Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The Disappearance of the Universe

I am reading a book called, “The Disappearance of the Universe,” by Gary Renard. It is quite fascinating. The author claims that he is visited by two ascended masters who tell him the mysteries of the universe. While I agree with most of it, parts of his characters’ reasoning is very flawed. According to them, this physical universe is an illusion (like maya, in Hinduism), that was created by our separation from God or the Holy Spirit. Um…but we ARE God and the Holy Spirit, so how can we be separated? Here are a few of my other critiques from the beginning of the book:

pp. 13-14—“Life is a tale told by an idiot” is a pessimist’s portrayal of the world. Our impermanence and mortality are part of what makes this world so beautiful. The fact that we rot and crumble only makes us more precious, not gross or wrong. “Your world is quite impressive until you learn to really look.” Actually, it becomes more impressive when we learn to really look. The fact that everything in this world is dependent on everything else is an example and metaphor for what God really is—our interconnected web of dependence with everything else in the universe.

p. 16—I’m so sick of every major religion in the world denouncing physical existence as either a punishment for past errors, or, in this case, a strange natural consequence for the mistake of “distancing ourselves from the holy spirit.”
“The unconscious mind is under the domination of a sick though system that is shared on both a collective and individual level by everyone who comes to the false universe….” First of all, just calling it a false universe suggests a separation from the “real universe” that is simply impossible.
It is almost revolutionary, nowadays, for someone to see life as beautiful, as a gift, instead of a curse. That is simply because of the sick mindset NOW that has evolved over thousands of years. Humans haven’t always seen the universe in that way.
And I am sure that other creatures in existence don’t see things that way. It wouldn’t occur to them to separate themselves from nature. Our mindsets became unnatural AFTER we psychologically cut ourselves off from the natural world—not BEFORE.

p. 17—“Your good times in this world are only good in comparison to your bad times.” This is not true. Yes, the CONCEPTS of good and bad exist because of our dualistic nature, but you can have a truly wonderful experience that you know is wonderful without having to compare it to anything you’ve experienced before.

“Contrary to popular belief, babies aren’t born with a clean slate—they are born negative.” (Paraphrase) First of all, this is in no way popular belief. Everywhere I go, some obnoxious person wants to tell me that humans are born inherently evil. It would be a breath of fresh air if this belief were popular.
Second of all, that is total bullshit. I was a very, very happy baby, and I know others that were even happier. To a baby, everything around them is wonderful, and life is wonderful. There are many explanations for why some babies aren’t as happy as others, but the fact is that many are very pure. I became jaded and cynical when I was older, not when I was born. It was as a result of the world I grew up in, not the physical body I obtained.

“People need to stop focusing on saving the world, and work within themselves.” (Paraphrase) In a world that’s in a bad way already, you are encouraging people to only focus on themselves. This may have worked a while ago, but now things have gotten so bad that everyone has to make up not only for the problems they’ve caused in the world, but for a few other people as well. Because the fact is that most people don’t do anything and so those that do, have to make up for those that don’t.
Maybe if everyone healed themselves 100%, then the world would be a better place. But it takes help from other people to heal, and humans are social creatures; we are only parts of the whole. Our focus on individualism is already unhealthy.

3 comments:

Sud Ram said...

Osho comment on illusion:

"Why have the people like Gautam Buddha been so insistent that the whole existence - except your witnessing self, except your awareness - is just ephemeral, made of the same stuff as dreams are made of? They are not saying that these trees are not there. They are not saying that these pillars are not there. Don't misunderstand because of the word "illusion".... It has been translated as illusion, but illusion is not the right word.

Illusion does not exist. Reality exists. Maya is just in between - it almost exists. As far as day-to-day activities are concerned, it can be taken as reality. Only in the ultimate sense, from the peak of your illumination, does it become unreal, illusory."

Peace,

Sud Ram

Sitakali said...

As I said before, in order to help ourselves, we have to help others. It is part of what it means to be human; to depend on other people; to be social. I do not believe in forcing one's ideas on another, but if we refuse to let anyone else see our perspectives, then I think we are all truly lost.

Auckland PSI Institute said...

Right on right on Sistah! You go girl.

yo mama