Ash Wednesday - we Catholics troop to early mass and have crosses marked on our foreheads, a sign of our mortality (ashes) written in the cross (suffering before immortality). It brings up the "mystery of faith" - the phrase used by the priest as the bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Christ. It speaks not only of this mystery, but of the whole concept of Christianity - that by a blood sacrifice of the Son of God, humans can pass into the being of Perfection. How does that work? Where, exactly, is the reasoning in this?
This is the core mystery, and it is not new - semblances of such a belief had been in the Mideast for centuries before Christ; just as sacrifice has been a fundamental element of many, if not most, religions. It is a mystery, but it is fundamental to the core of what it means to be human. Through suffering, we can rise above suffering; through suffering, the gods (or God) can raise all human kind above suffering. But again, how - and why?
In "Star Trek - the Next Generation" is the fascinating character named "Q" who can do anything - including change the laws of physics. And yet the Q Continuum knows that the human potential is greater still. Physicist and fiction writer Arthur Clarke also had the view that the human potential was beyond the limits of what we now understand - but what, exactly, might this be? How can we be beyond "Q"?
We have been discussing extraterrestrials lately, and with that I have gotten comments as such: why? Why are they doing all this? Perhaps there is a hybrid agenda and perhaps they are safe-keeping us from ourselves before our next evolutionary leap, but why the cattle mutilations? Why the "now you see them, now you don't" game? One might assume that because this seems illogical, that they do not exist - but irrationality, as we understand it, has long been at the base of our most cherished and revered traditions. I do not think these traditions are wrong because of this, but rather point to something beyond daily reality - just as the UFOs do.
But this piece is not really about UFOs - or ghosts or psi events. It is about steps to greater levels of understanding - of consciousness. One example about knowledge given us by metaphysical philosophers is that of the glass sky scrapper, where the glass is tinted to become one-way mirrors. In this building, those on top can see all those below - but those below who look up can only see their own reflection. Such is the hierarchy of knowledge. The Eastern religions have a similar concept - that of concentric rings around God (or the Absolute) much like the solar system - or a vertical hierarchy much like the glass building. Humans are often put in the middle layer (depending on the intent of the teacher), where less cognoscente beings and inanimate objects are below, and wiser beings, as well as angels and various other entities, are above - or, in the circle diagram, more towards the center. However high these other beings might be, however, they still do not partake of the center, or the top. It is thus that angels were (and are) considered less than humans - for their place closer to God is set; humans, on the other hand, are made to achieve the ultimate union. In this way, we might be seen as superior to the Q, or the angels, or alien beings.
As much as such things as aliens and psi phenomena are fascinating, it is through the old religions where we can learn how to leap beyond them. It may well be that our collective evolution has to lead through them, but individually this is not necessary. Individually, we have the way - as illogical as it may seem from our vantage point. We may be as mice compared to an alien race, but they would still be as microbes to the cosmic center. And so I set my priorities; in a fascinating and maddeningly incomprehensible world, we have been given, at the very least, the initial key to it all. According to Christianity, we don't even have to understand, just have faith. According to others, infinite time will take care of the obstacles. But according to human nature, we have to try to understand - even if, in the end, we understand that to understand, we must relent and rely upon faith.
As for aliens, we have always had spirits and odd beings among us, long recognized by every culture (coming, we might picture it, from those different floors or circles). That some are knocking on our door now should be no great surprise, for however we might wish to make such things go away by building a thick wall from a certain type of logic, greater reality will always come through one way or another. But we have our key - all cultures were given one - and it might just be that the aliens are jealous. Maybe, like angels, they sit on a higher rung and can go no further. Maybe they ARE here to help us climb, but I wonder if they can follow us afterwards. FK
This is the core mystery, and it is not new - semblances of such a belief had been in the Mideast for centuries before Christ; just as sacrifice has been a fundamental element of many, if not most, religions. It is a mystery, but it is fundamental to the core of what it means to be human. Through suffering, we can rise above suffering; through suffering, the gods (or God) can raise all human kind above suffering. But again, how - and why?
In "Star Trek - the Next Generation" is the fascinating character named "Q" who can do anything - including change the laws of physics. And yet the Q Continuum knows that the human potential is greater still. Physicist and fiction writer Arthur Clarke also had the view that the human potential was beyond the limits of what we now understand - but what, exactly, might this be? How can we be beyond "Q"?
We have been discussing extraterrestrials lately, and with that I have gotten comments as such: why? Why are they doing all this? Perhaps there is a hybrid agenda and perhaps they are safe-keeping us from ourselves before our next evolutionary leap, but why the cattle mutilations? Why the "now you see them, now you don't" game? One might assume that because this seems illogical, that they do not exist - but irrationality, as we understand it, has long been at the base of our most cherished and revered traditions. I do not think these traditions are wrong because of this, but rather point to something beyond daily reality - just as the UFOs do.
But this piece is not really about UFOs - or ghosts or psi events. It is about steps to greater levels of understanding - of consciousness. One example about knowledge given us by metaphysical philosophers is that of the glass sky scrapper, where the glass is tinted to become one-way mirrors. In this building, those on top can see all those below - but those below who look up can only see their own reflection. Such is the hierarchy of knowledge. The Eastern religions have a similar concept - that of concentric rings around God (or the Absolute) much like the solar system - or a vertical hierarchy much like the glass building. Humans are often put in the middle layer (depending on the intent of the teacher), where less cognoscente beings and inanimate objects are below, and wiser beings, as well as angels and various other entities, are above - or, in the circle diagram, more towards the center. However high these other beings might be, however, they still do not partake of the center, or the top. It is thus that angels were (and are) considered less than humans - for their place closer to God is set; humans, on the other hand, are made to achieve the ultimate union. In this way, we might be seen as superior to the Q, or the angels, or alien beings.
As much as such things as aliens and psi phenomena are fascinating, it is through the old religions where we can learn how to leap beyond them. It may well be that our collective evolution has to lead through them, but individually this is not necessary. Individually, we have the way - as illogical as it may seem from our vantage point. We may be as mice compared to an alien race, but they would still be as microbes to the cosmic center. And so I set my priorities; in a fascinating and maddeningly incomprehensible world, we have been given, at the very least, the initial key to it all. According to Christianity, we don't even have to understand, just have faith. According to others, infinite time will take care of the obstacles. But according to human nature, we have to try to understand - even if, in the end, we understand that to understand, we must relent and rely upon faith.
As for aliens, we have always had spirits and odd beings among us, long recognized by every culture (coming, we might picture it, from those different floors or circles). That some are knocking on our door now should be no great surprise, for however we might wish to make such things go away by building a thick wall from a certain type of logic, greater reality will always come through one way or another. But we have our key - all cultures were given one - and it might just be that the aliens are jealous. Maybe, like angels, they sit on a higher rung and can go no further. Maybe they ARE here to help us climb, but I wonder if they can follow us afterwards. FK
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