those commands as literally and completely as is within its ability. The notable difference being that the body will perform and accomplish for the hypnotist what it will not necessarily or seems incapable of normally performing and accomplishing for its lifelong host and partner. This enigma although recognized and utilized was not understood because the separate and distinct nature of the body and the spirit that inhabits it was neither considered nor accepted as a contributing factor. The body and spirit were considered as one, indivisible, entity and, had this really been the case, the phenomena of hypnosis may never have emerged.
Hypnosis occurs because each person is both a physical being and a spiritual being that are separate and distinct entities that co-exist in a perfect partnership. Let us, however, before a person encounters a hypnotist for the first time, retreat into the past and trace the process that has preceded this encounter.
Each person is endowed at birth with a DNA blueprint that dictates all of their physical attributes and abilities. Whether they are male or female, white or black, tall or short, blonde or brunette, agile or clumsy, healthy or sickly, strong or weak, is predetermined by their ancestry and genetically encoded in their DNA blueprint from which their is no escape and within whose restraints and limitations their entire lifetime is dictated. But, and this is the pivotal point, the DNA blueprint is a product of a physical world and dictates only the shape, form, and ability of the body. The body is simply an instrument, a tool, a vessel that enables a non-physical soul to manifest itself in a physical world. In the same way that the artist is separate and distinct from the portrait that they have shaped upon the canvas, and in the same way that the artisan is separate and distinct from the tools they employ in the practice of their trade, so too is the human soul separate and distinct from the human body that enables it to emerge and express itself in a physical world. The survival of the soul after death is a universally held belief and reflects the intuitive, instinctive, and intellectual recognition by every society in ever age that the soul and the body are distinct and separate entities that only co-exist in this physical world and that, upon the dissolution of the elements that form the body back into the bosom of nature, the soul is free to pursue whatever path its Creator intended. This dichotomy is the common property of every sentient being.
Axiom # 6 – All science & all forms of matter are finite
Science may be defined as that branch of human endeavour whereby he discovers the laws of nature and then creatively employs them to his own ends. Science pre-exists our discovery of it. We can only discover what already exists and our discovery can never be construed as the cause of that which we have discovered.
If it obeys the laws of nature then it is inherently finite for ‘laws must precede the forces and matter that obey them’ and laws are the creation of something other than themselves.
Theory is nothing more than an intellectual model constructed by a finite mind to account for limited data and the laws that derive therefrom. All theories are subject to revision and modification as more data is compiled and new laws are discovered.
The ‘Big Bang’ expanding universe theory presupposes a ‘lump of matter’ having infinite mass, infinite density, infinite gravitation, and surrounded by infinite space into which it can infinitely expand and which by reason of irresistible obedience to inherent laws of physics to which all matter is subject and from which the ‘lump of matter’ is incapable of extricating itself, and for which it can take no credit, suddenly exploded and the world was born and time began.
Time is an element of a physical world and cannot operate outside its restraints. Each event, each moment, and every phenomena has a beginning and an end, the date and order of which are unalterably fixed. The end cannot precede the beginning and the same event cannot occur twice, at two different times, or in two different locations. Time moves inexorably forward without hesitation and without a backward glance and, despite the fact that we can examine traces of time that have occurred in the past, nonetheless, we cannot examine what has yet to occur in the future. The laws of physics dictate that in a world of physical phenomena that the future is beyond reach of our examination in the present and will ever be so. Laws of probability and statistical likelihood are, at best, speculative and do not in any way alter this incontrovertible truth.
And yet, there are those who have detailed dreams, who are subject to visions, who experience premonitions and undergo precognitive revelations of events which have yet to occur and which days, weeks, months, and even years later are recreated exactly as they foresaw them. This is in complete defiance of all known laws of physics and is a repudiation of the concept of time as we know it. Too many documented incidents are on record and too many witnessed examples of the knowledge of events prior to their occurrence have been corroborated for them to be dismissed as the ravings of the weak-minded or as the fantasies and hallucinations of the impressionable mind. Although we may not understand either the mechanism involved or the parameters within which it operates, nonetheless, we can hardly deny the evidence that attests to its existence.
Time itself is finite, is a characteristic of a physical universe and, because its existence depends on matter by which it is measured and without which it cannot be detected and, equally, because the instruments with which time is measured and the person performing the measurements are both products of matter and subject to the limitation imposed thereby, we are led to the inescapable conclusion that time can only exist within the framework of a physical and, hence, finite universe.
