A FOCUSED OR PANORAMIC GOD

Parent Page :The Great Creative Energy

My principle belief is in a great creative spirit, an energy more like the wind than any clear focal point. But here, i want to start by making a case for "old time religion" and
God God isn't so much the Christian word, it's the English word.
as a focus point.

The Value of a Focused God

Focusing always separates life into specific and small areas. Trying to find oneness or wholeness by focusing involves us in a paradox. The only way to resolve this paradox is by focusing on an almighty all-powerful higher focal point.

Focusing and concentration are easy and natural with anything beautiful, creative or awesome; and God is, at the very least, an amazingly powerful focal point.

And if there is no actual entity which is God, and the idea of God developed purely as a result of our abstract thinking system – the system which divides life into abstract bits to understand the relationship between subjects and objects – then exactly that makes God an ideal focal point.

And in our imagination, in the reality of our abstract understanding, nothing could ever function better than that. It will have a real psychological effect, regardless of any scientific, logical or rational ideas.

The Disadvantage

Our modern rational thinking has a number of problems with the traditional image of God. Most of these are secondary. (They are discussed at the bottom of this page.)

The primary practical problem is that religions and beliefs all involve intense forms of focusing and any strong focal point can easily become closed-minded.

And a closed-minded God could never create anything. God has to be open-minded.

Closed-minded Gods invite abstract philosophy, clever ideas, and hidden mysteries; quite apart from traumatising innocent people.

It was probably essential for the survival of our global community, that Nietzsche, Darwin, et al. questioned and destroyed the traditional idea of God.

But then Freud et al. replaced the centre of the world with an individual ego.

And nowadays, philosophers question if the ego is merely an abstract idea, in much the same way that Nietzsche previously questioned God.

The bottom line here is that God and the ego are both focal points. And only ever exclusively focusing is an unbalanced use of our sensory faculties. It limits our understanding, creativity and intelligence.

Every other animal on our planet alternates or coordinates almost all of their focused activities with periods of panoramic sensing.

Whatever we believe in, needs to be balanced with periods of panoramic sensing.

The Eternal Creation

The modern mistrust for anything even resembling God has developed into a taboo. Nowadays i don't see why the subject is so difficult, especially since Penzias and Wilson. Nature shows the way.

A tree creates apples and gives them freely, with no idea who eats them. The sun shines all round and unconsciously a fraction lands on earth.

The original spark didn't know what it was doing when it created a magical chaos of possibilities. Without it we wouldn't exist, but it doesn't know that. And it hasn't even any understanding of the concept of asking for anything back.

It deserves at least our recognition even though it asks for none. It actually deserves our appreciation and thanks even though it asks for none.

But such a non descript God is useless to organised religion or herd mentality, it has no morals, no order, no purpose. And humans need a plan, a way to understand life in terms of having a purpose and meaning.

The energy of the creation is still happening, every day. The residual 'heat' and vibration from the explosive moment of creation, is still vibrating in every direction, resonating throughout the universe; still permeating our atmosphere.

Any wholesome being would want to live in accordance with this creative energy, even though it doesn't ask for that.

The energy source is always there waiting for us to be open to it when we're ready.

And it all fits with my experience of panoramic sensing. It's consistent.

Animals taught me like the great rivers give water, the wind moves clouds, and the trees give apples – without even realising they were doing it, without having the purpose to teach, and without ever focusing on doing it. They gave freely and ask nothing back.

The teaching tradition would be safe in their hands, safe from pompous and abstract theories.

3 Sub-pages
Prayer
Death and Bereavement
The New-Age Religions

Modern Rational Problems with the Traditional God
A God who planned each one of our lives aeons in advance – a conscious being who can make decisions and judgements – has the direct consequence that people in the modern rational world turn away from God. Then why would such an all-knowing God allow horrible things, disease, war, etc. to happen... to innocent children?

Explanations are usually to do with "everything happens for a reason", "have faith" or "we can never know the ways of God". Hmmm...

A better explanation is that most of our suffering is created as a consequence of our own or other peoples free will.

And this leads us to a far more significant problem. We are asked to follow the will of God, and to give up our own free will.

It's curious how often people do give up their free will to some form of herd mentality. And this, or an authoritarian God, will inevitably inhibit us.

However even with a beneficial God, and even if we believe in the greater powers at work in the universe, we fear we could lose ourselves, our ability to choose, and even our individuality, by giving ourselves to God. Theologians rationalise the idea as a paradox.

But the problem exists because we only appreciate life from the focused perspective. Both Chapters 2 and 3 analyse how this narrow, linear focused perspective creates such problems.

From the panoramic perspective, it's no paradox. It's practical. Even though vulnerable animals enter a state of panoramic consciousness with the self-interest of staying safe, any degree of self-interest is a distraction from being fully panoramically aware. And even though this is only a temporary state, it's a practical demonstration of how it works.

They have to devote themselves and all their senses to being panoramically aware. They have to be selfless in order to survive as individuals. And it doesn't restrict their free will at all, they can fly or run away at a moment's notice.

The bottom line is that the creative spirit, the subtle energy source – the eternal spring which gives without ever running dry, without knowing who or what drinks its waters – asks nothing of us... and it's up to us if and when we want to bathe in its waters.

It enables our individuality and free will to develop free from self-pride, and any of the pressures and restraints of herd mentality.

3 Sub-pages
Prayer
Death and Bereavement
The New-Age Religions

Back to Chapter Five : Panoramic Sensing and The Great Spirit
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