mansplaining spirituality

 

                When the human mind communes with the One Intelligence, greater and greater  enlightenment is possible. How do I know this? The history of spirituality gives me the evidence that this is the truth. Much of what we read in the Torah and the Old Testament of the Holy Bible is redefined in the teachings of the Master Mind Jesus' philosophy. Plato in the Third Century taught  that the summit of existence was the One or the Good, the source of all things; in virtue and meditation the soul has the power to elevate itself to attain union with the One. Plato's teachings were considered metaphysical and mystical and some of the mystics of religion adopted parts of his philosophy into their teachings; i.e. Saint Augustine in particular.

               The one common thread that is woven through all of these giants of enlightenment is that the Source; also referred to as the One, is referred to in masculine terms; Him, Father, He, His, etc. Even when metaphysical philosophy became more mainstream in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, this masculine referral continued.          

                 From the Science of Mind & Spirit authored by the American Mystic Ernest Holmes: “The life which we live is the Universal Life expressing through us, else how could we live. Our thought and emotion is the use we make — consciously or unconsciously — of this original creative Thing that is the Cause of everything. Therefore, we shall say that the mind, spirit, and intelligence which we find in ourselves is as much of this original, creative God as we understand. That this is not robbing God is a self-evident fact. Since we are, then we are real and actual and have existence; and since we can reduce all that is to a funda­mental unit, we find that we have this proposition:  There is Spirit — or this Invisible Cause — and nothing, out of which all things are to be made. Now, Spirit plus nothing leaves Spirit only. Hence there is One Original Cause and nothing, out of which we are made. In other words, we are made from this Thing. That is why we are called the “son of God.”
                 We now know that this is what we are — because we could not be anything else — but we do not know how much of this we are! When we see It as It is, then, we shall see ourselves as we are. We can only see It by looking at It through our own eyes. Hence, we shall find a better God when we shall have arrived at a higher standard for man. If God is to interpret Himself to man, He must interpret Him­self through man. And the Spirit can make no gift that we do not accept.”

                The two paragraphs above were taken from the Editorial Revision of the Science of Mind published in 1938. An extensive revision of the Original 1926 Text. Ernest Holmes wrote this in an era where it was assumed that “God” was of a masculine nature. Although Ernest Holmes writes that "there is Spirit ... and nothing" he failed to rise above the referral of Spirit in masculine terms. The Master Mind Jesus is attributed as stating that "the Father is Spirit" but this statement did little to  influence the awareness of those who came after him. In Ernest Holmes statement "this is why we are called the "son of God" this referral to the masculine nature of Spirit is even more heightened. Yes, we are "of G-d" ... of the Spirit, but our Spirit is neither male or female.

                 To understand this is to know that we are Divine Humans; we have a divine nature and a human nature. It is our Divine Nature that journeys us through eternity, not our human nature. In the most simplistic of terms, our relationship to Spirit is the same as the wave to the ocean. Without its connection to the ocean the wave is lifeless. Without a connection to Spirit there is no life.

                 Throughout religious history  it was assumed that people found comfort in thinking of God as masculine; Father, Him. But this referral had a horrific downside; it put G-d outside of us. It made us "separate" from G-d rather than a "part of" and this brought with it the false assumption that we are separate from each other. Look at this statement "in Him, we live and move and have our being" and then look at this "in the Spirit, we live, and move and have our being." Which statement most rings true for you? Your answer can make a dramatic difference in how you see life here and in the hereafter.

Keep the Faith!
Rev-Bates
(Reverend Dr. Henry Lee Bates)