"Who are you?"
The answer to this question is simple, yet complex! The answer, relatively speaking, could be as simple as, "Well, I'm Charles Haddon Shank ( AKA, Sage Charles ), but then again, "I AM what I AM"! Individualistically ( personally ) speaking, "Charles Haddon Shank" is the name I was given at birth, or at least, the avatar I currently inhabit was named thusly when I burst forth from the womb of my earth-mother. But, is that really Who I am? Am I REALLY Charles Haddon Shank, or is that simply the name of my persona? Am I, on the other hand, an individual Spirit/Soul, or is that just another means of separating myself from everybody else? Is that necessarily a "bad" thing? Since I am of the same Essence of the Source of Life, essentially speaking, does that remove my individuality, my Identity? Being One in Essence with what most call "God", would it be acceptable to say, "I AM God"? "Well, now you're just being ridiculous; of course it's not acceptable!" At least, not to most, especially those that call the Source "God".
Although it has been popular in the past & is gaining in popularity once again, trying to catch a glimpse of the wizard behind the curtain has been one of humanity's continuing curiosities. The surety that we are More than mere human beings has excited philosophers for eons. Much of this study has either led to or come from the dualistic notion that we are separated from the Source ( Creator ). The majority of world religions, the three major ones in particular, Judaism, Christianity & Islam, all posit that this Source is a male deity with more or less human emotions, a persona of his own, if you will! What may be called the greatest, or largest of these, ( also, the most splintered ) Christianity, teaches that since the Fall of Adam & Eve in the Garden, the sin nature that we are born with separates us from our Creator. Despite these irresponsible religious notions however, the Truth has always shone through, usually in the most unlikely places & often in the Darkest Times!
At the Very Heart of the Matter, some have noted, We are, both physically & spiritually speaking, made up of pure Energy. For hundreds of years, not only philosophers, but even scientists have been saying this, though in other words maybe. From a purely scientific viewpoint, it is well-accepted that this is so; that the human body is constructed of billions of atoms & that the human brain itself, that which, physically speaking anyway, gives us the ability to think, move & breath, is simply a complex mass of neural activity ( neurons ).
Coming from a Christian background, of course, we were taught that "In the beginning.........", that it was only after "God" breathed into the first man "the breath of life", that he became "a living being". Here then, is where Science & Religion tend to run into problems. If indeed the human body is not wholly animated, just by the vibrations of atoms & neurons, then there must necessarily be something More to the Story. Since, according to the Christian Scriptures, the Creator, after "He" had "formed" Adam, had to give him "the breath of life" before he could be self-sufficient, so to speak; that "More" then, must needs involve something greater!
Christianity is not the only culprit, though maybe the main one, of course, for the use of the word "Spirit" to explain this "More", this "breath of life". The popular phrase, "we are spiritual beings having a human experience", coined by French Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, is a good example. Fairly obviously based on Christianity, the word "spirit", according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, means "an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms". Only secondarily, according to this dictionary, does it refer to "a supernatural being or essence". In Essence, one might note, the first implies the second. While the term "spiritual being" is fairly utilitarian, maybe "energetic being" is a bit closer to the truth!
In Essence, what it comes down to is; "Who or What is "God"?" While conversing with a friend on the subject the other day, I remember stating something to the effect of, "there's obviously an Intelligence involved, for all this ( Universe ) could not exist without it!" Now, whether you're a follower of Darwin or not, the planetary movements themselves scream "Intelligence!". Back down to Earth ( "As above, so below" ), the glories of the human body too, require a preciseness that could not have just happened. So, how do we explain all this? Is there an Intelligent Being out there somewhere that controls, not only the movements of the cosmos, but the inner workings of the human body? That might explain the cosmos, but then we're back to the age-old problem of free-will. Maybe the problem IS a matter of self-control! But, I digress................
