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_THE CALL OF THE DIVINE_

A SHARED JOURNEY  
AND  
A FELLOWSHIP OF SOULS

Raja Arasa Ratnam
Copyright © 2020 by Raja Arasa Ratnam  
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof  
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever  
without the express written permission of the publisher  
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

### The Author

I am a nonagenarian metaphysical Hindu, influenced in this life by the Upanishads and respected commentators of Hinduism; and also, having been a Muslim warrior in my immediate past life. The latter has been confirmed by a reliable clairvoyant, and a few subliminal messages from my own soul, and especially through auto-hypnosis. (Read my book 'The Spirit Realm and I.' Real experiences cannot be denied through blind scepticism.)

Higher beings in the spirit realm have significantly influenced my life-path in this life. Confirmation is provided in my 7th book 'The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on: the Spirit Realm and I' (available free from Smashwords)

My 8th book, "Of Past Human Civilisations: Cosmic Catastrophes and Consciousness." (available free from Smashwords)

A smorgasbord (a random collection) of my (approaching-death) thoughts, expressed as posts on my website rajarasaauthor.com offers a kaleidoscope of probable historical scenarios of an unverifiable historic time. These scenarios are supported by reliable but fragmented reports based on research findings, and also by some sensitive speculations, about what was or may have been.

### Contents

RELIGION – Beginnings

The Priesthoods as Intermediaries

My Beliefs

Finding Meaning in Life

Giving Away God

Reality Strikes

Karma and Destiny Paths

The Other Religions

The Quality of a Religion

Major Religions are Equal in Their Potential

All Waters Return to the Sea

Who Discovered the God of Mankind?

Extra-terrestrial Influences?

The Jewish Community in Australia

Jewish Legends in Freemasonry

Christianity in Australia

Asian Tolerance of Religious Diversity Demonstrated

The Roman Catholic Church in Australia

Misguided Past Practices

Other Christian Sects in Australia

Emperor Ashoka's Wonderful Edict

Muslims in Australia

A Shared Code of Conduct

Buddhism in Australia

Hinduism in Australia

Religion did not Uplift the Poor

The Core Metaphysics of Hinduism

The Upanishads – A Useful Guide to the Cosmos

The Path to Spiritual Fulfilment

The Power and Poetry of the Upanishads

The Finding of God

Self-chosen or Church-controlled Personal Destiny Paths?

A Deterministic Destiny-path Chosen by Self?

How Should I Conceive God as Creator?

Hinduism Offers Deities as Manifestations of God

A Personal Destiny-path

The Respective Roles of the Creator and the Spirit Realm

Will All Religions Lead to the Ocean of Consciousness?

Why are the 'Desert' Religions So Aggressive?

Unacceptable Religious Interference

The Unwarranted Exercise of Power in Religion

The Track Record of Institutional Religion

The End of Institutional Religion?

Has Religion Benefited Mankind (Part 1)

Has Religion Benefited Mankind (Part 2)

Do Authoritarian Religions Produce Intolerant Bullies?

Imposing One's Values Upon Others as a Bully

Ignorance or Prejudice in Depicting Deity Ganesha as a Lamb-meat Eater?

"I Am not Allowed It; So, You Cannot Have It"

Has Religion Been Involved in a Civilisational War?

Violence in Religion

Religiosity and Spirituality

This is Mysticism

Perceiving Reality, But Only Through the Mind

Of Mind, Memories and Soul

Being in Non-being

A Seeker Wanders and Wanders: A Spiritual Experience

A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: The Destination

A Seer Wanders and Wonders: The Pathway

A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: Cremations and Compassion

A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: Seeking Solace in Hinduism

Of Spiritual Healing (Part 1)

Of Spiritual Healing (part 2)

Of Predestination

Of Other Dimensions of Human Perception

Educating About Religious Beliefs

Our Past Lives Must Surely Live Within Us

Seeing Auras

Seeing and Reading the Souls of People

Seeking a Glimpse of the Afterlife

Soul Entities as Humans

Soul Memories

So Much for a Past-life Urge!

The Path to Immortality

Pondering the Meaning of Life (Part 1)

Pondering the Meaning of Life (Part 2)

Psychic Experiences vs. Science

Do Psychic Phenomena Reflect a Shared Spiritual Realm?

What of the 'Afterlife'?

A Challenging View of the Reality of Existence

A Collective Consciousness?

Acknowledging Psychic Phenomena

A Civilisation More Spiritually Advanced?

Why Blame God?

Entangled Minds

"Ethics is More Important Than Religion"

Explaining the Inexplicable

Do Things Happen When They Need to Happen?

Faith Healing Observed by Sceptical Medicos

Feeling or Understanding the Pain of Another

Near-death Experiences: Glitch or Glimpse?

Had My Life-chances Pathway Been Laid Out for Me?

The Mystery of Human-spirit Realm Relations

How Do We Know What We Know?

Was Humanity Once Part of an Extra-terrestrial Community?

How Does One Know What One Does Not Know?

How Little We Know – Some Known Unknowns

How Many Parts to Each of Us?

How Mankind May Have Arrived in the Cosmos

An Unknowable, Insubstantial, and Formless Creator God?

Finding God

Faith in the Unknowable

Does My Soul Influence My Mind?

Does Consciousness Explain Reality?

Do Out-of-body Experiences Indicate Life After Death?

Destiny-formation and Power

The Soul and Consciousness

Reincarnation Supported by Quantum Theory?

More on Reincarnation and Quantum Theory

Yet More on Reincarnation and Quantum Theory

Background Imperatives

Background Imperatives (2)

Personal Imperatives (1)

Personal Imperatives (2)

Personal Imperatives (3)

Personal Imperatives (4)

Personal Imperatives (5)

Personal Imperatives (6)

Modern VS. Ancient Cosmology (1)

Modern VS. Ancient Cosmology (2)

Material and Ethereal Realms (1)

Material and Ethereal Realms (2)

Of Spirituality (1)

Of Spirituality (2)

The Future (1)

The Future (2)

The Future (3)

The Future (4)

The Future (5)

The Beginning

Religion in Culture (1)

Religion in Culture (2)

Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (1)

Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (2)

Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (3)

Operational Parameters of Religion

Why Do Religions War With One Another?

What Do Warring Region Reflect?

The Tragedy of Warring Religious Sects

Any Need for a Religious Intermediary?

A One-to-one Relationship With God

Imagining God

How Does One Relate to God?

How Did Early Man Imagine a Protective Higher Force?

An Intermediary in the Appeasement Process

Does the Ringing Bell Await the Human Ear?

Any Port in a Storm – a Godsend

The Great Value of Early 'Medicine-Men' (Part 1)

The Great Value of Early 'Medicine-Men' (Part 2)

Do We Need Priests? (Part 1)

Do We Need Priests? (Part 2)

Do We Need Priests? (Part 3)

The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 1)

The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 2)

The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 3)

The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 4)

The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 5)

Quo Vadis? (Whither Goest Thou?)

###  RELIGION – Beginnings

We are born into a religion

Almost all of those who profess to having, or believing in, a religion are born into it. Is it not the religion or faith of the family? Some exchange their religion for another later in life: it would be a well-thought out shift of allegiance, reflecting a search for a more satisfying faith or religious community.

There will be of course some who are born into a family without adherence to any religious belief, but who may subsequently join a religious sect by a considered choice. Then there are those who quietly disengage from religion, except possibly in matters relating to hatches, matches and dispatches, viz. births, marriages and deaths.

How do religious beliefs arise?

From a sense or feeling of awe about something or events so powerful, so beyond our control or understanding, so ubiquitous, more often than not very frightening, yet uplifting at times? Since our primordial emotional state is anxiety, that is, uncertainty mixed with a degree of fear about what might happen, it is only natural that we would seek to reduce our sense of trepidation or fear.

Normally, when confronted by either an ethereal or a tangible source of anxiety, one either flees or fights. When thunder and lightning, torrential rain and floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, and such like terrorised primitive Man, did he conjure up or imagine spirits of indefinable form, with malevolent intent, as causing his terror? Indeed, are not beliefs of an animist nature still held in the simpler societies in the world?

Did Early Man then also attempt to propitiate the unknown and unseen causes of his terror in some way? Did he subsequently come to conclude that propitiation can at times be effective, especially after experiencing a period of relative peace?

###  The Priesthoods as Intermediaries

Then did some opportunistic fellows set themselves up as competent intermediaries? That is, to intercede between the fearful and the feared – and perhaps for some small reward, price or benefit, which progressively led to control over the fearful? Was this how the shamans, the witchdoctors, the brahmins, and all other priesthoods came into being?

By interposing themselves as intermediaries able to reach fearsome spirits, and by appearing to appease them, as well as purporting to obtain guidance for the gullible, did the interlopers then extend their power by subtle threats against both unbelievers and competitors? Were shrines then constructed as places for placation? Did gifts, ostensibly to bribe the spirits (now possibly described as gods), then lead to the enrichment of the 'priests'?

Did they then begin to conduct ceremonies of some kind to convey the dead to their resting places, to welcome the newborn to the living, and to join in marriage those wanting to create new life? Did these clever intermediaries use rituals they had devised; accompanied by allegedly explanatory mumbo-jumbo they had also concocted, to subjugate in superstition the fearful? Was this the process which engulfed not only primitive Man, but also the members of the simpler societies which subsequently developed?

###  My Beliefs

A succinct summary of my beliefs follows. I have been reading about religion and society since I was about 24.

At death, I would join the souls of my predecessors (except those who have been reincarnated). After a period of learning in whatever dimension I find myself, _I would be reincarnated on Earth_. Let me make clear that I was never taught to believe in a spirit domain from which the soul of a former relative or, for that matter, the soul of perhaps a guru, could enter my life and offer me advice. Or that those in this domain might be able to influence the direction of my life at some significant point – as has apparently happened more than once!

Moving on – each Earthly life would involve me paying for the sins of my past lives while being offered opportunities to learn to better myself morally, possibly spiritually. After many, many rebirths, I might be permitted to return to that Ocean of Consciousness from which, it is said, we had originally arisen.

The ultimate objective of this extended process? _To improve the stock of human souls? So, is there meaning and purpose in human existence?_

###  Finding Meaning in Life

The above belief would give meaning where none exists for the unbeliever. It would give more meaning than the claim that human existence has meaning but only for each Earthly existence. A concept embodying continuity through lifetimes, of opportunities to move up some moral scale life by life, of exercising free will rather than being carried blindly through time on Earth, is enticing, because _it offers a path of purpose, and of hope – with free will._

A sceptic could, however, assert that this belief is akin to clutching a straw in attempting to keep afloat in mid-ocean. Pointing to a tub of water in the distance to a blind, thirsty horse doesn't necessarily lead the horse to drink, either. Its need must be such as to enable it to sense the water, and move towards it.

The sceptic has also to overcome _the evidence_ (limited as it may be) that _reincarnation is a reality,_ as are experienced psychic phenomena and other paranormal occurrences. The extensive research by both American and Russian military into the latter should encourage the sceptic to keep an open mind on reincarnation, and thereby on its probable implications.

But not many people, including academic researchers, would be willing to leave the certainty of disbelief; it is certainly comforting.

###  Giving Away God

Turning to matters religious: as a primary school boy, I was sent to the Pilleyar (Ganesha) temple at examination times, although I topped my class by a large margin every term, except once. I also accompanied my parents at other times _. We were ardent in our faith._

My father, having overcome a serious illness at about 33, died suddenly at 47, when I was 18. Within 3 years I then lost the family's savings through a spectacular academic failure _. So much for faith and fervent prayer._

My future was thereby destroyed, as clearly forewarned after my father's demise by a perambulating yogi, but unheeded by us. I doubt that my mother and I were competent to absorb such a warning. In any event, surely what had to happen had to work itself out. Late in life I realised that what the yogi had done was to turn my mother's vision towards Australia, which was in a direction not normally taken by students from British Malaya seeking an overseas qualification. _Australia was to be the location for my exile._

My destiny led to my mother and my sisters being impoverished. So much for temple rituals and the priesthood. _I gave away God, Hinduism and all religio-cultural rituals._ I remember waving my fist in anger towards the sky, shouting 'To hell with you.' Nothing changed.

###  Reality Strikes

Seeing it as it is

Then learning and logic took over! Studying the belief systems of the simpler societies at my university, and dipping into some anthropology, sociology, psychology, and the major religions, _I realised that there has been, and is, an innate need in many, if not most, of us to understand what we humans are, and our place in the Cosmos._

I realised further that: the _complexity and beauty,_ as well as the _observable but inadequately explicable aspects of the experienced world;_ the exceedingly _complex patterns of inter-linked cause and effect, action and reaction,_ and the _inter-dependencies_ of the physical, chemical and electromagnetic forces affecting us; _the uniformity, the invariability, the predictive capacity of the laws of nature; t_ he _ecological balance between mobile and fixed forms of life_ ; the intuitive _yearning by sensitive souls for communion with sublime or higher forces not clearly understood;_ and the inferred _influence of the spirit world,_ all of which affect our lives, could not have occurred purely by chance. Instead, **they might, I felt, reflect the mind and soul of a Creator.**

How else could all that have occurred? By chance? Is that another name for an inexplicable cause, akin to the gods of simpler people?

**I did conclude,** _logically,_ **that there had to be a Creator of all that exists.** I then noted, with great interest, that an academic and confirmed atheist had reached the same conclusion after a lifetime of non-belief in a Creator, for exactly the same reasons. There has to be a Creator, he now accepts, thereby upsetting most severely his former fellow-believers in that causal mechanism named Chance.

Like me, he doesn't claim to know; only that a creator god makes (unverifiable) sense.

###  Karma and Destiny Paths

How do I see **karma**? In the Hindu framework I have set out above, it _reflects the confluence of reincarnation and the law of cause and effect._ As we paddle as best we can on our personal rivers of life, we exercise our free will to pay our personal cosmic debts, to access any opportunities to learn whatever we need to learn for our personal development, and to _prepare for the next life._

**We thus effectively create, as a consequence of bumbling through life as best as possible, the cliffs through which our river of life will flow during our next sojourn on Earth, and the rocky impediments and chasms we will find on the way.** How we deal with these and the cross-currents created by other personal destinies related to us will determine our future lives.

No gods, saints, or spirits are therefore necessary as determinants. However, they may be able to intrude, to help, if they choose to; presumably they too have free will. Since each of us is an integral part of a number of collectives, _there will result a complex network of personal destinies._

The expected web, and possibly nested mesh, of personal destinies would presumably be reflected ultimately in tribal and _possibly national destinies._ These _might influence species development,_ although a major contributor might also be genetic mutations, which are truly accidents of nature.

###  The Other Religions

What place is there for the major religions? Divested of the detritus of dogma deliberately designed to distinguish each sect or faith from the others, and then to enable a claim of an unwarranted theological superiority, and thereby an exclusive path to heaven, **two core beliefs are shared by these religions, except Buddhism.** _First is a claim of a creator god. The second is that, since humans are the products of this creation, we are bonded to one another._

**What a wonderful concept. It is a great pity that it seems to apply only within the boundaries of each religious sect.** The others are outsiders, heretics, heathens, etc. and are therefore not going to be 'saved.' Thus, in the name of their god, each priesthood is likely to display or even preach prejudice towards those not under its control or influence.

_There will, of course, be great exceptions_ – priests within each religion who are truly **ecumenical** (accepting related sects within their religion as non-competitive), or who are **freethinkers** in their tolerance, even accepting other religions as comparable paths to the one God of mankind. I have enjoyed conversing with some of these enlightened exceptions.

What of those who quite impertinently suggested that _my soul would remain doomed if I did not convert to their sect?_ My riposte to such soul gatherers is as follows: 'When you ascend to the Celestial Abode of the Heavenly Father, you will find yourself shaking hands with Caluthumpians and members of all the other religions.'

Regrettably, some 'wannabe' saviours seemed discomfited by such a vision; I have watched a few dash down the road with displeasure after receiving my good news! I wonder how atheists react on entry to this Abode.

###  The Quality of a Religion

A true measure of the quality of a civilisation is _the way the least viable of the people are treated. This criterion, in my view, also applies to religions._ On this test, **the major religions, if not all of them, fail.**

The life chances, the quality of life, of those at the bottom of the socio-economic pile are generally ignored by their co-religionists in power, in government. It is a great pity that _it was the communist nations which provided some uplift to their peasants, lifting them from their squalor_.

**Our only hope is the secular nation** , which subordinates saving the soul to filling an empty belly. Would it not be wonderful if individual humans were able to seek succour from their god or spirits or whatever, without being caught up within an institutional religion with all its divisive binding rules, regulations and practices, as well as its priesthood; that is, without an intermediary? This is not to deny that there are many who derive some peace of mind through their priests.

From observation, the two main groups in Australia are the elderly and the newly converted (mainly East Asians). This peace of mind, if associated with sectarian prejudice, may not however be the best ticket for entry to Heaven. Yet, the real need by the majority of humans to have some hope of alleviating their suffering as they strive merely to exist, to survive, to protect their families (especially their young), cannot be denied.

However, how could they accept that their prayers, their entreaties, are in vain; and that they need to work through their personal destinies in each life?

Do not the alleged interventions by some kind god, or the claimed miracles brought about by saints, offer (blind) hope? Should the purveyors of this hope, the middlemen, most of whom live well and in security, therefore be tolerated? If so, at what price? Yet, I will make it clear that I am not denigrating the kindness of most of those I refer to as middlemen. I continue to deal with them. They are worthy of respect.

###  Major Religions are Equal in Their Potential

As the foundation chairman of a primary school board way back in the 1970s, **my outline of an educational program to teach young children about religion, rather than have them indoctrinated through scripture classes conducted by sectarian priests,** was accepted by the teachers at the school, the Schools Authority in Canberra and the priests who had decided not to conduct scripture classes in the school ("come to church," they said); yet nothing came of it. In this instance, the education bureaucracy may have had too much of a say.

Fortunately, those of us who do not seek anything from God, but merely wish to respond to **that innate need to reach out to a Creator** , can freely bypass an institutional intermediary. **The major religions, apart from metaphysical Hinduism, have nothing meaningful to offer those of us who seek guidance as to our place in the Cosmos and its meaning**. Yet, they all offer a code of ethics, based on mutual obligation derived from being co-created. _Stripped down to their core message, all the major religions are equal in their potential to guide us as to how we should live with one another._ Regrettably, the reality is otherwise.

I am satisfied, by a process of observation, reading, experience and logic, with the tentative conclusions I have reached about the equality of all humans and how we fit into the Cosmos. I am therefore at peace mentally and spiritually. **I envisage the universal Creator or God as an amorphous essence beyond all creation.**

Who is the Creator, why was creation undertaken, and what is the rationale for the product? These are meaningless questions. **There seems, however, to be purpose and meaning in our lives, on Earth or elsewhere.** I believe that _each one of us has free will to create our personal destiny in future lives,_ and to overcome innate fear and taught prejudice to seek our original home, that Ocean of Consciousness.

In such a search, we are more likely to reach out to fellow humans on the road, offering respect and support, knowing that **it is also the journey, not just the destination, which matters!**

###  All Waters Return to the Sea

I embarked upon a search into the various paths to the universal Creator. It is this unending search which I touch upon below. The options available to a seeker are indeed wide. But is there a single track which might subsume all options? Whilst I seek unity in diversity in all matters human and cosmic, like Mahatma Gandhi, "I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian."

Why then am I happy about the value of other faiths? Because I suspect that I have experienced them subjectively in earlier lives on Earth. I am comfortable with, and comforted by, them too — but at a different level. I refer only to that core of each faith, leaving aside the trappings and trimmings added by those who constitute the religious institution surrounding each faith.

Whilst each of us must find his path to the Creator in his own manner and time, I looked at how the adherents of the major faiths in Australia uphold their beliefs; and whether these adherents are contributing to a unified people in the new Australian nation-state. That is, how tolerant are the adherents of each faith of other faiths? Does each faith contribute to inter-communal acceptance? And to an understanding that we are all on different roads to the same destination?

Looking at the simpler human societies, I understand that before the Christian and the Muslim faiths began to compete for their souls, the African peoples believed in all manner of gods, beings, or spirits — just like most members of simple societies. And many still do. Some of these Africans also believed in a universal spirit, of which they were all part, and to which they would return at death. This, strangely enough, is almost Hindu in concept. A proverb from that continent captures that thought well: "Water may flow in a thousand channels, but it all returns to the sea."

###  Who Discovered the God of Mankind?

In **the more advanced societies** , which tribe of people initiated the concept of the one god, instead of the many? Who initially conceived a creative (or causal) force (or influence) as intelligence, or energy, or consciousness, or spirit? Who can claim prior authorship? Does it matter? _Human beings have a great ability to learn from one another, across vast distances,_ and in rapid time (akin to crows across the globe learning to remove the tops of milk bottles).

**When an Egyptian Pharaoh attempted to introduce a belief in the one god,** to replace the traditional pantheon, he was said to have been _influenced by a foreign wife._ Foreign wives were a part of the tradition of kingly rule even then. For example, **Emperor Chandragupta of India** demanded (and took) from Seleucus (the post-Alexander ruler of the Middle East) a foreign wife. Foreign spouses can thus contribute in a significant manner to the cross-pollination of philosophies and values. **Pharaoh's eastern wife** was said to have learnt about the one god from philosophers from countries further east. Where did they learn about unity in diversity, especially as a causal agent?

**The oldest of the three desert religions** represented in Australia claims that a Babylonian wandered to the Mediterranean coast in a roundabout route and, on his way, begat a thought. The religion that he founded intrigues me, because it eventually produced a 'Good Book' with a lot of 'begatting' recorded in it. Some claim that the founders of this religion were the first humans to have 'begat' a single Creator for the universe and all its contents. _As a Hindu, I find this claim problematic._

Velikovsky, a Jew, interestingly enough, quotes **the historical Clearchus of Soli** thus: _"The Jews descended from the philosophers of India. The philosophers are called, in India, Calanians and, in Syria, Jews."_ Velikovsky also quotes **Ambassador Megasthenes** (representing Seleucus, ruler of the Middle East around 300 BC) at the Court of Chandragupta in India : _"All the opinions expressed by the ancients about nature are found with the philosophers foreign to Greece; with the Brahmans of India and, in Syria, with those called Jews."_

###  Extra-terrestrial Influences?

A number of Australians I have met, irrespective of ethnicity, believe that extra-terrestrials aided evolution on Earth by genetic experimentation. Others believe that the angels who conversed or even copulated with sundry earthlings were well-meaning educated and seductive spacemen.

**The sudden spurt of intuitive thinking** in China, India, Persia and Greece in _about the sixth century BC_ is seen by some as evidence of guidance from cosmic sources. The ability of some currently primitive tribes in Africa to describe accurately certain stellar constellations not visible to the naked eye also suggest to some a degree of extra-terrestrial influence.

The great thinkers who lived near to one another in time were: **Confucious** **and Lao-Tze in China,** offering systems of moral behaviour and a view of the Void, respectively; **Buddha and Mahavira in India** — Buddha pointed out the path of good conduct, and attacked priestly tyranny, whilst Mahavira taught non-violence and avoidance of injury to any living being; **Zoroaster in Persia** taught about the ongoing struggle between good and evil; and **Pythagoras in Greece** stressed the moral reformation of society, underpinned by a belief in the transmigration of the soul.

Was there a spiritual breeze wafting by, or a beneficial star beaming cosmic wisdom?

###  The Jewish Community in Australia

The Jewish faith seems to me to be very effective in offering _a significant vehicle of identity,_ covering a people of a variety of geographical and national origins. It cohesively bonds and sustains its supporters in much the same way that my faith in my present life (Hinduism) binds widely spread peoples of a range of origins and tongues, whilst we all seek solace from our Creator.

_Yet, I was told reliably by a Jewish acquaintance that 50% of the Jewish population of Israel is secular, seeking only sun and sea, as well as cheap land and labour._ This tends to confirm the view of the Jewish English Disraeli that a full belly diminishes one's need for God.

What I find pleasing is that Jewish Australians do not seek converts, and do not offend by proclaiming that everyone else is doomed. _They are part of the nation in that culturally integrated manner which can contribute to a single national identity._ There are clearly some exceptions.

These are the Zionists who have expropriated that useful word 'holocaust'; who accuse anyone who is critical of Israel's geo-political and human rights policies as 'anti-Semitic'; and who have successfully biased the Australian government's Middle East policies in favour of Israel.

I wonder how the Zionists would respond were one to question _how it is that white (mainly East) Europeans could claim land in the Middle East granted by their God to their (surely) coloured cultural ancestors._ Is it also the case that the genealogical ancestors of white Jewish people were converts to Judaism from the Caucasian region, as asserted by a Jewish scholar? A Jewish friend of mine could not answer this question.

###  Jewish Legends in Freemasonry

Jewish legends have, however, left an interesting and valuable legacy. The Freemasons, spread thinly but apparently universally over the world, draw upon the claimed historical experiences of the ancient Jewish people in their rituals.

Whether or not some of these rituals initially arose in ancient Egypt (the most probable origin), these rituals are intended as lessons in morality and mortality. **Archaic the symbolism might be; yet, the lessons are universal and for all time, and extolling the Creator.**

The fellowship resulting from the shared spiritual learning experiences is implicit; it bonds and it sustains. Many non-Christian Asians have accepted Freemasonry, practising it in Australia and in their own countries. _I have personally found the Jewish history-linked Masonic rituals spiritually inspiring. I was once the secretary of 2 Masonic lodges – one blue, the other red._

###  Christianity in Australia

**When I came to Australia, it was with a comfortable feeling about Christians**. A few members of my extended clan and quite a few family friends were Christians. _In Malaya, any doctrinal differences among the Christians were buried far beneath a heavy layer of tolerance and socialising_. I played the violin regularly (and not very well, I hasten to say) for a family **singing Christmas carols. Inter-faith acceptance was the norm.**

**It was therefore a shock to me when I arrived to hear so much sectarian bitterness uttered in a nation of Christians, overlaying Christian prejudice against the infidels and heathens.** I was frequently invited to convert to Christianity. I soon learnt that it was Catholicism that was offered to me, although a few minority sects kept knocking on my door asking if I had read the Bible. I would tell them that I had three different versions in my library. I do believe that attempted religious conversion is terribly cheeky.

**The arrogance of the ignorant is quite astounding.** Perhaps Malaysia is on the right track. Any attempted religious conversion of another is a criminal offence. Reflecting, probably, other past life experiences, I also reject all authoritarian priesthoods. What is curious is why it is only the Christians who seek converts, professing a superiority that is clearly not defensible. _Why not leave the others to find their own way to God?_

I have been told that the Roman Catholic Church reached its pre-eminence in Australia, from obviously small beginnings, by the sustained exhortations by its priests for their flocks to _go forth and multiply._ Enthusiastic practice by the adherents, as claimed by many of my good friends, reinforced this guidance. _Enforced conversions at marriage_ sucked in spouses of other faiths, and their offspring.

**The adherents are now in a position to dominate a culturally diverse officially secular nation, and are quietly doing so.** The tendency of the conservative government of the 1990s to kowtow towards this church, in its attempts to wean the Catholics from the Labor Party (their traditional chariot of war), results in some Vatican values being imposed on the whole Australian people.

The nation's policies on abortion, voluntary euthanasia, censorship, and financial aid to international agencies involved in copulation control, are examples of this unwarranted influence.

###  Asian Tolerance of Religious Diversity Demonstrated

Traditional religious intolerance by this church was demonstrated through the following example. In the 1990s, when **an Indian Hindu girl was to be married to an Irish Catholic in Australia,** it took about a year to find a priest willing to agree to the girl's parents' wishes!

_They refused any conversion, or dedication of children, to the Catholic Church. They wanted a two-part marriage ceremony under the traditions of both religions, as is normally done in Asia._ That is **, the parents accepted their intended son-in-law's faith as equal to theirs.** This is also a common attitude in most parts of Asia.

My relatives are to be found in a number of religions, all accepting one another as equals on the road. **Are Asians more tolerant than Europeans? Obviously, we are.**

###  The Roman Catholic Church in Australia

**The Catholics are a clear minority in Australia:** nominally about 25% of the population. I have known many who define themselves as Catholic, but who do not support the Church. Whether they go to church regularly or infrequently or not at all, _most of the Catholics I have met are no different from other Aussies._ Whilst there is some casual evidence that some do favour those of the same faith and tribal background in any situation involving power or other benefits (a very human attribute), they display the normal range of prejudices, dislikes and likes.

Fortunately, there is no more of that whingeing about the Masons and the 'prods'. Perhaps they realise that any historical discrimination would have been a two-way process.

It is only that handful, _the pro-life minority_ within a minority, which is worrying. Its more rabid members seem willing to kill in order to save 'lives'. Still, the fanatics do not define the faith. Yet, **in any agglomeration of Christians, it is the Vatican's chosen definition of human life which causes division and unnecessary tension.**

_The exercise of centralised power used to define this priesthood._ Is there another major religion in the world which seeks to control its followers in the way seen in Australia? Isn't religious (if not moral) authority enough?

**Because Mussolini recognised the Vatican as a State** , giving its officers diplomatic status, Australia gave similar recognition, but only in the mid-1960s. In my view, this was a foolish move. _How are we to be an effective secular, multi-religious and multicultural nation if we give special treatment to one religious institution; and that of a minority?_

###  Misguided Past Practices

_Then there was the Pope in India at the end of the second millennium. He forgot his manners there_ when he talked about converting Indians to his church. No doubt he meant well, offering them the salvation that he thought that they apparently could not aspire to.

But, _will the Indian converts eat any better_ than the Catholic Filipinos living on rubbish tips and under bridges, or the Latin Americans with no hope of a better or more secure life in spite of centuries of Catholicism?

Then there are all those Christians I have met who strongly believe that **it is for God to decide who is to be the beneficiary of grace. In which case, does He discriminate between his followers according to the priesthood leading them?**

I guess even the Pope is not going to be exempt from the need to shake hands with that horde of Muslims, Hindus and other heathens and heretics when he ascends to the Heavenly Abode of the Cosmic Father!

However, it is good to know that this Church is now seeking to reform itself to suit the ethos of modern times. _It is clear that my children's generation is more tolerant of other faiths, as well as of other cultures._

Wonderfully, my grandchildren's generation does not seem to see any differences in religion, or skin colour, or those physical features which traditionally defined 'them' and 'us', and in a manner detrimental to the evolution of one people from diverse origins.

###  Other Christian Sects in Australia

As for the other Christian sects in Australia, they seem to go about their own business without any serious effort to increase support; or to seek power. They are not as rich either. I find too that the smaller the church, the more dogmatic, cohesive and insular. I have no problem with that, because _they do not shove their views down my throat._

**Fortunately, none of the smaller churches seems to have any major influence on government policies.** They seem to be quietly celebrating their commitment to the Creator, much as most religious sects in the world do. The equality of women and the equitable treatment of homosexuals are, however, still being fought over. _The lust for power by mere males continues._

Formal acceptance by Christians of non-Christian paths to the Creator is somewhat rare in Australia, in my experience. Yet, **I was accepted into the Anglican Church without having to renounce any other faith.** Regretfully, I did not then find the community that I sought.

On the other hand, an Anglican bishop expressed concern relatively recently that **many Westerners were becoming Buddhists.** He claimed that they were giving away monotheism for atheism. I am not sure about this, but — when did monotheism produce better-behaved people than atheism?

###  Emperor Ashoka's Wonderful Edict

One has to note what Ashoka the great Indian emperor (and convert to Buddhism) stood for. His edicts are worth acting upon. For example, an extract from one of his edicts states: **"All sects deserve reverence for one reason or another. By thus acting, a man exalts his own sect and at the same time does service to the sects of other people."**

I do suggest that the Pope and his officers, by adopting the above edict, can become spiritual leaders, thus _aiding all mankind in the search for identification with the Creator._ Perhaps the Buddha Way should also now replace the papal highway as social policy in the Land of Oz.

