Conversations with a Fundamentalist Christian.- Two

You said: Is all that exists God? Is it the case that everything that exists a part of God? Or part of “the one” of God? Is it the case that all people are of one being?

If this were the case, the following would be true:

    There would only be one being, and all of the material world would be part of that being.

    Separation would be an illusion. What we percieve as separated people and objects would be an illusion.

    We would all be God, and all the objects we see are equally part of God.

Absolutely. And that is what I have come to believe through reading about many religions, ancient and more recent, as well as physics, science, spirituality, psychology, biology, art, mathematics, archaeology, mythology, anthropology, sociology, nature and well, many things.

You said: It cannot be the case that all is God, for the following reasons:

1. God either changes or not. If all were part of God, then God changes, for we are changing. This cannot be, for if God changed, then something other than God would have to cause God to change. But nothing is other than God, so we have a contradiction. On the other hand, if God does not change, then we are not God, since we change. In either case, all things are not shown to be God.

But if there is no time and all things are eternal then all which has ever been, is and will be remains – the changes are illusion. God, or what we call God is all things at all times and all things exist eternally.

And if God is not capable of change then God is limited and God is not all there is and God must be all things – you can’t be half-God and you can’t be some things and not others.

You said: 2. If we are God, we would know it, for God is all things, including knowledge. But all those who believe that they are part of God had to learn that they are God. Either God did not know something, in which case all things are not God. Therefore we are not God.

The most ancient spiritual teachings and even more recent ones attest that we do know it – but we have forgotten. In some ways we are meant to forget – passing through the River of Sleep as we return to this world, so that we may consciously and with free will, find or remember who and what we are.

It is a bit like religion as a wise Catholic priest said to me many years ago when we discussed young people discarding their religion. He said: ‘They must discard the religion they have learned as children so they may return to it as adults. What they need is the religion of a mature adult, not a helpless, immature child.’

Not everyone has to learn they are God …. Many religions which we would call primitive have held this teaching for millennia. It was the religions which grew out of the patriarchal age – where left-brain thinking took power over right-brain thinking – where ego took over from Soul – which began to teach the separation which necessitated learning what we had once known.

You said: 3. If we are God, how is it the case that so many people do not know they are God? How did they lose this knowledge?

Partly because this is how humanity has developed, because it had to develop this way and partly because in the past 5,000 years we have become more left-brain driven where  focussed consciousness has taken control and limited, if not imprisoned, our right-brain’s capacity for diffuse awareness.

The greatest spiritual teachers have been those who could use their focussed consciousness to access and explore their diffuse awareness.

When I say it ‘had to be this way’ I mean that just as a teenager must, at some point, find his or herself and this requires rejecting the parent (for the parent will not reject the child) so too did we have to feel ourselves separate so we could grow independently and mature to a point where we could return (to parent or God) as a developed, or as Carl Jung would have said, individuated person.

I liken this ‘separation’ to that of a situation where a child, living in the ‘shadow’ of his parents can not see her or his own shape and must move out of that ‘shadow’ and into the ‘light’ to see more clearly exactly who and what s/he is.

As Above: So Below. The microcosm reflects the macrocosm.

You said: 4. If all that exists is part of God, then evil is part of God, for evil exists. But evil is a lack of good, a destroyer of good. So if both evil and good are part of God, then God cannot be all things for part of God creates and part destroys. God cannot be all evil, for evil is a lack, a destruction. If evil exists apart from God, then all is not God. In this scenario, God is limited at best, and at worst a contradiction. In either case, all is not God. 

Yes, this one is tricky for religions.  It has been created one could argue to ‘protect’ God but of course God has no need of protection and the source of this teaching actually has more to do with the patriarchal impact on religions – turning them into systems of power and influence through which one can gain money, power and influence.

If you can get human beings to believe that God is Good and they are Evil and they can only be saved if they find their way back to God, but they cannot do that without the help of the church then you have a powerful structural and economic system. As it was and still remains to lesser and greater degrees.

If you see evil in terms of the opposite of good as in black/white or right/wrong then this is difficult but if you see evil (the word is live backwards) as a matter of perception, which, in religious terms it often is because what religions have called wrong are perfectly natural and healthy practices, then it is less difficult.

Evil seen as ignorance, as opposed to a lack of good, is often destructive. But much that is done in the name of ‘good’ has ‘evil’ results. In other words good can come out of what we call evil and evil can come out of what we call good.

The practice of forcing unwed mothers to give up their babies for adoption in decades past was seen as ‘good’ but in fact had an ‘evil’ effect on mothers and children; the old practice of beating children was once seen as ‘good’ and we now call it ‘evil’; the belief that indigenous and primitive peoples were better dead if they did not agree to convert was clearly quite ‘evil’ but was called ‘good’; the discrimination against women which is endemic in most religions is called ‘good’ but is clearly ‘evil’ because it is so destructive not just for women but for men and for society as a whole; lobotomising the mentally disabled as happened in the past was seen as good but was evil; racial discrimination and South African apartheid, both supported by religion in many cases were called good but were extremely evil….. and so the list could go on.

And even if you see evil as destruction of course it must be a part of God – we live in a world of death as a part of life. Every cell in our body is replaced every seven years – cells die and are reborn – they are destroyed so new ones can be created. That is an inherent part of this world which God created and continues to create.

Without destruction the natural world could not survive – the process of birth, life, and death are what this world is about.

You said: 5. To say that God is infinite, yet shares his being with matter, is incoherent, for matter is limited.

It is not about matter – God is consciousness – matter emanates from consciousness as modern physics is now discovering. Matter is limited but consciousness is not. Matter, which is the stuff of this world, is just one expression or manifestation of that which is God.

You said: The true solution to explaining the nature of God is found in the Bible.

Except given some of the destructive, silly, unkind, primitive, sexist, misogynistic and backward things found in a literal reading of the Bible it is clear the Bible is meant to be read metaphorically or symbolically.

