Truth vs Falsehood (53 page)

While the above are well-known limitations (as reflected by consciousness calibration), less attention has been paid to the relationship of the follower to the religion itself. The most obvious error is the worship of the religion instead of God (an error not made by the truly enlightened mystic). While religion provides inspiration, spiritual facts, and important information, it is only a linear, time-located body of concepts and not the Reality itself. This results in the commonly observed violation of the essential truth of the religion in the name of the religion itself (e.g., Christian and Islamic crusades, the Inquisition, putting nonbelievers to death, slaughtering the innocent in the name of the religion, political piracy of religion by theocratic totalitarianism, and rationalization of nonintegrity in the “name of the faith,” etc.).

In a manner of speaking, religiosity is a subtle form of idolatry that puts the Church as an institution above God. The current slaughter of the innocent in the name of Allah the All Merciful is a glaring example. A more subtle example is the exaggeration of the external trappings and ethnic peculiarities of primitive tribal customs that become the focus instead of the core of spiritual truth. Thus, distortions result in oppression and violation of basic religious premises.

The underlying defect in all the above is obviously the downside of the ego itself, which then utilizes religion to its own ends: pride, control, gain, prestige, wealth, adoration, social image, and narcissistic gain. Religion is the means, not the end; it is the map, not the territory; it is the cover, not the book. Thus, hyper-religiosity itself, which appears as piety, can and does become an error as exhibited by scrupulosity. The great teachers taught the Truth about Divinity, not religion, which came centuries later. While the veneration of religion and scriptures is understandable, it is their truth and God that are meant to be worshipped and sought.

Heavens

Research reveals that the nonphysical spiritual heavens (celestial realms) calibrate from 200 on up to Infinite and are comparable to the calibrated scale of the levels of consciousness. Spiritual evolution continues on after the soul leaves the body, and it gravitates to the optimal levels for continued evolution.

Within the celestial levels, there are also subregions for various and diverse spiritual/religious groups that share a specific identification. Thus, the claims of ‘exclusivity’ to Heaven made by various religious groups have a relative, partial validity but are false as a general premise. No group or religion has an ‘exclusive’ on Heaven, but is instead the pipeline to a specific region as a consequence of a shared belief system. No religion has an exclusive on truth, and the claim itself is a limiting fallacy. (This statement calibrates at 985.) That there are ‘multiple heavens’ resolves contentious religious positionalities that have, in the past, been used to intimidate deviations from orthodoxy.

The nonphysical spiritual realms below 200 are traditionally denoted as ‘astral realms’, which are again stratified from higher to middle to lower (the various depths of the ‘hells’). The post-mortal fate of the soul, which continues on as conscious subjectivity, is in accord with the absolute justice of Divinity, solely the consequence of the exercise of the spiritual will. Thus, the spiritual fate of the soul is determined by choice and alignment. ‘Judgment’ is therefore a continuous, automatic process. Like a cork in the sea, the soul is positioned by its own intrinsic buoyancy. Divinity is thus the very source and guarantee of freedom itself.

Central to religions is the critical concept and subject of sin and its consequences. While theological discussion about the topic is extensive, it can be pragmatically simplified in the context of consciousness research as human action, alignment, or intention that calibrates below level 200. Thus, sin is aligned with falsity:

The level 200 demarcates that which is supportive of life, truth, integrity, and love from that which is the antithesis of these qualities. This level also demarcates the levels of Hell (below 200) and lower astral realms from the heavens and celestial realms. This also demarcates the level that differentiates good from bad in the true meaning that refers to intrinsic qualities (
res externa
) rather than opinion (
res interna/cogitans
). This differentiation can be made with some certainty by means of consciousness calibration because the Scale is in reference to an unvarying absolute that is concordant with Divinity.

All religions and spiritual teachings are in accord and agreement as to the deleterious consequences of true sin, which, by definition, is a violation of truth and therefore calibratable on the Scale of Consciousness. Sin is described as error or trespass, and culpability is related to degrees of ignorance and related capacity for moral responsibility, e.g., vincible and invincible. This is reflected by the options of condemnation or forgiveness and opportunities for repentance, undoing, confession, or compensation by good works.

The difficulty in counteracting the spiritual/karmic consequences of sin is offset by the option of salvation for those who “believe in His name” in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. In the celestial realm, the savior is one’s advocate before the judgment of God in the afterworlds of nonphysicality. In a benign contextualization, mankind is viewed compassionately as being often intrinsically incapable of transcending the negative forces of the ego if unaided from the earthly/human realm. In the Hindu and Buddhist views, this results in endless cycles of rebirth and entrapment in the earthbound human dimension, with its attendant, inevitable suffering. (Karma calibrates at 999.)

