What is Religion? (Part Nine)
There are a number of stories about the Fall from a spiritual state. In some, it is the fall which brought us to this earth, to this three dimensional realm and the intimate contact with matter. For others, we were already here, living in this solid universe but with a much higher level of spiritual awareness. And there are a lot of stories in between or partaking of both parts of these two views.
So almost anywhere we look, we have this idea that our entire history has been at a lower level than the earlier ages. And when we look around at the monuments left behind, both above and below current water level, we have to wonder just how much truth there might be in the myths.
Yet this entire idea runs counter to that we see in the world of academics and historians. There it is firmly established that our civilization is the culmination of a steady progression upwards from cave to rockets. To suggest that, in the past, there may have been equal or even superior societies brings derision and condemnation.
To suggest that our material world may not be the best way for people to live, or that owning ‘things’ will not make us happier is tantamount to heresy.
Religions, all religions of which I have even a little knowledge, base their ideology, their philosophy and their creeds in the idea that there is a better place, or a better state of being to which we can aspire. And yet one way to view our history is as a steady descent into less happiness as we fixate on the material things, as we learn to describe our contentment on the basis of what we own rather than who we are or might become.
In our troubled world, one has to be careful of doing the following, but next time you see children playing, take the time to watch them. Or if you still remember, think back to the world you lived in as a child. There is a magic to the world of a child, a wide-eyed acceptance of things that we later learn ‘aren’t real’ and sometimes, we have to unlearn those lessons later on so we can live better lives.
Leave a Reply