Consciousness and Deity Reconsidered (Paperback) | Released: 17 Nov 2019

There is a natural hierarchy to the world that is independent of humans, and within this hierarchy that is a striving for higher levels in the sense of a more comprehensive understanding of the natural world and our place in this world. It should be remembered that many of our current notions about consciousness and Deity were, in some cases, established thousands of years in the past, and this means that we need reconsider our notions about consciousness and Deity in a manner based on our new knowledge of the world and the universe beyond. Current knowledge of the vastness of the universe and the unexpected strangeness of the micro-world require that we rethink some of our most strongly held beliefs. We need to remember that many of our beliefs originated thousands of years in the past, in a setting of an exceedingly small universe, where earth was the center of that universe. That is, there are certain scientific truths that science has revealed, which suggests the necessary of rethinking our place in the universe and, by extension, rethinking Deity. This is not the same as basing religious belief on science but is the acknowledgement that as we learn more about the natural world, our contemplation of the natural world also needs reconsideration.Although modern cosmology has many questionable notions, enough of it is established to the point where rethinking our place in the universe is both desirable and necessary. For example, perhaps the effective universe for us is only a small portion of this cluster of stars that we call the Milky Way. At the other extreme of the size spectrum, the micro-world also requires that we rethink our ideas about the basis of fundamental substance.These discussions about consciousness, Deity, and the spiritual are presented in a manner devoid of dogma and in the spirit of what I will call naturally revealed religion, which is religion unfettered by ritual and ceremonial posturing such that many who are not able to find spirituality in the more traditional religions might find clues about other choices.This rethinking of the structure of the universe and the fundamental basis of reality, has led to thinking about our place in the universe in a different way. That is, different in the sense of recognizing the wholeness of the universe, the Force of Necessity, the Unitive Principle, and the realization that we need to return to a more open-minded relationship with the Godhead/Deity that relies less on ritual or recipe religion and more of the maintenance of proper relations within society and within the natural world. This does not mean that we should turn away from technology and return to a simple bucolic lifestyle but rather that we need to keep technology in its proper place as a tool producer and that the products of technology are simply tools - no matter how complex - and should not be revered as the new idols.