It further follows that all of our knowledge, all our science, all our theories, all our beliefs, all our talents and abilities, and all our convictions whether religious, moral or ethical, are also finite, are gradually unfolding and are shaped by the finite circumstances to which they are subject.
Science may be defined as that branch of human endeavour whereby he discovers the laws of nature and then creatively employs them to his own ends. Science pre-exists our discovery of it. We can only discover what already exists and our discovery can never be construed as the cause of that which we have discovered.
If it obeys the laws of nature then it is inherently finite for ‘laws must precede the forces and matter that obey them’ and laws are the creation of something other than themselves.
Theory is nothing more than an intellectual model constructed by a finite mind to account for limited data and the laws that derive therefrom. All theories are subject to revision and modification as more data is compiled and new laws are discovered.
The ‘Big Bang’ expanding universe theory presupposes a ‘lump of matter’ having infinite mass, infinite density, infinite gravitation, and surrounded by infinite space into which it can infinitely expand and which by reason of irresistible obedience to inherent laws of physics to which all matter is subject and from which the ‘lump of matter’ is incapable of extricating itself, and for which it can take no credit, suddenly exploded and the world was born and time began.
Time is an element of a physical world and cannot operate outside its restraints. Each event, each moment, and every phenomena has a beginning and an end, the date and order of which are unalterably fixed. The end cannot precede the beginning and the same event cannot occur twice, at two different times, or in two different locations. Time moves inexorably forward without hesitation and without a backward glance and, despite the fact that we can examine traces of time that have occurred in the past, nonetheless, we cannot examine what has yet to occur in the future. The laws of physics dictate that in a world of physical phenomena that the future is beyond reach of our examination in the present and will ever be so. Laws of probability and statistical likelihood are, at best, speculative and do not in any way alter this incontrovertible truth.
And yet, there are those who have detailed dreams, who are subject to visions, who experience premonitions and undergo precognitive revelations of events which have yet to occur and which days, weeks, months, and even years later are recreated exactly as they foresaw them. This is in complete defiance of all known laws of physics and is a repudiation of the concept of time as we know it. Too many documented incidents are on record and too many witnessed examples of the knowledge of events prior to their occurrence have been corroborated for them to be dismissed as the ravings of the weak-minded or as the fantasies and hallucinations of the impressionable mind. Although we may not understand either the mechanism involved or the parameters within which it operates, nonetheless, we can hardly deny the evidence that attests to its existence.
Time itself is finite, is a characteristic of a physical universe and, because its existence depends on matter by which it is measured and without which it cannot be detected and, equally, because the instruments with which time is measured and the person performing the measurements are both products of matter and subject to the limitation imposed thereby, we are led to the inescapable conclusion that time can only exist within the framework of a physical and, hence, finite universe.
It further follows that all of our knowledge, all our science, all our theories, all our beliefs, all our talents and abilities, and all our convictions whether religious, moral or ethical, are also finite, are gradually unfolding and are shaped by the finite circumstances to which they are subject.
Axiom # 5 – Science and Religion are in perfect harmony
From the very dawn of time a battle for dominance has been waged between the spiritual and animal natures of humankind which, although partners, always seem to be engaged in conflict. In the earliest stages of its evolution, while blissfully unaware of itself as a separate and distinct entity and, while in perfect harmony with its surroundings, the human organism existed in the Eden of ignorance, unaware of the God Who created it but, nonetheless, subject to the irresistible urging of inherent qualities that were to shape and guide its progress.
When the point in time arrived that the human organism had sufficiently evolved whereby it could no longer contain, as a species, those inherent attributes that were shaping it as an instrument through which to express themselves, it succumbed to an insatiable hunger that its physical environment simply could not allay. It then partook of the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ and, in so doing, was forever cast out of the Eden of ignorance and was condemned, by virtue of the emergence of the intellect, that is to say, the appearance within it of the attributes of God, to continue its journey and evolution whilst now aware of its unique and distinct nakedness relative to its environment. So began the difficult and laborious task of extracting from nature her closely guarded secrets and of tilling the fertile soil of the human intellect. Only God possesses the power of creation but He bequeathed to humankind the power of discovery from which all his science and all his philosophy derives.
