No problem. I wanted to clarify that because it is probably the most misquoted and corrupted quotes in the English language and does no justice to that great man, Edmund Bourke.
Here is my short anecdotal story.
The Godhead I know in a nutshell.
I was a skeptic till the age of 39.
I then had an apotheosis and later branded myself an esoteric ecumenist and Gnostic Christian. Gnostic Christian because I exemplify this quote from William Blake.
“Both read the Bible day and night, But thou read'st black where I read white.”
1) What was / caused your apotheosis ?
2) . Blake ? He was a devout and pious Christian .. and a Catholic no less. Look ..
Jerusalem
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/jerusalem/
Interesting that you take his words to support your religious view - it happens all the time though.
This refers to how Gnostics tend to reverse, for moral reasons, what Christians see in the Bible. We tend to recognize the evil ways of O T God where literal Christians will see God’s killing as good. Christians are sheep where Gnostic Christians are goats.
This is perhaps why we see the use of a Jesus scapegoat as immoral, while theists like to make Jesus their beast of burden. An immoral position.
If by OT you mean the Old Testament, I don't visit it much - it's a strange place, or rather, should I say, it requires too much time than I can give it.
I wouldn't be too quick to characterise Christians (or Gnostic Christians for that matter) with such a broad brush though. As well as the sheep, there are plenty who are deeply insightful and tend towards the 'cosmic consciousness' aspect (referred to later).
You have to understand that anyone can take something out of the Bible (or any other place) and use it to serve their purposes . I believe the New Testament to be an enormously deep, philosophical work. Men will, however, take it piecemeal as they see fit.
At the risk of boring you, let me give you another piece of poetry - one of the most powerful and revealing ever, IMO. It is from Samuel Taylor Coleridge - another devout Christian (and of 'The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner' fame). The following lines are from a very long poem of his called 'Religious Musings' ..
Toy-bewitched,
Made blind by lusts, disherited of soul,
No common centre Man, no common sire
Knoweth ! A sordid solitary thing,
Mid countless brethren with a lonely heart
Through courts and cities the smooth savage roams
Feeling himself, his own low self the whole;
When he by sacred sympathy might make
The whole one Self ! Self, that no alien knows !
Self, far diffused as Fancy's wing can travel !
Self, spreading still ! Oblivious of its own,
Yet all of all possessing ! This is Faith !
This the Messiah's destined victory !
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/reli...ry-poem-written-on-the-christmas-eve-of-1794/
Have you ever heard a more powerful and apt description of cosmic consciousness ? I haven't. I must admit, I had my own 'apotheosis' when I read that through a few times.
The Hebrew word 'Messiah' is interesting. What’s a 'messiah' ? It means 'the anointed one', i.e., anointed with oils - and who was anointed with oils ? The enlightened ones ! In them days, if you reached enlightenment, you were anointed with oils, scents, etc. Even in the Greek, 'Christ' (Kristos) means exactly the same thing - anointed with oils - having reached enlightenment.
So, we've dithered over Messiah and Christ for two millennia, and all that that great work of philosophy and revelation is telling us, is that both words are synonymous with ENLIGTMENT !
Here is another apotheosis for you (most people reading this would dismiss it as religious piffle) ..
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
(The word 'faith', incidentally, is, in my opinion, perhaps the most corrupted in the English language so far as religion is concerned, and when analysed in the original New Testament Greek, reveals something diametrically opposed to what we think today - but we can leave THAT one for another time).
During my apotheosis, something that only lasted 5 or 6 seconds, the only things of note to happen was that my paradigm of reality was confirmed and I was chastised to think more demographically. What I found was what I call a cosmic consciousness. Not a new term but one that is a close but not exact fit.
I recognize that I have no proof. That is always the way with apotheosis.
This is also why I prefer to stick to issues of morality because no one has yet been able to prove that God is real and I have no more proof than they for the cosmic consciousness.
God is real ? God is not real ? We can struggle with these questions for another 10 years and would get no closer to a resolution UNLESS we agreed on what we mean by God. Indeed, it is my contention that most arguments about any matter would cease, if folk, step by step, agreed with what they meant in their use of key words such as this one.
I DO NOT believe in a 'God-up-there-on-a-throne' kinda guy
I DO NOT believe in an individual personality kinda God, meting out punishment and reward - each of our actions is it's own punishment or reward.
I DO believe that either the whole universe is conscious or none of it is, and since some of it is, then at different levels, phases and scales, all of it is. It is the ultimate vanity IMO, to assume we are intelligence from non-intelligence, and that intelligence ceases to exist where ceases our ability to perceive it further. This intelligence, this cosmic consciousness, IS GOD. And it is also us.
The GODS 'R US, my friend.
The cosmic consciousness is not a miracle working God. He does not interfere with us save when one of us finds it. Not a common thing from what I can see. It is a part of nature and our next evolutionary step.
I tend to have more in common with atheists who ignore what they see as my delusion because our morals are basically identical. Theist tend not to like me much as I have no respect for literalists and fundamentals and think that most Christians have tribal mentalities and poor morals.
I am rather between a rock and a hard place but this I cannot help.
Once you get a little further along your path of cosmic consciousness (I am not as vain or presumptuous to say higher) you may realise that all that is, IS that cosmic consciousness manifesting itself in it's infinite variety of ways, and who is you or I to decide ? Things rise and fall. All things flow and tend to their opposite. If you had perfect conditions, you would not know it, for you would have no contrasting imperfection. If you had no evil, you would know no good.
I am happy to be questioned on what I believe but whether or not God exists is basically irrelevant to this world for all that he does not do, and I prefer to thrash out moral issues that can actually find an end point. The search for God is never ending when you are of the Gnostic persuasion. My apotheosis basically says that I am to discard whatever God I found, God as a set of rules that is, not idol worship it but instead, raise my bar and seek further.
My apotheosis also showed me that God has no need for love, adoration or obedience. He has no needs.
I agree with this.
Man has dominion here on earth and is to be and is the supreme being.
I'm not too sure about this. It is quite presumptuous IMO. All life forms would think such a thing, within their ambit, whilst mostly oblivious of other dominions. Think about this for a while before formulating a response or decision.
My process was analogous to what this gentleman shows.
[video=youtube;FdSVl_HOo8Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdSVl_HOo8Y[/video]
Regards
DL
I rarely watch linked U Tubes but I did this one, and am glad I did. I liked it a great deal, particularly about the powerful messages of transcendental consciousness within the New Testament.
In closing, here's a couple of lines of Wordsworth's;
Thus the enduring and the transient
Both serve to exalt ..
Cheers !
