An Atheist Here to Destroy?

"Oh, he tears down, but does not build up," is another criticism about my work. It is not true. No preacher or priest is more constructive. To build up their churches and maintain their creeds, the priests pulled down and destroyed the magnificent civilization of Greece and Rome, plunging Europe into the dark and sterile ages which lasted over a thousand years.

M. Mangasarian

It has been suggested that I am an "atheist" and am "very destructive." However, I am neither a theist nor an atheist, although, for the most part, I prefer atheists because they can think for themselves and are not as vicious as "believers." Their morality comes not from the outside, imposed by some supernatural figure, some repressive puppetmaster in the sky, but from within, as dictated by their own autonomy, wisdom and maturity. My only problem with extreme atheists is that they are sometimes too cynical and rigid, dismissing all "paranormal" or non-third-dimensional events often without proper investigation. They see nothing sacred to the universe. I have many more problems with theists, however, as they consider humans to be pathetic, born-in-sin pieces of trash in the face of a glorious God. Real, tangible human beings are to be treated very badly and with tremendous condescension, because they are mere lost sheep and stupid children! The god of their choice, of course, who is invisible and intangible--and, presumably, unable to feel pain (or pleasure), unlike humans--must be praised and complimented to high heaven! Do not love your fellow man, who can actually feel it and who needs it, but "love the Lord your God with all your heart." Extreme theists and atheists both share a certain attitude towards creation: to wit, it is not divine or awesome.

I categorize myself as neither of these, since I prefer to view the entire cosmos as divine and awesome. I may thus be called "pantheistic." I may also be considered a mystic, a "homo novus," or, as it were, a new woman. The mystic or gnostic does not reside in the realm of belief or disbelief. She or he knows, rather than believing. I do not need to believe in the sun. I can see it and feel it. I know it exists. I also know that there is a sentience that pervades the cosmos. I am it. You are it. The birds singing in the trees and the trees themselves are it. This sentience could be called "God," but it is not a giant man somewhere in outer space apart and aloof from creation. As Joseph Campbell said:

"The idea of God as the absolute other is a ridiculous idea. There can be no relationship to that which is absolute other."

By definition, "God" is OMNIPRESENT, which means it is everywhere, in me, in you and in all creation. Behind the creation is the Great Void, where there is no separation and all is one. This idea - this perception of the mystics and sages of ages - is backed by science, in that ALL IS ATOMS VIBRATING, and we are exchanging atoms with everything around at all times. All is connected, and we are breathing the air exhaled by others from around the globe. We are washing with Buddha's sweat, so to speak. Or Jesus's, or Hercules's, or that of any other of the millions of deities man has created.

The human ego has created an artificial separation that makes it as dense as the material world can get. We are all one; we are the Cosmic Being, yet the human mind creates "other." This is no different from the animals, who constantly play out the roles of predator and prey, of "other" and "alien." But as humans, we have the capacity to go beyond the deluded animal state and realize that we are spiritual beings condensed into an illusion of materiality and separation. We are That Which Is.

This is the language of a mystic, and it would seem that only other mystics can fully grok (understand) it. To attain to the mystical is to know "God" and all its fullness. The mystical is paradoxical. It does not take a solid platform. That is why it is MYST-ERIOUS. The mystical lives in the herenow and says neti, neti, neither this nor that. It dictates totality.

So, no, I don't believe in any god person. I know myself as That Which Is. This is not a new concept to those who bother to think for themselves and check out the astounding amount of information found around the globe on this all-important subject of "God" and the cosmos, instead of blindly going along with some other person's prescribed path, which is usually very cultlike, sectarian, racist and sexist. The blind leading the blind is dangerous.

And yes, I am here to destroy. I am the intellectual aspect of Kali, the destroyer, of Shiva, of Zeus the thunderer, and of Jehovah the flattener of cities. But I am also a part and parcel of the Creative Life Force that permeates the cosmos, and upon the ruined foundations of dead and rotten ideologies I build anew. I construct a better creation with a more solid and universal foundation, one not built upon the mental quicksand of racism, sexism and "chosen people" of one ethnicity or another. I build anew atop this foundation that wisdom is found in every culture, race and creed, and even throughout the cosmos, as it cannot be and never has been contained in one person, one book, one race or one gender. The living truth cannot be constrained by borders and artifice. This universal foundation cannot be chipped away by niggling little forces of racial, political or "religious" ideologies that teach separation and division. For, when one proudly declares he is a Christian, he is also equally proudly declaring that he is NOT a Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or any other "devilish" thing. Plain and simple, this is ugly, and this is what I'm here to destroy.

Let us think back to when we were children, before we started getting conditioned--or, more appropriately, brainwashed--by those around us. We did not see race, gender, ethnicity or religion. We saw other children, beings with smiling faces exuding innocence. The unbridled, radiant love of life beamed from our souls and flowed from our hearts. Then we started to learn that we were no longer one empathetic being but were part of a variety of groups that separated us from each other. Suddenly, we were "boys" or "girls," "blacks" or "whites." We were "Americans" and "Russians." We were "Christians" or "Jews." And those over THERE were not like us over HERE. Again, this is extremely ugly and is at the root of all kinds of prejudice and bigotry that go on day in and day out. These are, in reality, false separations.

The truth is that we all have wisdom, and my wisdom is telling me that now is the time to wake up to our universal selves, as we sit on the edge of global chaos. Because of the various ideologies that are blinding humanity from its true nature, from living in the present, from being awakened, most of humankind is oblivious to what is going on all around. They are frogs in the pot of water, waiting to be cooked and not feeling the heat. Their minds are twisted, and they cannot think for themselves here and now but must constantly look for answers elsewhere. When you are in such a state, you are not truly living, because you must first wait to close one transaction to begin another. Also, you're stumbling about, somnambulating, without being fully present. Such is not the state of life but of catatonia. Thus, like Kali, I am hacking away at the veil that keeps you sightless and asleep to the ethereal and awe-inspiring nature of the cosmos.

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