A Treatise on Cosmology

The Myth of Creation

Transformations

Recall, that we started with the simplest observation: "Before we make anything, we have a thought."  Now we are going to look a little closer at the phrase "make anything."  

When people commonly think of "creation," they think of something being "made," as in coming into existence.  First there was nothing, now there is something.  A lamp, a building, a car, computer, knife...In common speech & thought, these  things are "brought into being."

This is simply not true.  Yes, it may look that way.  "Once there was an empty field, now there is a 100 story building; of course we have brought it into existence."  But no.  What we have really done is rearrange things.  We have re-formed metal and glass and wood into a building.  We are "form-applying agents."

Large or small, high or low, it is the absolute same thing everywhere: nothing is ever "made," nothing is ever destroyed.  Things only change from one form to another.

When we paint, we arrange ("apply form to") the paint on the canvas.  The paint is an arrangement of chemicals...the canvas is an arrangement of atoms...All of it an arrangement of the human mind, taking raw materials (the stuff we just find all around us) and bending, combining, moving, breaking them into different forms.  But we never "create" anything.

Take mankind out of it, and it is still the same.  A forest fire burns millions of acres of wood, but nothing is "made" or "destroyed."  It only changes form.  The wood & leaves & sap ("matter") are converted into the light and heat energy, with some leftover matter (ash) as a memorial.  We can convert matter into energy (light a candle, burn gasoline, explode dynamite), and convert energy into matter (in the laboratory.)  

Energy converts into matter, and matter converts into energy.  They change forms, but nothing, not one single "thing," from the beginning of all existence, as far as everything the human race knows, has ever been "made" or "destroyed."  It only changes form.

Now, here you can understand the famous equation E = MC² (read "E equals M C Squared.")  Here's what it means, and YES you CAN understand this.

"E" stands for "Energy."  "M" stands for Mass (matter).  "C" stands for the speed of light, approximately 186,000 miles every second.

So, E = MC². really means "Energy = Mass times (The Speed of Light)²".  What does the little "²" mean?  Again, it is very simple.  It means, basically, The Speed of Light times itself, which means Accelerated.  I will explain.

Let's say that you are in your car, at a stop light.  The light turns green.  You have a very s-l-o-w car, and in one hour you have gone from 0 mph (miles per hour) to 60 mph.  In one hour you are going 60 mph faster than you were an hour ago, right?  Simple, really.  Well, the "going faster" is acceleration.  We denote acceleration with the little "²."  So, an acceleration of 60 miles per hour every hour is "60 miles per hour²," or "60 mph²."  Like I said, really simple if you think about it.

So, C² really means, "186,000 miles per second (faster) each second," or "186,000 miles per second²," or "186,000 mps²."

Well, now we can really understand Einstein's equation.  

E = MC² really means "The amount of Energy = Mass times (The Speed of Light)²" or "Energy = Mass accelerated at 186,000 mps²."  Take an object, any object.  The amount of Energy in that object is equal to the force that would be needed to accelerate that object from rest to 186,000 miles per second in one second!  And as you can well imagine, that is a lot of force.

There.  You now understand Einstein's equation, and can explain it to anyone.  "Impress your friends!  Astound your family!"  And that's for free.

Now, why have I taken you through all of this?  Because you need to understand, in a deep, profound, complete way, that Energy and Mass are just different forms of the same thing.  From the birth of stars to atom bombs to microwave ovens, nothing is ever created or destroyed.  Things only change forms.

The Unchanging Essence

Now there's another reason I've taken you through E = MC².  You can "move" things from "E" into "M" and vice versa, but the total equation never changes.  In other words, the "totality," the total amount of "Energy + Mass" never changes.  It's like we are playing poker with chips.  Sometimes you have all the chips, sometimes I will have all the chips, usually we will split the chips between us.  But the total amount of chips never change!  In exactly the same way, the total amount of Energy / Mass never changes.  