You said: A great passage that explains the nature of God in some detail is Isaiah chapters 40 to 50. If we study these chapters, and others in the Bible, we find that:

    God is creator, we are creation, like a painter is to a painting.

God is creator is a religious teaching which sets God outside of this world – as other. Apart from the fact that at an energy level the painter and painting are one – because at the molecular level, all is connected, the analogy once again casts God in human form.

   You said: God is holy and good, all the time.

The words here are limiting. Definitions of what is holy and what is good are highly subjective. To a religious person holy means going to church, temple, synagogue or mosque amongst other things, but often rules particular to circumstance, culture and patriarchy – to me everything is holy, as in sacred, as in deserving of honour. And God as holy could certainly work from my perspective but I would simply say that everything is holy and sacred, all the time – as was taught in the ancient Goddess religions.

As to the meaning of Good, this is also highly subjective. As I said above, what one person sees as good another finds evil. The purest Good and this is how I see God, is Love, but I define Love as connectedness and given the complexity of the human understanding of Love we could spend a lifetime debating its meaning.

If one believes that all works for a purpose then distinctions between good and evil are less clear. If one recognises that good comes out of evil and evil comes out of good, as patently they do, then it is also less clear.

  You said:  God is infinite, and not limited.

If God is not limited then all things must be of God. If we are separate from God and those things we choose to call evil are separate from God then God is limited because God is not all and if God is not all then God is not infinite.

The most ancient teachings echo those of much spiritual and religious teachings – there is no time – all is infinite. Quantum Physics now says the same thing.

You said:    God is spirit, and not made of matter.

If God has no connection with this world of matter then God is not infinite and God is limited.  However, I take the view that God is spirit or consciousness and this world emanates from that spirit or consciousness and matter is a manifestation of God. It also makes sense that we are spiritual beings, inhabiting for a time, material bodies. But ultimately all is one – all is God.

You said:    God is all wise and all knowing.

God is all things so God must be wise and all knowing. When we connect with our spiritual selves, our true selves, our God nature, then we too have access to that wisdom and knowing.

You said: Because humans and objects are none of these, God is separate and not a part of creation, although God is present in creation. 

My experience of humans and what you call objects are that they are all of these things. And as I said, if God is all and the power you believe then how can God not be a part of all that is, including God’s creations? If you are present in something then you are a part of something. That is connectedness – that is Love.

The painter with her painting – the architect with his drawing – the surgeon with her scalpel – the gardener with his garden – the pilot in her plane etc. etc. are all present and all a part of the process in which they participate.

As physics now sees – we are co-creators and the ‘observer effect’ clearly shows that in the process of observing or expecting or demanding or creating we ‘decide’ what will manifest – wave or particle. At core, like God, it remains both wave and particle, but it becomes one or the other in a process of manifestation which is called life in this material world.

I suppose I simply cannot conceive of a God who is not all things. I realise for many religions it is the problem of evil which creates a desire to separate God from some things but I think that is the easy way out. There are other ways of explaining God and understanding that which we call evil.

I like the saying of Julian of Norwich, conveyed to her by God – ‘all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well,’ which suggests that there should be less judgement and greater trust in the process of things.

Conversations with a Fundamentalist Christian.

One of the interesting things about the internet is that you can end up having cosmic conversations with people you do not know and will probably never meet, but they can be quite thought-provoking.

I had one such conversation this week on a blog site belonging to a very sincere, no doubt very decent, committed Christian. It is many years since I have pondered the absolutes of Christianity which led me to reject it as a spiritual option - having nearly completed my studies to become a Catholic. This came after joining the Anglican church as a twelve-year-old and studying Hinduism, while living in India, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism and various other religions as part of my spiritual journey.


The end result was that I decided to stick with God and not bother with religion as I tried to explain in the following conversation where I found myself responding to statements and questions and re-articulating, for myself, just why I don't believe in any religion.

This was the original post to which I responded:

R. Ross, you have said a lot in this post and several others to follow. Much of it I find very interesting, because your view probably agrees with a large number of the population. I hope to explain the Christian answers to to part of it here, then I want to make the rest of it a blog post……I hope you do not mind. But I think you’ve raised many very important questions that provide a chance for a Christian apologist to explain the Christian position.

You said “Everyone’s personal spiritual journey is interesting and there is much that you say which I find interesting but as a woman I do not, will not, cannot relate to a He/Him God because it is too much God made as man, literally and I also do not, will not, cannot relate to any spiritual – actually it is not spiritual it is religious – concept that one can be or is somehow ‘saved’ through belief, except in a metaphorical sense where, if you like, our Spiritual Self is ‘saved’ from disuse.”

The first part I agree with you. I’ve always found other people’s spiritual journey to be interesting, and I’ve found I can learn things from their statements. I’ve also always been interested in what other groups believe, and why they are different and what is the same.

Next you make a couple of “I do not, will not, cannot” statements. As long as you realize that this is matter of your own will and not something inherent in God, then there’s not much I can say about this. You do not wanting to bend your will to God, which unfortunately is the case for many people. But as for the suggestion that there is somehow something amiss when God presents himself in personal pronouns, I must respectfully disagree. God is infinitely wise, and we are significantly flawed, and our judgement about what is right is skewed at best. Further, outside of what God reveals to us, we know precious little about God. But we know that He is not human, and does not reproduce, so male/female distinctions in God’s being is just not there, at least in human sense. But God, in his wisdom, has chosen to reveal himself in male pronouns, and we either bend our will to accept this or we do not.

As for the concept of whether someone can be or is somehow saved through belief, I’m afraid that this is the only solution. Let me explain.
First, we are separated from God. He is perfectly holy and good, and we are all flawed due to sin. We have all done something wrong, the greatest of which has been to ignore the Father and his son Jesus at some point. Because of our sin, we are separated from God, which is called spiritual death.