So again, "Who or What is "God"?" If "God" is simply the Energy that keeps the planets on their prescribed courses, then that would leave us our free-will! If these "avatars" are simply Energy ( as the atomic/neuronic structure would imply ), then that would explain why we are so "fearfully and wonderfully made", yet find ourselves in such misery sometimes. We can blame no one but ourselves for this failing, much less the Christian "Devil", or "Satan"! This makes us the "God" of our own existence! With that said; there is no denying the Intelligence that lies behind the Universe. Some even go so far, in fact, as to use the term "Universe", where most would say "God"!
The Universe itself being the physical manifestation of the Source of All Life alleviates the "problem" of free-will! "Outer Space", which includes what we know, or have explored, mostly only with probes or telescopes, of the Universe is Infinite, just like the Christian view of "God". Going back to the Hebrew Scriptures, for they are most familiar to me; to use an example I have used previously, "God" said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb [ that ] yields seed, [ and ] the fruit tree [ that ] yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb [ that ] yields seed according to its kind, and the tree [ that ] yields fruit, whose seed [ is ] in itself according to its kind." ( Genesis 1:11-12 ). I may be grasping at straws here, but if the Earth herself gave birth to plants of all sorts, then maybe, just maybe, this Intelligence designed the rest of Life in a like manner.
The Impetus behind the Universe, then, Being Pure Energy, We can look to the heavens & think, not of how small & insignificant we are, as some philosophers & theologians are wont to do, but rather how the same Energy that powers the very Stars is Within us, that we are not merely finite creatures, but infinite as Creators, as the Universe itself! Talk about humbling & empowering at the same time! The same Intelligence that designed the Cosmos to move like clockwork moves within US, empowering us to live, move & have our being. Is this to say that we could sprout wings & fly, if we so willed? Well, "yes". in a manner of speaking; look at the Wright Brothers, for a famous example!
The purpose of this post is not to pick on Christianity, per se, though more could definitely be said on the subject & not all "bad" either! With that being said, it should be clear that "separation" is all in our Minds. Just as in the biblical Story of the Fall, Adam & Eve, though "cut off" from the blessings of the Garden, were obviously not separated from "God", for they were still able to live move & have their being. For that matter, in the Christian doctrine ( dogma ) of "Hell", "sinners", or "lost souls", are cast into "The Lake of Fire", where they suffer an Eternity of conscious torment. Question; 'How the "hell" are they conscious if they're separated from God"?! But, Again, "I digress........" Enough picking on Christianity!
So, back to our original question, then; "Who are you?" One may identify & many do, with the name given them by their earth-parents, with their chosen persona. Along with their chosen persona is the way they manifest that persona & what they do, how they act in that persona. My readers must judge for themselves as to whether or not this is so, but, as I've endeavored to show in this post, one's persona, or even how they manifest in that persona does not define them, no more than a bird is a cat, just because it can mimic its mewing!
"As above, so below"; No matter how one looks at it; We are clearly More than this physicality, this humanity! Whether one follows the basic tenets of Christianity or not, even if one is a Darwinian evolutionist who believes that humanity emerged from the primordial ooze, millions or billions of years ago, as a one-celled organism, it can hardly be denied that some Intelligence exists, for Intelligence didn't just happen; "it can't!" This is not to say, necessarily, that evolution, even on the grandest of scales, by the greatest stretch of the imagination, couldn't explain the glories & complexities of Mother Nature, including the human animal, but one would be hard-pressed to do so, if indeed it IS possible!
So, "Who ARE We?!" Is it enough to say who we are NOT? "I think not!" The words of this post have shown clearly Who We ARE. We are "Spirit Beings", yes, but more to the point; we are Energy. We are Divine, yes, but does that really define us any more than the Persona? The word 'Divine", itself can be defined as "relating to or coming from God or a god". "Circular reasoning", anybody? ( that's a joke, by the way ) Clearly, these "avatars" are "energetic bodies", not unlike the planets themselves. The Energy that compels them is no more or less powerful than the Energy that moves us in our familiar & relative orbits!
Namaste' & Blessed Be,
Sage Charles
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