Ye Olde Stage

The archaic stage of development is fairly easy to point out to anyone living today. Think back to ancient religion.... not ancient, like Egyptian.... ancient like caveman. This is a lot like the Stage 1 God that I described in an earlier post.

At the archaic level, everything is a complete mystery. People at this stage believe that all creatures and objects have living spirits inside them, and that these spirits are able to influence life in different ways. Things like weather, disease, crop yield, etc. are all influenced by these spirits. The spirits themselves may or may not be intelligent, and people at this stage may not even differentiate at all between the objects and spirits. They may not even admit the presence or existence of the spirits, so much as the mystery of life itself.

Keep in mind here that I am not saying anything about specific cultures or religious faiths. All of these stages can be "colored" by any religious flavor. I am only talking in general terms.

OMG: Book II

So, continuing on with stages, one other thing that the first three stages have in common is some idea of karma. In each of those stages, people believe that their actions have some kind of effect on what happens to them in the future, or that their past actions have some kind of effect on what is happening to them now. Interpretations of this are different depending on whether it's stage one, two, or three. In stages one and two, these interpretations are more literal: "If I am bad, I will be punished." In stage three, it's more vague: "There isn't really good or bad, per se, but there are definitely things I am supposed to do so I don't conflict with God. If I conflict with God, my life might get tougher, but I'm not sure."

Keep this all in mind as we go to:

Stage 4: In this stage, God is somewhat amorphous, but by no means inactive. Actually, it is quite the opposite. People in this stage realize that everything is connected to everything else. Your thoughts and actions affect everything around you, and nothing happens by chance. In this stage, coincidences disappear. Nothing is a coincidence because it is all brought about by God, who has infinite organizing power and intelligence, although not in the conventional human sense. Karma also disappears. There is no "good" or "bad" thing you can be punished for because even the so-called punishment is there for a reason, to teach you something and to bring about other events later on that may not be so bad. In this stage, God is a nurturing, guiding, and compassionate presence that will respond to you. Qualities of this God, therefore are: Compassionate, Nurturing, Intelligent

Stage 5: In this stage, people realize that God is not only active, but is acting through everything in the world. Specifically, God is a part of the world rather than an outside observer. Physical objects are part of God just as much as non-physical ones. Moreover, every object is constantly being created and re-created from moment to moment. There is not only no such thing as coincidence, but people in this stage start to realize that they understand a tiny bit about how things DO come about, and that manifesting those things to the benefit of themselves and others is not just possible, but is a reality. It becomes clear that people have functions, and those functions involve creation, along with God. In a sense, we are co-creators with God in this stage. Qualities of this God are: Creative, Abundant, Energetic

Stage 6: In this stage, conventional wisdom on what is "self" and what is "other" starts to break down. In stages four and five, people realize that everything is connected to God, and to all other things. In this stage, everything in humanity is not just connected, it is one big thing. The concept of "self" increases to encompass not just the worshiper, but all living things. All living things are in communion with this God on a constant basis. The universe consists of this "self" and of God only. The two are in total harmony. In that sense, the creative urges of stage 5 are still there, but they are understood in a higher context: creation is something that happens on its own, but in fact, everything that should be already is. Qualities of this God are: Sacred, Intimate, Ecstatic

Stage 7: In the final stage, the concepts of "self" and "other" break down completely. The self and the God are One. Everything just is, and that is-ness is God. Furthermore, that's all there is!

As I usually add, this information is really a belief system. Your mileage may vary, and as with all people, your beliefs make your reality. What I have put here is a guide, and the credit goes to Deepak Chopra for laying it out this way. My hope is that my re-wording and shortening of this material acts as a helpful pointer to those who require some information to become a tad more aware.

OMG

When talking with people, I notice that there are many who are concerned with "truth". They want a definitive answer on what is true. This can be truth about any number of things, especially things surrounding the nature of God, Consciousness, Oneness, or whatever you want to call it. People seem to believe that there is somebody or something out there that can give them a definitive answer on this. My question is, even if someone did give you a definitive answer, would you believe them? Jesus himself could come down and declare the Messianic Era, and all that would happen would be a media storm of criticism and a slew of tabloid articles churned out by the papparazi that would follow him around waiting for him to get drunk and show some skin. People think they want answers, but what they often want are arguments. Answers, arguments, agreement... a Jedi craves not these things. :)

But... There is a framework for figuring out on your own what you hold to be true, at least in regards to God. This is straight out of a book called "How to Know God" by Deepak Chopra, so it's not my material. I am only paraphrasing below, as usual.

Your ability to know god is limited by the electrical impulses in your brain and nervous system. (Keep in mind that Deepak Chopra is also a physician.) Every physical sensation, and even every non-physical sensation, comes from impulses or lack of impulses in certain parts of your brain. When you look at it that way, there are basically seven different possible types of perceptions (or stages) in your brain to that thing we call God. I'll talk about some here. Keep in mind that even though I am giving these stages in a certain order, it does not mean that one is better than another or that it is somehow beyond another. They all just are as they are.

Stage 1: In this stage, God is some awesome and incomprehensible force that does things you do not understand. Your relationship with this God is based on fear and appeasement. Common examples would be those civilizations who depended on rain for crops and had no idea about the theories or principles behind rain. They were at the mercy of this terrible force for their survival. If God is angry, it won't rain. If God is appeased, it will rain. This God has qualities that echo these principles: Vengeful, Jealous, Oppressive -- Think of Yaweh in the early parts of the Bible.

Stage 2: I call this the "Get Ahead God". In this stage, God is not so scary or vengeful, but can be reasoned with. This God watches over you and judges your actions as "good" or "bad" according to its principles. If you are "good", you are rewarded with things like money, health, and cool stuff. If you are "bad", you are punished with things like poverty, bad fortune, and genital herpes. From this perspective, it makes sense to have a good relationship with this God. People who are in this stage believe in following principles to the letter so they can stand the best chance of reward. They firmly accept that this God has a genuine care and stake in the person's life. Qualities of this God are generally: Judgmental, Personable -- Think of most of today's modern Judeo-Christian religions.

Stage 3: In this stage, the character and nature of God changes. Instead of seeing God as a human-like entity that has thoughts, feelings, cares, etc., people start seeing God as some type of force. In this stage, God is no longer anthropomorphic. People who are part of this stage envision God as some kind of formless thing in the background someplace, a silent witness to everything that is going on. This silent witness watches everything, but does not interact with it because it does not relate to things in any sort of human way. It does not "care" or "have emotions", so it cannot get angry, mad, happy, or sad. Those who are in this stage are not really sure what God does at all, if anything. They know that this God exists because part of them can truly feel it and experience that presence first hand, but all it is is a presence, little more. Qualities of this God are generally: Passive, Accepting, Non-Judgemental.

Four more stages to go! Stay tuned!