On the Scale of Consciousness, the levels below 200 are inordinately linked with attitudes, emotions, motivations, beliefs, behaviors, and activities that are spiritually and karmically detrimental, which, in this lifetime as well, result in negative consequences and gravities. They are therefore indicative of spiritual pathology.

While many people attempt to handle the problem of guilt, shame, or fear with denial or atheism (which itself is paradoxically an expression of faith and unprovable), when the psychological defenses break down, the inner truth is confrontational at a level of unimagined gravity. The hells are a subjective, experiential reality of awesome and stark degree, as those who have sunk to its depths can attest. The lower levels are experienced as timeless, eternal agony, beyond hope. Redemption by relinquishment of the ego is the only option that remains open due to there being at least an iota of good karma/virtue remaining (cal. 990).

The realities of man’s spiritual options have been attested to throughout history. While a serious look at spiritual realities may at first seem intimidating, with greater understanding, they guarantee release from fear as well as provide hope and faith based on reliable knowledge. Everybody has some good karma somewhere in their spirit, no matter how seemingly depraved they may be. All that is required is just a spark that, by inner consent, then bursts into the flame of salvation, redemption, and rebirth. In this experiential lifetime, as well as that of others that have been attested to, it is only necessary to call on God. “Oh, God,” is the only spark needed to open the doors to the Presence of God. Thus arose the exclamation “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” with which the books by this author open and close.

Christianity Early

Catholicism

Roman Catholic

Post-Reformation

Adherents to Christianity comprise approximately one-third of the world’s population, and its basic teachings are familiar to non-Christians as well. Christ is included in Islam as a great prophet and is likewise accorded respect in both the Hindu and the Buddhist cultures. He is also respected as a great prophet in one branch of Judaism (Messianic).

The term “Christ” generically denotes the state of incarnation of Divinity or Christed consciousness. Thus, Jesus, the Christ, is the incarnation of Divinity as man through which Christianity recognizes the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (cal. 945).

Jesus Christ calibrates at 1,000, the maximum level possible in the human domain, and his apostles calibrate in the high 900s. Interestingly, the relics of St. Peter under the altar in the Basilica in Rome calibrate over 900 (similar to the relics of the Buddha currently on public tour that also calibrate in the 900s).

Notable in the calibrations is the very major drop in the level of Christianity from the First Century, where it was in the 800s and 900s, to 485 after the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. This was the consequence of the inclusion of the Old Testament (cal. 190) and Revelation (cal. 70) in the official Bible (See
Chapter 18
). While the fall of man is allegorical (the story calibrates at 60), the downside was naïve belief and consequent emphasis on guilt and sin. With research, the ‘fall of man’ is the emergence of dualistic thinking (i.e., the tree of good and evil), which was the trap man fell into out of a seduction of curiosity. (This explanation calibrates at 975.)

The Papacy as an office, similar to the office of the Dalai Lama, calibrates at 570. However, during the lineage of successive popes over the centuries, two popes actually calibrated below 200. Thus, institutions calibrate differently than do the core teachings of the religions, which again differ from the calibrated levels of their founders.

If we ask what is the ideal calibration for the head of a world church, we get the number 570, which is the current state of affairs. Below 570 there is not enough power to inspire the masses of the world and be immune to the onslaughts of prevalent antireligionists. Calibration levels over 570 indicate the advent of mysticism and imply illumination, which preclude interest or involvement in the necessary affairs of administration.

Over the centuries, churches as institutions perhaps had to accept compromise with basic principles for the sake of survival (e.g., “the good of the faith”). Such decisions are difficult to evaluate centuries later because the context is greatly changed. Major religions are sometimes criticized for failing to respond to passing human events; however, as institutions, they exist on a different timeline upon which worldly events, no matter how serious they may seem, are just passing events. That there is wisdom in such a policy can be ascertained from examining the effect of becoming involved in passing worldly affairs, such as has befallen some American Protestant churches via politicalization that has brought public criticism, such as that by John Leo in
U.S. News & World Report
(October 2004).

In the article entitled “When Churches Head Left,” it is noted that mainline Protestant church membership is shrinking due to pro-Palestine, anti-American, and anti-Israel policies, such as divesting of investments that are not in Leftist favor. Also, such organizations as the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches fail to address human rights violations in oppressive totalitarian regimes and focus instead exclusively on America and Israel, with no mention of the former Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Libya, Syria, etc.

Add to the above the effect on the general public of the trendy Episcopalian appointment of a gay bishop that has divided the Episcopal Church that was just recovering from accepting women into the priesthood, and the pedophile scandal of the Catholic church. Thus, it can be seen why traditional religion is losing ground to the social trend of spirituality per se.
Publishers Weekly
reports a public hunger for religious and spiritual truth and books with academic authority (Hilliard, 2004).

Roman Catholicism Calibrations of Current Positions