Science and religion are two halves of the same whole which is called humankind. Science without the tempering of morality and ethics degenerates into a ruthless and heartless pursuit of knowledge for its own sake without concern and with a disregard for the suffering and condition of its victims, an evil example of which was Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp where hundreds of thousands of innocent and helpless victims were subjected to experiment, torture, and death at his hands. Religion, on the other hand, without the tempering of reason and science descends into the loathsome pit of myth and superstition wherein it becomes mired in its own ignorance and perpetrates acts of cruelty and brutality in the name of God that must wring tears from His heart, an evil example of which was the Inquisition during which any person or persons who held opinions or beliefs different to those of the Inquisitors were inhumanly and brutally tortured without pity, compassion, or conscience until the victim either recanted or died.
It is not that science and religion are at odds or in conflict for they are the two poles of a single truth. It is, rather, the ignorant and misguided proponents of each of these avenues of truth that are in conflict and who are responsible for the terrible crimes that have been committed in their name.
From the very dawn of time a battle for dominance has been waged between the spiritual and animal natures of humankind which, although partners, always seem to be engaged in conflict. In the earliest stages of its evolution, while blissfully unaware of itself as a separate and distinct entity and, while in perfect harmony with its surroundings, the human organism existed in the Eden of ignorance, unaware of the God Who created it but, nonetheless, subject to the irresistible urging of inherent qualities that were to shape and guide its progress.
When the point in time arrived that the human organism had sufficiently evolved whereby it could no longer contain, as a species, those inherent attributes that were shaping it as an instrument through which to express themselves, it succumbed to an insatiable hunger that its physical environment simply could not allay. It then partook of the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ and, in so doing, was forever cast out of the Eden of ignorance and was condemned, by virtue of the emergence of the intellect, that is to say, the appearance within it of the attributes of God, to continue its journey and evolution whilst now aware of its unique and distinct nakedness relative to its environment. So began the difficult and laborious task of extracting from nature her closely guarded secrets and of tilling the fertile soil of the human intellect. Only God possesses the power of creation but He bequeathed to humankind the power of discovery from which all his science and all his philosophy derives.
Science and religion are two halves of the same whole which is called humankind. Science without the tempering of morality and ethics degenerates into a ruthless and heartless pursuit of knowledge for its own sake without concern and with a disregard for the suffering and condition of its victims, an evil example of which was Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp where hundreds of thousands of innocent and helpless victims were subjected to experiment, torture, and death at his hands. Religion, on the other hand, without the tempering of reason and science descends into the loathsome pit of myth and superstition wherein it becomes mired in its own ignorance and perpetrates acts of cruelty and brutality in the name of God that must wring tears from His heart, an evil example of which was the Inquisition during which any person or persons who held opinions or beliefs different to those of the Inquisitors were inhumanly and brutally tortured without pity, compassion, or conscience until the victim either recanted or died.
It is not that science and religion are at odds or in conflict for they are the two poles of a single truth. It is, rather, the ignorant and misguided proponents of each of these avenues of truth that are in conflict and who are responsible for the terrible crimes that have been committed in their name.
Axiom # 4 – Humankind exists everywhere throughout the universe.
Humankind exists everywhere throughout the universe, that is to say, wherever the capacity to reflect all of God’s attributes makes its appearance, regardless of the outer form in which it is garbed or the name by which it is identified, and irrespective of the solar system in which it evolves, there too is man. However, in order for man to appear in a contingent world he must have a physical vessel through which to manifest these attributes and, in the same way that thought gives rise to action, so too do these attributes and qualities precede and give rise to the vessel through which they are enabled to express themselves which, in this case, is the noble human temple. Nobility, however, is an attribute of the soul and not a characteristic of the human body. Whatever transient nobility is outwardly expressed by the body is merely the outer expression of an inner, imperishable reality, such impermanent nobility being forever lost upon the dissolution of the body into its component elements.
In the Sacred Scriptures of all the Great Religions it is advanced that it is God, not humankind, that created the entire universe and all it contains. It is further advanced that it is God, not humankind, that created all matter whether living or inanimate or whether visible or invisible. It is also advanced that it is God, not humankind, that is the Primal Source and Primal Cause that pre-exists the evolution of every being and organism the sum total of which also includes humankind.
In the Sacred Scriptures of all the Great Religions it is advanced that God created humankind in His own ‘image and likeness’ the implications of which are the most irrefutable proof that humankind exists everywhere throughout the universe. An analogy that readily expresses this concept depicts God as the sun, the Holy Spirit as the life-giving rays that emanate from Him, and humankind as the recipient and mirror in which His Image may be seen. God possesses all attributes to an absolute degree which is what makes Him God and humankind possesses each and every one of these attributes but each to a limited degree which is what makes him human.
