Religion or science? Who’s right? Heads or tails?

If you’re asking religion and science the big questions: ‘Does God exist? Was the universe designed or random? Was it really made in seven days? Why do we have good and evil? Why are we here? How do we get out of this hell-hole? Etc? Then it’s a toss up who’s right.

Religion and science are two sides of the same coin.

At the essence level, they are both idealistic seekers of truth, beauty and freedom. When they start bickering, however, they descend to the survival-of-the-fittest level - belief systems developed around superstitions (inventing cause-and-effect relationships where there is no proven connection). Although they each have very different criteria for ‘evidence’, ‘proof’ and ‘truth’, they both share a common root - man’s attempts to gain supremacy by controlling mass thought and behaviour. Science works primarily through the mind. Religion, the emotions. Fact or faith? Flip that coin.

Science compels us to follow their cult by appealing to logic and reason. It’s very powerful. Very addictive. We like to feel we’re ‘intelligent’. We like things to make sense. Religion gets us mainly through the emotions - sentiment, ritual, fear and guilt. Equally addictive.

Science is not superstitious, it’s based on fact - you scream!

It’s a turkey shoot to point the superstition finger at religion, but not science. Oh, really? On the physical, material level, science, you are in your element. You perform miracles with the stuff of creation. You measure, describe and manipulate nature brilliantly. Cause-and-effect relationships can be reliably attributed. The contributions to our lives of knowledge, technology and medicine are awesome. Science, we owe you. We love you. Thank-you.

But…when you go beyond your purview and apply the same types of thinking to the levels beyond the physical - the levels that are causing things to happen here - observable fact ceases to cooperate with you. You cannot understand things beyond the mind and the physical world. You cannot explain man’s multi-faceted, multi-dimensional consciousness in terms of biology or Darwinism. So you either assert they cannot possibly exist or start to make things up - and then try to prove you’re right. Spiritual awareness is a delusion - says who? Says those that have never experienced it. You are driven by the superstition that you should be able to explain everything. Even Einstein died frustrated by what he felt was a personal failure in being unable to extol a theory of everything - why oh why do quantum particles not obey the same law as the planets? They should. So what is it?

Science is utterly beguiled by two major superstitions: that the universe exists ‘out there’ outside our consciousness and that there has to be a fundamental particle of matter - now dubbed ‘the God particle’. These replicate the fundamental religious fallacies that, contrary to scripture, God is ‘up there in heaven’ rather than dwelling within us as our true self. The first so-called commandment says not to place other gods before the true God within, but in bowing down to symbols of God (even holy men), religion falls into the same trap as science.

Science, you built a Large Hadron Collider - where irresistible hubris collides with unstoppable finance - hang on everybody, we’re getting really close, just give us more time and another billion and we’ll find this darn, pesky little particle once and for all. And when you did, what did it turn out to be?

String theory and the Word of God.

You could have stopped at string theory? But, oh yea of little faith, had to keep looking. A few billion pounds later, you find the same answer. String theory suggests that matter is not so much particles, but strings of energy. These strings vibrate at different frequencies. When we perceive something, it is because there is a combination of strings vibrating in harmony like the sound made by strings in a violin. This harmony resonates within us and it seems like things are ‘out there’ - but the sound is really taking place within our consciousness. Einstein said the stars are in our head. Is this what he meant? We think we’re seeing things, but bizarrely we’re hearing them!

The ‘God Particle’ is music!

According to the Epoch Times, June 25th, 2010, ‘the research department at the CERN underground physics laboratory [ aka. the LHC] is making music through the disintegration of particles after high speed proton collisions.’

At this point, ‘The Universe in a Nutshell’ collides with ‘The holy Bible’ - heaven forbid. Now, could this be that momentous moment in the brief history of time that science and religion have a significant opportunity to unite?

In the beginning, says John, was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the
Word was God….All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made….And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Fritjof Kapra created a sensation with his book the Tao of Physics when he drew parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism. Here it is again. String theory and the LHC, in their way, are telling us the same as the Bible - that everything is made from sound-like vibrations.

The Bible is written entirely in symbols - called words. There is a key to understanding them - transcend the surface, obvious meanings and allow the words to awaken the sleeping giant within. If we let our mind rule our awareness, it will enslave us in conditioned limitation, the house of bondage.

The meeting point is up the mountain.

‘Ascending the mountain’ is a pretty universal metaphor for raising consciousness. Noah rose above the waters. Moses climbed Mount Sinai. Jesus ascended into heaven. There’s gold in them thar hills. Through wise appreciation of how string theory and the findings of the LHC have obvious parallels with the Word, science and religion could not just ‘tolerate’ disparity, but embrace it and both reach a higher state of evolution, a greater destiny.

The word ‘Word’, after all implies a sound. And, if we examine the process of creation in Genesis 1, it seems like it is through God’s uttering his Word, or his Name, that essence manifests into form. God’s name would be the sound of everything in the universe. Exactly how science describes the implications of string theory - all matter is the sound of everything.

