New Atheism as Mysticism

 Dora, Yes I agree with the levels of morality, and the suggestion that higher levels may be more flexible and inclusive (than, say, the old patriarchal system of do 's and dont's), and that a focus on a higher level would loosen my grip on morality enough to be more truly ethical and moral - not to try too hard. But then again, I still believe that morality comes out of a kind of mental freedom which is essentially ammoral in nature. A free and genuine/authentic mind which operates as ultimate reality made it will find that morality is an intelligent choice sooner or later, and when it does find that intellegent choice, it will be of a higher form than if we are pretending (or forcing ourselves) to be moral, like little kids wearing mommy and daddy's big and proper clothes. I have been thinking more and more about the role of authenticity, of being genuinely who we are. That includes finding our God-made, God-intended, "gifts"/apptitudes/callings. The key word is "finding" - not hurrying up and faking, but opening our minds to try on activities for size, instead of wearing mommy and daddy's clothes that really do not fit properly. 

         Darrell

 Dear Cam, I woke up thinking, among other things/thoughts, about the value of divinity in terms of spiritual growth. I benifit, or feel that I do, from having a relationship with "God". Intellectually, I am perfectly comfortable with "The God Function", and "Higher, Deeper, Wider, Consciousness", Hidewico (High-dee-wie-coe). But I still find spiritual growth value in relating to Wholeness itself, to God, as though Wholeness is outside of me. 

Perhaps this means I am still somewhat (or, for all I know, largely) operating from a duality stage of consciousness. Language certainly pulls me toward dichotomies. Good and Bad, and all sorts of words, force the mind to put an experience in one box or the other. I call it the "Redbud" effect. A redbud is not at all red, but it is more red than, say blue, or silver. So, I use language to identify it as a redbud. Even though I know it is idiotic to call its blooms (which I dearly love to see) "red", I do anyway. But this thinking compromise to language risks my learning to warp my perceptions. I can momentarily transcend "box-first, experience-second" habits, but as long as I am attached to my social world which uses language to communicate (and distort at the same time, via Bohm's "Thought as a System") I have the dust of duality on my feet as I enter the temple of honest thought/thinking. 

Perhaps because I still have this dust on my feet, and am contaminated, I need to positively project out my innermost spirit (which is not mine at all, but is transpersonal) onto "God" and then via "God's love" reclaim the projection in order to feel more whole, to, in effect, wash the dust off of my feet. I still need God to wash my own brain of the brainwashing which society does to it. 

Below is my writing about the "laws" of "spiritual energy". I include both projection and attraction as laws. Both projection and attraction (to reclaim, and be transformed by, the mental projection - otherwise we end up putting God in a box)  are going on during the use of divinity or theism in one's spiritual growth journey.  I hope you find it useful. Each time I read it, it seems to make sense, but it is somehow also beyond my intellect (it came as a revelation during a run). I hope it is of some use to you and others. 

5 Laws of Spiritual Energy

Law of Wholeness    

    Spiritual energy seeks to express itself in an uninterrupted field. For the spiritual aspect of self, wholeness is the first priority. Wholeness may be achieved in a variety of interrelated ways. Experiencing your life as a whole journey, not interrupted by traumas or fears too terrible to face and work through, is one way to be whole. Another way is to open up and connect the essence of you with the life around you, such that you feel unified with life. 

    Another way is to connect with your own deepest self, or energy core, so that all your parts trace back to that “center”. A state of psychic balance is achieved. Another means to achieve a state of wholeness, centeredness, and balance is to open up to your whole mind all at once. This type of whole perception may also be attained with meditation by allowing your mind to project upon (see Law of Projection) an object or event that you experience as a whole. Seeing human beings as dynamic wholes, rather than as players in narrowly-defined roles, or as possessors of one-dimensional characteristics, is the humanistic way of using the law of wholeness. 

    Wholeness is related to awareness because an open and holistic mind has the ability to see more of the complete picture of an event - including your own attitudes and emotions that you bring to the “picture”.    

Law of Projection  

     To the extent that the matter, or “flesh”, in which the spiritual energy “dwells”, is neither transformed (see Law of Transformation) nor destroyed (see Law of Anti-bondage), then the spiritual energy is projected outward onto other matter or processes. Projection takes two main forms: positive and negative. 

    Positive projection manifests constructive energy patterns outwardly because they have not been clearly seen or embraced/understood within the parameters of the matter in which the spiritual energy is based. Positive projection is a way to get the energy form “out there” so it can be seen. 