###  Muslims in Australia

When Mohammad decided that the People of the Book, viz. Christians and Jews, needed to clean up their act, and return to God, he wrote the Koran _(anyhow, that is my interpretation)._

As Christ built upon the Jewish faith, so Mohammad built upon the Christian faith, offering Allah the compassionate and merciful as the only God of all mankind. He was thus able to unite the Arabs as never before. _Yet, I note sadly that, in Australia, there is an inexplicable fear, or dislike, of Muslims by many Christians._

The Muslim population in Australia is not large. _They seem to appreciate the political and social freedom available to them in Australia_. Many nations in which Islam is dominant do not grant equal opportunity for economic and social betterment, freedom of thought, equality of women, and open democratic structures as we do. Yet, **in its heyday, historical Islam was tolerant towards the Jews, Christians and others living under its domination; and it fostered learning.**

Partly because I grew up in a country full of mosques and tolerant Malay and Indian Muslim people, _I find myself instinctively attracted by the simplicity and purity of Muslim mosques, as I am by the splendour of many Christian churches._ I also quite like the Muslim concept of a pleasurable Heaven. In between earthly transits, I may indeed have enjoyed that pleasurable break promised to good Muslims. After all, **during my extended transit through time, I surely must have been a Muslim (and, serially, a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, and so on).**

###  A Shared Code of Conduct

**The basic teachings of the desert faiths seem, to a spiritually inclined Hindu from Asia, to be most acceptable.** Indeed, my family was taught that all faiths are equal.

Since most sensitive persons feel that there has to be Creator for the wonder that is the Cosmos, as well as to explain that subtle yearning by the human soul for the ephemeral beyond the obvious materiality of the physical world, _the assertion of a Creator by all three religions is unexceptionable._

As the poet Keats said: "What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth." If, to one people, the Creator had to be nameless and a bit of a _chastising father-figure_ , that would have been reasonable in the times of those people. If the Creator is later offered as _a loving father_ , that was reasonable, and probably necessary, then; especially, if they were essentially the same or related people. If the Creator is then presented as _merciful and compassionate_ to a related people, that too can be reasonable.

What is important, I believe, is that all these people offer a code of conduct towards other human beings that is virtually uniform, and unexceptionable.

###  Buddhism in Australia

It seems to me to be significant that long before the time of Christ, the Buddha taught the same code of conduct too, but _without emphasis, or reference, to a Creator, or to any special deals._ His intention was also to break the then control over the people by their priests.

**His idea was that one should treat all humans (as well as all sentient life) as one would want to be treated.** And there are those who hold that Jesus might have learnt from the Buddhists in Central Asia.

Buddhist teachers are also known to have taken the Buddha's guidance far and wide. Whilst the Buddha has since been made godlike by some, and his teachings encompassed within a religious superstructure of varying dimensions and complexity, _his basic teaching remains as valid as are the teachings of the desert religions, and as relevant._

**The Buddha offered a view, not of the Cosmos, but of heaven on earth.** In contemplating this view, one does need to ignore that smart-ass who said: "Heaven is the place where the donkey catches up with the carrot." There was, in any event, already a somewhat comprehensive and complex view of the Cosmos existing by the time; **but the Buddha felt a need to stress more the universe of human relationships.**

Buddhism seems to be the fastest growing religion in Australia. Its appeal seems to be its ideology.

###  Hinduism in Australia

Hinduism, the primary forest faith, is _the oldest religion of mankind._ It is a very open-ended faith, allowing all manner of concepts and beliefs to be incorporated within it. It is comparable to the massive River Indus, fed by many tributaries arising from a wide range of sources.

There were, of course, doctrinal differences within this background faith. There was monotheism and monism. It offers the most complex ontological concepts; that is, in its presentation of the nature of reality. **It is the only religion which offers a cosmology.**

As with the early Africans, there was no place for an anthropomorphic God in the core Hindu belief which the Buddha sought to improve. _Deities in the form of humans, and with human attributes, were there for those who needed a tangible form of the Creator to whom they could offer prayers._

Yet, it was accepted (then, as now) that **there is unity in diversity. The many deities are merely aspects of the one God, the unknowable Creator.** In the Hindu epic, the Bhagavad Gita, _Lord Krishna says: "Whatever God a man worships, it is I who answer the prayer."_

It is interesting to compare this with Christ's claim to his fellow Semites to offer the only path to God. Was Christ an incarnation of Lord Krishna? Where the Gospel invites us to love our neighbours as ourselves, **the Hindu view is that we are our neighbours!** And the Hindus in Australia go about their own way without prejudice to others.

###  Religion did not Uplift the Poor

**The tragedy of both Hinduism and Buddhism** (in their diverse forms) is that most adherents continue to follow the path of ritual (as perhaps with most other religions). Core philosophies are lost in the reality of the poor and the dispossessed grasping onto images of deities (in Hinduism) and embodiments of human attributes (in Buddhism) in their devotions.

_Images of the Buddha also proliferate, contrary to his teachings._ It is interesting to see that the priesthood in some of the major religions has a need, from time to time, to rewrite the metaphysics of their faith. Is it a matter of ego gratification? Worse still, the _caste system in India_ erodes not only the human spirit but undermines the hope of spiritual enlightenment of both oppressor and oppressed.

Neither faith has enabled **Hindu and Buddhist rulers** to uplift the bulk of their peoples in their life chances and life styles (after allowing for the depredation of their colonial masters). _Indian Hindu politicians_ clearly do not offer equal opportunity for all, because of caste (and related class) prejudice. _Sri Lankan Buddhist priests_ are accused of propagating prejudice against Hindus and others in the country.

Other Buddhist rulers (e.g. in Thailand) are as i **neffective as are the Muslim rulers of Asia and Africa, and Christian rulers in Latin America and Africa, in giving their people a little economic security and some material comfort.**

To be told that it is _God's Will_ or that life is only _maya_ (i.e. an illusion), offers no solace to the utterly impoverished and distraught. But that is politics, riding on excessive human greed, with a claimed religiosity untarnished by any sensitivity for the plight of fellow humans, even of the same faith.

In effect, ritualistic or devotional religious practices continue to be the only hope for those who need help to better themselves in traditional societies.

###  The Core Metaphysics of Hinduism

Whilst political systems await necessary change in all the places controlled by ritualistic religion operating in cahoots with 'pretend' democracy (such as in the Philippines), **those seeking their Creator might be better off following the core metaphysics of Hinduism.** This offers freedom like no other formal religion does, _except for the path of mysticism available within these faiths._ There is even scope for bypassing the ungodliness of those priests who speak of the demands of their religious law rather than of cosmic law.

**In its explanation of the nature of reality, and therefore of the Cosmos, the core metaphysics of the Hindus offers not a personal, or even an intervening, God.** The individual makes his own bed, wherever he is, and lies on it. The consequences of his actions (and inaction) go with him, wherever he is. _This is freedom, but with responsibility._

**It can entail the growth of self-confidence within an oppressive socio-political environment.** Indeed, I have observed 'lowly' Indians grow as they sought God through this practice. There is no place in this metaphysics for clever games with words, such as: What is the sound of one ball clanging? If Jesus was Jewish, how come he had a Mexican name?

There is **no central authority.** There is **no single basket of dogma.** _There are diverse perceptions and interpretations, reflecting the contribution by many thinkers._ Like the sea fed by many rivers, the metaphysics is vast, containing many contributions.

**Yet, at the core, all reality is held to have a common origin.** Through the study of the mind (the medium of knowing) and the states of consciousness, _insight is sought on all realities._ And **meditation offers the path to enlightenment (communion with the Creator).**

I recommend the Hindus' _Upanishads_ as a useful guide to the Cosmos for those (whether in Australia or elsewhere) who seek their own way to the Void.

###  The Upanishads – A Useful Guide to the Cosmos

I recommend the Hindus' Upanishads as a useful guide to the Cosmos **for those (whether in Australia or elsewhere) who seek their own way to the Void.** I am, however, not inclined to the New Age paradigms. I believe these to have drawn upon the Hindu paradigm, with extra-strong mountain-climbing socks added, for pulling oneself up.

For those who might be interested — and to explain my attraction. **The Upanishads proclaim (according to Easwaran) that "There is a Reality underlying life." "... this Reality is the essence of every created thing, and the same Reality is our real Self, so that each of us is one with the power that created and sustains the universe."** That is, the Creator is both transcendent and immanent.

Easwaran goes on to say that _this Reality or oneness "... can be realised directly, without the mediation of priests or rituals or any of the structures of organised religion, not after death but in this life, and that this is the purpose for which each of us has been born and the goal towards which evolution moves."_

**Complex, yet simple. Is it not inspiring and therefore attractive to those who love freedom? I believe it is.** And the yoga schools in Australia are indeed introducing this perspective to seekers of a better path to spiritual fulfilment. _The goal of evolution may thus be said to be the realisation of One-ness._ This is also the purpose of repeated human re-birth, where life between lives is a mere staging house.

###  The Path to Spiritual Fulfilment

**The path to spiritual fulfilment is lit thus: since "... there is in each of us an inalienable Self that is divine", mankind is "... in a compassionate universe, where nothing is other than ourselves...." Mankind is thus urged "... to treat the universe with reverence."** Not much scope here for that ethos driving the exploitative individualistic ultra-West, much of modern capitalists elsewhere, and the 'I want it all now' consumer greed of the societies in this materialistic constellation, is there?

_Thus, man's innermost essence, the Self (or Atman), is not different from God, the ultimate Reality._ **This Reality (or Brahman) is "... the irreducible ground of existence, the essence of everything — of the earth and sun and all creatures, of gods and human beings, of every power of life."** This equivalence of the ground of one's being (the Self) and the essence of everything (Reality) is encapsulated in the phrase _"Thou art That."_

Thus, metaphysics and morals merge in that simple summary. Common origins bond. _Yet, is this really any different from the teachings of the other major teachers of mankind?_ A close friend of mine, of European origin, and a staunch churchgoing Catholic, found the teaching of the Upanishads most agreeable!

It is only **when the concept of a transcendent and immanent Creator is conjoined with the means of realisation of the Self, through meditation, and the related emphasis on states of consciousness,** that one begins to understand why a Western philosopher like Schopenhauer was drawn to the Upanishads.

In these, he saw, not Hinduism or India but "... _a habit of looking beneath the surface of life to its underlying causes..._." He also drew attention "... to the courage to discover in ourselves a desperately needed higher image of the human being." And, one does not need any intermediaries.

###  The Power and Poetry of the Upanishads

The power and poetry of the Upanishads can be seen from these extracts (from Easwaran):

_As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, so does the one Self take the shape of every creature in whom he is present._ (Katha 2 .2 .9)

_When all desires that surge in the heart Are renounced, the mortal become immortal. When all the knots that strangle the heart Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal. This sums up the teachings of the Scriptures._ (Katha 2 .3.14-15)

_As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and shed all ignorance, gathers its faculties and reaches out from the old body to a new._ (Brihad 4 .4.3)

_The world is the wheel of God, turning round and round with all living creatures upon its rim. The world is the river of God, flowing from him and flowing back to him. On this ever-revolving wheel of being the individual self goes round and round through life after life, believing itself to be a separate creature, until It sees its destiny with the Lord of Love and attains immortality in the indivisible whole._ (Shveta 1 .4-6)

###  The Finding of God

Meher Baba summarised it all beautifully and succinctly: _"The finding of God is the coming to one's own self."_

An important corollary is provided by Kahlil Gibran when he said: _"For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?"_

Of relevance too is the view of Erasmus, the great philosopher of the European Renaissance: _"The sum of religion is peace, which can only be when definitions are as few as possible, and opinion is left free on many subjects."_

A personal heartfelt comment:

Religion should not be a matter of asserted _authority_. It should not involve _control_ of believers. **Dogma, initially introduced to bond closer the supporters of a religion, should not be used as a cudgel against other religions.**

Religion arose at times and in places according to felt need. Perhaps the spirit realm had sought to guide a people who needed direction morally. Each religion may evolve to be more co-operative with other religions, recognising that co-operation rather than competition reflects evolution, inter-tribal transactions, and interpersonal relations.

A belief in God, as creator of all that is, leads of the unavoidable conclusion that **we humans, as co-created life forms, are bonded to one another.**

###  Self-chosen or Church-controlled Personal Destiny Paths?

The Hindus (refer the Upanishads) offer a vision of **each human soul arising from an Ocean of Consciousness, to take up temporary residence in successive material bodies and, following appropriate learning experiences through these repeated re-births, to ultimately return to that Ocean.** To what end one might ask.

My own answer would be that this Ocean might progressively achieve a higher quality in content.

Never-the-less, it is surely axiomatic that rational analysis cannot be expected to solve all mysteries, especially the greatest mystery of all – God, and His ways. Whether one believes in God through acculturation within family (the traditional path) or one comes to appreciate through observation, experience and logic that there has to be a Creator, one is faced with a mystery.

Clearly, the path of repeated reincarnation would allow each one of us (our souls, that is) to improve ourselves in time – all by ourselves!

It is no wonder that, early in its self-chosen path, the Christian church, and its authoritarian priesthood, decided to intrude into this path of cosmic learning. Henceforth, they said, we the priests will tell you how to reach God.

In this realm of god-kings, the kingdom is in Heaven. But, do the priests say what happens after our souls are accepted into that Heaven? What of those who do not qualify?

###  A Deterministic Destiny-path Chosen by Self?

**So, is my concept of Destiny deterministic to a substantial degree? Yes. Who by? Self, of course, but in a previous life or lives.** By the learning availed of, and in the manner of one's paddling on one's river of personal life, one may, however, contribute to the carving out of a better future life. And perhaps to a better ending than previously carved out. _This is my understanding of the Law of Cosmic Justice or Karma. And that is my hope._

**For, I have been a lost soul, dispatched into a foreign milieu as an immature youth, and denied the support of clan, community and tribe.** There, I have remained a marginal person societally whilst integrated operationally. Yes, _I do need to understand Destiny, to make sense of my travails. For, many of them make no sense in terms of a coherent path to self-improvement; or even of punishment._

**How then would I know the meaning of my existence?** It would be _only when (as said in the Upanishads) I Realise the Self._ This Self is none other than the immanent aspect of God, the Creator (who is transcendent as well). Then, hopefully, I would truly know. _That might be quite a few lifetimes ahead!_

###  How Should I Conceive God as Creator?

**Our relationship to our Creator is said to be uniquely one-to-one.** Since God, is, as I have been taught, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, but yet unknowable, _how should I conceive God?_

I cannot accept an anthropomorphic concept; that is, God in the image of Man. I cannot accept that Man is the image of God either. For, **Man is most probably a joint product – of evolution from lesser beings and from genetic infusions by beings from elsewhere (viz. spacemen)**. Both intuited origins are probably the products of cosmic creation.

To explain. Applying Occam's Razor (or principle) that the simplest explanation is best, I begin by accepting that **there has to be a Cosmic Creator. Our souls say so.** The complexity, intricacy and beauty of the Cosmos say so.

I envisage (again applying the above principle) that the Creator (that is, God) set up (that is, created) the Cosmos: and that it _includes a mechanism which is itself capable of evolving, whilst facilitating evolution as a process_ which is accessible to other products of that same Creation. To evolve is to progress to something better.

###  Hinduism Offers Deities as Manifestations of God

The ancient Hindus, with a keen understanding of mankind, had cleverly given us simpler and therefore more **acceptable forms of our Creator.** Building upon the _nature gods_ we had created out of a primordial fear, they subsequently gave us _gods in the image of Man._ They also provided us with appropriate rituals for seeking them.

Behind the intricate relationships which evolved through tribal and associated cultural intermixing, they then projected the understanding that these deities were **mere manifestations of the single Creator.** By then _infusing the products of Creation with the essence of the Creator God_ , t **he more metaphysical adherents of Hinduism were then enabled to rise above the socio-ethical constraints of the great teachers of mankind,** for example, Moses, Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed, Mahavira, and others, in seeking fusion with the Creator.

I do admit that I am now a metaphysical Hindu, with Ganesha (or Pilleyar) as my personal deity (yes, I have come back to him).

###  A Personal Destiny-path

**My present understanding of Destiny is that we are indeed marionettes, the puppet master being a set of circumstances set up by ourselves.** That is, _we have free will,_ exercised both autonomously and reactively. By our actions and thoughts, _we set in train the Cosmic Law of Cause and E_ ff _ect; that is, the Law of Cosmic Justice (or Karma, as the Hindus term it)._

We, in each life on Earth, carve out the banks and the rocky impediments through and over which will flow the river of our personal destiny in the next life, **even as we obey the imperatives of Destiny in our current life.** _The latter would have been carved out in previous existences._ Just as there are scientific laws which govern our physical lives, so there seem to be cosmic laws which govern our existence from birth to death, and thereafter.

**Thus, in each life, I will paddle on the river of my personal Destiny.** My trajectory will be within the walls of the canyon and over those rocky impediments I had carved out during my past life. As I paddle, relate to others, and respond to circumstances reflecting both the Law of Chance and the cosmic 'unavoidables' (exercising what free will seems available), **I will be carving out the framework for my next life, paying o** ff **my cosmic debt, and improving myself spiritually (if that is what I want)**. Seems reasonable, does it not?

Thus, I reached the conclusion, as said by some guru, that karma, like shadows, follows one everywhere.

###  The Respective Roles of the Creator and the Spirit Realm

**So where is God in all this?** All that is required from the one and only Creator is to set up the mechanisms underpinning our lives and relationships, let them evolve as appropriate, and allow us to choose our own path and bed. In some circumstances, He/She might choose to intervene in our lives.

But then, why not leave that work to the higher beings in the spirit world? They certainly seem to have been active in my life. Indeed, I can testify that I have received the odd message – and in a timely manner!

**In so doing, were my spirit guides acting on their own?** Or, were they only _instruments of Destiny?_ If the latter, were they guiding me to optimise the opportunities available in my path of Destiny to improve my life-chances in both my current and future lives? _Or, were they acting at the behest of God, who had chosen to intervene in my life?_

How cosmic laws affect us after death, whether one meets God and one's spirit guides; and, if so, where, is something which (presumably) one finds out only then. We certainly do not remember such experiences, any more than we can remember our past lives.

S **trangely, my attempted glimpses into my past lives, through auto-hypnosis,** had displayed a strange consistency with the presentation of a couple of my alleged past lives by a respected clairvoyant healer. When a significant experience is both confounding and inexplicable, why not simply accept it tentatively, I ask myself.

###  Will All Religions Lead to the Ocean of Consciousness?

**I became deeply interested in religion – in the feeling, its probable causes, and its expression – at age 24.** I began to read about these issues while I was also studying psychology. A not unconnected trigger for my interest was my waving a fist in the direction of the sky, saying, "To hell with you" about 3 years earlier _. That was because my life-chances had been scuttled by then, forever._

_Yet, by age 30, I had decided that,_ _logically,_ _there had to be a Creator for all that is. By 40, after repeatedly dipping into books on religion (especially a massive tome published by the University of Essex), I decided that_ _all the major religions are equal in their potential;_ _provided that the detritus of divisive dogma was discarded._

This would leave only the **2 core beliefs shared by them** ; these being: There is a Creator ultimately responsible for the Universe; and that, as we humans are co-created, we are bonded to one another.

**By age 50, I realised that only Hinduism offered a cosmology – and what a vista!** By age 60, having discovered Easwaran's 'The Upanishads,' I began to obtain a glimpse of mankind's place in the Universe.

_I then contrasted the cosmology of Western science with that of the Hindus._ Strangely, there was a broad congruence between the concepts used by some modern speculative scientists and the language (and concepts) of Hinduism. These scientists may have read Hindu metaphysics.

The reflection by the latter philosophy of the ancient Vedas also seems warranted by planetary configurations mentioned in the Vedas having reportedly been confirmed, all the way back to 9,000 years ago.

Reading Vivekhananda, Yogananda, and Aurobindo in some detail by age 70, I realised that, in the absence of Good Books of the kind available to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, able Hindu commentators such as these, as well as that great epic the Mahabharatha, had contributed to those **vibrant but diverse spiritual tributaries pouring into the vast river of Hinduism.** There are other rivers of religious belief, large or small, fed by other faith tributaries throughout the globe.

In the way that most rivers on Earth flow into their respective seas, all of which are part of a single global ocean surrounding raised lands, there is now _a great need for all the rivers of religious belief to have access (for the benefit of their adherents) to that Ocean of Consciousness from which we humans are believed to have risen_ ; and to which we are expected to return eventually.

With a parallel thought, my advice to a few individuals claiming a superior (and exclusive) faith is this. "When you reach that single door to the Celestial Abode, you can expect to find yourself shaking hands with followers of other faiths."

All strands of existence, whether material or ephemeral, should surely be coming together, all inter-mingled, on an on-going flow through time, just as the waters of Earth's rivers eventually reach a single global ocean of Earth.

###  Why are the 'Desert' Religions So Aggressive?

**All the major religions in the world have the same God, the one and only Universal Creator of all that is.** Creation may have occurred all at once or through an evolutionary path. The Creator God may be unknowable, except through a deep meditative process; or knowable, perhaps through revelation. Asking what was there before Creation, or about the origin of God, are meaningless questions. (Ask the cat which looks behind a free-standing mirror for that other cat.)

_Most of us need a saviour offering succour, primarily in terms of survival in our normally harsh environments._ Others may have lesser needs, but which can loom large in their lives, depending on how insecure or greedy they are. Wants may be greater than need.

A significantly powerful personal need, but which can (in an exaggerated state) threaten the very existence of other humans who are also believers in God, is the need to believe _that one is on the only path to God;_ or that one's path to the Celestial Abode of the Heavenly Father _is the more efficient one._ This Abode may offer angels, or dancing girls, or advanced spirits, or ever-lasting peace. (Or perhaps a wondrous mansion filled with gee-gaws of great value, and serviced by valets galore.)

**How does such a strange need of exclusivity or superiority arise?** Surely through the priesthoods. Why would priesthoods need to compete with one another? The exercise of power, or a collective ego-gratification?

_Religious belief systems arose in widely dispersed regions of the world over a long period of time. Each could not have known about other belief systems unless traders from afar displayed their foreign faiths._ See what happened when Hindu and (later) Buddhist traders influenced the cultures of South East Asia and the islands of the adjoining archipelago now known as the Indonesian. So many individuals there have names and even facial features which reflect this cultural infusion.

Of course, marauding armies would also have imposed a new religion here and there. Or, a ruler, by accepting a new religion, had all his people follow him.

**Priesthoods would also tend to protect their reign when they control the path to eternity.** As evidenced in Egypt, when Aten replaced Amon temporarily, it was allegedly the prevailing priesthood which recovered the status quo. Was this also the earliest evidence of a closed trade union?

**But then, why did Christianity, which offers a loving universal god in place of a fearsome desert god, set out (through colonialism) to convert peaceful followers of the forest religions of Asia? What drove Islam, the successor to Christianity, to use the cutting edge of weaponry to convert all and sundry?** Do not these religions have a record of destroying the followers of other faiths, and sects of their own religions, here and there?

In my experience, these are the only 2 religions whose followers talk a great deal about their faith, whereas the others simply live their religion.

**It is surely undeniable that the 3 major desert religions have been, and are, the predominant warring nations of the globe.** Humans will, of course, attack one another for material gain. Our simian genetic heritage is probably responsible. **But what gain is there in collecting souls?** Why not take the coveted materials, and leave beliefs alone? More efficient control of the 'other,' using priests?

In any event, **the diversity of beliefs reflects merely the diversity in approaches to the Divine.** The paths do vary, thanks to differences in man-made theology and dogma – all arbitrary, and replaceable. On what basis would a priesthood claim superiority or priority?

**Would not the wanton destruction of fellow-humans and their societies in the name of one's religion affect one's chances of finding peace in the Hereafter?** Or, do the guilty deny the existence of a meaningful Afterlife?

Why not live in faith on Earth, and allow others to live with their respective faiths too? _In the Afterlife (Hereafter or Heaven) all souls will surely be equal as non-entities!_

###  Unacceptable Religious Interference

**Nothing divides people more effectively than beliefs derived from their religions.** _For years, compassionate people, and those suffering ongoing severe pain (undiminished even with palliative care) have sought legislation permitting voluntary euthanasia. While reliable sampling estimated public support at about 85% – stable over decades – Australian politicians have refused to accept that compassion should over-ride rigid religiosity._

It is not that our politicians are all religion-bound. It is that they fear the power of Christian churches – even in a secular nation – the principal objector being of the Roman kind. From time to time, legislation to enable physician-assisted death, under the strictest, most stringent protective criteria, is rejected by politicians. **(Even human rights legislation is denied, allegedly through religious interference.)**

_Our politicians profess to represent their electorates in parliament. In reality, they represent their political party only_ – or face career extermination; and they are clearly under the collective thumb of authoritarian priesthoods.

**What is strange is that "We are not allowed to have it. So, you too can't have it" is the line followed by vociferous objectors to voluntary euthanasia.** Then, archbishops, bioethicists, other religious functionaries, and some lay people go public, seemingly in a co-ordinated manner.

They claim that _people will be killed_ – even by themselves (through suicide). _Then, they bring up the slippery slope argument_. The essence of this argument seems to be that the elderly will be put to death by their family – presumably for financial benefit.

As well, medicos are told that they are to save lives, not 'take' lives. Whereas _the Hippocratic Oath says simply that medicos should do no harm_ – not keep patients alive at any cost (usually at the patient's cost).

Not that long ago, **the head of a State Branch of the doctors' union asked the Federal Parliament for the right of a doctor, in his expertise, to over-ride the legally-binding document known as the Advanced Health Care Directive (AHCD) or its equivalent.** This effectively says 'Do not resuscitate' in specified circumstances; or 'Do not operate on me unless I say so.' I challenged that; nothing came from that claim of superiority.

More recently, the General Manager of a private hospital stated that his professional staff were _"unhappy" at their being constrained by AHCDs_ (Really!); but nothing was said about their religious proclivities. Then an _academic ethicist asked about the rights of his conscience._ But, could each set of variable faith-based ethics have an independent legal status, binding all residents in a secular nation?

It cannot, however, be denied that **a couple of European nations of a predominantly Roman Catholic persuasion already have laws permitting physician-assisted death (viz. voluntary euthanasia)**. Reportedly, they have adequate safeguards to prevent 'killing' and 'slippery slopes.' How backward is Australia, and how lacking in compassion. (This situation also allegedly applies in the non-availability of medicinal marijuana for those who can benefit most significantly from its application. I have seen a video of its benefits.)

In a multicultural nation whose citizens are encouraged by the government to maintain their diversity in cultural values and practices, ridiculously, the _religious edicts of a minority Christian population are allowed to dominate the lives of other communities._

It should be noted that voluntary euthanasia will not be compulsory. _Do allow compassion free reign._ If an authority will not extend compassion to fellow humans, then that authority will necessarily be time-limited. Does God not see all which happens?

###  The Unwarranted Exercise of Power in Religion

Acceptance of a variety of religions in our daily life without demur; realising that religious belief is a private affair; knowing that diversity in the form of prayer and the path taken to seek union with the Divine is a core feature of humanity; and accepting that the services provided by priests seeking to guide followers to God is of great value; all these were taught to me by my Hindu family.

We lived in a British colonial territory, with a variety of ethnic communities and their religious commitments. _Culturally, there was mutual acceptance._ My family's close friends included Christians of 3 sects.

**Hindu priests facilitated our reaching to God. They did not control our lives**. It was therefore a significant cultural shock for me to find, from the late _1940s on, in Christian Australia, not only a bitter sectarian divide, but also control of Roman Catholics by their priests._ The latter, compared to Hindu priests, lived rather well; but also preached prejudice – through the guise of Catholics being always facing discrimination.

**I was offended by those priests and laymen who asked me to join 'the faith' for my 'salvation.'** When I asked my first priest-interlocutor why I, a devout believer in God, needed his Christian salvation, he was silent – then moved away silently. An honest priest! Yet, I have been shouted at by some laymen for not accepting the primacy of the Pope.

Why does a religious organisation, or one of its operational arms, need to be authoritarian, to exercise control over, not only the minds, but also the behaviour of its followers? Such behaviour includes overt discrimination of the kind I experienced in the late 1980s (as recently as that). That was because I did not belong to 'the faith.' That was made clear. I took early retirement as a result.

To claim that your beliefs (and theological dogma) are superior to those of others is, to me, tolerable. **But does your Earthly ego then require you to denigrate competing faiths?** Or, to dominate official policies to favour your theology? Or, worse still, for your followers to discriminate against those of other faiths?

**It is not, however, the religion which is at fault in inflicting assumed authority with asserted power over believers; and in seeking to impose sectoral theology-derived social values over the policies of the totality of the nation.** It is the behaviour of _quite ordinary men, claiming extraordinary power, blinded by their collective egos._ Do they need to be reminded that we co-created humans are equal, not only under the law, but also in the eyes of God?

Time to divest authority and power from the practice of guiding fellow humans, while on Earth, to the Divine? How?

###  The Track Record of Institutional Religion

In an opinion page on assisted dying, AC Grayling's article 'The curse of religion' in the Australian edition of 'The Guardian' opens with the following paragraph.

"News that the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols and the chief rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, have **joined forces in a campaign to prolong the sufferings of those incurably or terminally ill** – by opposing a change in the law that would decriminalise those who accompany anyone who goes to Switzerland in search of help to die – comes as no surprise.

A preference for dogma over kindness, for superstition-based moralism over humaneness, is standard fare for religion, as history too loudly attests."

The author goes to say, in part, "Nevertheless it obliges one, wearily and with distaste, _to return to the question of religion in the public domain._ One would of course like to see humankind wake up from the sleep of reason...... the question of what archbishops and rabbis do in the way of trying to subvert the ethical maturation of humankind has to be addressed."

" **So, I repeat: in a free society people must be allowed to believe what they like, even stupid, ignorant and absurd things, provided they do no harm to others.** Religious organisations have every right to exist and have their say, just as any other self-selected, self-constituted interest group does, such as trade unions and political parties. But _religious organisations have to recognise that they are such groups, and nothing more than such groups – that they are civil society organisations like trade unions, existing to protect and promote their own interests – and although they have the same rights, they do not have any greater rights."_

...... " **All religious organisations should be relegated to the status of private self-selected and self-constituted NGOs like trade unions and other lobby groups,** should survive on what money they can raise from their adherents, should have the same and no more than the same rights and entitlements as any other such organisation and should stop getting privileges, money and an amplification for their views ( **views, never forget, derived from the beliefs of illiterate goat-herds in ancient times** ) from government."

...... " **Let us note how the archbishops and rabbi stand together to block progress towards more humane laws.** Technically _, of course, each archbishop is doctrinally obliged to regard the other one and the rabbi as one or more of heretic, infidel or apostate_ ; their organisations spent most of history fighting, persecuting and executing each other; indeed all religions have to regard all other religions as getting it wrong and misleading their votaries."

"But when the religions are after a common goal, as with getting our tax money for their faith-based schools, or exemption from discrimination laws,...... they are a united front."

(Comment: so, dogma over-rides human kindness!)

###  The End of Institutional Religion?

Time and tide wait for no one. That is an aphorism of note. _Freedom to think clearly, to learn as circumstances permit, to act responsibly and pragmatically according to an innate conscience – these undermine any established constraints applied by those controlling institutional religions based on authority –_ especially an authority of questionable provenance.

I do believe that there is an innate (i.e. unconscious) yearning in all humans for the numinous, the Divine, God, or the Creator of all – no matter how these are defined. **Deep within our souls there does seem to be an unrelenting urge to be fused with the Divine –** from which (whom) we probably parted or were split.

While we are destined to live a series of Earthly lives, we evolve through a conversion of a naive pathway – originating from fear, progressing to awe, and then to faith in propitiating the nature (or planetary) 'gods' we created – to supporting a relatively ritualised form of worship. These rituals, most likely to have been introduced by shamans, would then have been institutionalised by a rising priesthood.

Unlike the Hindu priesthoods I have experienced, who did not (do not) control us, most priesthoods elsewhere seem to have instituted systems of control over their believers, eg. Egypt, Europe, the Middle East. Power seems to have the effect of an aphrodisiac.

**Regrettably, dogma devised to strength the bonds binding believers became instruments in a competitive war** – between not only the principal religions, but also between the sects which grew within each of some religions. Did these sectarian differences reflect divergences in ideology or a contest of human power?

Just as there is a growing distrust of politicians (and their acolytes) in Western 'democratic' nations, **there is a clear distancing of the populace from institutionalised religion.** Or, is it only a wish to change the rituals, allied to a 'de-frocking' of a priesthood in the interests of church governance by laity?

**If I am correct about an innate yearning in us for an intangible Divine, new forms of reaching out will rise to suit some** , while others will remain disinterested in the need for a collective expression of faith. Those of us who prefer a one-to-one communion with our Creator will do so in private.

Whether a religious/spiritual belief is expressed privately or collectively, if it is not reflected in an appropriate way of life, we too may go the way of the dodo!

