When it comes to thinking about our so-called spiritual lives or the role of humanity in the cosmos, the narratives and ideas people subscribe to leave them in a fog with no direction. This is so even if they are devout to certain spiritual programs and truly believe that what they follow allows them clarity in their minds.
We are living in a time where the majority do not in fact have a proper vision of humanity, one that leads us to fulfillment or even the desire for excellent achievement. New age “philosophy” leaves us in some kind of wishy washy limbo and Christianity claims to have absolute answers on the nature of the divine which has stunted the growth of humanity for 2,000 years.
In previous stages of my life, I dabbled in both of those paradigms. For those who crave a more profound experience of life, these are the only options that are popularly presented. During those years of my life, a couple of which I regularly attended Christian church on Sundays, I never heard anything that pulled me out of the same old repetitive behaviour, lifestyle and thought patterns. There are of course, banal, generic feel-good tidbits in those paradigms that give a superficial, temporary boost but then most people just revert back to deranged, unproductive or destructive ways.
You would think that spiritual paradigms would provide ideas about what humanity is and why the earth is and why and how we came to be and what to do about it. Keep in mind that these are just ideas and life in the universe is a mystery. However, being a story-telling species with capacities for learning, what we think of ourselves and the mystery matters. The ideas and stories we have about ourselves either inspire us to become more or they make us lazy, scared, depressed or purposeless.
It wasn’t until I read a book called Not in His Image by John Lash that I learned some refreshing and sane ideas about humanity and the cosmos. This book is about the Gnostic message for humanity – how the Gnostics were not a type of Christian movement but in fact, were participants in the Mysteries and heirs to longstanding wisdom and techniques of shamanism and were therefore advanced intellectuals and seers. They tried to guide humanity away from Judeo-Christian faith which they saw as a devastating mental error, and predicted that it would lead humanity astray and into degeneracy.
I’ve read this book four times in entirety and sift through it often. The last time I read it in full, I jotted down this list of my favourite ideas. Things that in my experience, people don’t know of or talk about.
- 1. The religious life of pre-christianity consisted of the conviction that there is something to be learned. This is a quote by G.R.S. Mead that stood out to me in the book. Are we put on this planet to follow the rules of and blindly worship one god, or because it pleases the divine forces that we learn and expand? In pagan societies, religious ceremonies and practices were a way of acquiring wisdom and insight by connecting to the divine. Think about the concept of vision quests, experiences one would have to have in order to become an adult. It is said that in the Mystery cults, the initiates were regenerated through their interaction with the divine. Regeneration contrasted to the Christian concept of salvation.
- 2. We have free-will in order to participate in creating novelty in the cosmos/universe. I’ve heard Christians say we have free-will in order to be tested by god to see if we follow his will. Well, maybe the divine isn’t that demented and insecure. Maybe the divine forces that spring humanity into being do so out of pleasure of creating novelty which will create more novelty. Which brings me to the next point.
- 3. Morality and innate human generosity are a reflection of the self-less outpouring of the generating powers that spring life into being. Morality does not need to be dictated because goodness and generosity is a given in the universe. The divine forces do not create life out of bad intent. Generosity and pleasure are the forces of life. But then why is there evil in the world?…
- 4. Evil occurs due to an anomaly when the earth was being formed. It is a cosmic accident. There are no evil forces operating in the universe or in nature. Evil happens strictly because errors continue to go uncorrected. The life generating force that designed our species accidentally clashed and melded with material in the galactic arms. This cosmic anomaly causes psychic aberrations in humanity and causes us to err more than we would otherwise. (We are supposed to err in order to learn). According to John Lash, the Gnostics described this event in their texts, including details of a cyborg species that was accidentally produced due to this cosmic anomaly. For a more detailed explanation please see his book, Not in His Image. Sounds crazy, I know. But is it any more crazy than the idea of an evil, demonic force running through the universe and that at the head of all life is a battle between good and evil? Does the claim that there are demonic forces in nature really seem more satisfactory of an explanation? That god allows the devil to operate in our lives as a way to test us, does that seem more sane?
- 5. Your divine dose is your intelligence. (This is my favourite point). We are not a spark of divinity or divine simply because we are human. Your capacity for intelligence is the divine dose. How you use your intelligence determines how divine you are. The belief that we are innately divine without merit leads to laziness and spiritual narcissism. The divine forces are intelligent – look at nature’s intelligence, beyond our scope of comprehension. You are given a dose of that intelligence.
- 6. The Earth is the generating power that designed humanity. There are forces at the centre of the galaxy and they are the divine entities, the life-generators. Our cosmic designer accidentally became embedded in our planet, and she’s a female – the generating forces are gendered. Again, the Gnostics described this event which I learned from John Lash’s translations of the texts. The concept of Mother Earth may not be just a metaphor but a physical reality. The Greeks referred to her as Gaia, and the Gnostics called her Sophia. We have all heard of Mother Earth, a concept inherited from ancient times when people could attune better and sense this reality. Perhaps the giant cosmic entity we live on, is like a giant animal who has intentions and emotions of her own. Of course, she is a highly intelligent cosmic force who gave you a dose of her intelligence. Perhaps you can attune to her and enhance yourself by making discoveries about nature (true science, biology and physics) and the cosmos from where she comes (astronomy). Maybe this vision of the planet is what is needed to enhance proper learning. Not enough humans are learning properly and we are leaving it up to very few people in the world and depending on them for conclusions.
This list is not exhaustive and there are plenty more ideas to learn and be inspired by.
In the title, I put the word spiritual in quotations because I don’t have a better term for the concept. The Stoics claimed that everything has substance, that everything is material. They said this as pagans who acknowledged the Gods and recognized the mind of Nature. John Lash reasserts this concept in his work. If we’re not looking at phenomena as having a physical reality then we might just be engaging in fantastical make-belief. Thinking that things are spiritual (meaning not really there?) could discourage investigation. The idea is that everything, including supernatural events has a material property. Maybe even your “spirit”, your psyche, your awareness has a physical property. You can be a materialist and also recognize divine presence.
Nonetheless, people are living in a time of “spiritual” deprivation and are looking to enhance their experience of life. Maybe proper ideas and stories about what we are is what we need to encourage that experience, attune to divinity and increase our intelligence.