This is known as the "Energy / Mass continuum."  It is continuous, like a road connecting one to the other.  More energy, less mass; more mass, less energy.  We push the chips toward you, we push the chips toward me.  Energy and Mass continually change, one to another, but the total amount of Energy / Mass never changes.

But that is not all.  Remember, we are talking about the myth of creation, beyond just E = MC².  In physics we learn about many things that remain unchanged in simple and complex interactions.  Yes, most of these get fairly complicated, and I will not try to walk you through them.  But since we are talking about Energy / Mass, let me explain another very simple idea.  It is called the Center of Mass (CM).  Basically, it is the balancing point around which all the mass exists.  In any ball the CM is in the exact center of the ball.  But even in imbalanced, huge systems, say a million cannon balls surrounding a thousand tons of dynamite, there is still an actual physical point where the entire collection (or "system") is balanced.  

One of the properties of the CM is that it acts as though all the mass of the entire system was located entirely just in that point.  In other words, the CM "acts" as though all the cannon balls & dynamite "weigh" nothing, and the CM weighs everything.

Another, amazing property of the CM is that it never changes, unless something outside the system gets involved.  That means, that if you explode all the dynamite, sending all the cannon balls flying & bouncing & breaking, the CM never moves.  Not even the tiniest little bit.

There are, in fact, lots of things that stay constant (unchanging, remain conserved) in physics.  In "normal," everyday reactions the total amount of Energy ("Conservation of Energy") remains constant.  Likewise, in normal day-to-day reactions the total amount of mass ("Conservation of Mass") remains the same.

There are many more, but like I said the world of physics rapidly gets quite complicated, and I do not wish to burden you.  The interested student can easily do research him/her self.

But here is the central point, restated: In every change, there is always something that remains unchanged.  All events are "dances," if you will, around a central, unmoving axis.

This is very important.  Everything we know, everything we see, everything that happens, consists of these two properties:

1. Transformations: Nothing is ever created or destroyed; only change forms
2. Unchanging Essence: From the small to the large, within all Transformations, there are always some properties that remain constant.

Transformations around an Unchanging Essence.

That, my friends, is what the universe is all about.  And what each and every "thing" in the universe is about.  

On a "religious" note, an integrated life seeks to find those things which are common amidst a sea of apparent differences.  Enlightenment is the ability to see the Oneness in All.

Microcosm - You

You, too, are a system of Transformations around an Unchanging Essence.  Think about it...Your ideas change...your opinions, moods, emotions, desires, all change.  Your goals, memories, and states of consciousness all change.  Even your body is brand-new every 7 years or so, as every cell in your body is replaced.

And yet, there is some "thing" in you that remains constant.  "You" are "You," regardless of all the changes you go through.

I do not live where I was born, don't have the same desires, feelings, hopes or dreams.  I do not even have the same body.  (Technically, physiologists argue about whether brain cells are actually replaced like all the other cells in the body,  This is an open question.)  Yet, through all of this, "I" remain "Me."

We will return to this shortly.  For now, suffice it to say that in the Western World we name that Unchanging Essence as Spirit.  "Soul" is the non-physical aspects that lie "between" the Spirit & the Body: Mind, Emotions/Desire, and Life.  Like I said, we will return to this.

Macrocosm - God

On the human level, we have seen that all "creation" is really just the application of form-shaping to raw materials.  We are "form-applying agents."  We will now turn our discussion to God, and find that God, too, is a form-applying agent, yet, with nothing outside himself, this form-applying process acts upon himself.

Postulate #2 (As above, so below) applied to what we have been discussing, leads us simply to this:

God is the Unchanging Essence around which all Transformations flow.

But there is more.  Much more.  And this, I have found, is the #1 "sticking point" that angers fundamentalist Christians about me:

Nothing is ever created or destroyed; it only changes form.  Thus, the "created" universe is God's consciously guided transformations of Himself.

As I said in the introductions, you must decide for yourself if the visible world really says anything about God or not.  There are many traditions, prophets, seers, even Bible verses that say the visible world does, indeed, tell us something about the invisible God.  That is the essence of our Postulate #2, As Above, so Below.  And its reverse, As Below, so Above.