    Once the energy form is projected, it can be reclaimed (via the Law of Attraction, see below) via one or more of the 5 senses. The material aspect of self then has a chance to be transformed (see Law of Transformation) into a state which better serves the spiritual goal of becoming whole. For example, seeing beauty around you can be a way of positively projecting the beauty of your spirit, so the “flesh” can comprehend. 

    Negative projection gets the high resistance energy (which tends to block wholeness) “out there”, into objective awareness/consciousness, where it can be “grasped”(understood) mentally, and can be addressed, worked on, processed, and corrected. For example, seeing evil or “ugliness” in the world can be a way of eventually re-addressing our own spirit’s contamination. In the challenge of facing it out there, we sometimes come to realize that “We have met the enemy, and it is us.” 

    The Law of Projection is related to the birthright, need, and virtue of Challenge because mental projections and human projects create interactive learning opportunities that hone our skills and test our understanding.

Law of Attraction

    Just as troops in battle send for reinforcements, the spirit attracts spiritual energy to help it achieve wholeness. There are two main kinds of attraction: 1. Attraction in the service of internal balance/wholeness, 2. Attraction in the service of external balance/wholeness.  

    For internal balance, we are attracted to spiritual energy which compliments our own. The saying “opposites attract” applies to attraction in the service of internal balance. A man may be attracted to a woman for her “softer” ways and qualities. These ways and qualities may counterbalance his aggressive, less sensitive, action orientation. A person with stress may be attracted to colorful flowers, in order to offset his or her feelings of “darkness”. 

    An example of attraction in the service of external balance is when people who have survived victimization are attracted to a support group to help each other face the victimization. People may pull together (and are attracted to each other in the group) in order to prepare to counteract the strength of their adversary/aggressor. 

    Attraction is related to friendship, support, and love, because it gathers up support, and usually involves a feeling of unity. In a community setting, attraction for the purpose of supporting each other (attraction in the service of external balance – to feel stronger, more secure) in order to deal with ongoing adversarial forces such as natural threat, economic threat, injustice, ignorance, lost human potential, and alienation will most likely translate into a sense of belonging and in an overall friendly atmosphere. Attraction in the service of internal balance - attraction which helps us feel more whole – is the basis for love. It tends to provide an even stronger “glue” than that provided by a sense of belonging or from an atmosphere of friendliness/neighborliness.  

Law of Transformation

    Like energy stored in a battery, spiritual energy is usually based in matter that functions as a container, such as a human body and mind. This container can be put to good use for helping achieve wholeness if it can be transformed into a vehicle, conduit, or vessel. The spirit’s attempt to transform the matter, or “container”, into a vessel is the Law of Transformation at work. In so doing, the matter is afforded a quality of meaningfulness. The Law of Transformation is related to the birthright, need, and virtue of purpose because it turns the “stuff” of human personality and body into a special “gift” to the community. It offers the person a sense of worthwhile selfhood, rather than identifying self as a mere thing/object. In a healthy community, each person is transformed into someone special. 

Law of Anti-Bondage

    To the extent that the matter/container isn’t transformed into a vehicle to promote wholeness, the spiritual energy will opt to destroy part, or all, of the container, in order to break free. The spirit will not be kept in bondage. 

    One way that the law of anti-bondage works in human beings is through self-destructive acts. An alcoholic may subconsciously work hard at hitting his or her “bottom”, in order to find a way out of the madness. 

     The Law of Anti-bondage is related to philosopher Heigel’s concept of  “antithesis.” 

Antithesis breaks up the old order, thereby allowing the creative process of  “synthesis” to move the individual or system toward the establishment of a new “thesis”, a new order. In terms of the community, anti-bondage is related to the birthright, need, and virtue of simplicity, because it helps people detach from the “baggage” of worldly possessions and concerns. This baggage may include our own thoughts that get in the way of accurate perception.

    The spirit may exercise the Law of Anti-bondage to break free of thoughts that interfere with wholeness. Various symptoms of mental illness may, at times, serve the purpose of allowing for mental restructuring. Meditative practices of detaching from thought by shifting to perceptiveness, receptiveness, “mindfulness”, or communing, can help community participants use the Law of Anti-bondage intentionally and consciously, in the manner of learning to “let go”.  A sense of wholeness accompanies such “letting go” so often that letting go (or “out with the old”) may appear to be one and the same as going directly to wholeness. But when a person is “stuck” in an attachment to a material thing, or is otherwise psychologically/mentally fixated, he/she must take that first step of letting go, before he/she can “let God” (or “let Wholeness”). The Law of Anti-bondage serves (and is closely related to) the Law of Wholeness, but is not identical to it.