AELLA.ORG

Before moving forward, especially in regard to articles posted on the subject of spirituality and religion, I do like to state my position for the simple reason that I wish all to read my work. I hold no “labels” to my spirituality. I am not an atheist, as I “feel” that a spiritual nature exists, however, I am not affiliated with any denomination of the many organized religious theologies. I do agree with much of the Buddhist beliefs and find a great deal of valuable lessons between the lines in almost all religious scripture from every culture. Of course, that being said, there is much I could never agree with, or fully understand. I simply hope that the reader will take the message as it was meant to be stated.

The Natural Selection of Spiritual Evolution:

“The Voyage of the Beagle” or the “Journal of Researches”, penned by Charles Darwin and published in 1839, is an account of Darwin’s travels on the HMS Beagle which sailed from Plymouth Sound, Plymouth, England on December 27th, 1831, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy. The expedition, which lasted almost five years, returning to port on October 2nd 1836, came at a time when many Western Europeans were exploring the world. During the voyage, Darwin spent much time on foreign soil, placing his powerful intellect and observation skills in such locations as the Galapagos Islands, where some incredibly startling discoveries were realized. The data compiled during “The Voyage of the Beagle” gave Darwin the inspiration for the “Origin of Species”, which was published on November 24th, 1859 and even prior to their publications, there has been a war between organized religion and evolutionary theory. Originally titled “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” or “The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life”, the work propelled growing support for the theory of ongoing evolution. In later editions of the book, the title was shortened to the more well known “Origin of Species” and cites evolutionary ideas going back to Aristotle and the earlier Greek philosopher Empedocles. It is highly suggested that anyone deciding to read the Origin of Species, first refer the The Voyage of the Beagle, where the evidence to support Darwin’s revelations were realized.

Quite obviously, at the beginning of the 19th century, the widely held ideals of the day were still under the powerful scrutiny of the church and the belief in a “Transmutation of Species”, coined by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1809, was certainly not a sanctioned theory. Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus, had actually outlined a hypothesis based of the same theory in the 1790′s. Subsequently, these ideas brought about by pioneers of the time gave fuel for Charles Darwin’s work and given that he was a prominent, well respected scientist, his findings were taken quite seriously, attracting much attention amid the global scientific community. Within 20 years of The Origin of Species’s publication, the idea of evolution had become mainstream belief as fact. Since that time, there has been no discounting the truth in that evolution is a natural process in the existence of all life as we know it.

Proof that evolution is fact has discounted all detraction, aside from those who refuse to see the reality around them. A human being that discounts evolution, does so from the standpoint of organized religious belief and the battle between the two stances still being waged today is something that we, as a race, can ill afford. We have indeed reached a “crossroads” in our planetary existence where our intellectual inadequacies as a collective species has allowed such foolish conflict to become a determent to our world and no longer just ourselves. Organized religion’s continued attack on already proven scientific fact and its inability to “evolve” itself to fit a dying planet’s desperate need for true spirituality is one of the main causes for many of our Earthly woes, past and present.

Organized religion is a well known catalyst for many of the horrors that the human race has inflicted upon itself and our planet. It is more than speculative to state that religious ideology is in direct responsibility for stunting the intellectual growth of our society, stripping women/groups of their rights, the relieving of our freedoms by influencing governmental policies and providing the justification of violent or murderous acts on a global scale. There is no denying recorded history. We have now reached an age where human overpopulation, partnered with the poor way in which we live relative to our environment and the mishandling of destructive technologies will doom life on Earth to mass extinction in the very near future. So, where do we turn for clarity when we certainly can not turn to organized religion or our mutual governments for truth or answers? How does one find true spirituality?

At this point, I find it imperative that we define the words “spirituality” and “intention”. Since true spiritual connection with oneself can not be achieved without a basic understanding of the concept and intention being the stimulus for any act, these two terms must be addressed.

Spirituality ~ An ultimate or immaterial reality, an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being or the deepest values and meanings by which someone lives. Spirituality can also be described as one’s connection to their intuition or “inner self”. When considering how to acquire a connection to the spirit, a most important factor must be adhered to, and that is truth to the self. This can only be achieved by living in the “here and now,” every moment interacting consistently without any negative emotional state and with pure intention based on one’s own morality structure.

Intention ~ A reference to what one plans to do or achieve. Intention simply signifies a course of action that one proposes to follow. This term is very simple and it is based entirely on an individual’s morality base. There are good intentions, and there are less favorable ones. “Good” intentions can have negative effects and “poor” intentions can have positive ones. Humans live and grow socially based on the outcome of their actions stemming from their intentions.