###  Has Religion Benefited Mankind (Part 1)

**When I wrote the outline of a program to teach primary school children** _about_ **religion, I sought to explain what is meant by religion; its origins; its expression; and its value.** I was then (in the 1970s) the foundation chairman of my children's primary school; and _the local priests had decided not conduct classes for those children whose parents wanted teaching at school of their respective Christian faiths._

Collectively, the priests advised the parents to bring the children to church. **The School Board and the priests then agreed to my proposal to educate our children about a universally-shared attitude of mankind; to reach to the numinous.** This is "the combined feeling of attraction and awe characteristic of man's sense of communion with God and religion" (Oxford Dictionary). _By a very substantial majority, our parents supported the proposal._

My outline was endorsed by a couple of appropriately qualified academics and churchmen; then by the Board and priests; and (as I was told) by our Schools Authority. It was then adopted by the teachers.

_Yet, nothing came of it, in spite of Australian society breaking out of some of the bonds of yesteryear._ While freedom increasingly flourished, teachers and education bureaucrats did not support change. Indeed, a couple of decades later, the State of New Wales (now my State) allowed lay Christians to teach their religion during school hours. Children who were not interested were reportedly denied normal classes during these lessons, at least for a few years **. Education, like the parliaments, was too secular for some.**

**This reactionary effort was only another facet of an attempt to impose conservative Christian values on the nation,** especially through immigration selection (initially, Roman Catholic Europeans were preferred). This occurred even as the Anglo-Australian was increasingly withdrawing from church and priestly control. For instance, it was once said that leading feminists were mostly products of parochial (church) schools.

Historically, wives tended to be submissive, if not subservient, to the breadwinner of the household. When the contraceptive pill gave women control over their bodies, they moved from chattel to partner. Church control over Sundays was also loosened, and _young couples of a certain sect decided to join the mainstream._ So said my colleagues. That is, children were produced only after a home had been acquired; and there was no requirement to produce at least 4 children.

**Soon marital separation and divorce increased, aided by legislation.** Many fathers of young children became denied access to their children and the family home. _Societal deterioration seems to be on the rise. The churches seem to have lost favour._

Has the withdrawal from institutional religion been offset by a shift to belief in the numinous through freedom-linked philosophies? For, it is clear that there is an innate reaching out by sensitive souls to God.

###  Has Religion Benefited Mankind (Part 2)

_Fear and awe are the habitual bed mates of puny Man, as he scrabbles on the harsh surface of the rock named Earth hurtling through space. From the gatherer/hunters of the Amazon to those scavenging on rubbish dumps in developing nations all over the globe, to the impoverished urban dwellers in many 'developed' nations, life is not only materially precarious, but offers no solace – ever!_ Welfare-nations such as Australia are notable exceptions – for the time being.

When **threats from space,** and the responding repercussions on Earth, increase in frequency and ferocity, we become sensitised to the probability of unavoidable cosmic catastrophes.

**When fear leads to a blind hope of some protection** to be provided by 'gods' up there and around us, and thence to a belief that prayer and propitiation may assuage (to a degree) our suffering, _what is known as religiosity can envelop us. Shamans and a burgeoning priesthood may contribute to this development._

Once we become attuned to the hoped-for, or even intuited, Creator of mankind (and perhaps of all of existence) – and that intuition may arise through logic (as happened in my experience) – **we can develop faith in a potentially protective patron 'up there' (or somewhere).**

_A sense of spirituality may then evolve._ Could this be the (imagined) Creator calling to us through our subconscious? Or, is it that, as we evolve spiritually, we yearn (again subconsciously) for the Divine? Why so? Perhaps advanced souls feel an urge to be re-united with the mainspring of their origin.

In this mental (thought) peregrination through the thicket of uncertainty and unknowing about the plight of mankind over time, and about that which influences us, and drawing upon my own early emotional experiences, I am inclined to the conclusion that religiosity, through its progression as laid out above, has indeed benefited mankind as a whole.

_It is the journey, not the destination, or the belief, not any outcome, which provides succour to those in terrible need._ In _this Hindu Age of Kali,_ we do live in debauched and desperate times. Those who care can only join those in spiritual need in holding onto their faith.

###  Do Authoritarian Religions Produce Intolerant Bullies?

**In mid-2017, one of the Australian States was reportedly about to legislate the availability of physician-assisted death, with necessary safeguards to avoid anyone being killed, and preventing an avalanche of deaths rushing down a slippery slope.** Up pops someone protesting against this availability.

He does not want this right, but I do.

_He has no right to speak for me or to represent the whole population._ No one has, not even a bioethicist or a theologian representing a church of choice. In fact, _over many decades, more than 80% of the Australian populace has sought what was once described as voluntary euthanasia, now defined more specifically as physician-assisted death under the most stringent conditions._

His defence in seeking to interfere with my right is that his God, through the medium of his priesthood, denies such a right – which is based on compassion. Since his God is surely the universal god of all mankind, how could he claim that his priesthood has sole right to interpret God's wishes? In the absence of revelation, has not his priesthood made an arbitrary judgement – an assumption – on this matter?

This church, whose spokesmen have persistently opposed voluntary euthanasia (as well as certain processes related to the nether-regions of women), is based on a claimed authority, and had exercised strong control (as evident to me during my residence – as an adult – for nearly 70 years in Australia).

Those who belong to this church are entitled to live by the codes of conduct set by its priesthood. The rest of us should not be required to do so.

Thus, no more than 20% of the Australian population can be claimed by their church to oppose the right to voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted death sought by more than 80% of the population over decades. **The 30% of the population who stated in the last Census that they had no religion can surely demand that religious institutions (or their spokespersons) do not interfere in their lives by claiming to speak for a God they deny.** These people are atheists, with a right to be so.

_Australia is officially a secular nation, in spite of the apparent control of national policies by Roman Catholic politicians currently._ **Hopefully, State Governments will allow compassion as a human right,** by challenging any church-determined policies to the contrary. We do need choice, not rule by religious bullies!

On the sea of life, let us all paddle according to our respective rhythms. Do respect my right as I respect yours.

###  Imposing One's Values Upon Others as a Bully

Recently, reportedly, **Australia asked the Philippines Government to dispense with the death penalty.** Why? Isn't the Philippines an independent, democratic, and Christian nation? Just like Australia? Have we asked the USA the same question? Would we dare to do so?

Not long ago, _when Indonesia executed 2 Australians convicted of involvement in the illegal drug trade,_ **those opposed to the death penalty made a terrible** **fuss**. Since there is an underlay in Australia of antipathy to 'Muslim' Indonesia – in spite of its wonderful policy of Panchasila – _one could legitimately wonder if white supremacy was the trigger._

Before that, _when Malaysia had applied the death penalty to an Australian convicted of involvement in the illegal drug trade,_ reportedly, **a senior politician in Australia had made intemperate utterances against the Malaysian government.** So, what's new?

_Now, we have some politicians and priests who, allegedly, wish to interfere in Indonesia's sovereignty_ ; they seek to separate Irian Jaya from the rest of a nation with vast ethnic and religious diversity. Interestingly, according to a senior academic I met in Malaysia _in the 1970s, there had been an effort to create a brown-skinned, Christian nation between Australia and the rest of Indonesia._ The intention had been to establish a buffer to protect Australia from the 'hordes from the north.' Today, it might be just the anti-Muslim busybodies at work.

**Then, when the member nations of ASEAN showed signs of a capitalistic independence from the West, the latter formed APEC.** An Australian, a Japanese, and an American each claimed independent paternity. Was APEC intended to 'smother' ASEAN? Yet _APEC apparently did not contribute to protecting those nations of south-east Asia being targeted by those intending to bring down their economies and currencies._

Prof. Krugman's advice to Malaysia to prevent any outflow of portfolio capital saved that nation. The IMF was subsequently accused of promoting a policy which would have caused the Indonesian people great pain. Was neo-colonialism the ghost in this policy advice?

**Australia has also gone into battle zones behind the USA, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria seem to be chosen playgrounds by those Westerners who cannot just mind their own business.** We in Australia are not a chosen people. We cannot claim to be a nation of exceptionalism either. We continue to be a dependent nation.

When China and the nations surrounding the South China Sea reach an accord, we risk being left isolated at the edge of Asia, and also the Pacific and Indian oceans.

###  Ignorance or Prejudice in Depicting Deity Ganesha as a Lamb-meat Eater?

**At a gathering of (ostensibly) religious leaders at a dinner table, a Hindu deity (a non-human) was included. The gathering was seemingly to celebrate the sharing of a meal based on the flesh of an animal. This animal is normally depicted in children's story books as a cuddly 'baa lamb.'** Lamb is a popular source of protein in Australia – which once rode to prosperity on the back of sheep (aged lamb).

In my early days in Australia, a great distinction was made between lamb and the less-popular mutton (the flesh of sheep). Mutton, however, provides a tastier curry because of its higher fat content. A comparison could be made between range-fed beef and lot-fed beef, the latter containing the desired strings of fat threading the flesh.

As for the apparent gathering of lovers of lamb meat from diverse faiths, which I saw on tv, it showed a caricature of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu deity. This caricature showed 'Ganesh' with a trunk which wiggled (in my view) like the tail of a pig. The trunk was thus a caricature of the trunk of an elephant.

Since the Hindu God, although omni-present, omniscient, and omni-powerful, is 'unknowable,' Hindus pray to a spectrum of deities who are manifestations – each with a predominantly characteristic attribute of relevance to humanity – of the one and only God of all mankind. Ganesha is one of these deities. He is much-preferred. My formative years included regular prayers at a Ganesha (Pilleyar) temple.

_Where the Indian Government has reportedly protested that this advertisement for lamb meat is an insult to Hindu culture, I suggest that it represents sacrilege._ _I am offended._ In the new multicultural Australia, could those responsible for the creation and approval of this advert be so ignorant as to include a Hindu deity within a group of humans? And at a dinner table!

Further, since Hindus tend to be vegetarians, or eat very little meat, **could the advert be a form of thumbing one's nose at a foreign faith?** That is, does this advert indicate a degree of religio-cultural prejudice? Is White Australia being re-visited?

Just asking!

###  "I Am not Allowed It; So, You Cannot Have It"

The weirdest policy I have come across is a Roman Catholic practice relating to the nether-lands of women. In order to increase its following, local priests in Australia asked (as I was told by colleagues) each couple in their congregation to produce 6 children; with birth control denied. _Quaintly, the Protestants and non-Christians were also denied birth control. Would not their populations also increase?_

**More pertinently, why does this Church interfere in the lives of non-believers?** The degree of mental and social control by Catholic priests was so extensive that, even today, in the second decade of the 21st century, their values and attitudes, which were prevalent in the 1950s (as I observed), are being strongly asserted by politicians (sotto voce, of course).

The current trigger for this retrograde stance is **a renewal of a claim, supported by about 80% to 85% of the Australian people over decades (but ignored – or denied – by our so-called representatives in parliaments), to permit voluntary (repeat, voluntary) euthanasia in very limited circumstances.**

_A few European (Catholic) nations allow it. But we are British, and are thereby different._ Surely, we are different; **we are an officially secular nation, but are ruled by Vaticanite social policies in our parliaments.** A minority of the population has successfully taken over the nation's policies.

_Hence, theology over-rides compassion._ In defence of a theocracy-based denial of the end-of-life needs of a few non-Catholics, there is a sustained reference to 'killing,' 'the slippery slope,' as well to the imputed venality of the descendants of those who may be **seeking relief – hitherto unavailable** _– from grievous unrelieved pain!_

_Compassion for a fellow human being should surely over-ride religious dogma_. What is being effectively said is "Since we are not allowed this relief because of our faith, you should not have it either." Why not? I doubt if the Heavenly Father is involved here.

**In this multicultural nation, there is a diversity of religious beliefs (and non-beliefs). Can we morally afford a dog-in-the-manger stance?** I look forward to watching those politicians opposing compassion (in the name of Christ, presumably) doing their role-playing in defence of the indefensible!

Voluntary euthanasia, when made available to the citizens of Australia, will not require Catholics to practice it. Freedom of choice, yes?

###  Has Religion Been Involved in a Civilisational War?

When the buccaneers of **the British East India Company g** radually increased their control over the Indian sub-continent, from a small trading post to most of the principalities, they **chose to adopt the mode of governance and lifestyles of the rulers they deposed.** Many reportedly took Indian wives, and sent their tinted children to appropriate schools in Britain. (There, these very wealthy offspring were seemingly described as 'having a touch of tar.') _That is, the buccaneers seemed to have adapted culturally to India (with substantial benefit) rather than the reverse._

**Then the British Government decided to replace the East India Company.** Were certain politicians and their officials a little jealous, or **were they horrified at their people going 'native'?** Probably the latter, as a claimed cultural superiority usually attaches itself to the militarily superior – a very human attribute. **Culture reflects religious belief.**

**The claimed innate (i.e. genetic) superiority of the 'white race' was then extended to an organised despoliation of the cultures of India, especially its millennia-old religion.** The denigration and destruction of the cultures of any people who had been invaded successfully or over-run enhances the control sought by the ambitious new arrival. _European Christian colonisers did this rather well._

While I prefer to read history in 300-year rolling cycles (a useful statistical approach) – and this period corresponds to the 300-year circuit of planet Saturn – an examination of the intent and effects of European colonialism should desirably cover the totality of the 5 centuries that this human virus had effect.

**Post-WW2 European neo-colonialism – including changing ruling-regimes and some national or tribal borders – is a less-virulent infestation;** and it too will pass when global governance becomes tripartite – and fairly soon.

The newest empire, the hegemonic one, based on exceptionalism (on the one hand) and globalisation (on the other), will eventually fade away; planetary movements should have a role to play in this withdrawal. In any event _, no empire has lasted more than 300 years (plus or minus a standard deviation of, say, 50). Look at the Roman Empire._

**When the British invaded, for settlement, North America, New Zealand and Australia, they destroyed the First Nation Peoples in these territories.** In _Australia_ , according to the renowned Dr. Coombs, they demolished a long-established civilisation as well. Leaving aside for the moment the comparable depredations in other parts of the globe by other European buccaneers, _in India, the British set out to damage the longest-lived civilisation (and associated religio-cultural practices) of mankind_.

These were the prongs of this attack:

Missionaries began to **gather heathen souls** to the bosom of Christ by rubbishing their traditional beliefs and practices (which they could not have understood).

• The peoples of the sub-continent were also **told that they prayed to a large number of 'gods',** when the reality is that the so-called gods are deities who are representations of a single universal creator God – who is unknowable, but is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent.

• They were also **told that a superior 'white' species, the (mythical) Aryans had over-run and civilised the local 'black' peoples previously living there.** This is false history!

• From about the 18th Century, **European scholars claimed that, not only was the white 'race' superior to all other 'races,' but that no coloured peoples could possibly have contributed to the origins of human civilisation.** These 'inferior' races included the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians, and Indians (while the Christian Bible draws heavily on the Sumerians). Dear, oh dear!

• Some European scholars also decided that Hinduism could not go back beyond 1300 BC. This is the earliest possible origin of the Europeans' religio-cultural ancestors, the peoples of Samaria and Judea. **No faith could apparently be older than that of the Jewish people.**

Furthermore, **all learning was claimed to have originated with the Europeans' intellectual ancestors, the 'Greeks' (viz. Athenians)**. Yet Athens was said to been established by the Egyptians, with many Athenians studying in Egypt. Pythagoras apparently studied there for 8 years.

•The Indians were also **told that Hinduism had been derived from Christianity!** Wow! The total ignorance of the white people is impressive!

**This religious war on India's civilisation was not successful,** despite a reportedly brutal rule by the Kaiser of India, leaving the Indians to sort out their caste and related societal problems after independence.

Contrary to Prof. Huntington's theory that a **war of civilisations** is probable in the future, _such a war began with the rise of Christian European colonialism; and it continues virulently in the Middle East._ What a waste of human lives and spiritual potential.

White-man religion is implicit in these demonstrations of white-man military superiority.

###  Violence in Religion

" **The atrocities committed in the name of religion are undeniable. They stretch from the Christian holy wars that began towards the end of the Roman Empire, and continue through history right up to the present day of Islamic extremism."**

"... _Dave Andrews... (a) devout Christian has just published a book, provocatively titled 'The Jihad of Jesus,'_ which asks Muslims and Christians to examine their religions in practice, and to acknowledge the violence that lies at the heart of the construction of religion throughout history."

" _Holy wars were being waged by Christians for centuries before the present flashpoint in religious warfare in Iraq and Syria, and overall, he concludes 'in the conflict between Muslims and Christians there have been more devastating wars among Christian states fighting each other than between Christian and Muslim states, and predominantly Christian states have killed more Jews and Muslims than predominantly Muslim states have killed Christians and Jews.'"_

"'Are the atrocities that are done in the name of Christianity or Islam true indicators of the nature of Christianity or Islam, or not?'"

"... a professor of anthropology... Paul Hiebert, raised the alarm at the dangerous implication of what he defined as 'bounded set' religion..."

"' _I think in order to understand the violence of religion we have to understand that it's a way of defining religion as a closed set, where you've got people who are in the right, people in the wrong,'_ Andrews says. 'Therefore, the people who believe they are right feel they have the responsibility to impose their views on others non-violently, or if necessary, violently.'"

These are extracts from an article 'Across a violent divide' by Natasha Robinson in 'The Australian' newspaper of 14 August 2015.

Realistically, what hope is there for mankind surviving its contradictory beliefs about the path to God? And to kill in the name of the sole creator of all mankind?

###  Religiosity and Spirituality

**Most of us need faith. We need to have a belief in a higher being or force to sustain us during times of adversity.** Indeed, the greater part of mankind, for whom life is essentially one of insecurity and much suffering, needs to believe that things will, one day, be a little better.

A family living at a garbage dump or fill, or adjacent to a filthy river, or in a slum, or on the streets, with no hope of a better life, needs such a faith more than anyone else. _They seek God through religion; in most instances, this is institutional religion_.

I do not ask whether institutional religions are helping the majority of their followers to achieve a more secure or better life. The answer is obvious; **they offer only support for personal faith**. Is that enough? The answer is – what else is available?

As an ardent devotee of my faith, involving regular and frequent attendance at my favourite temple, I felt let down when my life-chances boat was scuppered. I lost all faith, so disastrous was my downfall, including faith in myself.

Eventually, **as I recovered my self-confidence, I accepted logically that there has to be a Creator of all that is in the Cosmos; and that I prefer to communicate directly with my Creator. I believe that I am spiritual rather than religious,** leaving others in my life to follow a ritualistic path, if they so desire.

Each tributary of faith has its trajectory on its terrain, on its way to join the river which will end in that great ocean.

###  This is Mysticism

Spiritual thoughts of significant value

1. All mystics agree that Ultimate Reality—whether It is called Allah, Brahman, Buddha-nature, En-sof, God, or the Tao—cannot be grasped by thought or expressed in words. (In fact, the word mystic is related to the word mute, both of which derive from the Greek root mustes, meaning "close-mouthed.")

The Tao which can be named is not the true Tao. — _Lao Tzu (Taoist)_

The Spirit supreme is immeasurable, inapprehensible, beyond conception, never-born, beyond reasoning, beyond thought. —Upanishads (Hindu)

Words and sentences are produced by the law of causation and are mutually conditioning—they cannot express highest Reality. — _The Lankavatara Sutra (Buddhist)_

That One which is beyond all thought is inconceivable by all thought. — _Dionysius the Areopagite (Christian)_

The gnostics know, but what they know cannot be communicated. It is not in the power of the possessors of this most delightful station...to coin a word which would denote what they know. — _Ibn 'Arabi (Muslim)_

2. **The reason Ultimate Reality cannot be grasped by thought or communicated in words is that thoughts and words, by definition, create distinctions and, hence, duality.** Even the simple act of naming something creates duality because it distinguishes the thing that is named from all other things that are left unnamed. However, the mystics of all the great traditions agree that all distinctions are imaginary and that the _Ultimate Nature of Reality is non-dual._

In essence things are not two but one....All duality is falsely imagined. — _Lankavatara Sutra (Buddhist)_

No matter what a deluded man may think he is perceiving, he is really seeing Brahman and nothing else but Brahman....This universe, which is superimposed upon Brahman, is nothing but a name. — _Shankara (Hindu)_

If we will see things truly, they are strangers to goodness, truth and everything that tolerates any distinction. They are intimates of the One that is bare of any kind of multiplicity and distinction. — _Meister Eckhart (Christian)_

That Oneness is on the other side of descriptions and states. Nothing but duality enters speech's playing-field. — _Rumi (Muslim)_

There all things are as one; Distinctions between "life" and "death," "land" and "sea," have lost their meaning. — _anonymous Hasidic master (Jewish)_

3. Although mystics cannot define Ultimate Reality in words, they still use words to point to That which is beyond words. For instance, all mystics agree that, while Ultimate Reality constitutes the true nature of everything, in itself It is nothing.

Neti neti (not this, not that)— _Upanishads (Hindu)_

Emptiness (shunyata)...is the ultimate nature of everything that exists. — _Lama Yeshe (Buddhist)_

The myriad creatures in the world are born from Something, and Something from Nothing. — _Lao Tzu (Taoist)_

It is within our intellects, souls and bodies, in heaven, on earth, and whilst remaining the same in Itself, It is at once in, around and above the world, super-celestial, super-essential, a sun, a star, fire, water, spirit, dew, cloud, stone, rock, all that is; yet It is nothing. — _Dionysius the Areopagite (Christian)_

He is not accompanied by thingness, nor do we ascribe it to Him. The negation of thingness from Him is one of His essential attributes. — _Ibn 'Arabi (Muslim)_

The hidden God, the innermost Being of Divinity so to speak has neither qualities nor attributes. — _Gershom Scholem (Jewish)_

(Extracts from the 'Center for sacred sciences' website. Supremely valuable utterances for our guidance.)

###  Perceiving Reality, But Only Through the Mind

The Chandogya Upanishad says t **hat the universe came forth from the unknowable Brahman, and will return to Brahman**. Brahman is held to be the essence of all existence. Brahman is ever-existing, from whom everything emanates, and to whom everything returns. _Brahman is Consciousness, immanent in all that is created; yet transient._

**It is out of this essence or Consciousness or Godhead that the Creator god Brahma, the one who experiences that day and night of existence, is said to have arisen.** Brahma, the first of the Hindu gods, is thus merely a projection of Brahman. In terms of the cosmology, the other gods are not that significant, all the gods being manifestations of that universal cosmic essence, the unknowable Brahman.

**The nuts and bolts of this cosmology is that something tangible (the Cosmos) is said to have come forth from something intangible, an essence or force beyond our descriptive capabilities.** A repeating 'Big Bang' now sounds quite credible (pity about the 'Big Crunch'). Brahma, the Hindu Creator, also seems equivalent to the super-force or super-mind proposed by some modern speculative cosmologists.

Since I am a metaphysical (non-ritualistic) Hindu in my current life, I naturally find _this confluence of insightful perceptions by modern cosmologists and ancient Hindus_ satisfying. Of course, neither view validates the other. But each may light the way for the other.

It would seem that, ultimately, a seeker must experience (in Hindu metaphysical terms Self-realise) or apprehend, through deep meditation, a Reality beyond Earthly knowing, a Reality which cannot be described. It is beyond words. The ultimate reality is said to be Brahman.

The alternative to knowing what Earthly life is all about and our place in the universe, _the methodology of science, is however clearly limited._ It does offer a tentative or temporary certainty. Yet, with only five senses, their processor (the human brain) may not be able, ever, to perceive through the scientific method the deeper and exceedingly complex reality of the physical universe which cosmologists have conceived. In science, verifiability is essential. Where then?

Contradictorily, **the Upanishads claim that the human mind is not conscious. It is only an instrument of consciousness,** a seemingly all-pervasive phenomenon or facility. If so, could this amorphous consciousness enable some rare human minds to perceive the reality of the physical universe correctly, in spite of being unable to communicate this vision in a verifiable way?

(The above is an extract from 'On the Cosmos' from my book 'Musings at Death's Door.' I assure readers, however, that I do not proselytise; I merely offer food for thought in a realm in which anything might be true.)

###  Of Mind, Memories and Soul

**When I had a heart attack – caused by the blockage of a coronary artery (it looked like a knotted rope) – I lost my memory for many faces** (but not all faces). Assuming that memories are stored somewhere in the brain (I think of it as my memory bank), had part of that bank been damaged, or destroyed, for good? _Or, had only my memory-retrieval system been affected?_

Just a passing thought – the retrieval system must have a memory too – to know where to look. Or, is the retrieval process simply a search program? _When some of my lost memory came back, it seemed that it was my retrieval process which had been affected by the heart attack._

Yet another thought – **is the heart involved in memory?** Some people who have had heart transplants have displayed likes, preferences, and some memories not previously associated with, or reflective of, the transplant recipient.

Then, **there is that Hindu view that the human soul resides in the 'heart space'; and that the soul carries memories relevant to its future moral progress through time.** (This refers to the process of reincarnation.)

When, as a sceptic, I was confounded by the arrival of the spirit of one of my maternal uncles (the second-most important man during my formative years), _I had to accept that souls are real, that the soul retains its mind (but obviously without a physical brain), and its memories._ Everything my uncle said (in silent communication with my clairvoyant) made sense to me.

What impressed me most was his ability to hear (without ears?) what I said to the clairvoyant and to respond to that. Since only a fool would reject or even challenge such a real experience, **I modified my scepticism; the unknown unknowns are overwhelming!**

Another interesting thought. The' higher beings' who had sent my uncle to offer me advice (so my uncle said) clearly knew that I am a sceptic; my uncle had therefore been told that he is the one that I was 'most likely to accept.'

Isn't our Earthly existence more significant than we might realise?

And how relevant is the human brain in relation to those of our attributes which we refer to as mind, consciousness, and so on?

###  Being in Non-being

" _At first there was neither Being nor Nonbeing.  
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.  
What was it wrapping? Where? In whose protection?  
Was water there, unfathomable and deep?_

In the beginning Love arose,  
Which was the primal germ of the mind.  
The seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,  
Discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.

Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?  
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?  
Even the gods came after this emergence.  
Then who can tell from whence it came to be? "

**The above is from the Vedas.** Included in the Afterward by Michael Nagler (Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature, University of California) to 'The Upanishads' by Eknath Easwaran. The Vedas apparently precede all other writing (in the current civilisation?). _These words appeal to both mind and emotion._

Nagler continues: **"The Vedas give us glimpses into a mythological world** which looks like those of Greece, Rome, and the rest of Europe, but different. _The Upanishadic universe also contains 'three worlds,'_ but those are not the underworld, 'middle-earth,' and heaven as in the West, but **the visible world, heaven (or the sky), and another plane that is far beyond phenomenal reality."**

"The human being is not a puny speck in this cosmos, as we may appear physically. By virtue of a power called tapas... or in deep stages of meditation, _ordinary men or women can compel profound changes in the universe._ The hard line between mortality and immortality, between and the gods... is blurred and crossable."

Yet more uplifting thoughts! From the religion of the Indic people, but with a spiritual overlay.

###  A Seeker Wanders and Wanders: A Spiritual Experience

The advice from the spirit of my uncle led me to a yoga ashram, way north of my 'retirement cave.' I was the only brown face there. On the first visit, I listened to sunyasins (dressed in the traditional garb of Indian sunyasins) expand on the philosophy of yoga. There was no reference to Hinduism, although there was mention of Rama, Krishna and others.

Most of those attending the course were relatively young. Their youth and fitness were displayed during the _Ode to the Sun_. It appeared that almost all of them had been attending yoga classes in the city of their residence. That explained _their calisthenic approach, rather than the meditative approach I had expected to see._ But that is neither here nor there; it as their devotion which mattered.

The **atmosphere in the meditation room was most conducive to deep meditation,** 3 extended periods per day. There may be a cumulative influence in the location, which somehow appeared enabling. Indeed, the site of the complex, the aura of tranquillity, and the demeanour of the sunyasins contributed to pacifying my mind.

While I was there, a youngish sunyasin would join me at mealtimes. We all sat out in the open, on the steps of buildings or on low garden walls. I discovered that he and I had qualifications in psychology in common. What interested me is that, _in spite of 17 years of meditation in an ashram, he had not had any 'transcendental experiences' (his words)_.

When I returned to the ashram a couple of years later, we talked about his experience at an ashram in India in the interim period. It was comparable to his Australian experience. Now, he was to be sent to yet another ashram. The dedication of these sunyasins is impressive. His experience, however, confirmed my feeling that, _no matter the path followed in the search for spiritual enlightenment, one could realistically expect to spend considerable periods on 'treadmills' going nowhere fast_.

Yet, on this visit, which was a silent retreat over a long Easter weekend, **I had a most inspiring psychic exposure, during meditation** , to one of the deities of Hinduism. I know that these deities are only representations of the one and only Creator God of all that is, an 'unknowable' God accepted as omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. **I have been writing prodigiously ever since – over 20 years!**

The message? Go, with faith, wherever the currents in the ocean of existence take you.

###  A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: The Destination

**As a little boy, I would look to the sky and wonder where God is located.** Where else could **He** be? As I grew up, the then Stationary State cosmology did not put a dent in this belief. **He** was there somewhere. However, the Big Bang Theory 'upset the apple cart.' God had now to be outside the physical Cosmos. Where?

**When I then read that God is 'unknowable,' and lacking both form and substance, I wondered whether** _He_ **is located in another dimension.** Luckily, my cultural heritage did not promise everlasting bliss, or the possibility of sitting on God's knee, when I died. But where would I be located before each re-birth? In the same or another dimension? Would I meet God there? The more one learns, the less one knows!

The following conundrum applied when I contemplated the objective of meditation. **Is there any point in seeking to still the mind when it is already at peace?** Yet, I did hope to understand Reality (which must include both the material and the immaterial) through some process of awareness. However, Maya now clouds this objective. _Will whatever I perceive be real?_

I then read that it is not the external, impermanent, even ephemeral sphere which is pertinent in the search for an awareness of Reality. **I noted that I should be seeking awareness within me – to reach that part of God, that amorphous essence pervading all of Creation, which is within me.** Is that the soul – the real me (who is in an existential transit through a spectrum of Earthly lives)?

**When my mind, which is said to be only an instrument of Consciousness (that Ocean of Existence), finds my soul, would that be what is meant by 'Realisation'?** When I still my mind to reach my soul – the presumed extension of God within me – would that be the ultimate destination of my peregrination through Existence? If this view is correct, would I not need to be adequately 'polished' before Mind meets Soul?

Or, **is it the case that my soul is separate from that part of my Creator said to be within me? I now so believe!** Perhaps I should cease being a Seeker, and sail my frail sampan on my personal river of destiny in calm contemplation, until its currents take me to where I must go – in due time!

**It is the journey, not the destination, which must be crucial to learning about ultimate Reality.** Isn't learning an enrichment of the soul?

###  A Seer Wanders and Wonders: The Pathway

When one considers the long spans of time built into Hindu cosmology, and the reality (yes, the reality) that we humans will be reincarnated on Earth until we are adequately 'polished' to be able to return Home (the birthplace of our souls), **I wonder about any need to seek an understanding of Reality within a single lifetime, or even within a span of a number of lifetimes.** Yet, Hinduism offers a pathway for this search for Reality, while Ultimate Reality will surely await your return home.

**But then, no matter how ready the boat you have acquired, you also need the tide to come in, to take you to the Ocean of Consciousness.** We are said to have arisen from that Ocean. _After quite a number of Earthly lives, we could hope to return to that Ocean._

According to the spirit of a Native American named White Feather, the objective of life on Earth is moral cleansing (my interpretation of 'polishing'). White Feather's message was channelled to an investigative group in England years ago.

**While on Earth, it is apparently possible to apprehend Reality through deep meditation.** Described as 'Realisation,' it seems to require great preparation. Presumably, one's mind and soul would need to be cleansed of any psychological detritus in preparation.

**What does one do with this awareness of Reality?** It would seem that, as this process of becoming aware is beyond words (I can understand that), those who have come to 'know' cannot tell us – not in words anyway. Therefore, those who seek to explain to us about this awareness could not possibly know (so I have read). What then? _Would those with this awareness be required to remain on Earth as enlightened persons to guide the rest of us? I hope so._

However, how would a Seeker of understanding find such an enlightened soul? **When the time has come, would a guru subtly call the Seeker?** _My Spirit Guide did reach out to me_ _._

###  A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: Cremations and Compassion

A sophrologist friend (a medico who uses hypnotherapy to treat his patients) sought to help me with my stress. Under hypnosis, _I learnt to deal with an unhappy memory thus._ I was to place this memory on a stage, and close the curtains, saying 'The show is over.' That process did help.

Following the logic of that useful approach, **I subsequently decided to conduct a mental cremation ceremony for each bothersome memory.** Having participated in cremation ceremonies, I believed that anything cremated could not possibly gather itself and re-appear (as might anything buried). That approach was indeed successful.