With a true willingness, science and religion could rise above their polarisations and acknowledge their equally noble yet significantly different roles and destinies. At this higher level we’re all talking about pure energy. What does energy care whether we call it a soul or a quark? It seems, without realising it, the Bible and science align in describing this energy as a sound vibration. True science can lead us into manifesting this energy into creation. True religion can guide the soul, the energy of who we are formed in God’s image, home to its source through the trinity of expressions: the Sound, the Light and the Love of God.

These ideas have been adapted from my book - Original Heresy: the light behind the shadows in the Bible. - You can explore them in considerably more depth at: www.myebook.com. If you’d like to comment publically or directly with me I’d love to chat. Contact me on paul@horsejoy.com

Dare you take a fresh look at God’s word?

If you were to take a fresh look at the Bible, you’d be in for a shock - or a surprise - depending on your current position. Hidden behind the shadows of the traditional interpretations there appears to be an ancient, parallel teaching that will liberate you from all kinds of moral tyranny spuriously imposed on the world in the name of God. God, it seems, is a cool dude after all.

But dare you? To do so behoves you to commit heresy - the most heinous of all sins and crimes. Why is heresy so cruelly punished? Because it comes from the Greek word ‘heraitikos’ meaning ‘choice’. Heresy is the ultimate freedom of choice. Hence the greatest threat to those who lust after control of our lives through fear and guilt.

Jesus Christ was guilty of heresy. And, according to God’s law, he was duly crucified for it. But, if he was the ‘son of God’, why would he be sent to violate God’s law in so flagrant a way? Did God change his mind? Get bored with the way things were shaping up? Or maybe the law of revenge is not God’s after all!

How can we doubt that God’s message is not about revenge - but forgiveness? Because when we feel hurt or violated we also feel the need to lash out and smite the perpetrator - and off we go in an endless spiral of hatred. Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Indeed.

The trouble is, if we listen to the pundits all we have is their dilemma - enjoy 31 flavours of a very similar religious belief structure to argue over; or 31 flavours of what - humanism / science / atheism? While on their own levels these are wonderful and beautiful, spiritually, they lead us to nowhere and back again. Here we all are - reincarnated, again! Between bouts of pleasure and pain we flail around looking for purpose and meaning in symbols of success and love.

So can a fresh look at the Bible help? Absolutely. If released into the cultural atmosphere, it will begin to upgrade our operating system. Not an easy task. It means being willing to transcend six thousand years of programming and fear. Fear of heresy - everything from torture and death to rejection by loved-ones, family, race and nation.

Many people are not ready for this - and that’s totally OK. Some people really do need to be told what to think and do. Heresy can pose a real threat. But many are safe and ready enough to commit outrageous acts of heresy - to think and act from your own heart, your own centre of natural knowing and courage.

Where do we begin? In the beginning? Genesis? OK, but how? Maybe begin by asking questions that come from a different mind-set that challenge traditional assumptions. Like, why would the word of God be at such loggerheads with the intellect of man and our scientific discoveries? Why would an all-powerful, unconditionally-loving God promise the same land to two opposing nations and not deliver it without the price of constant hatred and war? When belief is such a capricious quality, why would this same God wish to exclude from ‘heaven’ anyone who does not believe in Jesus?

Even better - how does the word of God support man’s evolving consciousness and knowledge? What really is the ‘promised land’ if it’s not the Gaza strip? What is the real pathway to salvation - how can we really stop suffering and enjoy life a whole lot more? Isn’t this what we want religion and science to deliver?

These are the questions that are answered - not by the surface structure and traditional beliefs about what Genesis means - but by viewing the same words as symbols for a whole different meaning.

Sometimes, fathoming the symbology is pretty obvious. For example, all it takes is a small shift in perspective to see ‘the promised land’ as a symbol for ‘the Kingdom of God’, our spiritual home - not any physical location. At a stroke we can now bring peace to the Middle East! No longer is anyone denied right of ownership - unless the waters are muddied by yet another layer of erroneous belief.

More often, the logic, reasoning, intuition and evidence for new meaning takes a lot of focus and involves mortal combat with inner demons. For example, researching and unravelling the myriad symbols in the first so-called ‘day’ of Genesis is not only mind-blowing but also seminal to unlocking the symbology throughout the entire Old and New Testaments. A worthwhile investment to those who really do seek a higher truth.

A quick taste? Genesis 1:2 says, ‘And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep…’ To me this is symbology and metaphor at its zenith. Part of ‘why we’re here’, surely, is to figure things out, to be pressed to look within and thereby evolve. To me, this passage says the entire creation (heaven and earth) was still just an essence, no space, no time - like an idea. Even God, the creator did not know what its potential might be. That’s the ‘darkness’. That’s why in the next verse God declares his immortal intent ‘Let there be light.’ - let there be knowledge, let me know who I really am and what my possibility is. Then in Genesis 2, it talks symbolically about the evolution of the essence and how his original intention seems to have been betrayed by his trusted servant.

Because we are made in God’s image (a symbol for intention!), God’s purpose through us burns a hole in our hearts until, regardless of religious belief or not, we begin to move on it by asking - Who am I really? What do I really want? How can I be more true to myself?

Want more? Look within. www.smashwords.com/books/view/14175