With these two terms being the given definitions for what humanity deems “spiritual”, as well as its “goal” in the process of seeking said spirit, the questions concerning human intentions can only multiply in regard to the current path. Humans still murder other humans over religious beliefs. They still destroy and defile the planet they live on without a care for life or their own posterity but this does not solidify these negative traits as “inherent”. Humanity may be, as a whole, still somewhat far from understanding the life giving “source” from which the spirit originates, however, the truth of the matter is that many humans have “good” intentions, merely “bad” direction. Those in control of the “direction” have lost any meaning of “purpose” and have become obsessed with “control” over that which can never be controlled. In other words, those with power are corrupted by fear of losing said power, which eventually, they will indeed lose.

Religious ideology has always “branched off” into separate movements. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia in the year 2000, there were 33,820 specific denominations of Christianity, alone. This is a staggering statistic and it is very telling to the point of this article, that being, humanity is still in the process of searching for answers. Human beings have not only been evolving physically, socially and technologically as a species, but spiritually, as well. True, the spirit has evolved very slowly in comparison to the technological “explosion” that the industrial age sparked and this is the current dilemma. Humanity has technologically “outgrown” the spiritual understanding of which it now possesses and it is time for evolution to take a new step. From the very beginning, we have sought to understand what we are and why we exist out of a fear of the unknown. This fear and collective feeling of inadequacy must be shed like an old skin. The human race must now become a species that coexists “with” the planet, rather than “on” it.

When our ancestors first looked to the sky in self awareness, they began the process which seeks to understand a meaning and purpose for existence in the universe. It became only natural to see the warming, life giving sun as a “holy beacon” and the moon in the darkness as a negative spirit, fighting against all that gave them comfort and security. They understood, quite obviously, that winter meant animals would be more scarce and vegetation would die, yet spring would bring about a rebirth of all things. “Labels” ensued, claiming constellations as guiding deities in the night, mapping locations and aiding in the birth of spiritual beliefs, some of which we still cling to today. Many place this particular point of view in root “sun god” theology, which has been touched upon in many accounts and is indeed a noted factor in countless mythologies, which, at the very least, is prevalent going back to the Sumerian culture.

The movie, “Zeitgeist” places the “sun god” theology in sync with the son of god, king of kings, the bringer of light, the light of the world, and the lamb of god, among many other names going back to a time when humanity first set foot on the Earth. This deity is sometimes attributed with the zodiac sign of the particular age and the producers of the movie claim that in almost all cases in these mythologies, the story begins on the date of said god’s birth to a virgin mother on December 25th, where three wise kings are led by the star in the east(Sirius) in order to find him. He is well known for performing miracles such as walking on water and healing the sick, baptized at the age of 30, thus beginning his ministry. Surrounded by twelve followers, one of which always betrays him to crucifixion, he is then placed in a tomb and after three days, rises from the grave and ascends into heaven.

Although Zeitgeist claims that there are countless mythological deities throughout human history who share many of, if not all of these attributes, such as Jesus of Nazareth, Dionysus of Greece, Mithra of Persia, Thor of Scandinavia, Krishna of India, Horus of Egypt, Indra of Tibet, Eros of the Druids, Prometheus of the Caucuses and Tien of China as only a few examples in a very long list, the truth of the matter is that it is important not to believe everything that you see in a movie until you have done your own research. The list of deities that Zeitgeist gives is actually quite extensive but unfortunately, not all of the information that the movie suggests is accurate. Although some of the astrological correlations in regard to Jesus of Nazareth’s birth are quite fascinating, there is simply no evidence to support their claims in regard to the majority of the other deities that are listed in the movie. The story in the night sky for everyone to see beginning on the evening of December 22nd is however again, quite interesting.

The star in the east, Sirius, is the brightest star in the night sky. On December 24th, Sirius aligns with the three brightest stars in Orion’s belt which are still known today by the same name as they were in ancient days, the “Three Kings”. The Three Kings, aligned with Sirius, then point to the rising of the sun on December 25th. The Three Kings follow the star in the east to find the sunrise, the birth of the sun or “son” of God. As the sun rises, it does so into the constellation of Virgo, or the virgin. Virgo is also referred to as the “House of Bread”, often signified or represented by a young woman holding a basket of wheat, and is the actual translation of the word “Bethlehem”. So, a claim could be made that this would make Bethlehem a reference to the constellation Virgo, a location in the heavens, not on the Earth.