As simply as I can state it:

1. Since it is a fact that nothing is ever created or destroyed, only changing form,
2. If Postulate #2 "As Below, So Above" tells us anything true, then
3. The entire "created" universe is only a transformation of something else, something higher, something "above."

That "something" is God.

This view, especially in fundamentalist Christian circles, is heresy.  I want you to know this, right up front.  Holding this view of God's "connectedness" with creation is worthy of eternal and limitless suffering, or so they say.  This view (they say) is of pagan origins, is pantheistic ("everything is god") and a deception of the Devil.  I want to look at these objections, and address them one by one.

Objection: God made the world "Ex Nilio", which means "out of nothing," including "Himself."  

Can anything ever come from nothing?  Observationally, logically, the answer is and will always remain "no."  If this world tells us anything about God (Postulate #2) then this physical, total, logical impossibility must apply to The Divine.  Nothing ever comes from nothing.

The Common Consciousness will reply, "But you are limiting God.  God can do anything.  He made the entire universe out of nothing at all.  How He did that is a mystery."  

I have several replies.

The Common Consciousness will reply, "Of course God is beyond human knowledge.  That's why we need the revelation of the Holy Word."

I reply:

That, really, is the essence of everything here in The Church of Yahweh.  My examination of sin, the Cross, our destiny, everything centers around this one Theory of The Cosmos:The entire Universe is a part of God, connected to God, inside God, and nothing other than God.

It is called a Theory because:

1. I cannot prove it to you.
2. But, it is based upon the 2 Postulates.
3. And it does follow logically from them.

I've made these points many times before, but they bear repeating:

1. The best term for this Theory in the dictionary is Panentheism.
2. This is not meant to be heretical or anti-Christian.  I am only fighting against the mistaken notions people have about God.  Those mistaken notions are not so much ignorant or wrong, as they are young.  As humanity ages, and learns, we are able to comprehend more.
3. It is, in fact, explicitly Biblical: "In God we live, move, and exist."  Acts 17:28.

Objection: Energy/Matter always here

There are groups (I shall not name them)  that teach the energy/mass continuum is co-eternal with God.  "The energy/mass continuum has always been there, just waiting for God's spirit to come along and apply form to it," they say.  that's their particular take on Genesis 1:2, "The earth (cosmos) was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep..."  Since the beginning there has always been the Spirit God, and Energy/Mass.

This is basically a way of getting out of the "What did God make the universe out of?" question.  Let's just say that there are 2 eternal essences: Spirit (God) and Matter.

I have many problems with this line of thought.

Objection: But God is Wholly Other.  He is not like us, or a part of us in any way.  He is utterly and completely different from the creation.

This is really the crux of the matter.  Humanity sees itself as evil, murderous, and abominable.  In order to preserve the holiness, goodness and sanctity of The Divine, humanity concludes that God must be completely separate from us.  Otherwise, so it would seem, The Perfection of God would share in our base evil.

This is a very serious issue, one which I cannot approach in short-form.  I understand the objection.  I hear it loud and clear.  All the other objections I've listed here are, frankly, silly.  This is important.  Essential, really.

The problem of evil ("Theodicy," if you want a fancy word) is an attempt to answer the following question:

I need to lay the groundwork for a lot more information.  But trust me, I have not, and will not, forget this question.  We will come back to it.  Should you choose, you could see this Treatise on Cosmology as a lengthy discussion of Theodicy.

Creation - Summary

Laying aside the arguments and objections (for I cannot answer them any better than I have), let's summarize the main points up to now.

Our Model of the Cosmos is:

1. SINCE everything humanity does derives from a consciousness, we see that

2. The Thought ("above") is reflected in the Creation ("below").

3. This is our Model of the Cosmos, as simple as that.

4. So, when we see non-human-created things (plants, stars, birds...) we apply the Model of the Cosmos, and

5. must CONCLUDE that some trans-human Thought ("above") has likewise shaped everything in this world ("below.")