 The only way for us to be reconciled to a holy God would be either 1) do some behavior that would make it up to him, or 2) have someone else do this for us. It cannot be option 1, for this involves doing something, and doing something is what got us separated from God in the first place……our behaviour is sinful, and sinful behavior can only get us separated from God, not get us reconciled. But if Jesus paid the price of death for us when he died on the cross, then the price is paid, we have the possibility of accepting Jesus’ payment, or not, and this by trusting Jesus.

 So belief in the vicarious payment of Jesus in our place is the only way to be reconciled to God. Our futile works got us separated from God in the first place, and more futile works cannot fix the problem, it only makes it worse.
Will you consider having total trust in Jesus today?

And this is my response:

I am not so sure a large number of people do have the same views as I do, particularly in the US which is the most religious of all the developed nations and generally of the christian persuasion. I do think that the numbers are growing in terms of people holding similar views to mine but I also believe at this point in time the numbers are small.

This is long but I want to explain my position carefully so you understand why I don't believe, or won't or can't believe as you do. I would also qualify by saying that I believe we are all different and we are all called to walk our own spiritual paths - what is right for you is right for you and what is right for me is right for me.

I believe God values the uniqueness of each and every one of us and wants only to see us manifest our full potential, however that may be done. There is not one right or wrong way of doing this.

 I respect your integrity and your faith even as I explain why I find it unacceptable for me.

You said:The first part I agree with you. I’ve always found other people’s spiritual journey to be interesting, and I’ve found I can learn things from their statements. I’ve also always been interested in what other groups believe, and why they are different and what is the same.

Next you make a couple of “I do not, will not, cannot” statements. As long as you realize that this is matter of your own will and not something inherent in God, then there’s not much I can say about this.

This is not so much my own will as my own truth and given that I believe all that exists is inherent in God then this too is inherent in God. My belief is that everything we see in this material world is God made manifest - there is no separation - all is God, therefore all is inherent in God. At least by my reasoning and belief.

You said: You do not wanting to bend your will to God, which unfortunately is the case for many people.

No I do not because I do not believe in a God which would ask or need me to 'bend my will'  except in terms of acknowledging that while we may not control what happens to us we do have some control over what we do with what happens to us, and sometimes it is necessary to stop 'doing' and to surrender to 'being.' What I do believe in is a world in which when we surrender to the knowledge that there are greater forces at work in this world we gain access to, or become more a part of, the truth of what we are. In other words we have free will and we are meant to make use of it but we also have to learn that there is a point where we surrender our trust in outcomes to forces beyond ourselves - whether we call those forces God, destiny, fate, angels or whatever.

God as I see - S/HE has no need of anything from us but merely wants to see us living to the fullness of our potential as co-creators in this material world. It is our capacity for free will which makes us able to function as co-creators and therefore to express God more fully in this material world.

You said: But as for the suggestion that there is somehow something amiss when God presents himself in personal pronouns, I must respectfully disagree.

God doesn't present her or himself in personal pronouns - human beings seek to 'create' god as a gender. Before God was a man, in the patriarchal age, the last 5,000 years or so, God was a woman in the matriarchal age. Clearly God is neither male, nor female, nor personal in that sense. If God were to see a need to present her or himself in personal pronouns then that would suggest that God saw a need to discriminate, at that point in time, against one sex in preference for the other. Clearly no God worthy of belief would be so petty.

In truth, if one were to have a God which chose a gender then the logical choice would have to be feminine for it is the feminine which brings forth the masculine in a literal sense and not the other way around. S/He contains He, just as females contain males to bring them to birth. He does not and cannot contain she in any metaphorical or literal sense. In addition, we all start out as females and a male is produced through hormones which change the original female foetus. So, if one were to argue that God had a need for a gender it would have to be female. The fact that it is male suggests this has come from the 'mind' of men and not the mind of God. Given the levels of misogyny which has been at work and which is still at work to lesser degrees in religion throughout the patriarchal age, I would be suspecting men, not God, of a need for personal pronouns.

I would add though that because I believe all happens for a reason and an ultimate good, that we needed a patriarchal age to follow a matriarchal age in order to understand our nature better and to be able to marry the two, a sacred marriage, the hieros gamos, which is now underway and which will take us further and more fully into our spiritual selves.

You said: God is infinitely wise, and we are significantly flawed, and our judgement about what is right is skewed at best.

This kind of God is God made in the image of Man. Any God must be all things. For human beings to be created by God and yet to be somehow not of God and flawed means we are separated. We are not. We are one. We may be flawed and our judgement may be skewed but that is a part of our experience and journey in this material world. Ascribing wisdom to God as a particular and flaws to us as a particular personalises God in a way which does not make sense to me. God either is all or God is not and if God is not all then this is no God who could be the source and expression of this cosmos and everything in it. You cannot be half-pregnant and you cannot be half God - it is all or nothing. God is either everything or there is no God and the latter again, does not make sense to me given the evidence for intelligence and consciousness at work in this world.

You said: Further, outside of what God reveals to us, we know precious little about God. But we know that He is not human, and does not reproduce, so male/female distinctions in God’s being is just not there, at least in human sense. But God, in his wisdom, has chosen to reveal himself in male pronouns, and we either bend our will to accept this or we do not.

I believe we know a great deal about God because God is everything. Observing or experiencing an ant or a rock, we know God; living our lives as human beings we know God; observing a sunset, cloud, storm, tree, river, ocean, cup of tea, vase, shovel, car etc., we know God because everything is God - everything which exists in this material world emanates and is sourced in the cosmic consciousness we call God. At least that is how I see it.

You use the term 'bend our will' again and this is one aspect of all religions which is common and which I can never see as coming from God but only coming from human beings. This is the sort of language people used about the patriarchal age at its worst - when the father was 'god' in the family and wife and children had to bend their will. I happen to believe in a God of love and that the most powerful force at work in the world is Love and there is no place for 'bending wills' where Love is concerned.

You said: As for the concept of whether someone can be or is somehow saved through belief, I’m afraid that this is the only solution. Let me explain.