It is also very important to note that from the perspective of the northern hemisphere, from summer to winter, the sun appears to move further south each day, becoming smaller as days grow shorter. Again, this appears as the process of death and to ancient people, the death of the sun or son. On December 22nd, the beginning of the winter solstice, the sun reaches its lowest point in the sky and at least to human perception, appears to stand still for three days, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th. During this “death” or pause of three days, the sun sits in the vicinity of the constellation, the Southern Cross. After the three day pause and on December 25th, the sun moves one degree north in the night sky signifying the beginning of the lengthening of days and a shift toward the rebirth of life. So, the sun dies on a cross, is dead for three days, then is resurrected only to ascend into the heavens. This is what the producers of Zeitgeist claim to be the reason for what they have labeled as the “sun gods” sharing the same mythological story. It is the story of the sun’s transition leading back into the northern hemisphere and signifying rebirth. However, the resurrection of the sun is not celebrated until the spring equinox or Easter. At this time, the sun is considered to truly defeat darkness. After the equinox, days become longer and spring is in full bloom hence, rebirth.

Zeitgeist goes on to explain that the twelve disciples or companions are representations of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac which the sun or son travels with. When studying old representations of the Zodiac, what you will find is the depiction of a cross with the sun in the center surrounded and encased in a circle by the twelve Zodiac symbols. This is not originally a Christian symbol, but actually an old Pagan symbol, represented by a cross with a circle or the sun behind its center. According to some, this is also why early depiction of Jesus is always seen with a cross behind his head, as he is the sun or son.

All of this again, is very interesting and fascinating, however, it would be less than fair for us not to point out that the creators of the movie have, to say the least, generated information that is simply false. For one, they use the Egyptian god Horus as their main and primary example to correlate to the story of Jesus of Nazareth, suggesting that the mythological account of Horus mirrored that of Jesus more closely than any other. This is not the case at all. They begin by referring to Horus as the Egyptian “sun god” which is completely inaccurate. Horus was the god of the sky, whilst Ra was always considered to be the Egyptian “sun god” and all accounts of ancient Egyptian mythology point to that. He is represented by the symbol of the great eye, which even today, graces United States currency. Also, there is very little in the story of Horus or Ra that mirrors the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Horus’s mother, Isis was never even considered to be a virgin, nor were the majority of the correlations that Zeitgeist points to as mythological “fact” ever a part of Horus’s story, or Ra’s for that matter. Many of the other deities listed also share very little in relation to the story of Jesus. The fact that the producers of Zeitgeist went so far as to fabricate information in attempt to sway the viewer to believe that Jesus of Nazareth never even existed points to a negative personal issue with Christianity, itself. I, myself, hold no such grudges, even though I also hold no religious labels to my spirituality. It places a negative spin on the factual information that the Zeitgeist movies do relay, which many will discount due to one or two instances of fabrication.

In any case, none of this, even if the “sun god” ideology and the story of Jesus was completely generated based on astrological events, provides proof that there is no god or that a “divine purpose” for humanity does not exist. It also does not diminish the existence of enlightened beings such as Jesus of Nazareth, or their efforts to educate humanity in ways of spiritual growth. The entity considered to be the same “spirit” known as Jesus was spoken of by many cultures about the globe, even in Native American lore, long before the white or “bearded” man was ever encountered. There is an old story which speaks of Jesus warning Native Americans that the bearded man would come and try to force the symbol of the cross upon them using his name. Jesus supposedly visited Buddha, Muhammad and many other notable figures throughout religion and lore over the centuries. One thing is for certain, Jesus of Nazareth never asked anyone to worship him by way of Christianity, nor did he ask for killing to be enforced on any level, certainly not in his name. It is important to also note that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed, born a Hebrew and not a Christian. Christians would do well to remember this.

The facts also do not claim that beings such as these are not “sons of god”, as we are all sons and daughters of any universal deity that may, or may not exist. It simply means that our race has not reached a level of spiritual evolution to where it can properly label its true purpose. It says that we are still evolving from the original question as to why we exist and we are indeed, most certainly filled with a fear of the unknown. No member of the human race can claim to know the face of God when they can not even find peace among one another or they turn to stories in the night sky in an effort to define themselves and their purpose. Until we shed the fear of truth and our own inadequacies, we will never find the meaning of what “god” is or wants from us.