**I then joined a meditation group, which included 2 Dutch people, one of whom was Jewish by faith**. I was able to still my ever-roving mind for short periods. To my surprise, however, one of those present (an Irish Catholic) reported _travelling all over the world during meditation!_ That was confusing. Years later, a young relative told me that she travelled through space during meditation. She too was comfortable with that experience. Yet, was this really a form of stilling the mind?

**When that group collapsed (through the untimely death of its organiser), I joined a Buddhist meditation group.** The atmosphere there, which included the effects of incense and candles, was most conducive to meditation. _What did I expect to find from the meditation process, asked the instructor/guide? I could possibly answer that question after the next 20,000 lifetimes, I suggested._ As one crucially interested in the place of Mankind in the Cosmos, I do not expect any insight or enlightenment to be placed on a plate before any Seeker like myself. The focus on the path to spirituality should surely be on the journey, not the destination.

Yet, I remember reading about a colloquium held in Burma in the 18th or 19th century of the leaders of Buddhism from all over Asia. _Apparently, they decided that nirvana could be achieved within a single lifetime!_

_This meditation group collapsed when our guide, an Anglo-Australian lady, joined a Buddhist monastery._ The philosophy of Buddhism is known to attract many a Westerner. **Compassion for one's fellow-humans (and other sentient beings) may be seen to be more attractive than calling out to God exclusively.**

###  A Seeker Wanders and Wonders: Seeking Solace in Hinduism

' **Pack your little brown bag with a few things and go north to seek spiritual development,' advised the spirit of my uncle (through the clairvoyant).**

In life, my uncle had not seen this cabin bag which had accompanied me to Australia. Yet, I was not surprised, because he had already indicated that he knew what had happened to me long after his death.

His advice did not surprise me. He had explained his manifestation before us by saying that **'higher beings' had sent him to offer me spiritual guidance.** Yet, I had known from my boyhood that he had had no time for temples, priests and rituals.

**Furthermore, I had, since retirement, chosen to be a metaphysical Hindu, with no interest in the rituals of my faith. I sought to understand the philosophy of Hinduism.** Now that I was free of any obligation or responsibility towards family and society, and since I was living alone in separation from my family (but not by choice) in what I refer to as my retirement cave (far more comfortable than a cave in the Himalayas), _I could spend my time expanding my knowledge, and in contemplation and some meditation._

The aftermath of the confluence of a sustained tribal discrimination (not racism) near the end of my career, and the breakdown of my marriage (and subsequent separation from my offspring), was significant psychological stress. _I was not aware then that I was being isolated by the spirit world to do what I needed to do without deviation._

In these circumstances, my efforts to meditate seemed successful. However, I did wonder at times whether I had instead gone to sleep. How would I have known the difference? However, my stress level did diminish.

I also read repeatedly the Upanishads, the highest level of Hindu philosophy, and began the process whereby my faith began to give me an understanding of our place in the Cosmos. This also gave me a great appreciation of the wisdom of Hinduism, and its spirituality.

While I appreciate that we drink at whatever well is available, I am indeed fortunate in the well at which I found myself.

###  Of Spiritual Healing (Part 1)

I have spoken, at a social level, with **a mediumistic clairvoyant.** It is clear that he is clairvoyant. In the middle of afternoon tea, he suddenly said, _"What happened to the twin girls? I can sense them."_

**He also told me that he now had the ability to obtain advice from all manner of spirits.** How could I or anyone else refute that? In one instance, a recently expired Australian medical specialist proffered advice to him, to assist one of the MC's clients. I consider the clairvoyant a very fortunate man, well worth knowing.

Then I met a healer couple. I only went to ask about their approach as healers. At their invitation to try a healing, I accepted. First, they cleared my aura of spirits which had attached themselves to it; they spoke nicely to the spirits and asked them to move on to their normal destination. Then they aligned my chakras, using a crystal. _Then the lady suddenly seemed to be communing with someone not there; she then told me that I should do something with my name (that was the message she had just received)._ When I published my first book, I used my Tamil first name, Arasa.

**On another consultation, she told me about 2 of my past lives; this information had been given to her by her Spirit Guide.** Now, I was not sure about all these spirits attaching themselves to auras, but I had no trouble with chakras (which are apparently vortices of energy). Where, normally, past-life perceptions are experienced by clairvoyants, and are used to assist the process of healing, the psychic healer had been assisted by her Spirit Guide.

Anyway, **my healer acted on the vision provided, and my knees have not ached anymore. And I had not mentioned my knees at all**. At the next session, another past life view, another treatment, and my legs stopped aching. And I had not mentioned my legs either.

The next time, I asked for help with my spine – there were no past life scenes available, but I was promised that a cure was in train, through the medium of 'past masters'. **But I was counselled that my spinal problem might be a karmic one.**

###  Of Spiritual Healing (part 2)

**The evidence for past life experiences comes from the psychiatrist's couch,** apparently from half a dozen practitioners covering more than twenty thousand cases. _One writer even quoted a psychiatrist's report of life between incarnations on earth! I do not find that credible._

That is, these psychiatrists reported their clients' memories under hypnosis. **I would find such reports credible were the respondents to 'act out' their experiences (that is, to relive their experiences), rather than report on them.**

But I find curious that the imagery reported is uniformly of a Judeo-Christian kind. This is similar to the reports of out-of-body experiences and near-death cases. _In replaying an event, rather than reporting on it, the imagery and vocabulary could surely be expected to reflect an earlier time and place than at the time with the psychiatrist_.

The collated presentations of relevant psychiatrist reports seem to have originated in the US. Whence did these writers obtain their insight? From the psychic experiences of others? How reliable are these? Did these people draw upon some basic Hindu/Buddhist framework and add on the empowerment bits for today's Seekers? Or did the Egyptians and other early civilisations leave us this information? If so, where and in what form?

Further, since placebos have been shown to be effective in medical treatment, the extracts from my first book 'Destiny Will Out' presented in Part 1 may be acceptable as indicating that _relief from pain can be achieved in some situations through the intervention of the clairvoyant._

Such a benefit may indeed reflect an access by the clairvoyant to a spirit healer. The healer may provide a past-life picture normally unavailable to mere mortals, or simply offer relevant advice based on previous knowledge acquired on Earth. Who can deny this with certainty?

Are reports of past lives obtained under hypnosis reliable? Are writings referring to Akashic records acceptable as explaining one's past? Yet, psychiatrists and other counsellors have demonstrated that many psychological problems brought to them by clients can be moderated or even dissipated by the clients accepting a framework of explanation offered to them. The human mind is a wondrous instrument.

A spiritual approach to a material problem?

###  Of Predestination

" **That which is written on thine forehead, thou will come to it" (or words to that effect). "When its time has come, the prey will go to the hunter."** Intuitively, one can glimpse the probability implicit in these statements (apparently from the Koran). Since every illuminative thought about life is likely to have been said or written somewhere or some time, does it matter who expressed the above words (which were probably Persian in origin)? _To me, it is the value of the thought, not who said it first (or last), which is relevant._

The above philosophy implies that we (and animals) have no choice, but to simply follow the path on which each of us has been set. My sense of personal freedom rejects that perspective. Yet, **I have now come to realise that my life-path had been laid out for me.**

**Is God implicated?** If so, why assume that God is a micro-manager; that God determines each life-path personally, right to the end? _Perhaps God only directs the play, more like a stage manager, leaving the actors with freedom to create the play as their mood takes them?_ The theatre of daily human relations seems such a play, with the players also constrained (unpredictably) by cosmic, societal, genetic, and environmental influences.

**In the event, God could not determine outcomes; but is able – being omniscient – to know how the play will turn out!** But, how is it that those clairvoyants, whether casual/social or professional, who have read fragments of my future correctly, were able to do so? _How could actions and events which had not yet occurred be seen through their mind's eye_? Were they assisted, say, by spiritual beings who too possess foresight?

If, as I have chosen to assume, God had established a simple mechanism to operate the Cosmos; with a capability for evolution of its functional components; and all things created being subject, not only to change, but also to evolve (that is, to be improved by adaptation); why would the Creator need to manage anything?

_Had plants become purposive through evolution, and humans have acquired a degree of free will, again through evolution, the Creator would not need to be involved in any outcome_. Yet, as the implicit cause of human existence, God may choose to intervene in our lives. By and large, however, would not God be like a wise parent, allowing the progeny to develop according to the circumstances prevailing?

This would mean that any traces laid down of actions not yet eventuated may be one of those cosmic occurrences which mystify – and which may be best left alone – just like not seeking to know the future behaviour of our much-loved children.

**Is this to accept that a spiritual vista, much hoped for, is best left alone until one is able to pursue the intangible links between the material and the ethereal in peace, and in isolation?** Is this what I am doing as a recluse, living in my 'retirement cave,' without tribal, clan, and family links, and seeking to commune with God through my chosen deity?

###  Of Other Dimensions of Human Perception

Recently, a fellow blogger wrote that, _during his psychedelic experiences,_ he had seen, and been exposed to, what most of us would consider to be incredible to bizarre scenes and events. _His statement of 'perceptions' include reading what has been termed the Akashic Record, and experiencing investigations by aliens of his body and mind._

In a subsequent conversation, he clarified that _he had been shown parts of the Akashic Record relevant to him,_ by the same kind of beings who had investigated him. He was able to describe these beings.

His experience of being investigated is similar to experiences reported by some people who had reportedly been taken on board a UFO. Many claimed to have been examined, at some depth, by the ETs in the UFOs. One report claimed that his DNA had been manipulated; if practicable, this would require unimaginable expertise. **The obvious question is – to what end, and for whose benefit?**

Clever men like Francis Crick and Carl Sagan have reportedly also indulged in psychedelic experiences; _I am not aware of the value or relevance of their visions._

**Shamans all over the world are known to offer insights into other worlds.** They are believed to have been aided by psychedelic drugs. It has also been suggested that the minds of successful shamans are not exactly like those of ordinary humans.

**What then can one say about the dimensions of reality accessible by us?** Would the operations of a human brain need to be tweaked (modified) _to be able to apprehend that which is there, and relevant to the future of mankind?_

_That is, if we were to be able to grasp the significance of Earthly existence, we may need to develop our 'third-eye' capabilities._ How? By somehow tuning into the 'fields of force' of the Cosmos. **A worthy ambition, in my view.**

###  Educating About Religious Beliefs

**Teaching about religions and the religious imperative in humans** is probably not commonplace in educational systems. _Teaching comparative religion_ can, of course, be found in some non-religious schools; the objective being education rather than indoctrination.

In this context, **it is rather sad to observe those whose religiosity is superficial; that is, believing that theirs is the only religion to take one to God or, worse still, believing that their religious sect is the only correct one within that religion.** Could one hope that religious leaders might inculcate a more ecumenical, or even a freethinking attitude? To accept all the sects within a religion as potentially equal is _ecumenical_. To accept all the major religions as also potentially equal (as I was taught as a boy) is _tolerant freethinking._

Were all primary schools, including religious schools, to explore with their students what it is to feel awe at the supernatural, to develop a sensitivity to the numinous, and why this happens; to learn that, as all mankind shares this awe and sensitivity, there is a commonality of belief behind the diversity in expressing this awe and sensitivity; and that prayer and associated rituals can range from seeking succour, to expressing gratitude, to experiencing a rare one-ness with our Creator. Will we ever join together to achieve such an education?

_Comparative religion_ can then be studied in high schools after the age of about 13, when the necessary conceptual capacity has been achieved, as one might study, say, alternative political paths and objectives, or economic policies. Divergent theologies might then be seen, not as competitive, but as alternative aids to belief.

Ultimately, one must reach the obvious conclusion: that **there is an innate desire in all of us to merge with the Divine.** It might take some of us some time to accommodate this urge.

###  Our Past Lives Must Surely Live Within Us

"People say, 'Live only for the future, don't live in the past.' **But I don't live in the past... the past lives in me."** This quote is from the Foreword of a recent issue of The Weekend Australian Magazine.

These words were those of 89-year old Olga Horak, a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust. 'She did not talk publicly about the Holocaust until 1992...' wrote Ross Bilton in that Foreword.

Most of those who have suffered grievously do try not to live in, or focus on, the past – quite sensibly. _However, the past will affect, insidiously or otherwise, the present; and thereby the future._ Yet few will talk about the lessons and scars contained within their soul.

I have had close friendships with people of the Jewish faith during the six decades and more of my active adult life in Australia. No one who had suffered through their experience under Hitler ever talked with me (or in my presence) about that. I never asked. **Personal suffering is surely a private matter.**

None of my Jewish friends and acquaintances (from diverse global origins) ever mentioned the Holocaust. Perhaps, educated as they were, **they were aware of other holocausts.** There was one which killed and destroyed the various cultures and livelihood of the _Native Americans_ in North America. (How any millions? 100?) There was one in _Australia._ Further, according to Nehru (as author), about 20 million _Indians_ died in each of four famines under the British. Then Chairman Mao's time allegedly caused 30 million _Chinese_ to die.

There were also the reported 20 million _Russians_ killed countering the Nazi invasion of Russia. I talked with a Slovak/Hungarian who had 'walked into Russia' as a slave-worker – and then walked back (so he said).

What do those who keep bringing up the Jewish Holocaust and other acts of infamy to the public mind seek to achieve by repeatedly reminding us of the venality of the past? **There have been enough atrocities committed –many in the name of religion – throughout our history. There is enough of it right now!**

The past **(in memory** ) cannot be _cremated_ (totally destroyed); I have seriously tried. But it can be interred _(buried)_ for the common good. In any event, who would wish to claim that they have suffered more than anyone else.

The future will be shaped by the present, within which the past is infused. Our souls, conveying the totality of our sojourns in space and time, have a significant role in this process; so I have reason to believe!

###  Seeing Auras

Since I am easily bored, I was not surprised. I had just switched off my attention while listening to a lecture about diet and health. My friend M sitting next to me said 'Drat!' softly. When I turned to look at her, she whispered that my aura had disappeared. It had been visible while I was listening with concentration. I did not know then that I had an aura.

The next week, M and I carried out a simple experiment. _I found that I could turn off my aura by putting my mind into 'neutral'; that is, by blanking out my ever-active mind._

I then met S, a striking personality, embellished with an impressive hairdo, and lots of makeup. She had not seduced M's husband yet. She too could see auras. However, _the colours she saw were less bright than the auras seen by M at the same time._ Was that, I wondered, because S was a more contained (almost concealed) personality?

That my aura is readable was subsequently identified by my clairvoyant friend, my lunch guest for that day. **My welcome was displayed by a golden glow around my head, he said.**

The so-called aura, seen surrounding the human body as luminescence by some, was once claimed as evidence of the _existence of the soul._ Then, the Kirlians (husband and wife) believed that they had photographed the aura. In the Preface to the book Kirlian photography: research and prospects (by Gennaro, Guzzon and Marsigli), Dr. Vincenzo Nestler described the effects obtained by the Kirlian camera as having been "obtained by photographing an object lying in a high-tension and high-frequency electrical field."

In the same book, Perluigi Marsigli, in his article Bioradiant energy, expressed interest in working with psychic healers. His intention was to help those with health problems through the use of the Kirlian camera. He details his experiments. He wrote _"Kirlian photographs always bore witness to the transmission and passage of energy from one human to another, from psychic healer to sick person."_

Psychic healing is real. The Kirlian camera could be showing one of the paths of the process.

###  Seeing and Reading the Souls of People

A fellow-blogger let me know this week that he liked a recent post of mine. Looking at his posts, I found one which is really intriguing. **He wrote about us being able to see the souls of people, presumably on Earth.**

I am not sure that I want to see the soul of everyone I meet. Why? Because I know that many, if not most, of us wear a mask – perhaps involuntarily – in dealing with others. _I certainly would not want my innermost drives, any strong antipathies, my hurts, even my transient thoughts to be easily read._ Reason? My sense of privacy, even of security (perhaps of mental security), for there are exploiters everywhere.

**Once I had my nature read. It is possible that my thoughts and feelings were read at the same time.** This is how I believe it happened.

Soon after my father died (when I was 18), and I had been pulled back from a most probable death from dengue fever soon after, a man appeared at the door of our home. **He spoke to my mother through their minds; although she spoke ordinarily. He said that he was a yogi who had come from a meditative period in the Himalayas (something he did from time to time to keep in touch with people); and that he could not speak because part of his tongue had been removed.**

During his silent messages to my mother, **which I too could follow** , he held one of my hands while looking deep into my eyes. From what he said, it was clear that _he could read my mind; he described me, my personality, and what had happened to me._

In response to my mother's questions about my future, he said that I would go south to study. I did go south – effectively to stay. He foretold a few other matters of great import, which turned out to be true. **The crucial issue is that my future (much of it traumatic) was to be in the great southern continent; and that he ensured that I did go there.**

Who sent him, I wondered (later in life, of course, when _I came to realise that there had been a specific path laid out for me to follow)._

**Almost everything the yogi said about me must have come from his reading, through my eyes, of what was imprinted on my soul.** Would any of us want every Tom, Dick, or Harry we meet to so read our souls? Not me!

###  Seeking a Glimpse of the Afterlife

An octogenarian man is, by definition, past his statistical 'use-by' date. A similar statement could not be made about women, as they live about 6 years longer. **This article is about an octogenarian male Seeker's understandable aim to obtain a glimpse of where he may be going soon.** I do admit to being very curious.

Of course, it is possible that those who believe firmly that there is nothing beyond Earthly life will find it to be so. Those who believe or know that they will, after their death, reside peacefully or with joy in what they consider to be their promised Heaven may be correct – for them.

Naturally, there will be others (a very considerable number) who believe (because of their religious faith) in a continuity of existence through repeated reincarnation. Thus, **Earthly life would be followed by a life of some sort on the 'Other Side' (that is, in another dimension), which will involve a subsequent return to Earthly life.** In this essentially Asian belief-system, the entity which has this experience is the human soul.

Each soul is thus said to be given the opportunity to be improved further during each Earthly life, until being permitted to find a permanent home. To the metaphysical Hindu, this home is the Ocean of Consciousness, from which all human souls are said to have originated.

This Seeker (of knowledge) speculated that souls, being insubstantial entities, would not need a place of residence between Earthly lives which is of substance. But he was disabused of this view by the discouraging words of a clairvoyant he respects: 'Do not be in a hurry to get to the Other Side. It will not be very different from here. And do not expect to meet God there. But you will have great opportunity for continuing your learning.'

His private reaction to that was: scope for learning – good; no God – no problem; not different from here – how so? _He then visualised insubstantial soul entities or spirits 'living' on a immaterial plane or dimension which could, tangentially, be 'here' as well. That would allow ready access by the inhabitants of the spirit world to those of interest still on Earth._

Since those who had manifested themselves on Earth are always clothed in the manner they had been on Earth, would this be how they present themselves to one another in that temporary home or Way Station in the Afterlife? And communicating with both fellow spirits and humans without needing a brain?

_If so, those scientists who claim that the human mind represents no more than the operation of the brain, or that consciousness does not (or could not) exist when the human brain is dead, are dead wrong._ In any event, on what evidence did they reach such conclusions? Did they follow the rules of the scientific method?

The spirit who had arrived on Earth to offer advice to his favourite nephew had 'spoken' to the latter's clairvoyant and presented himself exactly in the way any Earthly human would do. So informed the intermediary in this conversation, the clairvoyant.

Although there many books written by claimed cognoscenti, **there does not seem available any reliable report offered by a recently incarnated individual about life in the Afterlife.** Reports obtained under hypnosis are regrettably unreliable _because of the human brain's proven incredible capacity to create scenarios independent of the mind_. This Seeker can vouch for his brain's capacity to operate independently.

However, it is not necessary – only interesting – to know any details about the Afterlife, or about any specifics relating to life between Earthly lives. After all, at its core, life is meant for learning, is it not? Having fun in the process is surely not disallowed.

###  Soul Entities as Humans

There is a reasonably strong probability that each Earthly human being is a soul-entity passing through space and time. A recent post of mine discussed the role of reincarnation in the process, whereby a soul-entity adopts a human body sequentially.

A close friend of mine has raised with me a question which was asked by an elderly friend (an atheist) about 50 years ago. Since the human population is growing rapidly, would there be enough soul-entities?

My response is: Why assume that the number of souls is limited? In economic theory, in spite of its limitations, there used to be a premise that _supply would rise to meet demand._

Whether the supply of souls will rise to meet bodily demand will require us to identify the source of souls; and to decide why there may be bottlenecks in the supply process. How can we know?

An alternative approach is whether human bodies are created to meet an independent creation of souls. Our proclivity for procreation is well documented.

**Soul creation and its role is indeed a fascinating challenge** – at least to those of us who believe that there is meaning in human existence. In the complex mesh of a universe in which everything seems to be connected, what indeed is our role?

**Hindu metaphysics offers an explanation of the origin of souls and the implicit role of the reincarnation process.** Because of repeated rebirths, each periodic increase of human bodies will give a measure of the extra souls needed (or available).

As to when a soul enters a human body is a matter of contention, muddled significantly by competitive religions (whose leaders should really know better) claiming to own a sole path to Nirvana/Heaven and the accoutrements necessary to access it; or seeking control (to what spiritual extent?) of their believers. The pathos of ecclesiastical ambition!

I doubt if the Afterlife (or Recycling Station) has separate mansions or even rooms defined by religious affiliation. The futility of cemeteries on Earth separating empty bodies (the souls having departed) by religious sect is a reminder of the folly of seeking to keep separate those humans seeking the Divine, but who are travelling along separate routes, perhaps by necessity.

Ultimately, we are indeed one – in origin and through fusion on return.

###  Soul Memories

**I began reminiscing recently in my posts, with a specific purpose. I wanted to set down my thoughts about the suffering of innocent children.** Why do so many of them have to experience the pain of: a life in which there is so little nourishment, and which does not offer any kind of a viable future; or a life of physical disabilities so severe that their life expectancy would indubitably be limited.

**Strangely, all my life I have been concerned with this matter.** Why, I have wondered. Had I perhaps experienced painful childhoods in previous lives?

As a Hindu in this life, I am permitted to ask this question. What is surprising is that a clairvoyant I had visited, purely to satisfy my curiosity, told me that (according to her mentor in the spirit world, a 'healer') **I had suffered most severely as a very young child in one of my past lives.**

However, I recall rejecting her vision at that time, arguing that my past lives would surely not be accessible to her. To be honest, her vision was too painful to carry around with me. The implications of the cause of my suffering in that life were horrendous.

_Recently, reviewing my normal sceptical approach to almost everything, I now accept that my unusual sensitivity to the suffering of little children everywhere may have arisen in part from a soul-memory._ **I thereby also accept the probability of the existence of soul-memories.** This is mainly because of a driving instinctive urge which I have always had to achieve justice (or some betterment) for the communities in which I have lived.

Indeed, most consciously, I have had to cremate (mentally) in my memory-bank an insistent wish to wield a scimitar (that curved-edge sword favoured by the Turkic peoples) against certain individuals who made my life hell near the end of my career. Yes, yet another clairvoyant (who occasionally pops into my life in a casual manner) told me recently that she could see me as a mounted white-garbed warrior, with a scimitar in hand. Well!

But I do need to move on. Vengeance is not appropriate. Some memories surely have to go, while others remain to remind me that we are all souls experiencing Earthly lives.

###  So Much for a Past-life Urge!

**When I arrived as a naive youth in Melbourne way back when the dragons blew smoke over the Antipodes, I had an urge to ride a horse.** What a ridiculous thought, said my rational mind. _I had never seen a horse, except on t.v. (where the coloured feathered men kept getting shot). What was I to do when (possibly) a past-life memory starts to itch?_

**Anyway, I found an isolated part of the country where I could hire a horse to ride. I admitted to the proprietor that I had never ridden a horse.** He then led put a large animal, checked the reins, and went back into his office. Remembering what I had seen on t.v., I mounted the horse easily, shook the reins (like on t.v.), and said to the horse something like 'Let's go!'

_The horse ambled off, crossed the adjoining road without pause, forcing the cars to stop (which I pretended not to notice), and kept ambling._ Shaking the reins and talking to the horse had no effect; but I wasn't prepared to use my heels (like on t.v.) on my steady transport to make it move faster. _After about 15 minutes along a track which must have been familiar to the horse, it stopped, and turned back home – still ambling._

When it got to the yard, it stopped at the door of the office. I dismounted easily (like on t.v.), and went in. "You OK?" "Yep." And that was that. I set off to find the bus home.

**How did I feel about that experience? An incomplete satisfaction, because I wanted to ride the horse.** That may have been an itch from the long-forgotten past because, near the end of my life, my casual clairvoyant friend (who tends to see things spontaneously, often out of context) said that she could see me on a black stallion! I was dressed in a long white garment, and carrying a 'long curved sword' (a scimitar)!

Wow! I like that vision.

###  The Path to Immortality

" _Hear, O children of immortal bliss!  
You are born to be united with the Lord."_

This is an extract from The Upanishads by Easwaran (see previous posts). Forget about all of us being 'born in sin' or 'conceived in sin,' phrases in common usage when I arrived in Australia in the late 1940s; and about Satan and Hell.

Easwaran then introduces us to **the Self**. _"As an eagle, after soaring in the sky, folds its wings and flies down to rest in its nest, so does the shining Self enter the state of dreamless sleep, where one is free from all desires. The Self is free from desire, free from evil, free from fear... "_

**What is the Self?** Easwaran explains. _"In all persons, in all creatures, the Self is the innermost existence. And it is identical with Brahman: our real Self is not different from the ultimate Reality called God."_

**Brahman** is explained as _"the irreducible ground of existence, the essence of everything, – of the Earth and sun and all creatures, of gods and human beings, of every power of life."_ That is, **God is present in all His creations!**

Easwaran continues: **"This tremendous equation – 'the Self is Brahman' – is the central discovery of the Upanishads."** He goes on to say _"the same Self dwells in all."_

" _As the same fire assumes different shapes  
When it consumes objects differing in shape,  
So does the one Self take the shape  
Of every creature in whom he is present."_

In his Afterword to Easwaran's _The Upanishads,_ Emeritus Professor Michael Nagler wrote _"This Self cannot possibly be subject to any change, not even death. This is probably why belief in reincarnation died hard in the West. It was a cherished belief not only in pagan but also in various Jewish and Christian groups in the early centuries of our era."_

My view is that reincarnation had to be dispensed with in the West because it interfered with the control by the religious leaders of their respective flocks in the relatively new religions; whereas reincarnation encourages free will, directed to self-choice and self-improvement morally, life by Earthly life.

As said in the Upanishads, _"As a caterpillar, having come to the end of one blade of grass, draws itself together and reaches out for the next, so the Self, having come to the end of one life and shed all ignorance, gathers in its faculties and reaches out from the old body to the new."_ As Easwaran wrote,' **the continuity of personality is not broken."**

This stanza sums it all well:

" _The world is the wheel of God, turning round  
And round with all living creatures upon its rim.  
The world is the river of God,  
Flowing from him and flowing back from him.  
On this ever-revolving wheel of being  
The individual self goes round and round  
Through life upon life, believing itself  
To be a separate creature, until  
It sees its identity with the Lord of Love  
And attains immortality in the indivisible whole."_

###  Pondering the Meaning of Life (Part 1)

Because of the inexplicable major disasters early in my life, and a proclivity to fall into holes which were clearly not there, **I began to ask myself after my retirement about the possible determinants of human life.** I have concluded that we do indeed have free will, but that our actions in our past lives influence the trajectory of our current lives.

**On the basis of my understanding of the Upanishads,** the highest level of metaphysics found in any religion, I believe that the process for the transmission of the template for each current life is automatic. _The free will exercised during each life is sufficient to explain what happens._ Thus, there is no need for the New Age belief that the reincarnating soul 'chooses' the pathway of the life to be just before birth.

However, **on the basis of my significant exposures to the spirit world,** I accept that the spirit world may involve itself in the working out of the template established elsewhere in time and place. _The travails of my current life lead me to offer a spiritual path for all mankind._

In this, I am aided by my intuition, as well as by reliable clairvoyants, **to feel that I have already been a Christian, Moslem and Jew.** This inter-faith tolerance was also enhanced by having grown up in a multi-ethnic community in British Malaya, which was already on its way to becoming a tolerant multicultural nation.

This might also throw a little light on the path I have followed in my current life to be _able to advocate the eventual integration of people of diverse cultures within my adopted nation into one coherent people._ My ultimate hope is that we humans will accept that we were co-created, and are thereby bonded to one another. Is the concept of the Family of Man not eventually achievable?

###  Pondering the Meaning of Life (Part 2)

My thoughts about **a spiritually unified people arising from diverse ethno-religious origins** were initially influenced by _the role of a visiting yogi,_ which resulted in me being sent to Australia; and _a most significant psychic experience during which the spirit of my senior uncle offered advice on my spiritual development, and also suggested that I could seek to 'contribute to building a bridge' from whence I came to where I am._

It was during this experience that I was told that the spirit world had faced some difficulty in getting me to Australia; to which, my questions were: 'Why me?' and 'How much influence does the spirit world have on us on Earth?'

In my writing, **my repeated effort is the creation of one people out of the wide diversity of ethno-cultural origins found in the newly-created immigrant-fed nations such as Australia.**

My ultimate aim is the recognition by one and all that we humans, in spite of the imperatives of form and substance creating separation, will eventually return to be united in that Ocean of Consciousness from which we apparently arose.

###  Psychic Experiences vs. Science

Could anyone intelligent reject a significant psychic experience just because a scientific explanation of how it occurred is not available yet?

**Of what use is the mechanistic material paradigm in explaining some very real experiences which are non-material and not mechanistic in process?** As a layman, I do appreciate that we have worked well within this paradigm to place satellites in space – and also achieve all the rest of our scientific advances.

However, where are the explanations for these real experiences of mine?

• _I was once floating horizontally just under the ceiling_ , looking down upon my body laid out on a single bed. But I am still here.

• I saw, during my sleep one night, _the dead body of my father laid out in a particular manner, six days before he died_. There was no fear associated with this experience. On the seventh day he was laid out exactly as in my dream. I had no say in that presentation.

• A total stranger _foretold our meeting six months ahead_ when I was in another country. No one involved in my life had any plans for me at that time; neither had I.

• I saw, together with a number of others, _a live body lying on a mattress suspended in the air._ The ropes attached to the corners of the mattress dangled in the slight breeze.

• _The spirit of my favourite uncle manifested himself to my clairvoyant. Without ears and eyes of substance_ , he could apparently see me, hear me, and then respond to what I had said to the clairvoyant. _Without a brain_ of _substance,_ he recalled relationships in his mortal life; that is, his mortal memory was clearly intact. His communication with the clairvoyant was silent. **He thus displayed both consciousness and an intact mind.**

• Way back _in the 1940s, a friend of mine and I saw what had to be a spaceship in the sky._ It changed directions thrice, before disappearing most speedily into the distance.

**These were real experiences.** Of course, I have read many an attempted explanation by professional scientists which explained nothing about certain challenging circumstances.

I instance 'punctuated equilibrium.' This seems to be an attempt **to deny genetic mutations caused by cosmic catastrophes.** These can apparently produce new and completely functional species. I have read that this process might take about 71 generations over 2,000 years for humans.

The apparently purposive adaptation by some insects to achieve an external colouration to match precisely the tree trunk or leaf on which they normally site themselves cannot be adequately explained by Darwinian evolutionary processes. The adaptation might be seen to be too successful to be the result of random processes. Is purpose involved?

Surely, God's Will, the Big Bang cosmogony, Darwinian evolution, and all the theologians one might fit onto the head of a thumbtack, as well as the scientists working successfully within the current mechanistic material paradigm have not provided explanations about non-material events necessary to satisfy rational minds.

Then, there is **the Hindu view that the human mind is only an instrument of Consciousness.** In a live human, the mind seems to be linked to the brain. Yet, in the spirit world, no brain seems necessary.

_Consciousness is also described in this view as the Ocean from which we once arose, and to which we shall return._ Curiously, modern science, while unable to explain Consciousness, seems to be examining the concept of aether, once again, as akin to the Consciousness of Hinduism.

###  Do Psychic Phenomena Reflect a Shared Spiritual Realm?

Reportedly, Russian scientists and, more recently, their American counterparts, have been investigating occurrences of an extra-sensory nature, no doubt with a view to harnessing the movers. After all, **ordinary humans have already demonstrated the reality of such phenomena**.

Perhaps they are like the crop circles of Europe; or the clairvoyance of some tribal Australian Aborigines; or the psychic healers of physical ailments in many societies (like the thumb-nail healers); _and the farewell delivered to me through my mind as I was falling asleep by 2 people close to me as they were departing Earth (that is, as they died)_. Such unexplained reality cannot be denied.