It is evident, therefore, and not unreasonable to postulate that God is neither physical nor terrestrial, is beyond space, time, and mass, and is outside and not subject to the laws and forces that govern the behaviour of all matter, the sum total of which represents the boundless and immeasurable expanse of the universe. It follows as an irresistible corollary that, whenever and wherever all the attributes of God are mirrored forth in an organism, regardless of the form it assumes, the name by which we identify it, or the celestial system in which it evolved, there too is humankind in all its reflecting glory.
If then, God is not physical, is outside of and enfolds rather than being contained by the physical universe, then He must be a spiritual being and if we are in His ‘image and likeness’ then it surely follows that it must be a spiritual image and likeness. It also follows that since the body must, of necessity, eventually decompose and dissolve into its constituent parts then it must be the spiritual part or soul that survives to journey through the infinite worlds of God. It further follows then, that if the soul of man is spiritual not physical then it is capable of accommodating itself to any physical form, regardless of the celestial sphere whereon that form evolves, the solar system in which it revolves, and the universe in which its galaxy is located. God is everywhere and humankind being in His ‘image and likeness’ is everywhere as well.
Humankind exists everywhere throughout the universe, that is to say, wherever the capacity to reflect all of God’s attributes makes its appearance, regardless of the outer form in which it is garbed or the name by which it is identified, and irrespective of the solar system in which it evolves, there too is man. However, in order for man to appear in a contingent world he must have a physical vessel through which to manifest these attributes and, in the same way that thought gives rise to action, so too do these attributes and qualities precede and give rise to the vessel through which they are enabled to express themselves which, in this case, is the noble human temple. Nobility, however, is an attribute of the soul and not a characteristic of the human body. Whatever transient nobility is outwardly expressed by the body is merely the outer expression of an inner, imperishable reality, such impermanent nobility being forever lost upon the dissolution of the body into its component elements.
In the Sacred Scriptures of all the Great Religions it is advanced that it is God, not humankind, that created the entire universe and all it contains. It is further advanced that it is God, not humankind, that created all matter whether living or inanimate or whether visible or invisible. It is also advanced that it is God, not humankind, that is the Primal Source and Primal Cause that pre-exists the evolution of every being and organism the sum total of which also includes humankind.
In the Sacred Scriptures of all the Great Religions it is advanced that God created humankind in His own ‘image and likeness’ the implications of which are the most irrefutable proof that humankind exists everywhere throughout the universe. An analogy that readily expresses this concept depicts God as the sun, the Holy Spirit as the life-giving rays that emanate from Him, and humankind as the recipient and mirror in which His Image may be seen. God possesses all attributes to an absolute degree which is what makes Him God and humankind possesses each and every one of these attributes but each to a limited degree which is what makes him human.
It is evident, therefore, and not unreasonable to postulate that God is neither physical nor terrestrial, is beyond space, time, and mass, and is outside and not subject to the laws and forces that govern the behaviour of all matter, the sum total of which represents the boundless and immeasurable expanse of the universe. It follows as an irresistible corollary that, whenever and wherever all the attributes of God are mirrored forth in an organism, regardless of the form it assumes, the name by which we identify it, or the celestial system in which it evolved, there too is humankind in all its reflecting glory.
If then, God is not physical, is outside of and enfolds rather than being contained by the physical universe, then He must be a spiritual being and if we are in His ‘image and likeness’ then it surely follows that it must be a spiritual image and likeness. It also follows that since the body must, of necessity, eventually decompose and dissolve into its constituent parts then it must be the spiritual part or soul that survives to journey through the infinite worlds of God. It further follows then, that if the soul of man is spiritual not physical then it is capable of accommodating itself to any physical form, regardless of the celestial sphere whereon that form evolves, the solar system in which it revolves, and the universe in which its galaxy is located. God is everywhere and humankind being in His ‘image and likeness’ is everywhere as well.
Axiom # 3 – Humankind is imperfect
Humankind is but a reflection of its Creator. There are no absolute human beings. There are only those who are either less or more blessed than others. On the scale of the universe humankind is but an insignificant speck the obliteration of which would do little to disrupt the harmony or tilt the balance of the remaining universe.