The Urantia Book, sometimes referred to as the Urantia Papers or the Fifth Epochal Revelation, is a philosophical account of God, Jesus, cosmology, religion, science, history and the destiny of all species in existence. Its origin is placed somewhere in Chicago, Illinois in between the 1920s and the 1950s. There has been much debate and speculation regarding the conception of the account and its authors. The word “Urantia” is claimed to be the true name of the planet Earth and the writers of the book state that its goal is to raise global consciousness and define humanity’s place in the universe. Among many topics, the book describes and expands upon the origin of our species, our relationship with God and a detailed account of Jesus. The exact authors are unknown and instead, the papers are presented as though they are bestowed upon humanity by “celestial beings” as an “idiot’s guide” to existence and purpose. It is important to note that some of the scientific theory in the Urantia book are far ahead of even the most daring and intellectually based science or science fiction of the time, much of which is based on facts that took humanity until decades later to realize.

In these papers, God is described as a loving father, an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite and eternal spirit who is inherently kind, naturally compassionate, and everlastingly merciful. God is said to be a mystery, even to “higher” beings than our own, simply because of the perplexity of his perfection and infinite scope of wisdom. He does not “hide” from his creations, he is merely inapproachable because the enormity of his grandeur is incomprehensible to the evolving minds of mortal beings. He is sometimes referred to as the “invisible maker” and we, as evolving life forms can only view him through his diverse creation as well as through the ministration of his sons and their many subordinates. So, to give a two thousand page written piece of work any form of justice by shortening its main ideal, the point behind the book is to inform humanity that its place in the universe is to cradle and spread life, thereby proving its spiritual growth. Each individual can move on to a new form of life “care taking” after their Earthy demise, possibly to other planets and eventually closer to the center of all existence where God, as perfection, dwells.

God, the father is said to have given a direct gift to each individual, which is a fragment of his eternal spirit called, the thought adjuster. This fragment is supposed to guide each being to a better understanding of him. This can be attributed the the idea of an “inner voice” or “divine spark”. In essence, it is the belief that all beings in the universe seem to have an inner knowledge between what is right, and what is wrong. Following the inner voice will simply lead you closer to God. In other words, doing what you know to be moral, will make you true to yourself and therefore, to God. Persistently embracing “sin” is the same thing as rejecting what your inner voice is telling you not to do, or the will of God. Performing acts which you know to be sin, eventually pushes you to become what is considered an “unrighteous” or “unreal” being. Those who indulge in these actions eventually find themselves to become “non-existent”. There are no teachings of Hell in Urantia.

Urantia tells about the history of the Earth, which is only one small sphere among countless millions with inhabited life, going back billions of years and according to its author, “this story is graphically told within the fossil pages of the vast ‘stone book’ of world record … the pages of this gigantic bio-geologic record unfailingly tell the truth if you but acquire skill in their interpretation”. It embraces the idea that God’s plan is an evolutionary one and that the first humans that walked the Earth, evolved from a superior form of primate which originated from a lemur ancestor. Urantia claims that mortal man is not an accident and neither is evolution. According to the papers, evolution is a very specifically controlled process and its purpose is to generate or produce beings of “will dignity” that can develop a spiritual nature and survive material existence, eventually moving on to attain eternal spiritual careers throughout the universe.

It teaches not only biological evolution, but also that social and spiritual evolution can excel or revert due to the fact that “overseers” are imperfect beings as well, making mistakes or causing deliberate rebellion. Progression itself is supposed to follow a “divine plan” even granting periodic “gifts” of technological or cultural advancement or “visits” by heavenly teachers with the goal of advancing a world to a level of “light and life” in the far distant future. If the plan is set back by mistakes of an “overseer,” or “wrecked” by deliberate rebellion, it can require long periods of time to put the project back on track. Urantia itself is said to be a “dark and confused” planet that is “greatly retarded in all phases of intellectual progress and spiritual attainment” comparative to other inhabited worlds due to a poor history of rebellion and the mistakes of its “overseers”.

Fiction or not, the Urantia papers are an incredible account and highly suggested reading, especially to any who believes in the Christian faith, yet understands the basic philosophy of science and the evolutionary theory. If one decides to peruse this particular account, it would be suggested that you “stray” from the many on-line interpretations of the work and find an actual hard cover copy of the original. Turning our focus back to the subject of religion and why it does not work for humanity, here is an excerpt from the Urantia Papers on religion in particular. Paper 101, “The Real Nature of Religion”:

“Religious experience, being essentially spiritual, can never be fully understood by the material mind; hence the function of theology, the psychology of religion. The essential doctrine of the human realization of God creates a paradox in finite comprehension. It is well-nigh impossible for human logic and finite reason to harmonize the concept of divine immanence, God within and a part of every individual, with the idea of God’s transcendence, the divine domination of the universe of universes. These two essential concepts of Deity must be unified in the faith-grasp of the concept of the transcendence of a personal God and in the realization of the indwelling presence of a fragment of that God in order to justify intelligent worship and validate the hope of personality survival. The difficulties and paradoxes of religion are inherent in the fact that the realities of religion are utterly beyond the mortal capacity for intellectual comprehension.”