I do understand the religious beliefs you espouse, or rather, I know them, but they do not make sense to me and so I choose not to hold them but I will respond to what you say.

You said: First, we are separated from God. He is perfectly holy and good, and we are all flawed due to sin.

This teaching has become entrenched in Christianity. I do understand that. But it was not where Christianity began. This is an creation of the human mind which enabled the early church to have greater power and to continue to gain greater power. In some areas of Christianity more enlightened thinking has led to a diminution of this belief and rightly so - for it does not make sense.

Why would a God which is all that is and who is perfectly holy and good create something flawed and evil? More to the point, how could something flawed and evil come out of something holy and good? And, if God is all and the greatest power which exists, then how can anything be separate from God?

You said:We have all done something wrong,

Yes, but it depends on what you mean by wrong. To me wrong is being cruel to others, lacking compassion, being selfish etc., ... it is not about belief. And even there I would say there are no mistakes, merely different turns on the path. Everyone makes mistakes but forgiveness is one of the most powerful of spiritual teachings - if we can forgive ourselves and others then any God can forgive us.

You said:  the greatest of which has been to ignore the Father and his son Jesus at some point.

That is theological dogma particular to the christian religion. It has no meaning to Hindus, Moslems, Jews or anyone in fact who is not a fundamentalist Christian and that means the majority of people in the world. It does not make sense that an all powerful God would create a world where only one religion got it right! That is the sort of belief which would come from the minds of men and not the mind of God.

You said: Because of our sin, we are separated from God, which is called spiritual death.

Yes, I do understand the theological dogma but it doesn't make sense to me. God is either everything or God is not and if God is everything then we cannot be separated. There can be no spiritual death because the spirit does not die. We are spiritual beings having a material experience. That is my view anyway and it is one which is validated through the numerous and increasing number of Near Death Experiences. People who undergo NDE's return and whether atheist or evangelist before it happened they invariably drop all religion and commit their lives to living as spiritual beings having been told that all is one and our task in this world is to live with love.

You said: The only way for us to be reconciled to a holy God would be either 1) do some behavior that would make it up to him,

Hindus believe the same thing. From my perspective this is not only not a teaching of Jesus Christ whom you profess to follow but it is so petty that I simply do not believe it could ever have come from any God worth bothering about. This is the sort of thing the ego says, or demands, not the mind of God.

You said: or 2) have someone else do this for us.

Yes, this is also found in all other patriarchal religions. It's a common theme and a source of empowerment for church, mosque, synagogue and temple. Christianity believes that Jesus 'made things up with God' for us, but the church was quick to find ways of making money out of having priests 'do this for us.' As a belief I find it backward and exploitative, if not downright childish.

You said:  It cannot be option 1, for this involves doing something, and doing something is what got us separated from God in the first place……our behaviour is sinful, and sinful behavior can only get us separated from God, not get us reconciled.

This not only does not make sense it is cruel. I have personally experienced the things done by wounded and damaged people - it was not their fault and I know that and can forgive and yet you are telling me that throughout the world, the wounded, the damaged, the ignorant, the mentally defective, the physically damaged (blind, deaf, mute) are sinful and separated from God because they don't believe what you and others believe they should? That God cannot forgive !!! Ridiculous. God is love and within love there is no judgement and no condemnation and no need for forgiveness.

Evil is Live spelled backwards. Having pondered deeply the damage done in dysfunctional families I have come to believe that evil and sin are sourced in ignorance and woundedness - if I can forgive my parents then God can forgive anything.

The God who judges in this way is the God of the Old Testament. Vindictive, petty, childish, arrogant, venal - God made in the image of man. This is God as Father, or even Mother  of the worst kind.

You said: But if Jesus paid the price of death for us when he died on the cross, then the price is paid, we have the possibility of accepting Jesus’ payment, or not, and this by trusting Jesus. So belief in the vicarious payment of Jesus in our place is the only way to be reconciled to God.

So everyone else is wrong? The atheist who lives the best of lives and who spreads love, compassion and joy is condemned and the christian who spreads misery, cruelty and pain is saved because he or she 'believes.' Quite simply it is simply silly. It was exactly these sorts of beliefs, along with the misogyny, which caused me to reject religions and to stick with God.

I have studied Christianity, both Anglicanism and Catholicism, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism and they are all awash with misogyny and in essence say similar things - believe what we tell you to believe and you will be in God's good books - you will be saved. I have also studied Wicca, ancient Goddess religions and various other animistic and pantheistic spiritual belief systems which patriarchal religion sought to demonise as pagan, even as they absorbed into their theology beliefs and 'facts' which suited them.

In this magical, mysterious, wonderful world we have billions of people - most of whom do not believe as you do - many of whom follow no religion at all - and yet they live full, loving, valuable lives and your belief system would have them condemned?

I think what I continue to find surprising is how often insightful, intelligent, kind, compassionate, decent people can believe in something so vindictive, unforgiving and destructive.

 You said: Our futile works got us separated from God in the first place, and more futile works cannot fix the problem, it only makes it worse.

We were never separated and we cannot be separated. We are God and God is us and all is as it should be. We are in this world to learn to become more conscious - not less - to make up our own minds and to express our spiritual natures in a material world as co-creators with God. That is how I see it.

You said: Will you consider having total trust in Jesus today?

No. Because Jesus, if he ever existed in any historical sense and even if not, is just one of many light-workers who have existed throughout time and what matters is living by the teachings ascribed to him, although they were not original to him, and not simply deciding to 'have total trust.'

And I don't need to put my trust in anything beyond the purposeful, meaningful, sometimes painful, often challenging, fascinating, beautiful progression of my life and my sense of a joyful relationship with a purposeful, meaningful, beautiful consciousness at work in this world - I am sticking with God and have no need for religion.

