Avatar Redemption

(PART 3 OF THE SERIES A GOSPEL TRANSCENDING TIME AND SPACE)

The realization that our measurement or observation of light affects the collapse of the same light into a particular form, begs an important question. For centuries, the scientific revolution has been driven by the certainty that matter is the fundamental nature of the universe. But the double-slit experiment opened the door to an alternative consideration. Could consciousness be fundamental? What if consciousness, not matter, is the essential nature of reality.  

In other words, what if matter is the product of consciousness rather than consciousness, the product of matter. Genesis 1:1 states simply that, “In the beginning, God, created the Heavens and the earth.” In John 1: 3, John claims, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him…” The Greek term for word is logos or logic. In other words, in the beginning, there was logic, or thinking, or consciousness, and all things came into being through Him.  

The belief that God is responsible for three-dimensional reality is a common assumption in most world religions. It has also played an influential role in philosophy through the ages. Plato, arguably the Western World’s greatest philosopher, taught the philosophy of Idealism, a belief that was immensely influential during ancient times. It taught that all things visible are imperfect models of a perfect or ideal form in the mental world. These ideal forms inspired the imperfect forms that appear in this world. In other words, the physical world is merely a representation of a spiritual, heavenly, or intellectual world of perfect thought.  

Although Plato’s philosophical ideas largely took a back seat to Aristotle during the enlightenment, the quantum realization that our observation, or measurement of reality, may play a role in forming that reality has ushered in a comeback for Plato’s idealism and opened the door for science to re-enter the house of philosophy and religion. 

The very existence of consciousness presents a challenging problem for purely materialistic science. This is called the Hard Problem of Consciousness. It stems from the inability of materialism to explain phenomena of our personal consciousness as purely a product of grey matter. This problem is one of the most pressing issues in philosophy today and it is causing many in the study of consciousness to return to the notions of philosophers and theologians.  

There are significant aspects of our consciousness that the existence of matter can not explain. One problem is the difficulty regarding exactly what causes us to feel and perceive in the first place? Why are we not simply matter robots that act according to programming without feeling or perception? The study and examination of neurons and synapses have not yet explained this.  

The other aspect of this Hard Problem of Consciousness involves the awareness that exists behind our eyes. What is the origin of our subjective awareness and perception of the world? Materialist scientists certainly hope they will explain it one day, but presently, they are coming up very short. 

However, according to sacred and ancient Sanskrit teaching, consciousness does explain this. Hindu teaching ascribes that which cannot be seen, cannot be heard, and cannot be known (proven to exist), is the thing that makes all other forms of knowledge possible. In other words, it is the consciousness that we can not see or understood that makes other things understandable. Ancient scribes knew thousands of years ago what material science is only now beginning to see.  

Hindu scribes also saw this consciousness as the fundamental element of the universe. They teach that all things possess some form of consciousness and that consciousness connects all things. Their sacred statement, tat tvam asi, meaning That thou art, teaches that we are that consciousness.  

The Apostle Paul attributes this consciousness to Christ. In Colossians he proposes that, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” 

Influences in quantum physics, brain science, and consciousness studies point to truths that religious teachers have always taught, that consciousness, or God, is primary or fundamental. It is the origin from which all else exists and the bed in which ultimate meaning rests. 

Imagine for a second that consciousness is fundamental. In other words, in some manner, consciousness is responsible for the existence of matter or the brain, rather than purely the product of the brain, as materialist scientists believe. If we are experiencing a consciousness that existed before matter, did we not also live before the brain and body in which we currently reside? If so, what are we?  

Do you ever feel that you are accessing your brain and body remotely, from somewhere else, as through opening a window into three-dimensional reality, like entering into a computer game via an avatar? What if our brains and eyes are merely tools within an avatar that allow us to access time and space remotely, as a product of divine consciousness. What if we are involved in a divine game like life in time and space.

Also what if we have all fallen under a false spell that has convinced us that we were merely avatars, dependent wholly on these dimensions for life. Wouldn’t we perceive the things we see, taste, touch, smell, and hear to be the extent of reality? And, how would that limit our perception of life and affect the way we live?  

Wouldn’t the belief that our life ends as soon as the avatar perishes poison our perspective? Wouldn’t we be driven to survive as long as possible, regardless of the cost? And wouldn’t we feel at least slightly haunted by the fear of death? And would we not often find ourselves uniquely captivated by efforts to enhance our particular avatar’s advantages over other avatars; tempted to manipulate the things and people around us and pursue as much personal benefit as possible? And finally, wouldn’t a fleeting subconscious desire for eternity plague us; longing for the very eternity that was vanquished by the false spell. Doesn’t that describe the state that we so often find ourselves in one degree or another?

Perhaps this is why Jesus was often so frustrated and marveled at our lack of faith. “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? (Matthew 17) He was frustrated that their faith could not transcend their avatars, sadly trapped in time and space. This limiting belief was the unbelief to which Jesus referred. Living in a world of avatars trapped blindly by their unbelief must have been a continuous source of frustration and heartbreak for Him.  

Unbelief is Sin with a capital S. It is our prideful certainty that we have this. Notice, He said unbelieving and perverted. The unbelief is the yeast that perverts the recipe when added to the rest of the ingredients. The other sins are the taste of the ingredients mixed with dirt. They naturally follow from the perversion of unbelief.

Such unbelief separates us from transcendence and eternity and limits us to the ultimate futility of surviving temporary physical existence through avatars destined to perish.  Jesus clearly said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  And in I John the Apostle offers the following, “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another…” 

Christ is the way and the truth and the life out of the futile trap of impermanence. But he is not the way from a false church to a true church or a pagan nation to a Christian nation; He is the corridor from futility to a future. He is the door to eternity of which other prophets merely spoke; our connection to transcendent enduring Consciousness. Fore death follows those from birth, whom only the body knows.

But if we are a part of divine energetic Consciousness from which all else originates, and our eyes and brain are intricate organic tools for accessing time and space, imagine the capacities we naturally possess. If we are each a small part of the Consciousness that is Christ, can we also access the same unseen power to transform this three-dimensional reality? Shouldn’t our daily experience also involve miracles?

I began this series on a Gospel Transcending Time and Space, offering the following version of John 3:16.  

“For God so loved His creation, both seen and unseen, existent in galaxies, planets, and energy, beyond measure, He sent His Son, who has always been and through whom all else exists, to take three-dimensional form, and live a life transcending such form, so that all who trust in Him could live eternally and powerfully, in God’s higher-dimensionality, free from the fear of death in time and space.”                            

Jesus raised the dead, healed lepers, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, walked on water, then told us we could harness the same power? “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I am going to the Father.” How can we demonstrate His true nature without showing His true works? 

Seeing ourselves as eternal beings who transcend our avatars, allows us to better live a life of faith and hope, secure in our transcendent nature. This perspective should enable our perseverance in the most severe of earthly circumstances, realizing that we as players are bigger than the game.  We could better love each other, and more easily put the needs of others ahead of our own.  We could know the truth and live it without shame. We could see the works of Jesus taking place around us daily, by faith in divine power and energy. We would know the end from the beginning and live in time and space from the perspective of a Gospel that transcends that time and space. We could reside in a world seemingly beset with limitation intuitively knowing inter-dimensional abundance. Redeemed from the futility of a life trapped in time and space and freed to live a life of miraculous promise and connection to a power greater than our avatars. 

Part 1

Part 2