Science has made prodigious attempts to both measure and chart what they believe, and what their data suggests, is a universe that is expanding at every point and in every direction. This data and the laws of physics make it impossible for them to determine at what point or location the expansion originated or what cause precipitated this expansion. They theorize that at some moment in the ancient and indeterminable past that all the matter in this universe and all universes beyond was gathered into a single mass and that internal forces consistent with known laws of physics caused it to explode in what is quaintly called the ‘Big Bang’ theory and that ever since, all matter has been expanding in all directions away from itself and from its point of origin.
What is left unresolved is from whence came this lump of matter in the first place? Who or what created it? Who or what created the laws of physics to which its behaviour is so obedient? How did living organisms arise from an inanimate lump? How, out of all the living organisms that did arise, did humankind arise who is capable of independent thought, of recognizing that it did not create itself, of seeking to discover Who did create it, and of discovering the laws of nature by which it was supposedly created?
How is it that this little fly speck called humankind, in an infinite universe, has been endowed with the ability to question its own existence and through the power of intellect, to reach back through time and attempt to discover, not only the elements of its own conception, but also the elements that brought about the conception of all that exists?
A more than formidable task, requiring a prodigious output of combined intellect, expended on a project that produces more questions than it answers.
What science in particular, and humankind in general, do know for certain is that the universe is vast, its boundaries are unknown, and its regions are beyond charting. Of its millions of galaxies ours is only average. Of the millions of solar systems within our galaxy that ours is small, dim, and not worthy of much excitement. Of all the planets in our solar system ours is one of the smallest and yet there are still those who believe that humankind is the only form of intelligent life in this vast, immeasurable expanse.
Only the most arrogant and presumptuous of minds would seek to advance the belief that such an insignificant speck as humankind, that is almost invisibly deposited in the infinite expanse of the universe, should be the sole benefactor of God’s boundless grace. Such a belief is not only arrogant and presumptuous but is not predicated on any concrete evidence to support its claim, flies in the face of statistical likelihood, and simply offends the intellect.
If humankind were not imperfect then it would have nothing to learn, no weaknesses to endure, no shortcomings to overcome, no questions to answer, no problems to solve, and no failures from which to learn. If humankind were not imperfect then there would be no need for science, no need for education, no need for religion and, in fact, no need for anything.
Humankind is but a reflection of its Creator. There are no absolute human beings. There are only those who are either less or more blessed than others. On the scale of the universe humankind is but an insignificant speck the obliteration of which would do little to disrupt the harmony or tilt the balance of the remaining universe.
Science has made prodigious attempts to both measure and chart what they believe, and what their data suggests, is a universe that is expanding at every point and in every direction. This data and the laws of physics make it impossible for them to determine at what point or location the expansion originated or what cause precipitated this expansion. They theorize that at some moment in the ancient and indeterminable past that all the matter in this universe and all universes beyond was gathered into a single mass and that internal forces consistent with known laws of physics caused it to explode in what is quaintly called the ‘Big Bang’ theory and that ever since, all matter has been expanding in all directions away from itself and from its point of origin.
What is left unresolved is from whence came this lump of matter in the first place? Who or what created it? Who or what created the laws of physics to which its behaviour is so obedient? How did living organisms arise from an inanimate lump? How, out of all the living organisms that did arise, did humankind arise who is capable of independent thought, of recognizing that it did not create itself, of seeking to discover Who did create it, and of discovering the laws of nature by which it was supposedly created?
How is it that this little fly speck called humankind, in an infinite universe, has been endowed with the ability to question its own existence and through the power of intellect, to reach back through time and attempt to discover, not only the elements of its own conception, but also the elements that brought about the conception of all that exists?
A more than formidable task, requiring a prodigious output of combined intellect, expended on a project that produces more questions than it answers.
What science in particular, and humankind in general, do know for certain is that the universe is vast, its boundaries are unknown, and its regions are beyond charting. Of its millions of galaxies ours is only average. Of the millions of solar systems within our galaxy that ours is small, dim, and not worthy of much excitement. Of all the planets in our solar system ours is one of the smallest and yet there are still those who believe that humankind is the only form of intelligent life in this vast, immeasurable expanse.
Only the most arrogant and presumptuous of minds would seek to advance the belief that such an insignificant speck as humankind, that is almost invisibly deposited in the infinite expanse of the universe, should be the sole benefactor of God’s boundless grace. Such a belief is not only arrogant and presumptuous but is not predicated on any concrete evidence to support its claim, flies in the face of statistical likelihood, and simply offends the intellect.