The trust we need to have is in a God, in whatever form works for us, as the source of all being - cosmic consciousness - all that is - and in knowing that as expressions of God we are, each and every one of us perfect at any given moment.

Why a materialist mindset leads to madness

 Any time that we go too far in one direction our psyche will start to balance the extreme position with its opposite, and, unless we are very self-aware, which is so much more difficult if we take a fundamentalist or fanatical view of something, the balance will be buried in our subconscious.

Like anything which is locked away from the light of reason and is ignored, the power of that 'shadow' will grow unchecked.  The more powerful it becomes the more we fear it and the harder we work to keep it hidden and that means, it's power will be expressed unconsciously and often destructively. And this is what we can see developing from the materialist mindset which has taken over the world for the past three hundred years and which forms the foundation of most of scientific thought.

While both Newton and Descartes approached life from a spiritual perspective because they were men of their time, it is their work which underpins the Newtonian/Descartesian rational/materialist mindset which has been established as the basis for what we call modern science. Or rather, it is the interpretation of aspects of their work which has been selected by science for its paradigm. Both Newton and Descartes were astrologers, but that little piece of information is too horrifying for scientism to accept and so it is dismissed and ignored. Never let the facts get in the way of a good 'story.'

Science in essence has been slowly 'losing its mind' ever since it was established within this paradigm of empirical rationalism. I have no doubt that it was necessary and no-one can deny the benefits that this approach has brought but now the materialist mindset, sourced in science, has taken over the world and the way we think in destructive ways. In other words, it has gone too far and the 'shadow' has grown great, angry, undisciplined and dangerous.

Materialism has become something of a religion with its own high priests like the American philosopher and cognitive scientist, Daniel Dennet and the British ethologist and evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins, to name just two of the more notable crusaders.

The language that they use to spread their dogma that this is a purely material world and we are no more than chemical robots, stepping mindlessly through time, resonates with that to which the most impassioned religious fundamentalists resort to justify their cause and to bring the deluded and erring strays into the fold. They are in essence, the two sides of the one coin and they exist because of each other.

Just as followers of fundamental religions dismiss other philsophies or beliefs, so too do the followers of scientism. In these worlds it is either/or and never 'and.'  Dictates are made on the basis of black and white and there is no place for grey! You are right or you are wrong. In short, they are right and if you don't believe as they believe then you are wrong and to be condemned.

The tragedy for the world at this point in time is that this fanatical mindset has, to a large degree, conquered and corrupted science. When you bring the 'gifts' of modern science to birth in a system which is without ethics or morals, which of course it must be if human beings are no more than programmed, robotic beings, without free will, any sort of conscience, then you create monsters.

I have no intention of listing the 'monsters' which science has created because they are all too easy to find. The most obvious involve military technology, where valuable money, time and effort goes into finding ways to more effectively kill people regardless of the damage done to nature or the environment.

Or the unethical use of IVF where you see a young, single, unemployed woman have six children through the process and then have eight more as octuplets; or see babies created with five 'parents', one for the womb, one for the egg, one for the sperm and two (or sometimes one) for raising, often both of the same sex. In such situations the needs of the child or any moral (and I don't mean religious) or ethical considerations are ignored - it happens because science says it can happen and all that matters is proving how  clever science is, regardless of how dysfunctional or damaging it may be for the resulting child.

And then you have the unethical application of the materialist scientific mindset to agriculture -  producing sterile seeds for instance so farmers, no matter how poor they may be, have no choice but to find money to buy seed every year, or demanding that land have no fallow time and producing chemicals to ensure growth or tinkering with genetic modifications which force plants to grow when and how they were never intended.


It is probably medicine, sourced so deeply in science, which has been most affected by the materialist mindset  where healing becomes a mechanical, marketing exercise  and it is profit not patient which matters. The worst excesses of medicine could not happen within a mindset which recognised and respected the spiritual nature of  this world.

At this time in history doctors have become secretaries ordering tests and pharmacists dispensing drugs, often under pressure from Big Pharma - they have lost the art of diagnosis. And, with the view that human beings are no more than a collection of chemicals in a bag - to paraphrase one materialist - their ability to heal has become increasingly limited. Which no doubt accounts for the increasing numbers of people who are turning to traditional medicine, or alternative healing methodologies which do treat the whole person and which do recognise that we are far more than a material organism; that we do have free will and that it is mind which influences matter and no healing methodology which does not take this into account can be truly effective.

There is demonstrable evidence of the Mind-Body connection and the power of Mind ... Mind, not Brain ... to influence body and a healing process, but in the main science rejects this reality. The materialist mindset can only be maintained if such things are denied and if consciousness and mind and free will do not exist. However, as always, there are some who are prepared to push the boundaries of belief and the study of the neuro-plasticity of the brain is making it harder to deny the obvious.

And yes, one of the reasons why this area of medical science has advanced is because of the developments in brain imaging technology. Science is not all bad, in fact much good has come out of it, but my point is that it is not as good as it should or could be and is far more dangerous and destructive than it needs to be.

And the belief, for it is only a belief, which materialism posits, that there is no such thing as free will is a position somewhat at odds with how our society works. If there is no such thing as free will and if we are no more than robots responding to programming then how can anyone ever be held accountable for their actions? How can anyone be charged, convicted or punished for a crime? How can anyone be rehabilitated? What is the point of social workers, of Alcoholics Anonymous, of aid for Africa or of self-help groups if we are incapable of making reasoned, conscious decisions and instigating change?

The materialist mindset is patently ridiculous. But it has been and remains powerful. At least for the moment.  We stand, I believe, at a seminal point in history where not only is it time to change, but we must change and science must change most of all. The centuries where science could claim it had the greatest knowledge, the greatest skills, the greatest capacity to act in the interests of humanity and the world are gone. That day has passed for along with the constructive which has come out of the system of science, we become increasingly aware of the destructive. Any system which is without conscience will increasingly do harm.

