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Posted by Introspective I am going to make an attempt to explain how the ancient mythologies influenced our understanding of the Judeo Christian spirituality. Then I will explain the influence modern spirituality is having on modern science. We must take the historical time period into consideration when we read the biblical text because when the Biblical Scriptures were written the various writers believed that there was a separation between matter and spirit. They believed that all matter was possessed by spiritual forces such as the oceans, mountains, plants, animals, etc....... When there were storms on the oceans the ancient Jews and early Christians believed spiritual forces were at play. Thunderstorms were caused by spiritual forces and the biblical scripture writers believed that holy men of god had the power to calm the storms by calming the spirits behind the storms. They saw physical ailments in people and animals as being caused by evil spirits because the spirits had a well of their own. The ancient Jews and early Christians also believed that a sign of a holy person is their ability to cast out the cause of sicknesses in people and animals which were the evil spirit or spirits. Their understanding of evil spirits was that those spirits had a perverted will they desire to posses humans, animals, and the material world due to their jealousy of gods creation. To gain a clearer understanding of the scriptures we must also take into account what influenced the scripture writers beliefs prior to and during the time the scriptures were written. They were certainly influenced by Zoroastrianism from Persia, Platonism from Greece and various other beliefs and mythologies from surrounding cultures. There were also various fallen angel stories throughout the ancient world which the ancient Jews incorporated into their belief system and later added into the Old Testament. What it basically comes down to is that whatever they could not explain in terms of natural disasters were looked upon as spiritual forces because the fallen angels according to their beliefs possessed the world out of jealousy. They also believed in a lower class of spirits or demons that caused human ailments and sickness in animals also out of jealousy of gods creation. However, modern Science dismisses this childish world view which was the ancient worlds reality due to their strong mythological belief systems. Science is however beginning to entertain the notion of a spiritual reality that is physical because everything that exists is made up of material energy including our thoughts and consciousness in general. I have also explained in other posts that some scientists believe that in terms of evolution it is not all that inconceivable for life to have evolved in the far off galaxies. When you consider how far humanity has evolved in only three and a half million years it is incomprehensible to imagine where humanity would be if we had Billions of years of evolution behind us imagine where we would be in terms of our intellectual capacity and spiritual awareness. It is not all that inconceivable to imagine that in some far off galaxy there is intelligent life that has evolved beyond our comprehension due to billions of years of evolution. Somewhere in the universe there can also be life evolving without a DNA structure which is essential for life to exist on earth. Some scientists believe it is impossible to evolve without DNA but who are we to limit intelligent life to a DNA structure. It is arrogant on our part to assume that because life evolved with a DNA structure on our planet that all life must have DNA to evolve and grow throughout the universe. We must also take into account the shear vastness of our Universe and its age (approximately 30 billion years) in doing so we begin to understand that there are billions of solar systems that had billions of years to evolve. It is almost a certainty that there is intelligent life somewhere in our universe. I find it highly unlikely that intelligent life is only limited to DNA structures on earth. There are also some scientists entertaining the notion that if it is possible for life to evolve without a DNA structure it can also be highly plausible for life to evolve into what we would consider and understand to be highly evolved spiritual beings considering the age of the universe with its billions of solar systems. Quantum Physics also reveals to us that all matter can be broken down to sub-atomic particles which is energy and also the building blocks to everything that exists in both living and nonliving matter. This energy cannot be created nor destroyed and there is no beginning point to this energy because in the area of Quantum Physics energy particles can be broken down infinitesimally. There is an infinite extension and infinitesimal reduction when it comes to the ultimate big picture or what we define as god. Science has discovered also that there is no such thing as a vacuum when it comes to space and time because everything in the universe is material including our understanding of the sub-atomic world. If everything is indeed material such as our thoughts, consciousness, and energy in general then that would leave the door open for scientists to delve deeper into defining what life is in terms of human spirituality. This is where Parapsychology, Metaphysics, Spirituality, and Science complement each other because they agree that all existence is made up and sustained by material energy. We can also intuit through our understanding of Quantum Physics that if energy is eternal then the essence of life must also be eternal and if everything that exists is made up of this physical energy then our spiritual nature must be physical as well. The ancient Hindus wrote about this energy over 4000 years ago in their Sanskrits. The Hindus believed then and now that although our physical persona may die our essential self continues on in an energy form. They believe that through spiritual disciplines and practices some can see this energy leave the body and for a very short period of time communicate with this new living form before it moves on to a higher state of existence upon death. Quantum Physics supports this assumption but other scientists dismiss it because they believe thought and human consciousness is solely dependent on the physical body which upon death will decompensate into nonliving matter. Quantum Physics has proven that energy is eternal on the sub-atomic level which is the sum total of everything that exist. If this is true then it cannot be that far of a leap to conclude that the essence of life is also eternal. Most scientists would conclude that the essence of all life is beyond our comprehension. We do however come into direct contact with life as living beings there is no need to rely on faith when it comes to our own living consciousness and evolving thoughts. Our thoughts are constantly evolving with our understanding of who we are in relation to the evolving big picture within us and around us which some come to understand as being god. Our understanding of god can also be defined as a never ending self realization within an evolving spiritual awareness because if life and energy are truly eternal then life can only be synonymous with what we as humans understand to be the essence of all that exists in the eternal life of god. We must also keep in mind that consciousness as modern science is beginning to understand it is not unique to the individual because we share our consciousness collectively within a living and consciously evolving universe this leaves the door open for unending growth and a continuous evolving awareness. We are limited in fully understanding what the eternal is on an intellectual level but intuitively we come to understand it as being the essence of life that sustains us within the eternal life of god. Written by, Thomas F. ONeill E-mail: introspective7@hotmail.com Link: Other writings
on 11/2/2004, 10:39 pm
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