Our brains register our experiences. Then, something we call mind keeps track of these experiences. But there is a significant question about the human mind. While recent neurological researches demonstrate its versatility and utility, does it need a brain? We necessarily believe so.

**But, how does a disembodied spirit (one without a physical brain or constituted of no substance known to us) communicate with a live human brain (that of a clairvoyant)?** The spirit of my uncle who spoke in English, using some words that only I understood – because of our shared background – was ethereal and, when our discussion had petered out, faded away. The clairvoyant described him as fading. _Were my clairvoyant and the spirit of my uncle 'surfing' within a spiritual medium?_

**We are all aware of being conscious. Our minds say so.** We know that animals display consciousness. Kirlian photography has shown that plants can display a certain sensitivity to threats to their existence. (Not a comfortable thought for vegetarians!) _So, is consciousness like the air which surrounds us and which is taken within us in order to live?_

Or, is it something which is an integral part of the radiation from the sun and planetary space which penetrates us without our knowledge?

**Or, is consciousness the substratum of all that exists and which also infuses, as appropriate, components of such existence?** _Is then a shared spirituality an aspect of Consciousness?_

###  What of the 'Afterlife'?

**First, what is the Afterlife? It is an assumed locale for the departing souls (spirits) from Earth. It may be the Heaven mentioned in certain religious documents.** _It would certainly not be_ the hell(s) imagined by those who seek to induce better moral behaviour on Earth by frightening their religious followers.

My first clairvoyant surprised me by saying of what he referred to as the 'Other Side', "It is not that different from here; and you will not meet God."

**As a metaphysical Hindu believing in the reality of the reincarnation process (for the existence of which there is plenty of evidence), I view the Afterlife as an R & R Depot or a Way Station.** It would give me a break from the hell of Earthly lives – like walking on a bed of hot coals to get to a grassy patch; and then repeating the process again and again.

_Were one to be lucky to have a broadly programmed path of a personal destiny (as I am able to claim),_ then one may seek to learn (and understand), while in the Afterlife, the significance of human life on Earth, of Man's place in the Cosmos, and what the Cosmos might be all about. I have been promised that I can continue my learning in the Afterlife. I do like that.

I must admit to having been pre-occupied in recent years (with Death patiently awaiting) _with thoughts such as_ : where is this Afterlife located?; insubstantial entities will not need an environment of substance; I do not want to be involved with other spirits in the way this happens on Earth; and how will I be able to acquire the learning I seek?; and so on.

**Then, I had a strange dream recently.** _I was in a physical environment of my liking (the details do not matter here) in what I felt is the Afterlife._ I heard human voices in the distance, but no one came into view. **Peace prevailed. As in my present reclusive life.**

This life was imposed upon me, but it is acceptable as consistent with the guidance offered by Hinduism. Hinduism recommends that, once one has completed one's commitments to family and society, one could withdraw from society to live a life of contemplation and meditation.

**For example, a cave in the Himalayan mountains had been the meditation home for 3 years of the yogi who had come down to Malaya to guide my widowed mother and I about our respective futures.** Years later, when I detected a coherent pattern in my life, I wondered whether he had been sent to us. I remember that he was clearly at peace, and apparently unaffected by the cold of the mountain.

**In my more comfortable retirement 'cave' I too have achieved peace (after a turbulent life).** While the dogs do bark (and snap), this caravan will move on, ignoring those who foolishly insist that only their beliefs mist prevail. Certainty is, in my experience, not a human condition.

The message I received through my dream about the Afterlife is that spirits create their own environment in the Afterlife; and that any contact with other spirits can only be on a mutually-agreed basis. My spirit guide may have been responsible for this message.

Strangely, I read about a similar perception at about that time. This coincides with scientist Rupert Sheldrake's concept of 'morphic resonance' – "a process that involves action at a distance in both space and time."

For example, discovery by one person can be followed by comparable or similar discoveries by others, without any contact between them. I instance the way birds began to open the tops of milk bottles all over the world near-simultaneously.

I know from my real experiences with spirits that the Afterlife is nearby (therefore in an intersecting dimension), and that it is the residence of spirits such as my uncle and those he referred to as 'higher beings.' I look forward to an interesting sojourn.

###  A Challenging View of the Reality of Existence

Somewhere, somehow, someone conceived of a fascinating and challenging vista of the reality of existence, of all that is. It is so incredible that one has to ponder about this vista again and again. One needs to suspend all of one's knowledge and beliefs, and attempt to grasp a scenario spreading over an infinity of time and space. It is virtually impossible to comprehend. It challenges almost everything we accept as real and relevant. What does it allow? What does it deny?

What does it mean? Well, that is the issue which is worrying. It seems to offer nothing; yet, there is a promise of great significance.

The following extract from my book 'Musings at death's door' provides a truncated overview. It also indicates how one can hope to understand its significance.

" _The Chandogya Upanishad says that the universe came forth from the unknowable Brahman, and will return to Brahman. Brahman is held to be the essence of all existence. Brahman is ever-existing, from whom everything emanates, and to whom everything returns. Brahman is Consciousness, immanent in all that is created; yet transient._

It is out of this essence or Consciousness or Godhead that the Creator god Brahma, the one who experiences that day and night of existence, is said to have arisen. Brahma, the first of the Hindu gods, is thus merely a projection of Brahman. In terms of the cosmology, the other gods are not that significant, all the gods being manifestations of that universal cosmic essence, the unknowable Brahman.

The nuts and bolts of this cosmology is that something tangible (the Cosmos) is said to have come forth from something intangible, an essence or force beyond our descriptive capabilities. A repeating 'Big Bang' now sounds quite credible (pity about the 'Big Crunch'). Brahma, the Hindu Creator, also seems equivalent to the super-force or super-mind proposed by some modern speculative cosmologists.

Since I am a metaphysical (non-ritualistic) Hindu in my current life, I naturally find this confluence of insightful perceptions by modern cosmologists and ancient Hindus satisfying. Of course, neither view validates the other. But each may light the way for the other.

It would seem that, ultimately, a seeker must experience (in Hindu metaphysical terms Self-realise) or apprehend, through deep meditation, a Reality beyond Earthly knowing, a Reality which cannot be described. It is beyond words. The ultimate reality is said to be Brahman."

On further reflection, I now wonder: **As each human being evolves out of the material realm into the ethereal realm of spirituality, would not those in the latter realm be now able to reach out to one another, and communicate with one another at a spiritual level? Would there then be a fellowship of advanced souls, such as the one the spirit of my favourite uncle seemed to belong to?**

(It is probably worth noting that my uncle did not believe in the Hindu practices of our day – no temples, and no priests.)

###  A Collective Consciousness?

Carl Jung referred to the **collective unconsciousness** of humanity. Other people, including some scholars, as well as those who are interested purely in acting in unison in order to influence cosmic or Nature's forces or currents for the benefit of mankind, have called upon **some sort of shared consciousness.**

Recently, I read that some ancient philosophers have suggested **a pervasive universal consciousness, of which each individual human consciousness represents a fragment.** The unavoidable implication, of course, is that _all humans are not only meshed within this universal consciousness, but also that we can be in touch with others through this mesh._

**I wonder whether we can thereby connect more easily with one another – obviously at a spiritual level** – were we able to discard that gossamer veil we tend to set up between ourselves and those who do not qualify as our own Significant Others.

**I also wonder whether we can also thereby – individually, obviously – tap into cosmic forces or the mechanisms of Nature.** If so, what would this require of us as a precondition? Further, in this materialistic world, _are we able to be adequately spiritual to enable this connection?_

Isn't this an entrancing prospect, giving meaning to mortal existence? **Is this how I was able to tap into the scenario of a kitten adopting me?**

Just for the record. In **1951** , I told an English girl I had just met, and who would become my 'blood-sister' (in the tradition of the Native Americans) that I would one day have a white cat. Yet, I had never, ever, met a cat. In **1958,** my new wife was given a stray 'grey' kitten by friends. The kitten, after it had been cleaned, turned out to be a white Persian. **The cat adopted me.** At bedtime, it slept on my pillow (to begin with).

###  Acknowledging Psychic Phenomena

" **In science, the acceptance of new ideas follows a predictable, four-stage sequence.** _In Stage 1,_ skeptics confidently proclaim that the **idea is impossible** because it violates the Laws of Science. This stage can last from years to centuries, depending on how much the idea challenges conventional wisdom _. In Stage 2_ , skeptics reluctantly **concede that the idea is possible, but it is not very interesting** and the claimed effects are extremely weak.

_Stage 3_ begins when the mainstream realizes that **the idea is not only important,** but its effects are much stronger and more pervasive than previously imagined. _Stage 4_ is achieved when **the same critics who used to disavow any interest in the idea begin to proclaim that they thought of it first.** Eventually, no one remembers that the idea was once considered a dangerous heresy......."

" **The most important indication of a shift from Stage 1 to Stage 2 can be seen in the gradually changing attitudes of prominent skeptics.** In a 1995 book saturated with piercing skepticism, the late _Carl Sagan_ of Cornell University maintained his life-long mission of educating the public about science, in this case by **debunking popular hysteria** over alien abductions, channelers, faith-healers, the "face" on Mars, and practically everything else found in the New Age section of most bookstores.

**Then,** in one paragraph amongst 450 pages, **we find an astonishing admission:**

" _At the time of writing there are three claims in the ESP field which, in my opinion, deserve serious study: (1) that by thought alone humans can (barely) affect random number generators in computers; (2) that people under mild sensory deprivation can receive thoughts or images "projected" at them; and (3) that young children sometimes report the details of a previous life, which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation."_

**Other signs of shifting opinions are cropping up with increasing frequency in the scientific literature.** Starting in the 1980s, well-known scientific journals like _Foundations of Physics, American Psychologist, and Statistical Science published articles favorably reviewing the scientific evidence for psychic phenomena. The Proceedings of the IEEE, the flagship journal of the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers, has published major debates on psi research._

_Invited articles_ have appeared in the prestigious journal, _Brain and Behavioral Sciences._ A favorable article on telepathy research appeared in 1994 in _Psychological Bulletin,_ one of the top-ranked journals in academic psychology. And an article presenting a theoretical model for precognition appeared in 1994 in _Physical Review,_ a prominent physics journal."

(These are extracts from Dean Radin's 'The Conscious Universe' Chapter 1)

Comment: It is good to see Sagan's admission. I wonder when other defenders of the status quo can be expected to follow suit.

###  A Civilisation More Spiritually Advanced?

In 'Fingerprinting the Gods,' Douglas Kenyon states that "(Graham) Hancock presents **breakthrough evidence of a forgotten epoch in human history that preceded, by thousands of years, the presently acknowledged cradles of civilisation in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Far East.** Moreover, he argues, this same lost culture was not only highly advanced _but also technologically proficient, and was destroyed more than 12,000 years ago by the global cataclysm... "(Comment: by the Universal Flood?)_

He cites "Evidence of comprehensive ancient knowledge of the 25,776-year **precession of the equinoxes** (unmistakably encoded into ancient mythology and building sites...)" and "Evidence that the monuments of the Giza Plateau were built in **alignment with the belt of Orion** at circa 10,500 BCE..."

Kenyon goes on to say "Hancock believes the entire Giza site was constructed after **the crust of the earth had stabilized following a 30-degree crustal displacement** that destroyed most of the high civilisation then standing." _(Comment: This is the only credible explanation of the trigger for the Universal Flood.)_

_As_ well, **"The Giza complex was built, Hancock speculates, as part of an effort to re-map and re-orient civilisation.... The pyramids are a part of saying this is where it stopped.** That is why the perfect alignment, for example, to due north, of the Great Pyramid is extremely interesting, because they obviously would have had a new north at that time."

Here is the punch-line. " **Despite a determination to stick with the hard evidence, Hancock is not uncomfortable with the knowledge that his work is serving to corroborate the claims of many intuitive and mystics.... Our whole cultural conditioning is to deny those elements of intuition and mystery in ourselves. But all the indications are that** _these are, in fact, vital facts in human beings, and I suspect that the civilisation that was destroyed, although technologically advanced, was much more spiritually advanced than we are today."_

This is not difficult to believe. Materiality over-rides spirituality; for the time being.

(This article by Kenyon is included in "Forbidden History" edited by Kenyon.)

###  Why Blame God?

**About a decade ago, a close friend who had cancer, said to the rector of her church "I thought God would have cured me by now." A few years later she died. On the day preceding her expected demise, I had promised her that she would be going to a much better place, since** _she did not want to die._

Digressing – I have talked to a number of senior citizens who made it clear that they feared death. _How could any old person live with such a terrible feeling?_

_I have also talked to many people who blame God for their tribulations and other disasters. Why? Because the Creator of all must be responsible for all that goes wrong (such as man-made wars); or which is morally wrong (such as evil intent in humans); or some personal misadventure._ I am uncertain whether God is also blamed for natural disasters or cosmic catastrophes; I suspect many do.

Why set up a straw man and then throw stones at him? University courses may do that; but, **in the real world, one's expectations should surely be drawn from the observed, the known**. Thus, is God really an interventionist Creator? Or, have some of us imagined God in the image of an all-powerful father? A father who can be blamed for not delivering that ice-cream we thought we had earned by behaving well?

**Why not accept the strong probability of** _autonomous processes_ **in our transit through life on Earth, from our distant historical origin to where** we **are now?** There are millions of such processes in life, in Nature, including the miracle of the birth of fully-formed babies; the empathetic behaviour by humans, such as contributing to civil society; the symbiosis between insects and plants, and plants and humans; the exceedingly complex inter-connection between almost everything in the Universe; and the evolutionary process which enables improvement through successful change.

**Why not look for the simplest, but adequate, explanations?** If a Creator exists (and we have no proof of that), _all that is required is an arm's-length Creator who set up a simple machinery, gave it the breath of life, of growth, of variation – and let autonomous processes to proceed thereafter_. No one can then be blamed for anything not to our liking. Why expect the Creator to do more? So that we have someone to blame?

**We do need to grow up, and face the dark; that is, accept what is unavoidable – and adapt and evolve!** The pathway to such growth may require humanity to dispense with the dog-eat-dog drive of Western capitalism; the control mechanisms (with their underlying urge to exercise power over others) of priesthoods, political parties, and megalomaniac rulers; and non-Western governments indulging in central control over their subjects and their economies.

We need ideologically to progress from materiality to some minimal level of spirituality, based not only on shared origins, but also on a much-needed acceptance that motile and non-motile life-forms on Earth are inextricably connected to one another!

###  Entangled Minds

" **One of the most surprising discoveries of modern physics is that objects aren't as separate as they may seem. When you drill down into the core of even the most solid-looking material, separateness dissolves.** All that remains, like the smile of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, are relationships extending curiously throughout space and time.

These connections were predicted by quantum theory and were called _"spooky action at a distance_ " by **Albert Einstein.** One of the founders of quantum theory, **Erwin Schrödinger** , dubbed this peculiarity entanglement, saying _"I would not call that one but rather_ _the_ _characteristic trait of quantum mechanics."_

The deeper reality suggested by the existence of entanglement is so unlike the world of everyday experience that until recently, many physicists believed it was interesting only for abstract theoretical reasons. They accepted that the microscopic world of elementary particles could become curiously entangled, but those entangled states were assumed to be fleeting and have no practical consequences for the world as we experience it. _That view is rapidly changing._

**Scientists are now finding that there are ways in which the effects of microscopic entanglements "scale up" into our macroscopic world.** Entangled connections between carefully prepared atomic-sized objects can persist over many miles. There are _theoretical descriptions_ showing how tasks can be accomplished by entangled groups without the members of the group communicating with each other in any conventional way.

Some scientists suggest that the remarkable degree of coherence displayed in living systems might depend in some fundamental way on quantum effects like entanglement. Others suggest that conscious awareness is caused or related in some important way to entangled particles in the brain. Some even propose that the entire universe is a single, self-entangled object.

**What if these speculations are correct? What would human experience be like in such an interconnected universe?** Would we occasionally have numinous feelings of connectedness with loved ones at a distance? Would such experiences evoke a feeling of awe that there's more to reality than common sense implies?

Could "entangled minds" result in the experience of your hearing the telephone ring and somehow knowing – instantly – who's calling? If we did have such experiences, could they be due to real information that somehow bypassed the usual sensory channels, or are such reports mere delusions?

(These are extracts from Dean Radin's book 'Entangled Minds'. Refer Dean Radin.com. I like the idea of a universe in which everything is connected to everything else.)

I conclude by wondering whether such a connectivity may eventually lead mankind to evolve into a fellowship of souls.

###  "Ethics is More Important Than Religion"

**I have recently begun to wonder whether religion, especially institutional religion, is more of a curse for mankind than a boon.** I do know that a religious belief, especially in a Universal Creator (or God), sustains millions of us through the exigencies of existence. _Why then does religion cause so much harm, especially to the innocent?_

**Politicised religion is most definitely a curse. Is any major religion exempt from this accusation?** Which are they? As well, why do the religions, even sects within a religion, compete with one another? _I have read that, in historical times, Christianity challenged its mother religion, Judaism – by claiming that the Messiah had already been!_ Worse still, politicised Buddhism seems to have forgotten its basic tenet – compassion!

**This is why the recent position taken by the Dalai Lama is so uplifting.** In the July 2015 issue of the Reader's Digest, an article by Franz Alt quotes the Dalai Lama thus:

• "Ethics is more important than religion."

• "We do not arrive in this world as members of a particular religion. But ethics is innate."

• " _There are days when I think it would be better if there were no religions."_

• "Wars have been waged in the name of religion, 'holy wars' even. Religions have been and still are frequently intolerant."

• " **Far more crucial than religion is our elementary human spirituality."**

• "The aim of a secular ethic is to free us of momentary and long term suffering, and to develop the ability to support others in the pursuit of happiness. _One aspect of compassion is the spontaneous willingness to act for the welfare of others."_

**Is there a religious leader anywhere on this globe who would publicly deny the value of such an ethic?** If not denied, would such an ethic head the pantheon of beliefs within their religion? Would that be too much to expect?

_What of the role of religious leaders,_ in operational terms, and their value, in humanitarian terms? In the light of the current affrays all over the world, is this not a relevant question?

###  Explaining the Inexplicable

A **myth** is usually a serious and much-needed _attempt to explain_ an event or happening of substantial community import, in terms of the prevailing levels of linguistic and conceptual maturation.

_It could include symbolism or even expressions of mysticism,_ partly because of a lack of precedents to enable a comprehensible explanation, and partly in order to have it subsequently remembered through oral transmission by future generations, simply because of its significance in their history. _An element of moral guidance may also be included,_ perhaps referring to the totemic animal which stands for the Creator.

A **fable** has a different objective – _to convey a lesson._ The objective is likely to be a moral one, to guide people through posterity, and thereby being capable of being borrowed by other cultures (because of a universality of relevance) through translation. _A clear distinction between an attempted explanatory myth and an educative fable may not be that clear to one whose mindset is mechanistic rather than holistic._ A holistic view would be able to guide (through understanding and possible application) rather than to explain beyond doubt.

**Folklore** is the raft which _takes an ongoing community from its past to its present. It is a representation of a collective memory,_ into which a collective unconscious may have injected some inarticulate impressions, combining explanatory myths and educative fables.

**A mind conditioned by the scientific method and restricted to accepting only evidence from repeatable experiences will be disinclined to accept folklore as a reasonably reliable indicative guide to the past.** This method, which relies on probability assessments about causal relationships, cannot deal with insubstantial, non-repeatable experiences (whether personal or collective) of a psychic nature. Yet, _a mechanistic mind will not be averse to the production of speculative attempted explanations of events and processes in the material sphere, and to defend them to the point of irrationality._ Some examples are the inconclusive Big Bang theory and Darwin's theory of evolution; these are truly part of current scientific folklore.

**Our pre-history has juxtaposed folklore with massive structures at certain sites.** _We do not know how these structures were constructed._ Is our choice of explanations limited sharply between extra-terrestrial involvement or Earthling cultures now disappeared?

**Should institutionalised religious belief-structures originating in efforts to appease/protect, then to emphasise ethical behaviour, while offering potential access to a haven from Earthly tribulations, now join the out-grown myths, fables, and folklore?** They can all remain in a pantheon of historically valuable thoughts.

###  Do Things Happen When They Need to Happen?

I am not surprised any more. When I ponder a question of some importance to me, there will occasionally appear an article or a book which deals with, or touches upon, my question.

_For a very long time, I have given much thought to cosmogenesis (how the Cosmos came into being) and what might be learned from the main institutional religions, or the myths of the main cultures and civilisations long gone._ In this context, _Carl Jung,_ the famous psychologist of yesteryear who built love and faith into his theories (unlike _Freud)_ , suggested that similarities between myths from diverse cultures reflect universal archetypes held within mankind's **collective unconscious.** Sounds plausible!

Not so, says the author who has released an eagle among some domestic cats with the book I needed. **Paul A. LaViolette, in his book 'Genesis of the Cosmos: the ancient science of continuous creation,'** _states, in relation to_ similarities _in ancient myths, that this reflects_ _consciousness._

This is what he says: _"... the specific sequences of images and events seen in the creation myths and esoteric lore... metaphors sequenced in a certain logical order to portray complex scientific concepts,_ is more appropriately attributed to the conscious than the unconscious mind." (Reasonable, but not convincing!)

**Yet, he asks whether the unconscious minds of humans have been "telepathically receiving an advanced science of otherworldly origin"**! Interesting!

He goes on to say that _"... certain ancient myths record a sophisticated cosmological source of exceeding brilliance,_ one that rivals the contemporary big bang theory... "(Yes, the Big Bang Theory is not convincing.) "... _ancient science describes matter and energy creation as a continuing process taking place over a period of many billions of years."_ He also says that abstract scientific concepts were concealed "in entertaining stories that were meaningful to tribal cultures." That is certainly food for thought.

His own theory of _'subquantum kinetics'_ "... explained the origin of matter and energy, the structure of matter, how force fields arose, and how they induced movement." (LaViolette). Subquantum kinetics "... offers us **an open systems theory of continuous creation rooted in organic processes of self-organisation"** (Ray Lynch, a reviewer). _This novel approach to microphysics is based on a process involving chemical reactions in a medium LaViolette refers to as ether._

LaViolette seems to have found congruence between the science which he claims is implicit in certain myths shared by a variety of ancient cultures from East to West, and his own theory. This theory reminds me of that Ocean of Consciousness from which we are all said to have arisen, and to which we shall all eventually return.

**However, the theory of continuous creation may explain the Cosmos as something which has always been, with neither beginning nor end.** This is the same entrancing thought planted in my mind when I asked, as a young boy, where the universe came from.

(Comment: Abstract scientific concepts available to ancient tribal cultures? Received telepathically from extra-terrestrial sources? Always possible. But what happened to that information? Buried deep under the silt in the oceans through cosmic catastrophes?)

###  Faith Healing Observed by Sceptical Medicos

In my Thirties, my Chinese-Australian medico and family friend told me about a small team of local doctors who had gone to the Philippines to observe a faith healer at work. The video they had made there confirmed, on their return, what they had seen. As my friend said to me, "What we observed is impossible; yet it happened." As we agreed, a real experience cannot be denied.

Then, a Polish immigrant friend of mine took his Israeli wife to a Filipino faith healer. _The healer provided a cure beyond the hitherto capacity of her doctors._ This friend, also a medico, could not also believe what he had seen the healer do. He went back later to have his 'tennis elbow' cured successfully.

**Both the Chinese and Polish doctors observed the identical procedure. This involved removing some whitish substance from within the body.** A woman I knew in my district had a comparable experience with a visiting Filipino 'thumbnail' healer.

However, in my reading about such 'faith' (psychic) healers, I came across a report of _a noodle being removed from the inside of a Swiss client._ All such procedures involved a brief prayer by the healer. **Little or no blood was lost. And the patient suffered no pain.**

In another case I read about, somewhere in South America (Argentina?), a healer with a great local reputation opened up a patient's middle. Instead of some whitish substance being removed, _a stream of fiery red ants was seen to climb out of the open body, walk down a leg of the bed, cross the floor, and march out of the door in single file into the open._

While infallible professional sceptics might have a 'fun time' about the noodle and the ants, are these more improbable than other repeatedly reported acts of **healing by those commonly referred to as 'thumbnail' surgeons?**

_Is healing by faith any more than the extreme end of the spectrum of healing,_ beginning with pills and potions, progressing through self-cure by positive thinking and visualisation, and finally to _intervention by spirit healers which successfully influence the patient's subconscious?_

###  Feeling or Understanding the Pain of Another

**When the tentacles of the severe physical pain of another person touch you, you are sensitised to an aspect of reality which you may never encounter.** If these tentacles tighten around you with greater exposure to such pain, _your soul is forever linked to the suffering of others:_ those who are as human as you are, but who are not as fortunate as you are.

A boy in his early teens used to visit a young man in hospital regularly for a couple of years. The man was a family friend, and a sportsman. During the Japanese Occupation of Malaya, this man was dying of tuberculosis (t.b.) of the spine; but there was no treatment available. _Near the end of his time on Earth, it was impossible to touch him or his flimsy bed, in an isolated room, without causing him terrible pain._

When, a few years later, the boy himself was seriously ill from dengue fever (a bone-crunching disease), and **no one could touch his bed without causing him agony, he knew how much his family friend had suffered during his last years. Such a memory is indelible.**

I was that boy! That experience has helped me cope with stoicism the 45 years of severe sporadic pain of spinal arthritis. Indeed, **a mantra I developed about 25 years ago now enables me to reduce the most severe pains. Such a level of pain is totally incapacitating.** The mantra does not **help to** counter ordinary day-to-day pain. _My subconscious seems to be selective!_

Yet, I hope to reach the level of control over the body achieved by some Tibetan Buddhists who sit in the open in icy terrain, and use their upper-body warmth to dry a piece of fabric which had been dipped in ice-cold water. Realistically, that outcome will have to be during my next life.

###  Near-death Experiences: Glitch or Glimpse?

An early response from a blogger asked about near-death experiences (NDEs). **I have read a few descriptions of such experiences. As well, a close friend of mine had such an experience. Then, I too had an experience which had a near-death trigger, but which otherwise did not fit the norm.**

To begin with my story. I was seriously ill with dengue fever, that bone-crunching disease. I was in so much pain that I heard myself shout with pain if anyone even touched my mattress. One evening, in deep non-existence through a raging fever, _I found myself floating horizontally near the ceiling. I looked down and saw 2 clearly dead bodies._ One was mine; the other was that of my father. But I had recently participated in his cremation, involving a great deal of Hindu ritual.

**I remember being terribly afraid. Why? I had no idea. I still do not.** I recall waking up in a great sweat. It soaked the bed sheet. That was the beginning of my recovery which, a few years later, I had reason to regret; my downfall had begun.

After a lifetime of trying to make sense of this experience, I now believe that **I must have been near death; and that my subconscious mind had acted on that knowledge.** That fear, which was akin to a nightmare, was the trigger to my recovery – for, I obviously had to live. There was a river of my personal destiny on which my sampan awaited, offering me full freedom to fall into holes which were not there, while the wheels of my life-chances cart would fall off as influenced by my past-life inheritance. **My experience was a glimpse of what was about to happen.**

**My friend's experience was a typical NDE.** She died, and was brought back to life. In between, _she went through that typical process of moving towards a light, seeing her mother (and others) at the end of a bridge of some kind,_ and being told by her mother that she had to go back. Most significantly, her mother addressed her by a name which only her mother had ever used.

A professional sceptic would 'explain' NDEs by referring – without any evidence – to the way the human brain allegedly throws up hallucinations at death. An equally unprovable 'explanation' is that such people as my friend had been given a glimpse (far too brief a glimpse) into the After-life.

I suspect that she had been spiritually protected by her experience (the prospect of a nicer abode) for the difficult life she was to encounter. Or, the event was a glitch.

As my reality includes the spirit realm, I am inclined to believe, neither the speculative scientists nor the professional sceptics (all of whom may be guilty of subscribing to a 'theology' of their own), but that **we can be guided or influenced subconsciously by our progenitors and their compatriots in that other place most of us aspire to.**

###  Had My Life-chances Pathway Been Laid Out for Me?

**Only recently did I realise that my pathway might have been laid for me before I left home and country at 19.** After a lifetime of trials and tribulations, this was a comforting thought.

My father died at 18, leaving my mother to decide the direction of my first step away from the family nest. Incredibly, _a yogi appeared at the door_ ; in a country full of sunyasins, a yogi was unheard of. He told my mother (and me) that he saw me going south to study, when no one, to our knowledge, had done that before. _I now believe that he was sent to influence my mother._

**He also foretold my premature return, and my time overseas after that.** We did not realise that what he had indicated was _academic failure_ and _subsequent migration._ Why did I have to fail? **The psychological and social consequences for me and my family were terrible.**

**Since my memoir 'The Dance of Destiny'** tells my story in full, I will _summarise the trajectory of my learning on the pathway I believe was laid out_ _for me._ I became competent in dealing with numbers, words, and policies; staff supervision; supporting official advisory boards; liaising with senior executives of the private sector (14 years), migrant community leaders (9 years), and Ministers (as needed); and inspecting businesses and industries throughout the nation on my own. That is, **I was a high-profile operator.**

**In civil society, I obtained leadership positions** (but not by my choice), and _left footprints in a few satisfying areas_ , focusing on outcomes at all times. My trade union awarded me a Meritorious Service Award for my work, over 10 years, on merit protection.

**The downsides were: denial of promotion repeatedly, with associated discriminatory behaviour, including the** _dissemination of lies_ **in secret documents.** Yes, _I had powerful enemies, all directed to preventing me from achieving something no foreigner had achieved; that is, entry into the Senior Executive Service in the federal public service_. Those who had been ranked way below me were subsequently promoted to the level I sought.

I then realised that an immigrant (whether coloured or not) would be extremely lucky to receive equal opportunity at the expense of the local born. **Then, at the age of 55, I had to cope with my first public service racist and his gang of supporters; 3 of my bosses behaved badly, overtly!**

However, through the shenanigans of my tribalist opponents, who had me moved from post to post frequently (presumably to rattle me), **I became an expert on all aspects of immigrant integration into the nation**. After guidance from the spirit world, I published 4 books based on this expertise, as well as my own settlement experiences. _All that learning and some suffering led to these books._

My memoir was intended to be a historical record of my peregrinations, **but finished up offering Eastern spirituality as well.** _My book of fiction was written for fun; I am not very good at suffering._ The last book, 'Musings at Death's Door,' summed up for me my overview of my Australian experience. **It has historical value, like the first 4 books;** this was confirmed by the _wonderful endorsement by a professor of history and politics, one of Australia's intellectuals. "There is wisdom here" said he._

Living a contemplative life as a recluse is further learning. I am grateful to the spirit world for its role in setting my pathway, and to my spirit guide for getting me to listen to him. Whether my books will leave any footprints is for the Cosmos to decide. I am becoming more spiritual and more intuitive. Is my 'third-eye' chakra involved?

###  The Mystery of Human-spirit Realm Relations

**What is it like to be hijacked by the spirit world or by some of its residents?** This was the crucial question I asked himself repeatedly near the end of my difficult but productive life. Thoroughly confusing! That was my invariant conclusion.

Indeed, 'Why me?' was my initial reaction when I came to realise, but with some scepticism, that some members of the spirit realm had indeed decided to have a say in my life-chances, and my lifestyle.

In spite of being a seeker of knowledge, **with a propensity to seek or make patterns** which would lead to some understanding of whatever I was examining or experiencing, my grasp of the major causal determinants of my life-path tracked a sluggishly insidious route. This process could be compared with the way water from a below-ground source could seep up towards the surface, thereby increasing the fertility or productivity of the ground.

I now hope that, while fertility and productivity are of no interest or relevance for me, _my intellectual equanimity_ might be enhanced through understanding what it is (was?) all about.

I accept that more introspection about significant experienced-events is needed to obtain a necessary overview of intent, its operational pathway, and the outcomes.

Issues which need to be dealt with are:

• Is there an uncontested pattern of primary influences on human life-chances which can be considered near-universal?

• Are these influences persuasive, even while those affected have a degree of free will to accept, reject, or modify the thrust of these influences?

• Could higher beings in the spirit realm have a role to play in shaping some humans? If so, which humans? How would they qualify?

• Is this role also to ensure that life-paths broadly predicated by past lives are followed? That is, to assist the individual in his moral progress?

Ah, the mystery of it all!