This is not to say that scientists as individuals are without conscience, ethics or morals but rather that the system within which they function has increasingly rejected these concepts and given that 'systems drive behaviour,' those scientists would of necessity become less ethical, less moral and less aware of their conscience.

Just like religions the system of science demands allegiance to the beliefs, philosophies, structures and functions of the 'organisation.'  Those who seek to challenge the religion of science may not be 'burned on any material stake' but they are certainly 'burned on the metaphorical stake' and are likely to find their career destroyed, employment limited and funding for their research impossible to find. Such a system is not what science should be about, or says it is about. But when you seek to defend a belief structure which, if seriously challenged would mean your system had to be completely re-thought and re-constructed, sanity goes out of the window. All that matters is 'saving the system.'

For the sake of humanity science needs to return to the place where it began - a system sourced in a belief not just of the material, but of the spiritual. It is only in the last century that the materialist mindset has gained a stranglehold. Most of our greatest scientific minds managed to balance both material and spiritual beliefs and some scientists, albeit a minority, still do. But there is a new movement afoot to establish materialism as the religion of the modern age and ages to come. It won't be successful because it is in essence not only nonsensical but impractical, but, until balance is restored, it could be very dangerous.

Materialism is in essence sabotaging the very best that science can do and can be. And it is this planet and everything on it which will pay the price.  If we are to have a future then it will be one where science in particular and society in general, has forged a partnership between materialism and spirituality.


What is now needed is the hieros gamos, or sacred marriage, where science, like spirituality, opens itself to all that is and accepts that everything has meaning even if we do not understand what that meaning is. We can look back on the age of materialism and recognise that it enabled us to learn invaluable things about the 'material' aspects of this world but it is not enough to take us any further.

A materialist mindset denies too many things to be ultimately functional. What it doesn't understand it decries, villifies, demonises and rejects.  In this world there is no free will, no greater consciousness, no spirituality, no purpose, no meaning, no personal accountability, no hope. There is just a world created through random, meaningless, opportunistic evolution.  We are here just because we are here and then we are gone. That's it! No point, no purpose, no meaning to any of it.

Such a world is soul-destroying. And in truth, such a mindset is ridiculous if not insane. The materialists have no proof there is no soul, no spirituality, no intelligent design, no purpose, no meaning, no mind beyond robotic and programmed brain function - but they deny such things all the same.

Materialist science doesn't have a too-hard basket - it has a 'don't understand so don't want to know' basket. Into this great 'black hole' are tossed that for which materialism not only does not have an answer, it cannot have an answer: NDE's (near death experiences which  demonstrate that brain is not mind and even with a 'dead' brain there can be consciousness); ESP (extra sensory perception which demonstrates that people can communicate through thought and feeling across oceans and through lead walls); the Mind-Body Connection (which demonstrates the ability of the mind to change brain and body function and to heal through belief); the power of prayer (which demonstrates the material manifestation of prayer in healing; astrology (which demonstrates archetypal forces at work in this world and in our lives), and all of the other life experiences which are generally classified as para-normal. It is a long list and what we need is for science to open its mind and its system to researching all that is, not simply that which fits the current mindset.

There are scientists out there, quietly working away within the expanded mindset of spirituality which embraces everything in this world but which should not be confused with religion. Religion should and sometimes does have a spiritual nature but spirituality does not need a religious nature. The times are changing and the more that we change at the personal level the more we instigate change at the social level.

The world is at a seminal point, participating in a time of transformation which astrology reveals, and change will come no matter how much it may be resisted. But, the difference will be in how long it takes and how much damage can be done beforehand and this is where each and every one of us can make a difference - when we see the world in a new way we support and strengthen those archetypal energies which are at work and which would have us move forward.

That path is taking us to who we always were: spiritual beings having a material experience. We have gathered the 'nuts and bolts' knowledge from materialist science and we now embark upon a renaissance of understanding and learning which will not only change the world, it will change us and how we live our lives.

It is an exciting time and in this year of transformation, 2012, we will lay the foundation for what many religions teach comes after death but which is in fact what we are here to create in this world where the material emanates from the spiritual and the true nature of life on earth is the magical, mystical and sacred marriage of the two.

We inhabit a conscious, active and creative world, not one composed of inert, dead matter. And within that world we are conscious, active and creative beings if we so choose. The world creates us and we create the world. Recognising that fact makes us the co-creators we are meant to be as opposed to someone simply going along for the ride as materialists would have us believe.

So what is the point of it all?

 Some people never spend time pondering the meaning of life while others, like me, never stop and have been doing it since childhood. However most people probably only ask the question 'what is the point of it all' in times of crisis.

You would think after more than fifty years of pondering, yes, I started before I was ten, that I might have come up with some conclusions. And I have although they have been and remain something of a moveable feast - a work in progress - which no doubt is how it should be.

 I suppose at core I have come to believe that we are spiritual beings having a material experience and the 'point of it all' is that experience. With a goodly amount of years behind one it is easier to gain perspective on one's own life and the lives of others - hindsight being a wonderful thing.

It has become clear that in many ways people are born as a unique Self and give or take some tweaking and adapting, pretty much remain that unique individual through long lifetimes. It has also become clear that some people have a greater ability to wrought change both in themselves or in their lives than do others. Which brings me to believe that in the main, as the Arabs would say, our lives are 'written.' In other words, before we come into this world, not only do we choose our family and circumstances we choose the life we will live; that being the lesson or series of lessons we need or desire.

So where does free will come in? And it does come in, it must come in, or otherwise we would be no more than automated robots, computerised programmes, mechanical beings who go through the motions and I have seen enough of life, my own and others, to find that concept not only untrue but pointless. And there does have to be a point to it all.

With free will we may not be able to change what happens to us but we can change how we respond and react to what happens to us. In other words, we choose how we will live the life we have chosen to live. Admittedly, this ability to choose will exist to greater and lesser degrees in people because we are all different, but no doubt even this factor was a part of our Soul's plan before embarking on this life. Astrology can show quite clearly who and what we are and who and what we are called to be. There is no doubt that two people having the same experiences will process them in different ways - we each live our life in our own unique way and that is the point of it all.

