The Individual and the Collective
different realm from us. God is the Creator, the giver of all good. By separating God from us, and by putting God at a higher hierarchical level, we have created an entity that can enable any salvation or creation we want, while retaining incomprehensibility.
The rational alternative - that God is merely a symbol of the power contained in the entire set of parts that we call the universe - is unacceptable because it puts us, with all our limits and fears, in the driver's seat. By integrating our place in the universe, we become "all there is". This is not a comfort for most people. The mentality of "security over freedom" is inherent in everything we do, and this is why most people will simply refuse to do this integration.
Total integration encompasses everything - and therefore it permits us no respite. If we are a part of everything, then what is left to save us? What is left to make us feel special? Nothing. The Everything, substracted, leaves us with Nothing. Nothing outside. Nothing before or after. To the human mind, bound by causality and time, these things are unimaginable.
But this is not as disastrous as it may seem. For only outside of God are we free to live our own lives, and flourish at the best of our abilities. If a god exists, then anything goes: logic, Reason, human purpose, are all contingent on his will. But if we detach ourselves from the need for a "one without the many" - God - and immerse ourselves in the dance of creation, the vitality of reality - "one within the many" - we accept a deeper communion with others, a deeper sense of responsibility for our existence, because we accept that we can be moral and that we can glorify reality. That compassion, peace, progress are superior to violence and self-destruction in all domains.
And that is the most spiritual thought of all.
What is your opinion on the subject? If you have issues you'd like to see featured here, email me. Don't hesitate to post on the message board - go back to the main page and scroll below the articles list, or if no thread on the subject is available yet, click on "Start a discussion on this article". Happy thinking !
Latest Articles