The topic of this coming week’s Exploration Gathering is this very question: is there something greater than ourselves? Are we just flesh and blood? Do animals participate in a meta-world that cannot be seen in this earth-bound life? How about plants and other living things?
There are a lot of questions to unpack in this post.
The Case Against
One could make a case against this notion that there is something greater than ourselves. The case revolves around the inability for us living this earth-bound life to know with certainty that such a meta-world exists. There is no empirical proof. Some people have had experiences that seem inexplicable such as near death experiences. Some scientists have indicated that what they sensed and felt was merely the process of the brain dying and shutting down and then it is revived again when circulation returns to the body. What people have described with near death experiences is just a chemical process in the brain. That is one possible explanation.
Scientific minds typically want proof of existence for phenomena that are hard to explain. Pseudo-science is not good enough for them. The possibility that we might just not have the vocabulary or science to understand the phenomenon is often rejected. It wouldn’t be fair for me not to consider this case, so I explored that point of view here.
The Case For
Intuition: that still small voice that says “you better not do that.” You do it anyway and it turns out it was a bad idea. “Should have listened to my intuition”, we say. Where does this intuition come from?
Consciousness: what behind our eyes knows that we see? Is this merely a process of the brain and consciousness is generated by the brain or is our brain controlled by our consciousness. Is consciousness something that exists outside of our human body and there is some mystical connection between it and our brain? There is something or someone beyond our sight that knows that we know. Have you ever watched yourself going through the motions of something like a third-party observer?
The physical world: what jumpstarted the evolution of the universe? If you subscribe to the theory of the Big Bang, was it a spontaneous phenomenon or was there some intelligence that sparked it? What causes the seed to grow when you plant it in the ground? How does a cut know how to heal on the human body or in a plant? Where does the intelligence come from that causes this healing to occur?
There are a lot of questions here. How do we explain it all? Can we? Perhaps the fact that there are so many questions should cause us to pause and reflect that we might just not know everything. Imagine the possibilities.
If You Believe
If you believe there is something larger than ourselves, some meta-world seemingly beyond our physical senses, then is it external, internal, or in union with us? One possibility that is subscribed to by many religions is that there is an entity external to ourselves that controls the universe and was the catalyst for its creation. This entity is translated into the English language as “God” and is seen as something that exists separate and outside of our human body.
A force that created or caused the universe to be created could live within every part of its creation. The energy of all matter is a part of the energy that created the known world. This is often known by such English names as Universe, Divine Intelligence, or simply Energy.
A union would say that we an expression of this Intelligence. We would be a unique manifestation of this one Life. Every expression would be just as important to the whole as any other.
What I Believe
I believe that there is something greater than ourselves and we are a unique manifestation and microcosm of this macrocosm. Many religious and philosophical traditions have said as much. Jesus indicated that we are one with the Father, created in the image and likeness of God. The Eastern cultures refer to a “vital energy” within us that returns to the source when we die. The list of philosophers and philosophies that support this notion go on and on.
But mostly, I experience something greater than myself when I look into a baby’s eyes, consider the way a pet lives in the now moment, and wonder at the evening sky and all it contains in its vastness. I sense it in my meditations and prayer work. I listen to my small, still, intuitive voice. I know that there is some part of me beyond my body that knows that I know.