###  How Do We Know What We Know?

**We all know so much. Yet, how reliable are our memories**? Almost all my life – _until I was about 70 – I carried a particular memory. It was of a child – me – of just 3, throwing a pair of scissors at the departing heels of an uncle (the gentlest of 3 uncles) because he had angered me._ The memory had presumably been retained because my uncle was said to limp from time to time as a result of the injury I had caused him.

**When I wrote my memoir,** _The Dance of Destiny_ **, almost everything in my memory bank had been placed on the examination table.** This enabled me to recount – within an appropriate context – an event of significance. To be certain that my memories were reliable, and not likely to be contradicted, I spent a long time sorting out experiences of substantial import: great sadness or tragedy, events of joyfulness or personal achievements, and other moments of significant impact. _If I could not 'visualise' the event, occasion or experience, I asked myself whether my memory had been based on what I had been told._

**Lo and behold, there were a few such 'memories.' I could not visualise in my memory throwing a pair of scissors (or anything else) at anyone, ever.** I will not lie to myself or to anyone else. I subsequently wondered whether my mother had told me that story to constrain a bourgeoning hot temper. She must have; and it worked.

Guilt about my initial academic failure (which had actually been foretold) **had led to emotional control** throughout my life; except once, when I nearly killed another person. Strangely, during that episode, _I actually heard (within my mind) this message "What are you doing, Stupid?"_ **It seems that there was a Watcher within me.**

I have received a few subtle messages about the true nature of a few 'significant others' and of their hidden intentions; about a few of my past lives (unverifiable, except once); and intuitively 'known' about what might happen in day-to-day matters. My last boss did say to me "You can often see the future, can't you?" But I am certainly not clairvoyant.

' **How do I know what I know' is a perennial question in my mind.**

###  Was Humanity Once Part of an Extra-terrestrial Community?

No matter how many experts stand on the head of a thumb tack singing 'That cannot happen,' there will be someone, whose integrity and intelligence cannot be denied, who has had a meaningful and verifiable encounter with the spirit of a dead person, and which is supported by the involvement of another credible third person.

Levitation not possible? But the observers were not blind, intoxicated or hypnotised. Sighting of UFOs pure hallucinations? _How could someone who has not had a particular category of experience deny the reality of someone else's real experience?_

However, being slow learners as individuals may not matter in the long term. Being slow learners as a species is worrisome. _Is there not some indicative evidence that there have been advanced human cultures on Earth way back in time?_

**What are the indicative footprints which have been left for us to learn from?** T _hose huge stone structures of an astronomical and/or religious significance, or even of technological purpose, are there to remind us that modern technology of one kind or another is not a new development;_ there are also the organisational structures which led to agricultural settlements and beyond which we have not improved upon. Indeed, our current organisational structures may not be compatible with our religious and spiritual values; dog-eat-dog may be an apt description of modern man's underlying credo, while caring people do what they can to live up to their higher beliefs.

**Who were our earliest possible antecedents?** The _Sundaland culture_ may seem to qualify, as it was most probably flooded about 13,000 years ago by the Universal Deluge. The _Lemurian culture_ seems to be accepted as a more recent development. _Atlantis_ may be associated with Lemuria in its initial culture. All of them may have seeded less developed societies wherever they went.

If Sundaland was the only mother-civilisation for us, then the issue of whether Lemurians and others were Caucasoids (as distinct from Mongoloids and Negroids, an earlier internationally-accepted classification), is irrelevant _. To describe the Lemurians as Caucasians (of the Caucasus) is not useful, as the term covers me and my tribal people._ To describe them as white may not be objective, as white-coloured people are to be found in many temperate regions, not only in Europe.

To confound the issue, it may be that white-skinned people were a spin-off from the Asian people through genetic mutation caused by the radiation wave from the explosion of supernova Vela which went through us about 41,000 years ago.

**One question remains – how did our predecessor civilisations build those huge stone structures?** That slowly-rising seas may have drowned those cultures living on low-lying lands is credible. _What would destroy cultures set on the high-lands?_ Cosmic catastrophes and any consequential vulcanism would be acceptable as adequate explanations. What evidence do we have to support this explanation?

That these monoliths were **built by extra-terrestrials (spacemen),** who then left Earth-bound humans to their fate, may seem more credible in terms of the obvious need for power-based machinery and metallic tools.

**The monstrous distances involved in space travel implies that the travellers may need to be non-embodied; that is, insubstantial.** In the event, how could humans relate to the arrivals? Would this explain why the travellers did not stay?

###  How Does One Know What One Does Not Know?

**Is it sensible to ask oneself 'How do I know what I do not know?'** We gather knowledge all the time, almost unconsciously; and we receive training overtly. _Sometimes, we may find, to our surprise, that we know something that we did know we knew._ The path of learning seems clear; but the path of remembering can be unclear, even confusing.

There is a belief that there is something called **collective knowing.** There is another belief that there is a **collective unconscious** which also involves knowledge. Both would need to be of considerable significance to mankind, perhaps in terms only of survival. _Where the ethos of one's society is individualism, as against an ethos of communalism, what are the chances of being aware of a collective knowledge?_ Whereas, the collective unconscious may impact on an individual in unpredictable ways.

With parents encouraging their child at an early age to enquire about anything of interest, a child could ask that crucial question – one which must have intrigued philosophers in all societies – 'How do I know what I know?' Could this child, perhaps at a later stage of development, also ask 'How do I know what I do not know?'

The following extracts from my book 'Musings at death's door' seem relevant:

"Our hold on this molten rock is indeed precarious, without a 'night of Brahma' (Hindu cosmology) or a 'Big Crunch' (related to current cosmology) being involved.

In any event, **it would be wise to accept that, no matter how clever we are, the Cosmos owes us nothing.** As we make slow progress on our trajectory towards that Ocean of Consciousness (refer Hinduism), we may have to repeatedly earn our place in the Cosmos!

**The issue of the structure, shape, and substance of human bodies raises a challenging question.** Should we concede that life forms occupying other planets in the universe that we are aware of are equivalent to modern man on Earth? **Should we not see these extra-terrestrials as co-created with us?** Are we then bonded to these although we have not met them as yet? So we believe. Or, are some of them already with us? _Could they be the wise men and women amongst us who have sought to guide us to a moral life?_

All the above references to the Cosmos may apply only to the universe we know. Are there other universes? But, what can one say about anything one doesn't even know exists? That is the problem of knowledge. It is difficult enough to understand the nature of knowledge, and how one knows what one knows; how then does one know what one does not know?

**The Hindus advise deep on-going meditation which may result in a revelation about the nature and meaning of Reality. That would be beyond words.** Those who thus come to know obviously cannot tell the rest of us. As a nineteenth century Hindu philosopher stated, those who know cannot tell. It follows that those who claim to be able to tell do not know! Should my ponderings therefore be restricted to what seems knowable?

**In that case, while I await the privilege of revelation,** I can continue to wonder at the beauty of the visible Cosmos, to speculate on the mystery of it all, and to rejoice that there seems to be meaning in our place in it. Our souls may indeed survive recurring catastrophes on Earth, in order to reach our ultimate destination, that Ocean of Consciousness."

**I conclude my thoughts about 'unknown unknowns'** by pondering _whether the 'collective unconscious' of fellow-humans subsumes a fellowship of advanced souls;_ the 'higher beings' who sent my uncle to counsel me about my spiritual growth come to mind.

###  How Little We Know – Some Known Unknowns

"... **it is often assumed that modern scientific accounts of the origin of the universe, the evolution of life, and the development of civilization are objective and true. But this attitude is simplistic.** The disciplines of science and history are themselves influenced by t _he prevailing culture_ and shaped by _the dominant paradigms._ They involve _implicit assumptions_ that are often _deeply habitual._

**Scientific theories are like myths in that they are mental constructs, ways of making sense of the world; they are also like myths in that they have a cultural dimension.** Scientific paradigms are shared by members of scientific communities, and indeed play a major role in defining the activities of these communities."

**Paradigms are "generally accepted models of reality."** _These quotes are from 'The presence of the past' by Rupert Sheldrake._ He is a multi-disciplinary researcher who believes that **"memory is inherent in nature,"** and that **"through repetition the nature of things becomes increasingly habitual."** It is an interesting book, and easy to read.

**He lists the following (amongst others) as unexplained mysteries:** how a seed grows into a tree, and a fertilised egg develops into a fly; and "the organised societies of social animals such as termites and flocks of birds."

**I would add the following as unexplained or inadequately explained:** the human mind, how memories work, the inheritance of instincts, the evolution of species, cosmogony (the origin of the universe), whether mathematical relationships are timeless truths, and whether life is purposive.

**Attenborough's** videos about Nature seem to imply that _purpose_ is built into the adaptive responses of plants and symbiotically-linked birds and other forms of motile life.

How much do we know about the most important aspects of our existence on Earth and of our place in the Cosmos?

###  How Many Parts to Each of Us?

When his boss challenged his integrity, he became angry. Although he was more than 60 years of age, this was only the second time in his whole life that he had displayed anger publicly.

_His self-control reflected his cultural heritage_ ; during his boyhood, he had been conditioned not to display anger – and to speak with courtesy, if not respect. Proper conduct and social stability were of the ultimate importance.

**In his anger, he fiercely and volubly denigrated his boss and the latter's progenitors,** using foul language (but never before, not in public) learned from his employment in Australian factories. _While he was venting his disdain, a thought flashed through his mind. It was 'What are you doing?_ He ignored it while continuing his tirade. Yet, this message would have _prevented him from losing his temper_. That he would never allow again!

**He had clearly lost his temper on the previous occasion he had become angry.** Then, in his twenties, he had held his wife out of the open window of a second-story building, saying gruffly 'If you want to kill yourself, let me help you.' **From somewhere in his subconscious had then come the warning 'What are you doing, Stupid?'**

When the situation had calmed down, there came the realisation to him that **he had displayed 3 facets of himself in the 'Let me help you' episode** – the actor, the observer/questioner, and the watcher/reporter. Without the observer within, could he (as a conscious entity) have been aware of the consequences of his probable (or just likely) action? The watcher/reporter had, of course, to be the one who could see the whole stage.

**How complex is the human personality?** Are there external influences impinging upon the human mind which affect behaviour, as well as thought? If so, what might these be?

Is it not a great pity that religion, whether institutionalised or otherwise, does not assist its followers to look into themselves as an integral component of the ethics it promotes? We humans would, I believe, relate to one another more effectively through such an understanding.

###  How Mankind May Have Arrived in the Cosmos

**How soul-satisfying is the beauty of the Universe at all times, and which we are also made aware of in other ways.** The majesty of the mountains which tower over all; the sibilance of the sea at rest; the scintillating sensual sunsets; the joyful bombasts of birdcalls; and the soothing scenery surrounding unprepossessing man-made constructions; are only some of the sights and sounds which uplift our spirits.

**How incredibly complex is this Universe and its components.** The miracle of birth; the very visible and innate love between the young – animal to animal (or bird), and between human and animal (and bird); the structure and functioning of our solar system which affect our lives insidiously; the strange balance between animate and inanimate life on Earth; the mostly unconscious bond between humans of all varieties; and an unavoidable instinctive yearning by many of us for merging with what we conceive of as the Divine; and the unbelievably complex arrangements within our bodies, such as the provision of energy by our cellular structure, which represents life; these are key features of Cosmic complexity.

_These, and the totality of the inter-relationships discovered in the Universe, have led me to believe – and to accept – that_ _logically_ _there has to be a Creator of all that is. How and why are questions beyond our comprehension._

As one who was introduced to the scientific method, I follow 'Occam's Razor,' the principle which says that that the simplest adequate explanation is best. Yes, it has to be minimally adequate.

Such an explanation of the origin, structure, and operation of the Universe and its components can be thus: An arm's-length Creator set up a simple core 'machinery,' imbued it with a capacity for continuous change, with an associated sense of 'purpose,' and allowing evolution (change reflecting improvement or betterment) to occur.

**Purpose** (including human free will) can explain, in part, where we are now; possibly aided in our formation by ubiquitous **bacteria** , and by (Sitchin's) **223 extraterrestrial genes (not found anywhere else on Earth)** during our development. Chance and radiation/bombardment from distant space, as well as solar bursts, would also have had significant impacts on our path to the present.

No Earthly mind can prove – or disprove – this attempted explanation. No one can be blamed or receive credit for what has eventuated. Adding additional complexity may reflect only egoism.

What is postulated is an autonomous process, operating post-creation. A comparison – when sperm fuses with ovum to form a zygote. Asking 'Why?' would not be relevant.

However, a thought: Is there an inescapable network of mutuality bonding all life forms on Earth? Or, as Martin Luther King Jr. said "... a single garment of destiny"?

###  An Unknowable, Insubstantial, and Formless Creator God?

When I was a young boy, I looked up to the sky to see where God may be. I was then taught that **God is unknowable; and so we pray to various deities.** _The deities are manifestations of God._ Each deity represents one or more attributes of God or realms of human existence, eg. Pilleyar (Ganesha) as the God of Learning.

Each evening, before dinner, bathed and freshly dressed, we prayed to the deities hanging as pictures in a corner of a room curtained off as a prayer space. We went to the Ganesha temple regularly. We hoped for heavenly intervention with our studies, health, and survival in a foreign country.

We accepted that there is only one God, the Creator of all that is. Our approach to God was through rituals performed by priests. Our priesthood does not control us.

From age 24, when I began to read about religion (and religions), I became aware of: religious belief as an innate human drive; the diversity of origins and the resulting religious institutions, some of which are unduly competitive and incomprehensively intolerant; but also of _the two shared core beliefs of our great religious teachers (the rest of theology being dogma)._

While hoping for a universal acceptance that **we humans are co-created, and thereby bonded to one another morally** (a vain hope, yet), I find that Hinduism, the only religion offering me an understanding of the place of humanity within a very complex cosmology, posits _God as Consciousness – ever-existing and all –pervasive; and lacking both form and substance, while participating within all humans._

All existence is also posited as cyclical (with cycles wrapping around smaller cycles), the largest cycle measuring 3.11trillion years!

Birth, growth and destruction apply to the Cosmos. (Sound familiar?) What is the meaning of all this?

**As I understand it, we arise from the Ocean of Consciousness (God?), and after many lifetimes of being polished morally, to return to that Ocean (God). This gives me meaning in existence,** and an acceptance of the perturbations and sufferings that life on Earth inevitably entails – as we learn from significant experiences.

Life is indeed for learning, as said by Dr. Radhakrishnan, a former President of India.

###  Finding God

**God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof.** You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.

You may say that there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: Suppose there are. _Every religion has errors._ Everyone thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time.

It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him **: Don't you know that God is the Inner Guide?** He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul.

Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as "Baba" or "Papa", but the babies can at best call him "Ba" or "Pa." Now, will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. _All children are the same to the father._

Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on one Person only. **God is one, but His names are many."**

(I found the above in my hard-drive. Source not recorded.)

###  Faith in the Unknowable

**Pray, and seek to propitiate that which you fear. Reach out with mind and soul into the Void for succour. Meditate and look deeply within yourself for betterment or just understanding.** This is sound advice for us puny humans occupying a dangerous ball of rock rushing through space.

**What are the chances of 'heavenly' intervention** when all Earthly efforts to protect ourselves or overcome threats or disaster have been exhausted? Probably nil. Yet, could not the spirit world help? Possibly.

**However, could those existing in this realm of caring spirits overcome or moderate the destiny-path each of us seemingly created in our previous lives?** A destiny path implies, not only the _reincarnation process_ (for which there is adequate evidence), but also the _exercise of the free will_ accessible to us beyond the known constraints applying to us; e.g. genetics, epigenesis, human relations, and the regular and chance influences and impacts from space; e.g. solar flares, supernovas, electromagnetic radiation, and such like (and the hobgoblin which might be resident under one's bed).

Apart from the basal emotion of anxiety aroused in all sentient beings, through awareness of the uncertainties of existence, for those of us who seek to understand what human existence (including its origins) are about, _there is that gossamer veil which prevents us from perceiving clearly beyond the material sphere._

**Those of us who have had any ephemeral or psychic experiences** – like me floating horizontally under the ceiling and seeing my dead body on a bed; or the spirit manifesting himself to deliver advice to me; or the yogi who ensured my despatch to Australia (presumably to be consistent with my destiny-path) – **we are faced with the conundrum of creation and causality.**

Just as the human mind may be limited in its competence to access all the maths that is 'out there,' so we Seekers may not be able to decide whether the origin of the Cosmos was by creation, or whether the Cosmos has always been here. _The idea of something ever-existing without a First Cause seems incredible. But then, so is all of existence, and the wondrous but intangible connection between everything that is known to exist._

Going past the oddity of a God in whose image mankind was allegedly created ('the Adam,' as distinct from the founder of the homo species descended from the chimpanzee), and who is claimed to be the Creator of the universe we think we know; **modern scientists offer the aether as the ever-lasting, all-pervasive flux of energy from which matter is able to arise spontaneously – and to evolve eventually into more complex structures.**

If this propensity is confirmed, could the aether be considered a creator, or just the enabler of creation (through self-creation)?

**Now consider Hinduism's long-established belief that Brahman (note the n) = Consciousness = the Ocean of Consciousness (my interpretation).** Brahman seems comparable to the aether – an ever-existing, all-pervasive essence. Cleverly, Hinduism offers Brahma (no n) as a Creator arising from this essence to produce the Cosmos. Thus Brahman (with the n) is only an enabler. So it seems to me.

Semantics and logic can take us only a certain distance into the unknown. **As a local priest said to me, "God is a mystery. Our belief in God is also a mystery. Why not leave it at that?"** I then borrow from N.Krishnamurti's famous words to add "Those who know cannot tell" because such knowledge is beyond words.

In truth, how could we possibly know? **Why not enjoy the mystery of being part of an insoluble greater mystery?**

###  Does My Soul Influence My Mind?

The soul is believed to be a living entity whose existence transcends time; where time is a record of a sequence of events. The soul would be the etheric, essential core of each human being, said by Hinduism to reside within the heart of each of its embodiments on Earth; and to leave each body at death.

_The mind is (in my limited experience) an integral component of a single Earthly life of a human being._ After bodily death, together with the memories it had accumulated during that life, it seems to be carried into the After-life with the insubstantial spirit of the former human being, but not into the next Earthly life.

Can (or does) the soul, with its accumulated memories of multiple lifetimes (or a record of the pathway traversed) communicate with the mind of its current incarnation during the life of that embodiment?

The above concept of soul is held by, at least, the forest religions of Asia and their adherents; as well as by independent thinkers who accept that a _continuity of human existence on Earth (or possibly elsewhere) is more meaningful than a single life with neither history nor future._

As for the mind, the spirit of my uncle (sent by 'higher beings' to guide me spiritually – refer my earlier posts) demonstrated both the ability to communicate silently with a clairvoyant (a transaction between minds), and the retention of his Earthly memory – all without a brain as we know it. As well, at re-birth, human beings do not remember their experiences and memories of the preceding Earthly existence.

A few children who remember (up to age 6 or thereabouts) some aspects of a previous life are exceptions – which also validate the reincarnation process.

To add further depth to the concept of mind, Hinduism advises that the human mind is only an instrument of Consciousness; and that Consciousness is the source of all that is in the Cosmos, and which pervades all existence ephemerally.

Is Consciousness then that which links all existence insubstantially, enabling connections to be sensed by components of life? Would this enable my soul to guide me in each embodied life, were I to seek such an input? After all, my soul is indeed the essential ME, with my current body of form and substance a temporary Earthly extension; and in need of guidance.

**Fragmentary glimpses of a past life** have arisen through my efforts, via auto-hypnosis, to view where I have been and what I did. Significantly, 2 clairvoyants, claiming to be able to perceive a couple of my past lives, with help from their spirit guides, have confirmed at least one of my past lives. This is supported by a sort of 'gut feeling' I have about that life.

**Did my soul participate in this matter?** That raises 2 important issues.

**During a course at a yoga ashram on meditation, we were repeatedly asked "Who is the Watcher?"** This is a profoundly interesting concept; that behind our thoughts and actions stands a part of us which is aware of what is happening. This seems to be close to conscience, whose origin may not all be learned.

Strangely, on the 2 occasions during my life when I displayed great anger, another part of me clearly said "What are you doing?" For that to happen, _there has to be a third part of me viewing this play._

Another reason for somehow becoming aware of a past life would be to outgrow certain attitudes which may have been appropriate in that life, but which need to be discarded to enable progress morally. For example, if I have fought for justice in my previous life, I would now have to learn to work for justice.

As Dr. Radhakrishnan, a former President of India, said, "We are born, not to enjoy life, but to learn." But, why not combine the two?

###  Does Consciousness Explain Reality?

My experience of Reality is three-fold: physical, mental, and ephemeral. Relatively few humans are likely to have had exposure to the ephemeral (spiritual) realm. This realm is both exciting and confusing.

Among the multiple facets of the inter-connections between these 3 realms is this issue: _Is there an over-arching, all-encompassing, dimension into which all these 3 realms fit?_

Notwithstanding the apparently challengeable conclusion from the Michelson-Morley experiment (a very long time ago), **is there something referred to as the aether which could provide an operational basis for illuminating these 3 realms operating in unison?**

Interestingly, there are a number of scientists researching the aether. They are obviously working beyond the prevailing explanatory paradigms of science. I hasten to add that I accept the usefulness and reliability of the **scientific method. However, it is necessarily limited to the mechanistic material realm of experience.** It may, however, be useful in illuminating the mental realm – or parts thereof. It could not, under any circumstances, assist in perusing the mysteries of the spiritual realm. _Beware (as someone wrote) vivisecting the songbird to identify the source of its trill._

**My question about an over-arching dimension arose from my reading of Easwaran's translation of the core Upanishads.** Hinduism's Upanishads offer a view of Reality through spirituality – not available at an equivalent depth from other religions. This is not surprising in view of its distant origins in time. The Vedas, their precursor, seemingly originated about 9,000 years ago (dated by tracing a unique planetary configuration).

Hindu cosmology is complex, and allegedly inherited from extraterrestrials (but that is a separate issue). _Human history before the Universal Flood (of about 11,000 BC) is uncertain – possibly covered in mud._

**The relevance here of Hindu cosmology is the concept of Consciousness, and its role.** Consciousness is posited as ever-existing, all-embracing, all-pervasive – like the aether. It is an un-caused First Cause.

In relation to my posts about the mind and the human soul, were our minds and souls to exist outside our bodies in some ephemeral (cloud) form (like information on the Internet), could they not be associated with (linked to, or part of) an all-pervasive Consciousness?

Furthermore, since everything in the Cosmos appears to be inter-connected, could that be explained by an all-embracing Consciousness (like a gossamer blanket which covers everything)?

Thus, the physical, mental and ephemeral realms of my experience may represent my awareness of a 3-tiered Reality reflecting an ever-existing Consciousness. That is, could Consciousness create and sustain all that is, in spite of not being adequately explicable to humans?

(Disclaimer: In this life I am a Hindu. In my previous life it appears that I have been a Muslim in Central Asia. Way deep in me is a memory of being a Jew in the Middle East. I have also been a Christian. As a free-thinker, I merely seek understanding of the place of humanity in the Universe. I have no axe to grind. My tentative beliefs and speculations are just what they are.)

###  Do Out-of-body Experiences Indicate Life After Death?

**Is there a realm in which previously-human beings reside? Do out-of-body experiences provide necessary evidence?** There has been an avalanche of such experiences. These involve a place surrounded by light, with people (including a relative in some cases) advising return to Earth. Many have been investigated thoroughly.

_Clever sceptics of a scientific mind have offered explanations_ which implicate: a subconscious characteristic of some human minds to project a subterranean expectation of a post-death state; or a potential for certain biochemical changes to occur in the brain during the dying process; or for a subliminal psychic need to unveil themselves immediately after death, especially after a traumatic experience such as a terrible death caused by accident, or by a prolonged painful illness.

**But to no avail. Where is the evidence to back up such explanations?** This is a favourite stance of modern scientists.

**I had an out-of-body experience at age 18. I found myself floating horizontally at ceiling height.** I had been suffering from dengue fever (that bone-crushing disease) for about 5 days, with increasing pain. Anyone touching my mattress would cause me terrible agony; I could not move. Seeing my body laid out on a different bed so frightened me that I woke up in my bed. I then sweated heavily, and began to improve.

**That was an out-of-body event with no out-of-life implications.** But, how is one to explain what happened? My imagination? Not probable. I am a sceptic. I doubt that my subconscious can over-ride that mental state.

Late in life, **a senior citizen told me about her out-of-body experience when she was 13. She recalled walking along a bridge.** At the end of the bridge, she could see a bright light and some figures. She recognised one of the figures as the mother who had died, leaving her 3-year old behind. When she reached her mother, the latter said to her _"Patty, you have to go back." The significance of this report is that no one else had ever addressed her as Patty._

Another friend told me about her husband. He had proven himself as slightly psychic from time to time. **After his near-death experience late in life, he discovered that his hands had acquired healing powers.** Not every survivor of a near-death experience is so fortunate.

**Those who were briefly clinically dead have reported experiences which are fairly similar.** The general pattern is that they are outside the physical body, often floating near the ceiling. Or they experience flying or walking. They can feel the presence of others. They also experience a natural border which has to be crossed. They are then advised to return.

Could a 'collective unconscious' (possibly a past species-memory) explain the out-of-body experiences of some individuals? Why only some? Are these exceptions?

_The experience of being sent back to life on Earth after an out-of-body event may be lit by a simple explanation; that the out-of-body excursion was an error, a mishap._ Being temporarily clinically dead may have aroused some deep impulse (of unknowable origin) within the individual to escape life.

**If Hinduism is correct in postulating that each of us is born with a broadly programmed trajectory of life, a life-path, a personal destiny, then a temporary hiccup cannot take the individual away from paddling on his river of destiny.** That has implications for the cross-linkages of human destinies as time goes on. Is Hinduism correct in this regard?

One reality may not be deniable; that there is a realm or dimension which is home – temporarily or permanently – for those who have departed Earth. Near-death or temporary clinical death out-of-body experiences may reflect this reality.

###  Destiny-formation and Power

My mind is challenged by the following: "If you hold others as fully responsible for their own destiny, you ennoble them by treating them as equals."

_How could we humans be held as fully responsible for our personal destinies?_ Yet, Hindu (and Buddhist) philosophy holds that, through the reincarnation process, we (who are equals in the eyes of God) shape our future lives. Thus, we may find ourselves in each life paddling along our personal river of destiny sitting on a flimsy branch of a tree, or a solid log, or a frail sampan, or an oar-less boat. **But we surely cannot be fully responsible for what happens during each Earthly life.**

For example, consistent with the parameters of my destiny, I was given appropriate genes, parents, and teachers to cope with whatever may happen in my life. None of this was predictable. _How could I have been responsible for the major events of my life?_ Much of it was quite painful.

**Even if my past lives had influenced the trajectory of my present life,** and the lessons I have to learn, both life experiences and logic imply that I cannot control external impacts in a complex inter-connected universe. Then there is chance.

**How others view me matters only if they have power over my life.** Examples of the truly powerless are slaves, the lower castes of India, minority tribes everywhere, women in patriarchal societies, feudal subjects, workers in under-developed countries, etc. etc. _Those caught within these categories cannot, in fairness, be held to be fully responsible for their current destiny paths._

**Therefore, does not reality overlay religious philosophy?** Yet, in day-to-day life, s _hould we not view the materially dispossessed as our spiritual equals?_ And do what we can to lift their Earthly hopes? And thus for them to seek a better future life, while accepting and adapting to the vicissitudes of their current lives.

The perennial question is – how does society (through its rulers) ameliorate the inordinate greed which exaggerates the inequalities of life? Those at the top of the politico-economic tree usually want more cake from everyone; while those near the base of the tree cannot but seek a slice of any bread earned by those some way up the tree.

For most of us, destiny is to be powerless, except in relation to matters of the spirit. Then we can soar.

###  The Soul and Consciousness

Here are extracts from "50 years of near-death experience research suggests that the 'soul' is real" by Arjun Walia

" _The research shows that consciousness, or the soul, or something continues to have awareness after "death."_

"Fast forward to today, and we now have hundreds of notable world-renowned scientists studying "non-material" science. Science the birth of quantum mechanics, _the mysteries of consciousness have been at the forefront of scientific study,_ and we now know today that consciousness plays a crucial part, in several different ways, when it comes to perceiving what we call our physical material world.

**Most of our founding fathers of science, especially physics, were all spiritual mystics.** _Max Plack_ , a physicist who originated quantum theory, _regarded consciousness as "fundamental," and matter as "derivative from consciousness."_ He said that "we cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."

_Eugene Wigner_ , a physicist and mathematician told the world that "it was _not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness."_

" **Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are one area of study under parapsychology and non-material science. What happens when we die?** Does some aspect of us survive death? Some non-material aspect, like consciousness, for example? Does consciousness originate in the brain, or is it a receiver of it?"

" _Large studies have shown that a significant amount of people who have been clinically dead, experience some type of 'awareness' during that time._ For example, one patient – a 57-year-old man at the time, despite being pronounced "dead" and completely unconscious, with no detectable biological activity going on, recalled watching the entire process of his resuscitation.

On a side note, Certified Master Hypnotherapist _Michael Newton_ developed a technique to regress his clients back in time to recall memories from their past lives. During this process he stumbled upon a discovery of enormous proportions. _He was able to bring the souls back to the place where they go before their next life — a life between lives._ Out of 7,000 regressions, a large majority had eerily similar recollections of a place that many of them called "home."

(COMMENT: AS A NONAGENARIAN HINDU, I LOOK FORWARD TO RETURNING SOON TO HUMANITY'S HOME-BASE (THE 'AFTERLIFE'), FROM WHICH EACH SOUL IS PROJECTED INTO SUCCESSIVE LIVES ON EARTH.)

###  Reincarnation Supported by Quantum Theory?

I do not understand quantum theory; I do not need to. But I do understand reincarnation.

Some of my past lives, as reported to me by 2 clairvoyants; plus competent published research on past-life memories of many young children all over the world; and intimations of my immediate past-life butting against the bottom of my sampan carrying me into what I hope is a placid lake of spirituality, _have led me to believe in the reincarnation process._

A paper sent to me this week strangely asserts t **hat quantum theory enables a belief that human life may not end at Earthly death!** I include Part 1 of this paper below.

A book titled "Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the Nature of the Universe" has stirred up the Internet, because it contained a notion that life does not end when the body dies, and it can last forever.

The author of this publication, scientist _Dr. Robert Lanza_ who was _voted the 3rd most important scientist alive by the NY Times,_ has no doubts that this is possible.

1. BEYOND TIME AND SPACE

Lanza is an expert in regenerative medicine and scientific director of Advanced Cell Technology Company. Before he has been known for his extensive research which dealt with stem cells, he was also famous for several successful experiments on cloning endangered animal species.

But not so long ago, the scientist became involved with physics, quantum mechanics and astrophysics. This explosive mixture has given birth to the **new theory of biocentrism, which the professor has been preaching ever since. Biocentrism teaches that life and consciousness are fundamental to the universe. It is** _consciousness that creates the material universe, not the other way around._

Lanza points to the structure of the universe itself, and that the laws, forces, and constants of the universe appear to be fine-tuned for life, **implying intelligence existed prior to matter.** He also claims that space and time are not objects or things, but rather tools of our animal understanding. _Lanza says that we carry space and time around with us "like turtles with shells." meaning that when the shell comes off (space and time), we still exist._

**The theory implies that** _death of consciousness_ **simply does not exist.** It only exists as a thought because people identify themselves with their body. They believe that the body is going to perish, sooner or later, thinking their consciousness will disappear too. If the body generates consciousness, then consciousness dies when the body dies.

**But if the body receives consciousness in the same way that a cable box receives satellite signals, then of course consciousness does not end at the death of the physical vehicle.** _In fact, consciousness exists outside of constraints of time and space. It is able to be anywhere:_ **in the human body and outside of it. In other words, it is non-local in the same sense that quantum objects are non-local.**

Lanza also believes that _multiple universes can exist simultaneously._ In one universe, the body can be dead. And in another it continues to exist, absorbing consciousness which migrated into this universe. This means that a dead person while traveling through the same tunnel ends up not in hell or in heaven, but in a similar world he or she once inhabited, but this time alive. And so on, infinitely. It's almost like a cosmic Russian doll afterlife effect.

(Comment: Does this not sound like metaphysical Hinduism? Refer Parts 2 and 3 for the rest of this summary.)

###  More on Reincarnation and Quantum Theory

Part 2 of _Dr. Robert Lanza's theory about Biocentrism_ is set out below. Refer my previous post 'Reincarnation supported by quantum theory?' for Part 1 – Beyond Time and Space.