Here we see an example of an intelligent mind which holds that you keep your faith in God, clearly stating that humanity has not evolved to a point in its perception of God to label the concept into organized theology. Since organized religion certainly does not have a proper answer for us, we must turn inward, to our hearts to find God. In true estimation of reason, one can only assume that any deity creating a life form of “higher” intelligence would do so based on the purpose of its initial intention, which again, is creation. If we are to believe in the concept of a god that created all life with the goal of spreading, care-taking and cradling life, then we must ascertain that a self aware being generated in the “image of God” with intelligent capability, then has the same purpose or function in the name of its creator. In this writer’s personal opinion, we as a race, have obviously fallen quite short of said responsibility.

Our Earthly “comforts” rate higher in most “civilized” societal rationale than human life itself does. When you consider one single point alone, that being our importance placed on having choice of cut meat, lovingly wrapped in cellophane in the supermarket, most of which winds up rotting, is on “higher shelf” than the lives of 18,000 children starving to death each day, it is safe to say that we are failing miserably. The same industry that is in direct responsibility for this, is also the major cause for a rise in global temperature due to its methane output and the cause of massive deforestation, as well as some of the most extensive water pollution. Whether or not you believe in global warming or cast the idea aside as a myth, the stone cold facts remain, and it is not a future event. It is already here. Runaway global heating is the next step as we rise but a few more degrees, the entire planetary balance will shift and humanity is indeed, the main cause. Humanity’s actions lead to the extinction of over two dozen known species of animal life each day and eventually, we will follow them.

For the sake of the hypothetical, a very sobering question could be posed to all of humanity for their consideration. Suppose for a moment, that there is a form of “deity” watching our actions with whichever intention you desire to envision. Let us again suppose that said entity or entities are “higher” beings, whether gods, spirits, angels, aliens or universal forces. If indeed, they are watching us, what do you believe they would think of our race and if there is a cosmic “community” waiting for our graduation from the “stone-ages” of humanity, do you honestly believe that “they” would allow us to enter it, given our destructive nature? Our current direction, which will most certainly lead us to extinction due to our own actions in exacerbating climate changes and the consistent destruction of all life on our world, do you honestly believe that “they” would intervene in order to save our species? A more precise question would be, do you believe “they” would grant us access into their “fold” or simply allow a self destructive race to exterminate itself based on the simple reasoning that one day, with a greater technology, we might turn into a more powerful destructive force which affects them, as well?

Through simple mathematical equation agreed upon by most of the scientific community, it is more than likely that billions of planets very much like the Earth, teeming with life, exist throughout the universe. This estimate is based on the limited scope of our current technology which only allows us to see a small portion of the universe and rationally speaking, the universe is as infinite as space and time. This would obviously mean that we most likely are not as alone as we allow ourselves to feel. If one agrees with the possibility that there may be other races in existence outside the small sphere that we dwell upon, there is also the possibility that some of those races may possess superior technology and/or spiritual insight. If the human race is incapable of overcoming a form of cosmic “examination” by “overseers” who are responsible for the care-taking of all life in existence, then rationality answers the question with this very simple phrase, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

For the purpose of “full disclosure” this writer turned away from “organized religion” long ago for simple reasons of oppression. In my personal opinion, spirituality comes from within, not from a book compiled by men to control other men, however, I embrace any spiritual ideology when the individual utilizing said ideology sees the message of compassion within it and disregards the barbarity. Is there a god? No human can say for certain whether the answer is yes or no. No human will ever be capable of convincing me of an answer, one way, or the other. All opinions are simply speculative at this point in our evolution.

I will however, offer this before parting ways with you, the reader. If there is a god, said god would not be capable of base, primal human emotions, which all have a stake in the root of fear, therefore, the idea of any god enacting “vengeance” through “hate” of any kind is simply laughable, at best. It is truly the ignorance of man that could lead to such an interpretation of an omnipotent being. One can only come to such conclusion based on fear, which again, is the human condition, not a condition of an all powerful, all knowing god. There is however, a certain logic to the notion that an all powerful creator, would indeed allow the self-inflicted extinction of a species, which simply could not learn to live peacefully with other forms of life in a non-destructive coexistence.

Anthony Damiano
Founder of AELLA