If humankind were not imperfect then it would have nothing to learn, no weaknesses to endure, no shortcomings to overcome, no questions to answer, no problems to solve, and no failures from which to learn. If humankind were not imperfect then there would be no need for science, no need for education, no need for religion and, in fact, no need for anything.
Axiom #2
Axiom # 2:
“Each and every person, without exception, is endowed at birth with the ability to distinguish good from evil & right from wrong; is responsible for the decisions and actions they take in the face of the religious convictions they hold dear; and are accountable for the moral imperatives by which they pursue their day to day activities and the ethical guidelines by which they tread the path to their destiny.”
It is unreasonable, flies in the face of simple logic, and is an offence to the gift of human intellect to embrace the belief that God, Who is the Fashioner of all things both visible and invisible including humankind would, on the one hand, inspire a Messenger to act on His behalf; convey to Him a Message by which His creatures are to conduct their lives; impose a set of social and spiritual laws by which those creatures are to abide under threat of punishment for their disregard; and then fail to provide, and deny in His creation of those self-same creatures, the ability to recognize His Messenger or to comprehend the essential verities of His Message.
The concept is preposterous and the embrace of such a belief is nothing more than a superstitious and mythical construction in the mind of an ill-informed and misguided victim who has failed to exercise their God-given gift of human intellect and who has been deluded into abandoning their God-given right to independently arrive at truth as a result of their own personal investigation and who, rather, has abdicated the empowering responsibility and relinquished the joy of discovery into the hands of others whose conclusions and perceptions may possibly be, and in many cases are, in conflict with the truth.
Surely the most prominent and pressing concern that should occupy the daily thought of each and every person, without exception, is the purpose, direction, and destiny for which they were created. Such a concern should pre-empt all others for it is upon this secure and indestructible foundation that all other activities are constructed and it is within this edifice that the morals, ethics, and spiritual values by which a person conducts their daily lives are housed.
It is the purpose of God’s Messenger to lay this unassailable foundation but it is the responsibility of the individual to construct the monument that is to be erected upon it. No one is free from this responsibility. No one is exempt from this duty. No one can abandon this obligation. No one can abdicate this moral necessity. No one can ignore this spiritual axiom. No one can disregard this self-evident truth. Not, that is, without also accepting the inescapable certainty of spiritual retribution the consequences of which will descend upon them whether in this world or the next.
“Each and every person, without exception, is endowed at birth with the ability to distinguish good from evil & right from wrong; is responsible for the decisions and actions they take in the face of the religious convictions they hold dear; and are accountable for the moral imperatives by which they pursue their day to day activities and the ethical guidelines by which they tread the path to their destiny.”
It is unreasonable, flies in the face of simple logic, and is an offence to the gift of human intellect to embrace the belief that God, Who is the Fashioner of all things both visible and invisible including humankind would, on the one hand, inspire a Messenger to act on His behalf; convey to Him a Message by which His creatures are to conduct their lives; impose a set of social and spiritual laws by which those creatures are to abide under threat of punishment for their disregard; and then fail to provide, and deny in His creation of those self-same creatures, the ability to recognize His Messenger or to comprehend the essential verities of His Message.
The concept is preposterous and the embrace of such a belief is nothing more than a superstitious and mythical construction in the mind of an ill-informed and misguided victim who has failed to exercise their God-given gift of human intellect and who has been deluded into abandoning their God-given right to independently arrive at truth as a result of their own personal investigation and who, rather, has abdicated the empowering responsibility and relinquished the joy of discovery into the hands of others whose conclusions and perceptions may possibly be, and in many cases are, in conflict with the truth.
Surely the most prominent and pressing concern that should occupy the daily thought of each and every person, without exception, is the purpose, direction, and destiny for which they were created. Such a concern should pre-empt all others for it is upon this secure and indestructible foundation that all other activities are constructed and it is within this edifice that the morals, ethics, and spiritual values by which a person conducts their daily lives are housed.
It is the purpose of God’s Messenger to lay this unassailable foundation but it is the responsibility of the individual to construct the monument that is to be erected upon it. No one is free from this responsibility. No one is exempt from this duty. No one can abandon this obligation. No one can abdicate this moral necessity. No one can ignore this spiritual axiom. No one can disregard this self-evident truth. Not, that is, without also accepting the inescapable certainty of spiritual retribution the consequences of which will descend upon them whether in this world or the next.
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