2. MULTIPLE WORLDS

This hope-instilling, but extremely controversial theory by Lanza has many unwitting supporters, not just mere mortals who want to live forever, but also some well-known scientists. **These are the physicists and astrophysicists who tend to agree with existence of parallel worlds and who suggest the possibility of multiple universes.** Multiverse (multi-universe) is a so-called scientific concept, which they defend. They believe that no physical laws exist which would prohibit the existence of parallel worlds.

The first one was a science fiction writer _H.G. Wells_ who proclaimed in 1895 in his story "The Door in the Wall." And after 62 years, this idea was developed by _Dr. Hugh Everett_ in his graduate thesis at the Princeton University. It basically posits that **at any given moment the universe divides into countless similar instances. And the next moment, these "newborn" universes split in a similar fashion.** In some of these worlds you may be present: reading this article in one universe, or watching TV in another.

_The triggering factor for these multiplying worlds is our actions,_ explained Everett. If we make some choices, instantly one universe splits into two with different versions of outcomes.

In the 1980s, _Andrei Linde_ , scientist from the Lebedev's Institute of physics, **developed the theory of multiple universes.** He is now a professor at Stanford University. Linde explained: Space consists of many inflating spheres, which give rise to similar spheres, and those, in turn, produce spheres in even greater numbers, and so on to infinity. In the universe, they are spaced apart. They are not aware of each other's existence. But they represent parts of the same physical universe.

**The fact that our universe is not alone is supported by data received from the Planck space telescope.** Using the data, _scientists have created the most accurate map of the microwave background,_ the so-called cosmic relic background radiation, which has remained since the inception of our universe. They also found that the universe has a lot of dark recesses represented by some holes and extensive gaps.

Theoretical physicist _Laura Mersini-Houghton_ from the North Carolina University with her colleagues argue: _the anomalies of the microwave background exist due to the fact that our universe is influenced by other universes existing nearby. And holes and gaps are a direct result of attacks on us by neighboring universes._

(Comment: The above sets the stage for what I often refer to as the Afterlife, my next home.)

###  Yet More on Reincarnation and Quantum Theory

Part 3 of Dr. Robert Lanza's theory about Biocentrism follows. The previous parts are 'Part 1 – Beyond Time and Space'; and 'Part 2 – Multiple worlds.' My posts are titled 'Reincarnation supported by quantum theory'; and 'More on reincarnation and quantum theory.'

3. **SOUL**

_So, there is abundance of places or other universes where our soul could migrate after death, according to the theory of neo-biocentrism._ _But does the soul exist?_

**Is there any scientific theory of consciousness that could accommodate such a claim?** According to _Dr. Stuart Hameroff,_ **a near-death experience** _happens when the quantum information that inhabits the nervous system leaves the body and dissipates into the universe._ Contrary to materialistic accounts of consciousness, **Dr. Hameroff offers an alternative explanation of consciousness that can perhaps appeal to both the rational scientific mind and personal intuitions.**

_Consciousness resides, according to Stuart and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose, in the microtubules of the brain cells, which are the primary sites of quantum processing._ Upon death, this information is released from your body, **meaning that your consciousness goes with it.** They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in these microtubules, a theory which they dubbed orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR)

Consciousness, or at least proto-consciousness is theorized by them to be a fundamental property of the universe, present even at the first moment of the universe during the Big Bang. "In one such scheme proto-conscious experience is a basic property of physical reality accessible to a quantum process associated with brain activity."

_Our souls are in fact constructed from the very fabric of the universe – and may have existed since the beginning of time._ Our brains are just receivers and amplifiers for the proto-consciousness that is intrinsic to the fabric of space-time. **So, is there really a part of your consciousness that is non-material and will live on after the death of your physical body?**

_Dr Hameroff told the Science Channel's Through the Wormhole documentary:_ "Let's say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state. The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can't be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large."

Robert Lanza would add here that not only does it exist in the universe, it exists perhaps in another universe. If the patient is resuscitated, revived, this quantum information can go back into the microtubules and the patient says "I had a near death experience"

He adds: "If they're not revived, and the patient dies, it's possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul."

**This account of quantum consciousness explains things like near-death experiences, astral projection, out of body experiences, and even reincarnation** _without needing to appeal to religious ideology._ The energy of your consciousness potentially gets recycled back into a different body at some point, and in the meantime it exists outside of the physical body on some other level of reality, and possibly in another universe.

Sources used: Learning Mind, Wikipedia, Daily Mail, News.com, Why Don't You Try This

(Comment: Much food for thought.)

###  Background Imperatives

(1) Flotsam and jetsam within community

Packs of animals in the wild are generally led by a single male. Other males thereby represent _jetsam._ Most animals and humans are effectively _flotsam_ in the currents of life. What is this tide involved in? The success of survival.

**By and large, human beings tend to belong to a collective.** We are thus influenced, even controlled, by tribal values; perhaps as interpreted by the clan, the extended family. _But are not individual life-paths affected by more than clan/tribal values? Yes, but only to a degree._

The basal set of communal behavioural values, indisputably, is that of faith, of religion **. Of the major prevailing religions, 3 arose in the desert of the Middle East, and 4 in the forests of the Indian sub-continent.** Each of the desert religions is bound by a Good Book, whose authority is binding. Their flotsam is controlled.

**The forest religions are open-ended structurally**. Any new thought or interpretation is possible, thereby tolerated. There is no central authority. The flotsam here are free-floating.

###  Background Imperatives (2)

Variable destiny-paths and collective stability

_These paths seem inherent in all religions._ Yet, could chance impacts be avoided? Nevertheless, there seems to be stability of patterns of behaviour, even of occurrences, in human affairs.

What does Chaos Theory say **? Patterns of stability prevail at the core of turbulence.** How so? Is it chemical, as claimed by a respected multi-disciplinary scientist? Or, physical, having regard to the known forces at play?

**Or, are there etheric forces at play?** Would these etheric influences, like chance impacts, impinge significantly upon the Hindu version of destiny-paths? _A Hindu destiny-path would be likely to be more stable, reflecting, as it does, the lived actions of an individual in previous lives._

Would this contribute to an apparent collective stability?

###  Personal Imperatives (1)

Formative influences

My maternal grandfather left our tribal lands in the north of Ceylon to work in British Malaya. On retirement, he returned home but left his 3 sons in Malaya. My mother joined them when she married **my father. He had migrated into a bourgeoning multicultural economy created by the colonial British in Malaya.**

_Formative influences in my life were:_ the uncertainty of survival; the rituals of Hinduism; the integrating multi-ethnic communities; the premature death of my father; my mother's belief that I was a genius (I only had an excellent memory); my FORETOLD initial academic failure; **the challenging influences of my 'exile' in an unwelcoming nation; the repeated denial of my professional Australian qualifications; and the pathways to a career success also repeatedly blocked. There had to be a reason for all that.**

Yet, I held leadership positions in civil society, my contributions being significant. I acquired many skills and (as I realised in retirement) had been on a path of significant learning through my turbulent life. **Appropriate supportive persons had appeared in my life when needed.** I instance my 2 wives in particular; _I now know they were sent to me by the spirit realm which had wanted me in Australia._

Then I discovered that I have a Spirit Guide, for which I am very grateful.

###  Personal Imperatives (2)

The pattern of my destiny-path

My nature was most appropriate for surviving the racist White Australia policy of the early post-war era; and coping with the serious setbacks of 4 succeeding decades. _Displaying necessary fortitude and resilience, I 'trekked on' resolutel_ y. Did not the spirit realm choose wisely when exiling me in the Land of Oz?

Well into my retirement, and busy with my writing (which was triggered by the spirit of my favourite uncle), **I became intuitively aware that I had been on a path of learning – and understanding!** Every hold-up encouraged me to step sideways, and find a new path to follow. This I did.

I became confident enough to write my books on migrant settlement (integration), based on both my settlement experiences and my expert knowledge of relevant government policies. These garnered significant accolades from a number of senior academics. I felt that I had carried uncle's wishes.

I then continued writing – 2 more books, and about 2,000 posts to-date for my blogs. **Was I not guided by my Spirit Guide, while enabled by my birth-endowments**?

###  Personal Imperatives (3)

My destiny-path issues

Even in the land of my exile, why did I have to be denied a professional career? Did I have to be kept poor? Three clairvoyants did warn me that I would be poor throughout my life. That also means a lower social status. **Yet, I was always accepted as 'gifted'; in employment, in sport, and in social skills.**

Did I also have to be progressively isolated, not only from my tribe and clan, but subsequently also from the family I had created? **Did I have to be the recluse I am in order to write prodigiously?** This is my 9th book. All my books were written within my 'retirement cave'.

**Was I being guided (induced) to become more spiritual?** And to speculate freely on matters quite distant from the range of topics which normally attract my reading and subsequent writing? For instance, _I now speculate that an ethereal realm is the basal 'foundation' realm, from which is projected the material realm._

In the event, the trials and tribulations I endured in the material realm are of significance as stepping stones on my spiritual path.

###  Personal Imperatives (4)

Was my future already laid out?

Strange as it may seem, my future may have been laid out, to be read at appropriate times. _What then happened to the law of cause and effect?_ How could events which had not happened be set down (in cloudland): and to be read? _What then could be said about the concept of time?_

**The kind lass who obviously had been sent by higher beings to pull me out of that deep, deep well,** which denied even a skerrick of light into its depths – where I survived on nothing but air – _then had to be parted from me._ So said at least three seers. What a tragedy – for both of us!

Seemingly, she had to move on. **Then arrived the wonderful mother of my 2 children. After a happy marriage of a quarter of a century, she too had to move on – through dementia –** when our children had reached adulthood. After retirement, I was impoverished again!

When, in the presence of Uncle's spirit, I happened to say (through my Spirit Guide's instigation?) that I hoped to be a guru in my next life, Uncle commented "You can be a guru in this life"; and advised that I attend a local ashram (which I did). Advice or forecast?

###  Personal Imperatives (5)

The pull of the past

**I once had a terrifying flash of insight. I was being buried alive!** For three nights, I slept with the light on, because as soon as the light went off, my mind replayed the same scene: being boxed into increasing darkness.

Then, a psychic seer, with advice from her Spirit Healer, told me _about the time when I was a white man, being dragged along desert sands by my neck while on my knees, by a camel led by brown-skinned men._

Worse still, was her vision of one of my past lives: a **s a small child whose legs were being atrophied by being tied together by beggar parents.** My spinal arthritic pains in this life could not possibly compare!

Against that is my 'gut' feeling, subsequently confirmed independently by a clairvoyant, that I had been a Muslim warrior in my immediate past life in Central Asia. Auto-hypnosis also brought forth my strong feeling that I had been a Jew (in the Middle East); and also, a Hindu religious warrior. I must have been an Englishman too. For, in my current life, I have had deep connections with both English and Jewish immigrants.

###  Personal Imperatives (6)

The appeal of Hindu spirituality

Hinduism is the only religion offering a cosmology. The religion is open-ended, permitting fresh thoughts. It is not controlling. It does not initiate wars. Unlike the West, it leaves others alone.

**It offers spirituality**. Without spirituality, are we humans sufficiently separated from our animal forebears (even after allowing for the probability that a significant proportion of our genes came from an extra-terrestrial source)?

**After realising logically that there has to be a Creator of all that is (probably in their 'germ' form),** I came to the conclusion – through the Upanishads – that rituals, ethics, and a closed explanatory belief system, which offers only a single Earth-bound life, leaves human beings without meaning, both philosophically and experientially.

**Spirituality can arise only from an open-ended faith structure**. In my view, _human souls who are traversing both space and time will eventually form a fellowship of spiritual souls. This can be expected to occur when matured souls are ready to return to their source, that (unbounded) Ocean of Consciousness._

**Is it not probable that many will remain Earth-bound to guide and assist the rest of us?** _I have in mind those "higher beings" who had sent my uncle (when I had recently retired) to lead me to my new destiny-path (as most probably shaped by them), and to keep me on this path through difficulties reflecting my earlier destiny-path, under guidance from my Spirit Guide._

I do know that he has kept me alive since age 83, when my death was foretold by a most-reliable clairvoyant. I am now 91.

Human life does offer meaning. And, for some, it requires a willingness to learn, and to pass on that learning to posterity (through 'cloudland').

###  Modern VS. Ancient Cosmology (1)

Challenging the 'Big Bang' Theory

This theory effectively postulates that _something came from nothing_. Is this credible? How could science permit such a position? Then, _where did the vast energy required for expansion (as claimed) into a cosmic structure come from?_ What evidence is available? As well, **could 'space' expand?**

Multi-disciplinary scientist La Violette challenges the claim of expansion. **He denies expansion** – presumably based on the same data.

Now, there is the emerging **'Electric Universe' Theory** which challenges the current gravity- based theory. An interesting aspect of that cosmology is that _the electricity required for this theory appears to come from outside our Universe._ Inter-connectedness between universes?

###  Modern VS. Ancient Cosmology (2)

Hinduism's Cosmology

In reasonably simple terms, this theory (which is somewhat ancient, and reportedly told to the Indic people), postulates cycles of existence and non-existence (or suspension). Each cycle is subsumed by a larger cycle. The over-reaching cycle covers 3.11 trillion human years.

Non-existence or suspension requires as credible a sequence which is impossible to imagine. What happens to the human souls during a stage of non-existence or suspension?

This theory cannot be proven or disproven. However, **could the 'Big Bang' scenario be just a stage of Hindu cosmology?**

A cosmology should ideally be governed by connections involving the astro-physical, terrestrial, physiological, and spiritual values. Will humanity be ever able to identify these connections or inter-relationships? Yet, Hindu cosmology is the only one available.

###  Material and Ethereal Realms (1)

A non-material component of the Cosmos?

The concept of Cosmos subsumes other unknown and possible universes. The prior question is – _where did the Cosmos originally come from?_ How did it originate? What rules, if any, govern its operation? Is it self-maintained?

_Like the human body, the totality of our Universe will probably encompass moving and replaceable components._ Durability and stability achieved through unending perturbations? Is this not how life is?

**Our universe and other universes may have always existed.** As well, could a non-material, ethereal, transcendent facet of existence be an experienced reality for some human beings?

A crucial question. _What is the role and relationship of this ethereal realm of existence with the material realm?_

###  Material and Ethereal Realms (2)

Is the material realm a projection from the ethereal realm?

The assumed ever-existing entities such as our Universe, composed of perishable-material components, require as 'ground' the presumed aether, which seemingly surrounds and infuses all; or the known plasma (the fourth stage of matter) which fills space; or Hinduism's Consciousness (which also surrounds and permeates all existence).

Then there was Plato who referred to the 'real' behind the material, where the latter is a projection from the former. As for Hinduism, it refers to 'maya', the false perception of things viewed.

We humans would not normally be aware of the ethereal realm. Hopefully, _through spirituality, individual consciousness may be able to reflect cosmic reality._ However, that 'reality' may only be a transient phenomenon of a system in flux (i.e. a photo of the Aurora Borealis in constant motion, even as its configuration changes persistently).

How can we assess whether Nature, as we perceive it, is only a projection of an unknowable Reality? _Refer Hinduism which says that God (Brahman) is unknowable._

###  Of Spirituality (1)

A spiritual path to understanding the ethereal realm?

It is a truism that intellectuals tend, in time, to become Seekers. Genuine Seekers hunt for understanding (rather than just knowledge) of what is – and which affects all. We seek patterns of relationships; if none are found, we will tend to create our own patterns. These would only be tentative.

The scientific method is the only reliable means of studying the material realm. This method, being restricted to the material-mechanistic arena, is however not appropriate for examining other arenas or realms, as repeatability of observations is an essential requirement.

However, even in studies of the physical universe, some explanations (which would lead to hypotheses to be tested) are reportedly only mathematically derived; the maths being available in 'cloudland'. If true, how do mathematical calculations provide unverifiable proof?

Is a spiritual pathway possibly the only reliable path to understanding the ethereal realm?

###  Of Spirituality (2)

Seeking to understand the universe we live in

From our earliest times on Earth, we have experienced great difficulty in just knowing (much less understanding) the material realm that we are reasonably familiar with.

Yet, we know not our **history** before the time of the Universal Deluge (about 15,000 years ago). We cannot explain the _gigantic monoliths_ which endow the countryside here and there throughout the globe. We suspect the **beneficial intervention of extra-terrestrials** in human lives, but are afraid to talk about that. _Great human civilisations may have been drowned;_ egotistically, we ignore that possibility. **The probability of sporadic destruction of mankind seems high.**

How then can we come to grips with the intuitively probable ethereal realm, the realm from which the material realm could be only a projection? How so? Then, how would we know? While we await an adequate spiritual propensity for penetrating the veils of Earthly existence, let us return to understanding our material realm.

Understanding our universe, and our place in it, may provide an adequate understanding of humanity; and its potential. Apart from **deep meditation;** or **revelation** (from reliable sources); would **intuition** (an 'ah-ha' sudden perception drawn from past knowledge); or **'third-eye' insight** (how define this?) provide a reliable pathway to understanding Reality as it affects us in the material realm?

Reportedly, some **Hindu rishis** have accessed **a stream of Consciousness** to obtain the insight needed. Other gifted men and women may have also discovered this pathway _. I speculate that such a stream would need to tap into, or link with, Cosmic Reality._ Would this connection, however, be any more than a snapshot in time of an oscillating, vibrating, moving Reality, a vast conglomeration of interacting, possibly intersecting, component influences?

###  The Future (1)

Religion and full bellies

The following scenario is drawn from my personal observation and experiences in Australia, as an adult, for more than 70 years.

It is a truism to assert that education and stable life-experiences have overcome primitive fears of the unknown. State welfare and personal comfort have seemingly moderated the need for God to provide sustenance. **Progressively, Christian Church attendances have reportedly been falling, perhaps for these reasons.**

There are diverse issues at play here. **Officially, Australia is a secular nation.** About 30% of the population claims in the Census to have no religion. _Yet, certain official policies (e.g. on human rights, voluntary euthanasia, abortions) reflect the edicts of the Pope_. His followers represent only about a quarter of a multi-ethnic, multicultural population.

Then, the Census reports a large number of respondents claiming to belong to a major Christian sect. Reportedly, they are not regular church-goers, and do not support their church financially. Does this mean fewer baby-baptisms and church weddings? What about burials?

Then, I observe a number of white Australians attracted to the philosophies of Buddhism. Others have taken up Yoga practices, a product of ancient Hindu India. I also detect a growing interest in spirituality, without any religious tags attached.

###  The Future (2)

The pull of the Divine

Both from personal experience and through observations of fellow humans, **I attest to the existence of a strong tug in my soul from what I refer to as the Divine, viz. God.** This pull is akin to the insistent tug of a full moon. This Divine-pull makes itself strongly felt – seemingly by all life forms.

The Divine-pull will be stronger for those sensitive to Nature. _Nature is, of course, more responsive to the tug of togetherness of co-dependent living entities – including the mobile._

The stronger the individual's Divine-pull, the lesser the need for the rituals and dogma (all man-made) of an organised religious structure; especially those which tend to be weirdly competitive.

Ideally, one needs to step away from organised religious structures, and to reach out to others of like-sensitivity. And to follow a spiritual drive to the Divine, guided by that innate tug to one's soul.

###  The Future (3)

Any need for institutional religions?

The poverty-stricken, even in advanced Western nations, NEED religious faith. When God does not respond to pleas for succour (in one form or another), corrupt powerful political leaders, exploiters in various transactions, and dominating fellow-citizens, can make life so abysmally painful or difficult **that some expression of faith in the numinous can ease the felt pain.**

Organised forms of religious expression need not be so problematic. When a priesthood's ambition for power (and even profit) so institutionalise the processes of paying homage to God that they acquire unwarranted power (and some pomp), then **the need for individual personal approaches to our Creator become necessary**.

In the event, individuals in a collective reaching out to God will not be denigrating the religious pathways followed by others; there will be no inducement to demonise or despise other search-paths. **We will all row together, in a variety of boats, to the same destination.**

###  The Future (4)

**Will spirituality replace religiosity**?

My approach is – _courses for horses_. Through our transit through space over time, each one of us will most likely be at _different levels of soul-progress._ Diverse rituals and associated beliefs may meet the then needs of some. Those who feel that there is more to Earthly existence, may become _Seekers of understanding._

Yet, others may, in response to the pull of the ethereal realm, (the Spirit Realm being in a coherent corner), may _seek a spiritual path_ (possibly influenced by Spirit Guides). To these, the light visible at the horizon may **light the way to what I consider to be a rishi-status.**

The rishis of old (of the Indic people) come across as lamp-lighters. Where will all this lead to?

###  The Future (5)

A fellowship of spiritual souls

_Human beings are souls in transit._ Before retiring to that unbounded Ocean of Consciousness (from which we are said to have arisen), like the rishis of old who remained on Earth as lamp-lighters, **it is highly probable that a fellowship of arrived-souls will remain in the Spirit Realm to guide Earth-bound humans.**

Some (or many) of us, while being progressed to that level of sensitivity to the gossamer tug of the Divine (God or the Creator being indefinable), may intuitively look beyond of the horizon of the material realm. _Through a rare contemplative insight, we will 'feel' the presence and influence of the ethereal realm._ This insight may be facilitated also by a 'third-eye' propensity scoping many other aspects of life.

Since a committed Seeker can be expected to probe and probe, together with others of like- personalities and like-mind, they may, through normal processes of communication, **help mankind to look over the mental walls surrounding it. These walls effectively protect the species** while its members grow to soul-maturity.

Like the tides of the sea, timeliness matters. So mought it be!

###  The Beginning

I set out below a version of the Hymn of Creation from Hinduism. Is there anything more insightful about the origin of the Cosmos? It is philosophically most satisfying.

Summary of creation hymn from RigVeda  
nasadiya sukta – Rig Veda 10:129

Then there was neither existence nor non-existence.  
There was no space (air?) nor sky beyond.  
What covered everything? Where? In whose protection?  
Was there water, deep and bottomless?

There was neither death nor immortality then,  
There was no sign of night or day.  
That One breathed all by self without any outside support,  
Other than that there was nothing else beyond.

There was darkness all wrapped around by darkness,  
and all was water then.  
The life force which was covered with void arose through  
the power of heat (Tapas).

Then arose desire (Love?) which was the primal seed of mind,  
Seers searching for knowledge in their heart  
found existence in non-existence.

A ray of light energy cut across the dark and gloomy abyss.  
Was it beneath? Was it above? Who can answer this?  
There were bearers of seed and mighty forces,  
Pushed from below and forward move above.

Who really knows? Who can confidently declare it?  
From which was it born? Who gave raise to this creation?  
Even the Gods came subsequent to creation,  
Then who can reveal from whence it arose?

That out of which creation arose,  
whether it formed by itself or it did not,  
He who oversees it from the highest heaven,  
only he knows or maybe He does not.

### Religion in Culture (1)

Culture conveys religious beliefs

The ROUTINE ways a people customarily behave is their culture. Individuals are conditioned to abide, initially, by the tenets of their parents; by the rules of society (through education); and finally, by the laws applying to the people. We are born into a family and its values and practices. The processes of conditioning and adaptation integrate us into our society.

Almost uniformly, societal behaviours reflect religious values. With the exception of those financially secure in both Western and non-Western nations, almost most of humanity will be influenced or guided by their religion in the way they live day-by-day.

Religious rituals

At the simplest level of acculturation derived from religious beliefs, of which I was once part (in my boyhood), **prayer** was an essential ingredient of day-to-day life. Prayer, seeking succour, or protection from hardship (whether from ill-health or financial difficulty), or success in exams or career paths, would vary in frequency and intensity according to prevailing circumstances. Success in one's ambitions was a significant driver of fervent prayer, including accessing the services of a priest.

**Religious rituals were normally followed in those 3 significant stages of life;** hatches (births); matches (marriage); and dispatches (burial or cremation). Religious dogma or tradition determined the choice between long-delayed (Western and Chinese) or instant (Indian) conversion to stardust.

The rituals followed by Hindus like my family in the cremation process were complex, lengthy, meaningful, and supported by the clan and family friends. That is, they were (and are) societally significant.

###  Religion in Culture (2)

Most cultures are similar; and thereby compatible

In a multi-ethnic conglomeration of peoples, divisive priesthoods can keep separate the diverse tribo-religious communities. Is this not for the retention of their power?

How does this assist their followers to cope with the vicissitudes of life? Could any religious community somehow pollute the religious framework of another religious community through social contact? Could any religion-based cultural practices be somehow tarnished through observing the cultural practices of other religious communities?

Perhaps I have been influenced by my substantial exposure to the Australian society of the 1950's and 1960's (and also later); then, the bitterness of the prevailing sectarian divide was audible and palpable.

I too experienced religious discrimination during the final years of my career; my persecutors talked openly in my presence about their church attendance, thereby strengthening their bond; and isolating me.

_Through their education, socialising, sport, as well as habituation, the generations of my children and grandchildren are clearly free of doctrinal prejudice;_ they do not attend church. **They have experienced the reality that cultural difference can actually bond diverse peoples.**

Through fusion cuisine, shared clothing styles, shared ideologies, and marriage across ethnic boundaries, we in Australia are moving towards one national people. And to be free of out-of-date power structures.

###  Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (1)

Personal bridges across priestly chasms

In earlier posts, I identified the unacceptable stance taken by divisive priests. The political impacts of such a position are that _the integration of a population divided by religion into a national citizenship is delayed._

However, Australia's diverse religio-cultural communities live, and relate at a personal level, with mutual tolerance and surface respect; and with many strong personal friendships. In the 1960's and1970's, my drinking mates were 'micks' (so-called Irish Catholics).

The influence of a divisive priesthood is however being eroded through education, socialisation and habituation; **and by understanding the cultural values (and religious basis) of the other communities within their nation.**

###  Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (2)

Cultures are broadly compatible

_Ultimately, most people within each community, in spite of ethno-cultural diversity, behave in much the same way on a daily basis._ It is only in those strongly religion-infused cultural behaviours and attitudes that a degree of divergence may be observed; at worst, societal integration is delayed. _Normally, in a Western nation like Australia, it is difficult to identify the religion of an individual._

Recent exceptions are some Middle-Easterners who seem to purport, through their clothing styles, that they are still subject to strong desert winds. **They insist on retaining these cultural attributes as reflecting their religion. Division can be self-imposed!** However, any implicit advantage is lost through the next generation's desire to join their cross-cultural peer-group.

And so it should be. **Religious observation should be a private matter.** Relating to one's Creator, being a personal matter, should not impact on others; especially if they had different pathways to God. _No one has demonstrated that there is only a single track to God; or that particular tribes should be seen as 'chosen.'_

We are all equally in need. Hopefully, our diverse tracks to the Divine will provide some needed solace.

###  Divisive Religion in Inter-Cultural Relations (3)

Cultures change, impacting on religious belief

_Cultural change is strangely ubiquitous. Yet, when behaviour changes, the underlying values may remain._ Changing a woman's clothing does not change the woman, does it? Behavioral change is almost accidental, even osmotic, through almost subliminal impacts of culture-based behaviours by others. Values are more durable, perhaps because there may be no reason for change. **It is in the expression of values, indeed, that differences exist between religions.**

Yet, religiosity, in terms of rituals, or prayer to appease, or to seek protection or abundance may shrink as one's waistline expands. A more utilitarian approach to religious practices may operate. These changes in cultural expression may not reflect any significant change in need or relevance.

Those who are sensitive to Nature's health, or the coherence of a community, or the pull of the Divine, may then come to ponder the significance of existence. This may lead to a preference for a spiritual life, thus obtaining a deeper meaning for one's religio-cultural life-path; and strengthening one's bonds with others.

###  Operational Parameters of Religion

**During our hazardous existence on Earth, most of us will resort to prayer. The form of prayer may vary, but the intention is the same.** Like its origin, anxiety, prayer would appear to be ubiquitous – except for those with a full belly. Experientially, it can be, and is, satisfying. It does not seem to matter to whom one or what one prays.

Just as prayer is one of the 3 shared components of religion, a situational ethics code may (at least, implicitly) apply to the followers of each Western religious sect. **That a religion can be split into mutually exclusive (occasionally or permanently warring) sects seems to be contradictory to the core beliefs of that religion.**

In modern Australia, Christian sects co-exist, seemingly with mutual religious indifference. Church attendance has plummeted. One half of households receive official welfare benefits. **Would God be now needed?**

During my formative years, in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, nation-in-the-making, co-existence also involved a mutual disregard of diverse religious practices and rituals. **Asian religions are, of course, not competitive.** The varied dogma (normally upheld with vigour) associated with Western religious theologies also had no place there. _Neither was there any controlling priesthood, relying on the authority of a Good Book. Rigidity in conformity!_

###  Why Do Religions War With One Another?

**When the prophet Mohammad wrote the Koran (Islam's Good Book), he identified the God of his people as compassionate and merciful, naming him Allah.** He reportedly suggested that Christians and Jews, who shared the patriarch Abraham with Islam, should return to their respective faiths! _He obviously saw the 3 faith-peoples as descendants of Abraham; and thereby bonded._ Was that not a false hope?

Indeed, it would appear that what was written within each of these religions about non-believers, which probably reflected only the ethos of aggression of the then desert peoples, effectively deflected any idea of humans being co-created by a universal Creator God; and thereby bonded. _The Buddha's teaching, about 15 centuries earlier, about displaying compassion to all sentient beings may not have reached the founders of these 3 religions._

**The historical record of religious wars involving desert peoples is clear.** Then, when _Saul-turned-Paul became successful in spreading Christianity, the Jewish leaders recruited to Judaism_ the peoples from the Maghrib to the east coast of the Mediterranean, and lands up that coast (as claimed by an Israeli scholar). Why do numbers matter? For war?

_Sometime later, the leaders of Christianity were alleged to have informed their Jewish counterparts that the Messiah had already come (and gone);_ there was no purpose in waiting for his arrival. If true, why say that? Only a war of words? **Reflective of competition between faiths?**

###  What Do Warring Region Reflect?

_Were the leaders of old of the 3 desert religions to have believed in a single God of mankind,_ would they not (as is the broadly prevailing practice today) have worked together to have their collective followers reach out to God, with only union in mind? **Would tribal power explain contention rather than co-operation? Isn't the human ego involved?**

_Add the political power available through nationhood_ – the concept of a nation, arising about 5 centuries ago, based on consanguinity within a defined area – then the rise of institutional religion is explicable. **Like the kingdoms of yore, now a nation may also be defined by its faith, adding power to the faith-controllers.** Since then, there was not only community-strengthening dogma (reflecting the associated theology), but also property and fervent- followers to protect. Soul-collecting may then be enhanced.

**Then, there is the ego-gratification of individual priests.** In Australia, apart from the reported high level of paedophilia, there were hints of seduction of married women. A recent book on Pope Francis' effort to eliminate corruption in the Vatican is also illustrative. But then, corruption is endemic at many levels of power in many countries. **Greed can out-run religiosity.**

###  The Tragedy of Warring Religious Sects

The sad split between Shia and Sunni communities within Islam may have been triggered by the issue of inheritance rights. Yet, is there not _the probable issue of power?_

Has there ever been any major war between Judaism and Christianity? Or, was the relationship one of attrition, having regard to **the Jewish founders of Christianity?**

Currently, a Judeo-Christian political configuration seeks the recovery of historically-recent control of lands in Western Asia originally occupied by people speaking a variety of Semitic languages. _Is religion implicated only by association?_ The sectarian wars within Christianity now over, **European Christian nations now seek a seemingly impossible political consensus between the 3 sectors of the faith.**

Is it then the case that religion is not implicated in the West Asian wars recently commenced by the so-called West? That those who want regime change (which is none of their business) happen to be Judeo-Christian, whereas the coveted assets are controlled by Muslims?

Ironically, the neo-colonial Judeo-Christian West is likely to become effectively contained in the not-too-distant future by the Shanghai Co-operation Group. With Russia and China forming the core, and with the nations of East Asia, South Asia, and most of Central Asia as members, **a stable level of global governance (with no bullies claiming exceptionalism) may be available; but without any religious connotations.**

_Institutional religion, as an alternative structure of governance of people of diversity, and their thought-processes, can have no place in the potentially powerful geo-politics of the future._ Priests living as princes in palaces will have to downsize.

###  Any Need for a Religious Intermediary?

My favourite uncle, whose spirit manifested himself to a clairvoyant in order to offer me advice about my spiritual progress, **had no time during his life on Earth for temples, priests, and customary religious rituals**. I was to follow a spiritual path.

