Religious Thought Products - Entity and Deity.
Whenever the human mind ponders the infinite, a paradox is entered. The finite, fixed position incarnate entity is trying to ponder the exact opposite of itself, deity or the infinite. The finite is asked to equate the infinite, the fixed point is endeavoring to understand being as a position which is nowhere and everywhere. The kernal of this concept is reflected by many religions in teachings that state seeing the true face of the God/dess will cause one to expire, giving up the ghost, as it were, due to the immensity of the experience. In effect, we are shackled to our thought constructs in order to understand the universe we are located in and must proceed forth with our blinders on until we each escape the cave and enter into the light of understanding.
Approaching this state of mind, trying to understand the ineffable, our mind produces thought products also known as archetypes. These thought products try to encapsulate the differing concepts which are produced when a thought process is adhered to frequently enough. Doing so impresses the nervous system as new neural connections are created and then reinforced by engaging in contemplation through meditation, ritual and other cultural lifestyle practices.
Thought products arrive and stock the shelves of our akashic warehouse, ready to be retrieved and consumed as religious narrative, giving meaning to human events, cultural and personal identity. They provide a proto-framework for the mind to work with when it does not understand the environment around it or, for that matter, the nature of itself. Examples of religious applications of these thought products includes the archetypal roles of priest/ess, prophet/ess, magician, shaman, messiah, oracle and so forth.
Using these products we are able to organize ourselves into groups and communities and proceed forward with cooperative civilization despite the absence of understanding exactly who and where we are. However, once our awareness expands, reaching beyond the perimeters of religion, and our population expands, reaching beyond the sustainability of our planet, like children we must grow out of the thought products that enabled mankind to reach its present state of mind and move towards new horizons.
In our modern world, science's enlightenment, another thought product, has released us from the bondage of religion's irrationality and allowed us to move in more directions, in effect, giving humanity more positions in which to be.
Next Time: Religious Brand Wars and Who We Are