That must be one tough question, so I'll ask it again -
Why the "Jesus Inside" avatar, for a person that claims God is nature?
Not tough . . . just a complex synthesis of personal, scientific and mystical that establishes my personal certainty (you would call it faith) about the attributes of God not verified or verifiable by science. Unfortunately, the warm and welcoming reception for my posts here and the judgmental attitudes toward me and my abilities make me reluctant to "cast any pearls." The ridicule and arrogant denigrating remarks about my intellect and knowledge are so boringly symptomatic of the widespread belief that only unintelligent and ignorant morons hold belief in God and would dare to criticize science at all. However, the presence of some here has been sufficiently encouraging to present a summary of the highlights despite the likelihood of further harassment.
My philosophical synthesis was several decades in the making. There is significant detail that must be left out that can make the assertions seem more "out there" than they are. They conform rigidly to what we do know and violate nothing science has actually validated. Of course . . I have the personal and subjective advantage of knowing the reality first and only needing to find an explanation that fits.
My belief in a consciousness that establishes the universal field encompassing our reality is based on my meditation experiences, which are many and suffice to establish to my satisfaction the absolute reality of it. I call this God or Christ consciousness. The characteristics of love and acceptance and oneness with all life are unmistakable and unambiguous . . . and completely reflected in the descriptions of Jesus.
My extensive research of the many religious philosophies fueled my growing belief that they represent an evolution of consciousness (spirituality). It is clearly documented in the many myths, legends, and religious writings through time that I have dubbed the "spiritual fossil record. "They reveal an undenial pattern in this "fossil record" that points to the existence of a "spiritual DNA" (or design) built in to the evolution of spiritual understanding. This is obviously related to the evolution and composition of the brain (Genes) and their activation/deactivation (Epigenetic).
The character of total human consciousness is a product of all the individuals that comprise it. Each individual either adds to or detracts from this total development. It is inescapable.The sum total of human consciousness as it has evolved from the very beginning is just that - a sum total. Everything that has ever been thought whether or not it was recorded in written form or any other way is part and parcel of that sum. Everything embodied in that sum defines humanity. All our conscious efforts to shape the evolution and ultimate character of humanity define the purpose of our existence. In explaining the Tao, R.L.Wing described it thus,
. . . If reality came about because the Absolute wanted to know itself, then our evolutionary destiny must be to help it get a good look by investigating, observing, and emulating nature. If we extend the Taoist ideal of a cooperative world-consciousness to universal dimensions, then the universe has but one purpose and evolution moves in one direction: . . . toward the development of a vast network of a nervous system that will bring into existence a conscious mind for the entire universe.
Wing elaborated on this theme from the Tao,
. . . We, as individuals, and even as a world society, are then merely neurons in the growth of . . . a universal brain. We can see the embedded pattern of this growth reflected, for example, in the evolution of our species --- from the simplest brain stem of the lower life forms to the complex brain-mind of humans.
Taoist philosophy addresses this goal of human consciousness,
. . . If individuals do all of their thinking on the physical plane and make little effort on the nonphysical plane --- cultivating intuition, gaining instinctive knowledge of the workings of the universe, and developing the insight to evolve both themselves and their society --- then those lives have no real meaning or significance in terms of the physical reality. This is so because work done on the nonphysical plane is more aligned with the purpose of the universe, and therefore, it has a more powerful effect upon our physical reality. Our inner work influences and evolves the universe, which in turn, evolves our reality.
In plain language, we are cells of consciousness designed to produce the very consciousness of God, or at least our designated cellular portions thereof. All of our universe is merely the environment for God's continuous reproduction.
Our Composite consciousness (self) means our awareness, and that first awareness had to be the concept of "I am." In sensing this "I," our first observer was learning that he was not his thumb or his foot. The "in here" experience was "I." The "out there" experience was "it."
. . . It is thought that perhaps three thousand or more years ago, people were not able to distinguish the "out there" from the "in here" or "I am" experience. They may have been only dimly aware of their capacity to make such a distinction.
Before the evolution of our true consciousness, we were simply clever, semi-aware animals, occasionally following the voices of “gods” in our heads. The two halves of our brains were functioning more or less separately. The conscious left brain wasn’t yet considered an integrated part of us, hence the “gods” in our heads. The appropriate physical connections were not yet completed. These connections with "God" were sporadic but they spurred human development in the desired direction at each stage of the evolution of human consciousness.
There is an analogue in the development of human physical capabilities that is similar to this basic problem facing humankinds' infant consciousness. An infant does not have certain reflexes and cannot perform certain physical actions until the proper nerve connections have grown together sufficiently to enable synaptic firing. No amount of exercise or training can overcome these conditions until the infant's growth and development has progressed to the necessary stage.
Julian Jaynes suggested that our species suffered its first nervous breakdown three thousand years or so ago when the physical connections between the hemispheres of our brain coalesced to enable communication. We finally became aware of ourselves as "I" people. The improved consciousness that evolved from this “breakdown” mainly manifested itself in the minds and dreams of “prophets” in forms suitable to the still meager intellectual capabilities of the time. This could account for all the "prophesies" during that era. It certainly makes more understandable the Hebrew word for the God that appeared to Moses, YahWeh, or "I Am."
A word is an abstract phenomenon of consciousness and exists only where consciousness exists. A word is a series of symbols grouped together, which when taken as a composite whole, creates in a being with a composite consciousness an abstract realization or "knowingness" that we recognize as the condition of having meaning. When our cerebral cortex (brain) produces this abstract "knowingness" condition, it is producing composite consciousness. The spiritual meaning in John 1:1, therefore, took on more significance for me,
. . . In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God.
And John 1:14 regarding Jesus,
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Unfortunately, before Jesus Christ, despite our evolving sense of “I” and rudimentary reasoning abilities, humankind's infant consciousness was incapable of experiencing God's consciousness until a human (Jesus) did so and completed the "spiritual synaptic connections."
A human mind from this physical plane of existence had to produce a consciousness that perfectly resonates with the consciousness of God. My research and experiences convince me that the consciousness that was produced by the mind of Jesus became one with the consciousness of God, and simultaneously, remains part of the existing collective human consciousness.
It is in this manner that Christ is the Way to God. As Paul said in Ephesians 2:18
". . . because through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." The consciousness that each one of us produces and to which we ascribe our individual nature, character, and essence can also attain oneness with God through this "spiritual synapse" created by the consciousness of Jesus Christ within our collective human consciousness.
The evolutionary blueprint in legends, myths and scripture was finally fulfilled by Jesus Christ as the source of the consciousness I experience in the meditative end state, IMO. While my selection of Christ and the conclusions about His significance as the "Way" are identical to the conclusions in the many versions of Christianity . . . the intervening rationale is quite different requiring no belief in magic words professing belief or irrational denials of ANY scientific findings. What we do know is fully compatible with my rationale. What distinguishes my certainty from any atheists is entirely based on my experiences in meditation . . . which are absolutely conclusive for ME.