There is no other person who is the same of us and there never has been and never will be, so our uniqueness is eternal and stands as a sacred expression of all that is - God, cosmic intelligence, consciousness or whatever one wishes to call the power which makes this world and us manifest. We are expressions of that power; unique, sacred, wonderful,perfect expressions of that power. We are God, or god, or cosmic consciousness made manifest. We are an expression of all that is and we are one with all that is.

Consciousness is the source and form of this world and every single thing in it, you, me, a grain of sand, rock, bird, plane - you get the picture - the lot, is created from and of this consciousness. We are consciousness made manifest in a material world. We are all connected - we are all one. We are God and God is us. There is no separation.

The point of it all is that we are an expression of God, and I have to revert to that word because religious connotations aside, it reflects most accurately the intelligence at work in this world, made manifest in this world. We are co-creators and that is the purpose and meaning of our lives no matter how long, short, great or insignificant they may be. In fact, there is no long, short, great or insignificant just as there is no time - all is and always has been and the part we play in this world is as unique and as important as any other.

The point of it all is that we exist and in this material experience we grow as spiritual beings. We may not be able to change our circumstances but we can always change what we do with them and that is the wonder of it all. If we take responsibility for choosing our lives then nothing is anyone's fault - it is simply our responsibility and our gift to the process of creation.

Whether in joy or in suffering we make manifest the creative force and we can choose whether that force is sourced in fear or in love. Both are forms of connection and connection is the foundation of this universe, as even modern physics would agree, but love is the most powerful connective force and that is why this universe exists as an expression of what we call Love - in fact connectedness - because it must be founded in the most powerful connective power, not the least.

Fear exists to show us what Love is - opposites not only attract, they reveal. And perhaps too, in this material world, Fear can be our greatest teacher, leading us to live lives of Love - lives of connectedness. It is this forgetting of the truth which leads us to believe in Death and that too is a lesson for this world because in the world beyond this one (and in fact in this world) there is no real death. Energy, as even science agrees, cannot be destroyed, it can only be transformed and death, as the ancients and esoterics teach, is merely a transformation.

What makes this world different to the real world is that it is a world of matter , as well as spirit and a world where death exists. In truth, if we did not believe in death as we do, if we believed that when our physical body died we continued to live as our own unique, conscious selves, there would be no fear. And without fear we would be living a life of Love.

We would also be living a life of responsibility, as custodians and caretakers of this world and others, and ourselves, instead of a life of exploiters and manipulators; the latter being sourced in a fear of lack and separation. Believing that we continue to live beyond this world demands that we are accountable and will be held accountable. I don't mean accountable in any punitive way because I do not believe that is how the cosmos works, but we will know what we have done and how we have lived and the impact we have had on others and this world. There will not be an end of who and what we are and what we have done and been.

In such a world we will recognise that the most important thing in our lives is to find meaning and purpose and not to gain wealth or power.  Not that there is anything wrong with wealth or power if those are the experiences which come to us and which we have chosen for this life. As much as anything, accepting or believing we have chosen our life gives a greater opportunity to accept that life, to be present in that life, to value that life and not to live in a future, possible life.

Meaning, or finding meaning in what we experience is an essential part of surviving as a human being as studies show. Meaningless or a sense of meaningless and lack of purpose lead to deep depression and joylessness, if not often, suicide. We need meaning to live fulfilling lives and that is why it is so important to come up with an idea of what 'the point of it all is.' It doesn't have to be the same 'point of it all' which others have reached, but there does need to be some sort of point to it all- some meaning and purpose in our existence.

The point of it all, for me anyway, is to learn to live life, no matter what it brings, with the knowledge that this is merely a brief moment where we play a part on the cosmic stage, and that when the time is right for us, the time that we have chosen, we simply exit our material body and return home.

Sometimes life doesn't feel the least bit spiritual

Sometimes even trying to live life from a spiritual perspective is irritating. I suppose it is a lesser version of the 'dark night of the soul,' when the paper-taste of life is strong in one's mouth and all you want to do is spit it out.

Sometimes things are just crappy, shitty, awful, hard, horrible, disappointing, tedious, upsetting and utterly pointless. Or at least it feels utterly pointless and perhaps that place of pointlessness is just where one needs to be.

A good rant or rave at life, god, consciousness, the world, fate or whatever the fuck runs this crazy place can be very satisfying. Swearing is good too. The worst words you can think of are the most satisfying no doubt because they have had shock value for centuries and that is retained in cellular memory.

Sometimes life stinks. Sometimes it is cruel, unfair, mean-spirited and the thought of 'making the best of it' just makes you feel like sticking your fingers down your throat and vomiting back at life the ghastliness of it all. It doesn't sound very spiritual but then that may be a seriously subjective judgement. Perhaps it is more spiritual than anything because it is so real.

Putting Pollyanna in her place, not just taking it and taking it and making the best of it can build grit, determination and ultimately a sense of humour. As the alchemists of old and new would say, it is in the 'worst' of things that we find the 'gold,' and the treasure is that which is thrown away and not valued.

We don't have any true answer to life. All we ever have is a set of beliefs, which are our 'answers' and which make sense to us most of the time. Sometimes nothing makes sense and those answers are as dry as the dust of an endless desert and as destructive. And yet even the desert is seen as a place of growth - it's true value and nourishment being hidden.

But no doubt it will pass. And in the words of  Mr Bennett in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - no doubt sooner than it should. But for now, perhaps the task is to rejoice in the utter awful disappointment of it all and to recognise that life, in many ways, is utterly ridiculous and should sometimes be seen as such.

Understanding what we mean when we use the word spiritual

 What's in a word? Quite a lot actually. There is a common understanding of what a word means but many words, if not most, will also have extended or greater meaning which , if we do not understand them or know what they are, will lead to misunderstandings.