Yet, by then, I had become a metaphysical Hindu, needing neither an intermediary between myself and God, nor any religious ritual. _A contemplative life suited my need to communicate with an unknowable, insubstantial, and non-interventionist God._ I accept a core teaching from Hinduism that **God is also within me!** Self-sufficiency has been a pervasive aspect of my turbulent existence.

What of those who feel that they need an intermediary to provide necessary ritual in conformity with customary traditions? What of a personal need for some guidance of a religious nature?

**The simplest solution is to enable individuals offering such services, like the shamans of old, to develop their skills.** _My family went to our temples to participate in poojahs carried by humble priests. They accepted advice from learned men, who were not linked to any organisation, about matters broadly describable as religious. My parents sought the advice needed; the learned men did not approach us._

Looking at Christianity, about which I have some familiarity, I ask why a hierarchy of church officials, some with authority, is needed. The question now is how to dispense with the trappings of institutional religious power. Perhaps a new form of ritual-free religious guide will evolve to assist those who have no need to reach God directly.

Isn't the path of spirituality the relevant approach? I sense increasing support for this approach in Christian Australia.

###  A One-to-one Relationship With God

Is this necessary? Surely! **Each of us possesses a soul of a unique maturity. Ideally, my soul would reach out to my Creator during each Earthly life, with an increasing understanding of our relationship.**

During my current Earthly life, I have experienced 3 forms of prayer. In my Hindu temples, I prayed while the priest carried out his poojah. The tinkling of his tiny bell in the inner sanctum would be accompanied by the calling-sound of the large bell within the temple grounds. Neighbouring homes and businesses were seemingly unaffected by the ringing of this bell. Together, _the 2 sounds focused my mind in a 'one-pointed' manner._ I prayed with a small group of people, each straining the neck to observe the priests' actions. **We were silent. I prayed with fervour. My whole self would be engulfed in this process.**

_Later, even as a Hindu, I would accompany my Anglican Australian wife to church services 2 or 3 times a year, on occasions chosen by her. I did enjoy the atmosphere and the opportunity to offer my prayers._ Yet, I found the procedural movements of the rituals somewhat disruptive, preferring a contemplative atmosphere. My worn knees were also not compatible with the kneeling required in earlier times. Nevertheless, I attended church for years. Only relatively recently did I stop. However, I realised that, as a communal activity, a church service fostered a sense of being with like-minded people.

**During the last couple of decades, I began to enjoy a contemplative life, as a total recluse.** Societal isolation was the trigger, there being no community to belong to – Australian society is structured on the nuclear family, unlike the communalism of my youth in Asia.

In this life, because of the location of my little home, I am able to enjoy the varied burbles and roar of the sea, accompanied by the chatter and songs of quite a variety of birds. _Peace reigneth!_

This experience can be compared with my silent-meditation experience at a yoga ashram. My attendance there had been at the suggestion of the spirit of my uncle who had manifested himself – directed by higher beings – to offer me guidance on my spiritual development.

_A contemplative communion with the Divine (God) is within reach of everyone._ This is not to deny the pleasure of a regular gathering of fellow-worshippers; but that is more a fellowship with other human beings.

Yet, for certain personalities, noisy communal prayer may be preferable. In the event, my advice regarding the choice of a path of communication with God is – courses for horses!

Ultimately, the relationship with God being most personal, it has to be a one-to-one relationship.

###  Imagining God

In face-to-face contacts, do we not look for cues, even from those who are close to us, which tell us how a particular context will turn out? In face-to-face contacts with people we do not know well, we are normally sensitive to vibes from them through their expressions, stance, body language, etc. _All other contacts are akin to walking into a dark night without a torch; no visualisation is possible._

**When we seek communion with God, do we begin with a pre-conceived image or vision?** Christians are offered a presentation of the face of Jesus. Muslims are however denied any representation. Buddhists were too, until some Greeks took over the faith for a while. Hinduism offers images of deities who are representations of the unknowable God. In a Buddhist meditation group I attended, the instructor had a small statue of the Buddha before us. Knowing that I am a Hindu, she suggested that I could focus, if I wished, on one of my deities.

Those who believe in a god of form-and-substance have an advantage of sorts over the rest of us. _Representation of an insubstantial God through deities does assist visualisation. Western cultures need to accept that these deities are not gods._

**God, to me, is insubstantial, ethereal. I conceive God as an essence, such as Brahman or Consciousness.** Nothing to visualise. My meditation does not involve an image of my favourite deity; only 'empty' space.

I do not pray. I do not ask for anything. All that I seek is communion, an eventual merging. I do feel that I understand such a fusion. How? **During a meditation session at an ashram, I (incredibly) felt an image of Ganesha (to whom I had prayed assiduously during my boyhood) merge with me! I was ecstatic!**

_I began to write my books (beginning with those inspired by the spirit of my uncle) after that stupendous experience._ During the following quarter of a century, I have written 8 books, and about 2,000 'posts' on 3 successive blogs.

**Merging with Ganesha did trigger that outflow; I believe that event was to enable me to carry out my uncle's suggestion** – that I seek to contribute to building a bridge from where I came to where I am (ie. a cross-cultural bridge).

Did the Spirit Realm specifically place an emerging metaphysical, spiritually-inclined Hindu into an officially- secular Western nation of diverse ethnicities controlled by Christians?

###  How Does One Relate to God?

Is it credible that one may relate to others without knowing them? **In the case of God, I seek a relationship in order to know Him/Her (henceforth referred to as a gender-free He/Him/His).**

_In this search, I accept that He knows me._ Since I believe God to be non-interventionist (why should He interfere in puny Earthly affairs?), **my fervent wish is to know Him; and possibly (eventually) merge into His Oceanic Soul – perhaps knowable more readily as Consciousness.**

Within the cosmology of Hinduism, Brahman (spoken as Brumman?) is the essence of all existence, while surrounding all, and pervading all; **with Atman representing Brahman within each human being.** The modern-day concept of Consciousness (yet to be fully understood) seems to be equivalent to Brahman; that is all-embracing and all-pervasive. _Were Consciousness to be accepted as defined, then Consciousness is an integral component of human beings (with all its frailty and foibles)._

What I like about Brahman/Consciousness is that my search for a relationship with God may begin with my mind, but with a clear expectation that my soul (with its accumulated knowledge gleaned through my past lives) would join the search for the hidden Atman within me. **The concept of Atman is fantastic. It provides us with access to God; by searching within ourselves.**

In this search, my mind would represent my experiences in my current Earthly life; while my soul would be the essential me, reflecting my many previous lives and experiences on Earth. I need to point out that the logic of this distinction is that, as informed by a notable translator of the Upanishads, _Atman is not my soul. Atman may indeed be the Watcher of Hindu Yoga within me._

My soul is then that entity which is being refined through the lengthy path of reincarnation. In the event, it will eventually return to its source. This is said to be the 'Ocean' of Consciousness.

###  How Did Early Man Imagine a Protective Higher Force?

The human mind, the thinking part of the brain, may have been achieved through evolution from a lower form of hominid. But,...... **what is the trigger and the enabling mechanism for evolution?** _Until recently, we accepted (inherited?) DNA as the pathway for improvements in the functioning of a species – of both animals and plants._

**However, extraterrestrials may have contributed some new DNA.** Z. Sitchin refers to Issue No. 291 of the journal 'Science' as reporting that _the human genome contains 223 genes not found elsewhere on Earth._ These genes involve "important cerebral functions peculiar to humans" (refer journal 'Nature,' Issue no. 409). If so, were they introduced by the Anunnaki from planet Nabiru?

Or, were they deposited in the remaining half (Earth) of planet Tiamat, which was allegedly broken up in a cosmic encounter, the other half having been splintered, and now forming the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter?

**Epigenesis, species-learning which does not involve DNA, apparently having been accepted by researchers, may have also enabled evolution.** This pathway reminds me of a theory rejected by Western scientists (but not the Russians), which accepts _that acquired learning may be inherited, but without any DNA being involved._ This pathway is apparently not known.

**Another contributor to evolution, the most probable one, is a cosmic collision.** From the damage caused may arise DNA changes, some of which may contribute, in time, to improved functioning of the species.

_Did primitive Early Man, who must have lived in fear of the many threatening forces of Nature, initially offer some form of propitiation to these forces? Why would he do that?_ Perhaps through appeasing the bullies (alpha males?) within his own 'community'; later extending this practice to attackers from unrelated stronger 'communities'.

Could this practice lead to a hope that there might be a superior 'bully' up there who could be appeased in order to reduce the threat and fear they normally experience?

###  An Intermediary in the Appeasement Process

**Anxiety is the basal emotion of humans and animals. It reflects the insecurity of existence.** Observe animals. They are always watchful. Even at rest, they are alert. Such sensitivity may, in all probability, reflect species-experiences; thus would arise instincts, through the evolutionary process.

**I suspect that basal anxiety also reflects Consciousness,** that all-pervasive influence, which gives motile forms of life necessary awareness.

Once the process of appeasement is accepted by Early Man, it may not be long before opportunistic individuals offer to intercede between the fearful and the feared. We humans probably inherited greed from our simian predecessors.

_I presume that instincts are established through a lengthy process of learning and adaptation, perhaps through epigenetic pathways._ One might describe an instinct as imprinted in fauna (perhaps in flora too) through successive generations of learning through the Lysenko process; viz. acquired learning being subsequently inherited.

In some advanced human societies – whether nomadic or settled – there may arise a personality describable as shamanic. _As in current times, a few individuals may have displayed what would be described as psychic competence; an inexplicable facility._

**Early in my life, I met such a man.** He was a very ordinary man, with a lowly day-job, but who occasionally and apparently randomly demonstrated an uncanny ability to read someone's future (mine in particular). **The yogi who changed my life totally,** thereby impacting drastically on my widowed mother and 3 younger sisters, foretold our future with deadly accuracy. _In more simple societies, these men may have been accepted as shamans._

Both men told me that it was through deep meditation that they had become psychic; as did the 3 clairvoyants I met in Australia. As against that, at a yogi ashram, after 17 years of deep meditation, a young sunyasin had not had any "transcendental experiences." So he told me. This raises the question: **does one have to be a particular kind of person (a mature soul?) to be gifted with psychic powers?**

So, can one choose to be a successful shaman of the traditional kind (as found in relatively simple societies)? _Or, is the shaman-to-be led to a particular locale or community by influences unknown and unseen to discover his role?_

###  Does the Ringing Bell Await the Human Ear?

**When a tree, even a giant tree, falls in the forest, without a receptor like the human ear, no sound can be heard.** There will, naturally, be reverberating waves of air pressure. These would incite birds to fly off, and earthworms to possibly tremble. Other forms of life in the forest may become aware of the repercussive effects from the fall of the tree were they biologically equipped to register such effects.

I instance the ear of the human being and other members of the animal kingdom. There may be other equivalent receptors which have other primary functions.

Comparably, in a very early (and therefore relatively simple) society, there may be a rare human being supernaturally gifted to progressively become aware – perhaps intuitively, or through an enhanced sensitivity to influences beyond the all-pervasive material realm – of processes of an ethereal configuration affecting life on Earth.

Against the profound mysteries relating to the origin and operations of the Cosmos and its component features, a probable link between a human being and pervasive influences below the normal level of Consciousness should not surprise. _According to Hinduism, there are levels of Consciousness._ There is so much of a mysterious nature surrounding humanity that needs to be tapped in any manner possible.

So, are the shamans 'medicine men', 'witch doctors', 'barefoot doctors', etc. of historical human societies 'chosen' to guide fellow humans to survive an incredibly dangerous environment on Earth; or, do they 'evolve', possibly through guidance from elsewhere?

The clairvoyants and psychics of my experience suggest to me a bilateral pathway.

###  Any Port in a Storm – a Godsend

**During my youth in a British colonial territory, my family (like others within our culture) depended mainly on traditional remedies.** Often assisted by an Indian woman accepted as equivalent to a 'medicine-man,' we relied upon infusions extracted from various leaves from plants in the countryside. These were boiled in our kitchen.

My elders also talked about the _traditional medicine-men in our ancestral villages_ who, apart from other approaches, examined the stools (faeces) of the ill person to offer a treatment. They were apparently _skilled diagnosticians._

**Diagnosis by so-called 'witch-doctors' in colonial Africa** reportedly included this pertinent question: _Is there someone who wishes you harm?_ Presumably, the counter or cure would entail some sort of charm expected to work against the identified culprit. Otherwise, traditional treatments would no doubt apply. _Faith was an essential ingredient in the curative process._

**Traditional treatments in the local hospital my family occasionally attended** included some foul-tasting medication. I have no memory that these potions were any more effective than the traditional potions concocted in our kitchen. Having experienced a variety of illnesses, I venture to suggest that one either survived or one did not! _Faith was not relevant, as I recall._

The so-called 'medicine-men' of the historical Red Indians (the Indigenes of North America), like all others of their ilk in other terrain, would have also relied upon experience for diagnosis and treatment. The shamans, wherever they were to be found, would probably have been no different.

Yet **, there are reports about those shamans who descended into dark 'caves' (especially spaces below ground), to apparently commune with spirits relevant to the welfare of their peoples.** Were these shamans the first of the reported medicine-men of history who could reach a realm of helpful spirits? _Have spirits, whether the souls of dead Earthlings, or existing in their own right, always been hidden, but significant, participants in human life on Earth?_

Have the medicine-men of ancient, and not-so-ancient, times gone for good? **Were they not necessary intermediaries between living – but ill – human beings, and whatever external influences were causing these illnesses?** I suspect that bodily (internal) malfunctions did not fit this paradigm. Yet,.........?

###  The Great Value of Early 'Medicine-Men' (Part 1)

In modern times, at least in Westernised nations, health treatments are based on pharmaceutical products. _Strangely, an abatement of symptoms, or even a cure, has been known to occur through the use of placebos._

**In early human times, were not the cures offered by shamans and other 'medicine-men' of a comparable psychic or spiritual nature?** Were, as I suspect, the to-be medicine-man guided to his role by spirit forces (of unknown provenance), that would be so. _Yet, psychic or faith healing is relevant in modern times._

For example, a relative of mine was cured of persistent abdominal pains by sipping some of the milk used by a Hindu priest to wash a statue of Ganesha in a temple-of-sorts set up in a rubber plantation.

In Australia I was cured of serious leg-pains when a psychic healer I consulted for other reasons called upon her Spirit Healer to guide her; although I had not told her of these pains, she referred to them, saying "You are now cured." **Is psychic healing commonplace today?**

**The most impressive of the psychic healers mentioned to me is a 'thumbnail surgeon' operating in the Philippines.** With a thumbnail, he opened up the abdomen of a female patient in the presence of her husband (a friend of mine), a medico himself. The surgeon then pulled out some material from the open abdomen, threw it in a bin, and sealed the opening with his hand. Husband and wife (both European immigrants) had consulted this healer only because modern medicine in Australia had (as they said) failed them.

Then the G.P. (medico) husband went back to the thumbnail surgeon to have his hitherto incurable 'tennis elbow' treated. He returned home cured.

**My own G.P. (an Australian-Chinese), together with a number of his colleagues, observed (with permission) thumbnail surgery in the Philippines, and returned home mystified. Yet, the evidence was there in the video they had taken**. Strangely, Asian-Australian medicos were, in my experience, readily accepting of what they had seen. Our cultural heritage seems to permit the acceptance of psychic matters. The involvement of the spirit realm in human lives does not surprise us.

Refer my book 'The dogs may bark but the caravan moves on: The Spirit Realm and I' (www.smashwords.com).

###  The Great Value of Early 'Medicine-Men' (Part 2)

**Does the involvement of spirits, either former humans or otherwise, in human lives on Earth clear the way for a priest-free existence?** It is painfully obvious that controlling priesthoods operating within an institutional (hierarchical) framework, offering them much power and pomp (and wealth), have divided peoples quite unnecessarily. _Such priesthoods have even turned peoples, all seeking help from, or communion with, our Creator, against one another; for whose benefit?_

**Religion, as such, is not to be blamed; provided that each religion is only a set of tentative man-made beliefs – even allowing for any claimed revelation.** _Is it not personal ego which has led some men to codify prevailing beliefs, to rigidly apply them, even to punish dissenters?_

When I look at the closed systems of the 'desert' and some other religions, and contrast them with the open-ended widely-disparate beliefs (and freely-expressed commentaries) within my faith (Hinduism), I begin to increasingly respect the shamans and other 'medicine-men' of early human societies.

Whether by training, or through some assistance from the spirit realm, **these psychic healers probably performed their role through an enhanced level of awareness or consciousness.** Like the modern psychics (clairvoyants) I have consulted, they may have had access to individual spirits to guide and assist them.

My most recent clairvoyant has spontaneous visions of both future and past (I can testify to that) through her apparent access to individual members of the spirit realm. My first clairvoyant foresaw an event involving me 12 years ahead!

**My awareness that I had a Spirit Guide arose when the most recent clairvoyant (a total stranger at that time) shouted at me in a public place for not listening to him.** That she could see him over my shoulder, and describe him, made me realise that he had 'arranged' that meeting. I now realise that, without his intervention, I would probably have died of cancer a long time ago. I am also most grateful for his intervention more recently.

In modern times, such interventions do not arouse any excitement or challenge from the more sensitive people among us. Imagine, however, the impact of a shaman (and others of his ilk) in early human groups! The **shamans would have had to be intrepid in performing a much-needed dual role: as an intermediary between the material and spirit realms, and as a medical practitioner/priest.**

I can imagine how their souls would have progressed through the reincarnation process.

###  Do We Need Priests? (Part 1)

**Is this not a foolish question?** Do we not need shopkeepers and other _vendors of needed goods?_ Do we not also need teachers and lawyers who are _necessary intermediaries in the transformational and transactional acts of our lives?_

Yet, _modern global societies which offer safe and comfortable lives_ (for most of us, anyway); enable individuals to think and act for themselves; and without any ritualistic support of any kind, or even moral guidance; the _better-educated or more-independent persons have tended to dispense with attendance at church, temples, and other places of prayer though recent decades._

**Members of my extended family** , as well as associated members of our tribe, living mainly in multicultural Malaysia, but also in the USA and Britain, backed by high levels of education and professional or occupational skills, **are progressively distancing themselves from some traditional cultural practices.** These have involved the participation of Hindu priests as facilitators of time-tested religious practices associated with hatching, matching and dispatching (births, marriages and deaths).

As with other major religions, _religious ceremonies at funerals_ seem durable. For us Hindus, the cremation process, which transforms us back into the stardust which originally formed us, is of paramount significance. Mouldering in the ground is anathema in our ancient culture.

_In Australia, where I have observed and analysed – over 7 decades – the nation's religio-cultural behaviour, there have been vast cultural changes._ The clearly bitter (but mostly hidden) divide between the Roman Catholics (never more than 25% of the population) and the Protestants has waned, except that national socio-cultural policies seem strongly dominated by Papal 'Bulls'. But that is politics!

Almost uniformly throughout the nation, _church attendances_ have fallen, except on symbolic occasions. Those who attest to having _no religion_ reportedly represent about 30% of the population. _Non-Christian religions_ represent in toto a growing substantial proportion. **Buddhist philosophy and Hindu Yoga practices** seem to have significant and growing support from those who have discarded priestly involvement in their lives. The quiet attraction of **a spiritual path** is clearly evident.

###  Do We Need Priests? (Part 2)

Globally, the _human population_ is huge, and not sustainable in the light of Nature's resources. Reportedly, 10% of the world's population controls 90% of _collective wealth._ **Throughout human history, substantial poverty has prevailed all over the globe**.

This has been accompanied by soul-threatening starvation; the de-humanising of many of the lower (or service) classes; the exploitation of the mental, physical and material resources of others. By and large, the human being, while valued as a customer, is a cost to be reduced in the commercial transactions of modern capitalism throughout the globe.

Having observed, somewhat painfully, the varying levels of poverty surrounding my family in British Malaya; having been half-starved during the Japanese military occupation of Malaya; having suffered, for a few years, the stress of survival through varying casual employment; I am (perhaps unduly) sensitive to unmet basic human needs. I instance the hopelessness of life as being experienced by ever so many, with no prospect of betterment – ever! I was there – once!

**Here is where the early medicine-man or shaman – later the priest offering the supportive faith of religion – had a psychic uplifting role.** Faith helps those drowning by keeping their heads above water. Yes, there has been _a great need for faith in the supernatural throughout the history of mankind. For millions, the need continues._ Destiny-paths, Nature, and gigantic human greed together make a terrible combination of survival-problems.

**The necessary level of faith can have diverse sources**. A guiding person of religion need not be a member of a rigidly-controlled institution. No hierarchy of power or control; no pomp and pageantry; no binding 'Good Book' wielded as a cudgel rather than as a guide to living with others; no threats or inculcation of fear in the faithful; and a much-needed humility in some institutional priests in the eyes of the one and only God of mankind; these would engender **a continuing belief in a priest-guided path to the numinous.**

###  Do We Need Priests? (Part 3)

Indubitably, many (if not most) humans need an intermediary in their attempted contact with God, our Creator. They certainly do not need a controller of their path to God, only a facilitator.

There are multifarious tracks to God. These should all end up at the same destination. These, as evidenced by many, are mental, psychic or spiritual.

_Priestly intermediaries offering a set of rituals – whichever their religion – offer only the lowest level of possible access to the numinous._ **Those of us who need to climb further will need to seek our own way.** The possible paths have been identified (and certified) by those who have achieved the status of 'higher being' in the spirit realm (so I have reason to believe), or have returned to Earth to guide us (like the Indian yogi or the casual Ceylonese layman/psychic in my early life).

**My limited experiences** with meditation; with auto-hypnosis to view whatever features of my past lives are made available for me to perceive; and with intimations of my immediate past life which I believe my soul permitted (with confirmation from a psychic); these _suggest that those who desire communion with our Creator may successfully seek a personal path through spirituality._ Seeking a personal relationship between my soul (the essential me) and God, by crafting – through spiritualty –a path to traverse, seems eminently practicable (so I hope).

As for the hierarchical religious institutions, as increasing numbers of their followers begin to be attracted to a personal spiritual path, _a rising functional superfluity can be expected to erode their position._ I am reminded of Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics.

###  The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 1)

THE MATERIAL REALM

**Our Universe was always here.** So said my parents when I was a young boy. Evidence? _The only reliable means to knowledge i_ s _the scientific method._ However, this approach is restricted to the materialistic mechanical arena, requires repeatable observations of relevant relations, and is thereby _inadequate for investigations of the non-material aspects of existence (which do not allow repeatability)._

Impressively, **the reliance on mathematical calculations in scientific studies of non-repeatable relations,** especially of a causal nature, has provided necessary stepping-stones to some understanding of the physical universe (so I believe); and the ability to apply this understanding to make progress in matters practical.

Yet, even when a T.O.E., a theory of everything, is finally articulated, it will not, cannot, explain more than the physical universe.

Nevertheless, **why should not the Universe which sustains us NOT fit the traditional approach;** that every event is an effect; that each effect has a cause; and that, ultimately, there has to be a first cause? This rationale suits theology, enabling the claim that this First Cause is God; and that God is the Creator of all that exists

I have been caught up in this conundrum.

###  The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 2)

THE ETHEREAL REALM

I have claimed, after years of study, that _there has, LOGICALLY, to be a Creator of our Universe. Why? The beauty, the complexity, and the stupendous inter-connectivity of all we are aware of._ **But, that is in the material realm.** What of the emotional, intellectual, and other transcendental phenomena so evident in, and so integral to, our lives? We know little to nothing about these.

**Were the physical realm to be only a projection from a basal ethereal realm** (as had been suggested by quite a few great minds), _does this Creator I envisage exist within this background realm? Where else?_

_So, what is the origin of this imputed ethereal realm?_ How can we mere mortals, of flesh, bone, and blood, seek to ever explain what caused us? The alleged progress from earthworm to fish, to vertebrate, to chimpanzee, to human – probably aided here and there by bacteria and extra-terrestrials – with an assumed inbuilt mechanism enabling improvement (evolution) – _all that may explain only a structural/functional path; but not origins or formative influences._

**Is this ethereal realm an un-caused realm?** Does this realm contain what has been conceived by the ancient Indic people as that 'Ocean' of Consciousness, that which surrounds, yet also infuses, everything; from which we humans are alleged to have originated (and to which we will ultimately return).

Is Consciousness the imputed ethereal realm, from which arose the material realm?

I find this a wondrous thought!

###  The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 3)

A TENTATIVE OVERVIEW

_Our universe is the only one we experience, and of which we have some understanding._ Then arise these questions. Are our means of knowing the only dependable means? How do we know what we now? How reliable is our subsequent understanding?

**Were Consciousness – which surrounds, and yet permeates, everything – to be the ethereal realm; that the material realm is a substantive and substantial 'projection' from Consciousness; that a feature of this projection is that this highly inter-connected, complex, yet beautiful operational material structure could be conceived as having been created; that this 'Creator' of all that, in effect, is an 'enabler' operating autonomously – as might all that is within the ethereal realm**. Why not indeed?

Does not this attempted overview seem reasonable? Possible? Probable?

Where then is God, the reason for all religions and their followers? Since I conceive God as that 'essence' which surrounds and permeates all that which can be seen as created, then God is indeed Consciousness. Thus, does Consciousness = God = Creator?

This supports my view of God as non-interventionist, and morally neutral. Human wars, most reflecting insignificant differences in man-made theology, and the egoistic arrogance of some leaders of institutionalised religions, cannot involve God (however defined or depicted). **A belief in God,** from whom many, if not most, of us seek succour materially, emotionally, mentally, may not respond to our pleas; yet, being available **offers some solace. It is the reaching out that matters!** I write from experience and keen observation.

Significantly, animals do not foul their nests; but humans do. To what extent does institutional religion contribute to this inglorious process (even as it uplifts many of us spiritually)? _A simpler, more natural, religion, devoid of pomp and power, would facilitate a cleaner path to God, would it not?_

###  The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 4)

OTHER UNIVERSES

Continuing my peregrinations through the heavenly mists shading the enchanting mystery of the Cosmos as a whole, one must normally _acknowledge a total ignorance of everything beyond our Universe._

To re-cap, as a preamble, my delineation of the probable causal relations between the limited known and the massive unknown possible influences on human lives: **I posit structures and relations which can never be demonstrated, much less proven.** Yet, they do remain plausible (and probable?)!

Moving to equally impenetrable matters (unless gifted through deep meditation or some form of revelation to peer through the cosmic veil), the possibility of other UNIVERSES (of possibly varying structures and contents) cannot be denied. Comparably, some modern scientists have raised the possibility of other DIMENSIONS of existence (refer Part 5 for a further reference to dimensions). Such speculation is out-shone by the ancient Indic concept of DOMAINS of reality.

Unlike Hinduism's cycles of EXISTENCE of the Cosmos followed by NON-EXISTENCE (or suspension), each cycle spanning a total of 3.11 TRILLION human years, with smaller and yet smaller cycles within each such cycle, a more simplified perception of the Cosmos may involve ever-existing, uncaused, structures operating autonomously in a necessarily balanced but not smooth manner.

###  The Enchanting Mystery of the Cosmos (Part 5)

CRISS-CROSSING DIMENSIONS OF EXISTENCE

**I am certain of one dimension beyond ours. This is the domain of spirits, viz. of former human beings awaiting reincarnation.** Of course, all spirits may not be reincarnated; I have been told of "higher beings" influencing the path of my current life on Earth.

_Equally importantly, I have evidence of 2 spirits (including my Spirit Guide) entering my home, and leaving physical evidence of their visits._ The presence of my Guide and his wish to communicate with me had been brought to my attention earlier by a clairvoyant I had never met before.

**For spirits to visit Earth so smoothly, a most logical conclusion is that the domain of spirits exists in a dimension which crosses the dimension which contains Earth.** _That is, the spirit domain is here with us!_ This raises an issue of significance: how many other dimensions co-exist whilst being inter-woven with our dimension, as well as with other one another? What an enchanting thought!

This suggests that the Cosmos is far more complex and interesting than a collection of universes. _What is the role of Consciousness in the operations of the totality of the Cosmos?_

At a simpler level, the role of Consciousness in the transit of the soul of a recently-dead human as spirit to its temporary home is discussed – amongst a wide range of related issues – in my book 'The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on: The spirit realm and I' (Refer www.smashwords.com and Amazon Kindle). I posit a plausible explanation of how a departing soul is able to take to its temporary home both its mind and memories (as undeniably demonstrated by the spirit of my uncle).

In sum, the Cosmos must remain an enchanting mystery.

###  Quo Vadis? (Whither Goest Thou?)

Almost all my life, I have made some contribution to each community which supported me. Indeed, while holding leadership positions in civil society and at work, I have often initiated changes in policy or operations – for the better. I have done this in spite of having any prospect of career (or other material) success denied permanently in this life. I also have a record of significant denials of equal opportunity. **This has been my destiny-path. But I have never whinged or complained. How so?**

_As a metaphysical Hindu from early manhood, I understood the influence of the reincarnation process, and how destiny-paths operate in conjunction with life-experiences._ From about age 24, through my never-ending learning – including some understanding of religions and religions – I realised that **each Earthly life offers opportunities (usually through some form of setback) for acquiring some understanding about reality.** I have grasped such opportunities with equanimity.

_Late in life, I came to realise, with great gratitude, that I have been guided along this hidden path by the Spirit Realm._ Being poor all my life – as foretold a few times – aided the processes of my becoming keenly aware of the less fortunate in life. It also enabled me to swim successfully in rough cosmic seas, while keeping an eye out for the hoped-for distant shore.

What might that have been? That I would begin to acquire an understanding of mankind, and our possible place in our Universe (if not the Cosmos at large). During this process, I kept my focus on my Creator; and any manifestations thereof, especially in the form of deities. **While seeking an eventual merger with my Creator, I did experience a spiritual merger with (deity) Ganesha while meditating in an ashram.**

_That led me to write; and thereby endeavour to satisfy the key suggestion to me by the spirit of my uncle about bridging cross-cultural relations._ Over a quarter of a century, while progressively living as a recluse in a relatively isolated location, **I published 8 books.** These were endorsed by senior academics or other notables and/or reviewed favourably by others. _The influencers in the Cosmos can decide their future._

This last book brings together my thoughts on humanity's search for succour and/or communion with God. The fate of mankind requires some facility for the provision of relief for suffering, or hope for betterment in the conditions of life.

**Priests do have an important role – as part of their respective communities!** There is, however, no need for competition between them as to their variable man-made beliefs. _There is also no need for religious institutions, especially for any based on spurious authority or assumed control over theology and associated processes._ There is no need for any associated pomp and splendour in garb, or a high material lifestyle. _Priests should serve, not rule or play politics, whereby those not of 'the faith' have their freedoms curtailed in a one-size-fits-all approach._

I doubt if the one and only God of mankind would deny that, ultimately, it is for each of us to find our way home.

**Ultimately, some of us will seek a spiritual path, seeking a personal communion with God. A fellowship of spiritual souls should evolve.** In time, some of these souls may come to understand the more complex aspects of the Cosmos, to which Earth has to be linked (even temporarily); and to appreciate the pervasiveness of Consciousness and its ubiquitous role.

_Eventually, I believe that each one of us will return to our origin_. So mought it be!

Raja Arasa Ratnam

He is a nonagenarian Asian-Australian immigrant, with a residence in Australia of just over 70 years. A qualified psychologist and economist; a former Director of Policy (with almost 2 years of experience in the senior executive service) in the federal public service; a substantial contributor to civil society throughout his life, including holding leadership positions; a writer of books and essays; and a blogger.

He has been described as "an intellectual who cannot be categorised." His writing has been defined as "challenging and provocative" by senior academics (why else bother to write, he says).

His book on Australian society received this assessment – "There is wisdom here." "His experience as an Asian in Australia from the time of White Australia to that of multiculturalism is unique. This book is a final distillation of the wisdom he has gained over that time."

He remains a communitarian in a land whose ethos is individualism. He is a swinging voter; a tolerant freethinker about religion; and pursues a spiritual path

WE ARE ONE

The communitarian cultures of Asia (from the Sea of Japan to the Mediterranean Sea) demonstrate without challenge that all humanity is inter-connected. The mutual inter-dependence of all life forms on Earth is self-evident.

The trajectories of life on Earth seem influenced, to some degree, by planetary movements. The latter hold a durable pattern as they traverse the firmament. Sol, our sun, is part of a galaxy; galaxies operate allegedly within their own parameters.

Irrespective of whether our Universe is explicable within a cyclical Hinduistic cosmology of repeated existence, or represents a single existence, the strong probability is that the Cosmos is a multi-universe system with replaceable universes. What are the odds of inter-operability through inter-connectedness?