This Universe is a reflection of Thought. 

This Model of the Cosmos is connected to our 2 Postulates, our fundamental assumptions:

Postulate #1: Consciousness precedes Matter

Postulate #2: As Above, so Below; as Below, so Above.

And this is expressed best in my primary Theory of The Cosmos:

The entire Universe is a part of God, connected to God, inside God, and nothing other than God.

"Creation" is a misnomer, better thought of as form-applying, or Transformations.  Nothing is ever "made" or "destroyed"; things only change form.  What we notice about this "form-applying" nature of "creation" is true of both man and God.

Energy and Mass are just different ways of looking at the same thing.  The totality of Energy/Mass never changes.

Within all Transformations there exist an Unchanging Essence.

This is true for everything in this Universe.  It is true for for humans, who are an ever-changing flow of growth around an unchanging Spirit.

This is also true for God.  Since nothing is outside God, God is both the Cause of the Transformations, the Transformations themselves, and the Unchanging Essence.  To connect this to classic Christianity, we find:

The primary mode for these transformations is a Conscious Will, focused through Mind via Word.  This is not inconsistent with the Biblical view.  But we will spend more time on this in later chapters.

Re-Sacralization

Assuming the above is true, then everything is Sacred.

So often mankind finds their life boring, dull, plain, meaningless.  The prevalent view, the God made a bunch of "matter," and that this God is "wholly other," means that we are just a mass of atoms.  The Atheistic, big-bang view is even worse, for there is no spirit at all, just collections of electrons that somehow generate the illusion of consciousness.

The central tenet of this Treatise on Cosmology is that everything is an extension of God.  There is no disconnect between "God" and the Universe.  Everything is a part of an organic whole, Divinity Itself.  There is no such thing as "profane" time or activities.

Everything is Sacred.  Everything, and Everyone, is Divine.

What we lack is an awareness of this.

The Three Myths

The Treatise on Cosmology establishes adjustments to 3 primary myths:

1. The Myth of Evolution.  Put as many atoms together, shaken as much as you want, for as long as you want, and you will still never get symphony orchestras.  Consciousness precedes matter, and all matter has a conscious counterpart.  Energy / Mass is the result of a super-consciousness we can not imagine; The Brain is the result of a super-consciousness we cannot imagine; as a computer is the result of a super-consciousness it cannot imagine.

2. The Myth of Creation.  "Thou art the potter, I am the clay" is a cute but antiquated model.  Before God could mold the clay, "He" had to manifest the clay out of Himself.  The real truth is much higher and more challenging, in that everything is a developed extension of The One.

3. The Myth of God.  In almost all conceptions "God" is just a really big, really powerful human.  This anthropomorphic conceptualization is a part of mankind's youth, and has no place in a post-nuclear dawn.  The notion of the bearded guy in a glowing robe sitting on a throne, deciding who "He" does and does not like, must go the way of witch burning and superstition.

"We shall lose the wonder, and find nothing in return..."  But we must be careful not to just repudiate the past.  We must replace these ancient notions with more relevant models.  That is my purpose here.

Pause for Reflection

Look, my friends.  These may appear to be strange ideas to you, but they are not all that weird.

Think about yourself.  You have (hopefully) toes.  They are a part of you.  They are not a part of anything or anyone else.  In that respect, they are "you."  If someone hits your arm, you do not say "You hit a part of me," you say "You hit ME."  My toe is me, my nose is me, all of my body is me.  Yet, "I" am still much more than my body.

That's really all the Treatise is saying.  Everything is a part of Gad, attached to God, "growing out of God" just like your hair and fingernails grow out of you.  But everything here in matter is just a small part of the whole.  The fullness of God lies far beyond this world.

That is the problem with pantheism.  It takes some small part of God and worships it as though it is the whole.  It would be like someone wanting to just marry your left arm.  A little weird.

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