It is where the phrase, 'divided by a common language comes from.' We assume if we share a common language that we understand each other well but that is not the case. Just as an example, we all know what a cat is and when we use the word 'cat' we recognise, at least as English speakers, the animal which we call cat.

However, beyond the literal meaning of the word, cat can mean many things. For one person it may be delightful companion and gracious pet; for another it may be dirty animal and ungrateful pet and for someone else it can be the source of allergy, asthma, suffering and fear. But the thing about a cat or a dog or a horse or a rose is that it is easier to fully explain what these things mean to us in particular. Not so with a word like spirituality!

A cat or dog is a material thing. We can look at it, study it, take it apart and gain great understanding of it even though we may never experience its 'catness' as a shaman or seer might. We can't do that with Love however. That is an intangible thing. Love is like gravity; we know it exists because we can see its effects but we don't understand what it is and we can't prove its existence in any empirical way.

And that is the same with spirituality. More so with spirituality because it is a word like 'God' which has negative connotations for many. Not only is it misunderstood by those who would embrace it but it is also misunderstood by those who would reject it. Many people would put 'spirituality' in the same category as 'religion' or something equating with God. It can be associated with those things but it does not need to be and that is not what it really is. At least not to me. It may very well be all of those things to someone else.

When I pick up a book or decide to read an article which contains the word 'spirituality' I am expecting to find explorations and explanations emanating from a perspective of connectedness, holism and a capacity to see this world, human beings and our lives as being about more than the material - as being part of something greater, more complex, more connected than most believe.

Living my life as a spiritual and material being means that I believe everything has meaning, even though I may not understand what the meaning is and everything works just as it should even though I may not like it.... it is weaving a tapestry of the tangible and the intangible. We do not understand gravity; but we know its effects and we do not understand spirituality; but we know its effects ... or at least we do if we choose to look, explore and experiment.

Spirituality can be a part of religion but it does not need to be although religion benefits. Spirituality can be a part of science although it does not need to be, although science benefits. Spirituality embraces everything, even that which we do not understand and draws upon the rational and the intuitive; the known and the unknown; the 'certain' and the uncertain; the mythical and the mathematical; the logical and the illogical... you get the picture... and it does so with reverence, awe, curiosity and enjoyment.

All of which would probably have those who choke on the word 'spirituality' recoiling in horror anyway. So how can I more simply explain what spirituality means to me? Let me try to apply it to one of my great loves, cooking.

Taking a spiritual view of this I don't just need the knowledge of cooking... the scientific aspect.... I also need the ingredients ... the material ... and I need the spiritual which includes the art, the intuition, the reverence for the ingredients and the recipe .... both need to be of the best quality and all need to be respected and a belief that the honouring and respecting of the ingredients, the process and the end result, the eating, adds another ingredient... love.... which will not only influence the quality of the end result but which will also be offered to and received by those who eat it.

Seeing life from a spiritual perspective also means that I believe the food has its own energy; the act of creating a dish has its own energy and the appreciation, honour, reverence, attention etc., which I put into the process also has its own energy. And all of these energy sources come together to create the final dish and contribute to its flavour, it's texture and its nutritional value. 

I suspect that the materialists would find it easier if I used the word 'art' to describe spirituality but that is missing the point. The best art is deeply spiritual and materially excellent; the spiritual does not need art but art needs the spiritual. 


Living a spiritual life is seeing the world as one; a connectedness of consciousness whether it is you, me, a cake, a cow, a skyscraper, a stone, a tree, a television set.... everything which exists at the material level is sourced in the spiritual. And in that belief there is wonder, awe, fascination and delight. The world is a truly wonderful place and even more so when we see it through spiritual 'eyes.'

A life well lived

How quickly we forget.

I suspect it is part of our survival mechanism but I am once again conscious of how quickly we forget. I wrote a poem today called, How Short This Life.... no doubt the impetus came from inner thoughts or ponderings but, as is the way with creativity, it popped out.

And it reminded me of my time huddled in the wardrobe in Angola as bullets flew around the house and the realisation I had when the terror ended and I was safe, as to how important it was to 'do the work' and deal with things on a daily basis. I know that is hard but it is a worthy goal.

None of us know how long we have on this earth and few of us are prepared, or would choose, to leave it with regrets of things left undone. Not everyone has a choice of course but we have more choice than perhaps we realise or utilise. The saying, 'never go to sleep on an argument' is in the same vein and while not all arguments can be resolved, or perhaps the foundation of the argument, in an instant, there is no doubt that one can lay the groundwork for resolution sooner not later.

What stops us doing it is often ego, and sometimes fear. Ego demands one is right instead of being gracious. Fear demands the same thing, but more from a horror of looking foolish, or of feeling disempowered. In reality, at the point of death, they are both irrelevant.

I crawled out of that cupboard thinking, if I had died, what would I have regretted not doing... what wounded relationship lay unhealed? There was only one and I immediately set to say what I would have said if I had known my life would be over in an instant... as it might have been.

In reality, there can be no pain, no hate, no fear, no rage without love and at that moment of death there is no pain, no hate, no fear, no rage.... there is only love.

So it seems to me that saying sorry, even if you don't believe it is your fault; offering an olive branch even if you think it might not be accepted; acting with graciousness no matter the outcome and simply realising that most of the things which tie us up in knots are trivial in the face of what really matters: we are born, we share our lives with people we love and we die. The only bit over which we have any control is the middle bit and we get to choose how we share.

More laughter, more grace, more compassion, more understanding, more hope, more tolerance.... these are the ingredients which make for a life well lived and at the end of the day the only thing which matters is that a life is well lived. All the rest is dross and dregs.

If you believe there is nothing beyond this world and you happen to be right,  then a life well lived is all you have to experience and to offer and if  you believe and you happen to be right, that this world is merely one step on a long path of learning and becoming, then a life well lived is invaluable; both for the here and now and for the hereafter.