"You are not IN the Universe,
you ARE the Universe,
an intrinsic part of it.
Ultimately, you are not a person,
but a focal point where the Universe
is becoming conscious of itself.
What an amazing miracle!"
~Eckhart Tolle
"You are a function of what the whole Universe is doing in the same way that a Wave is a function of what the whole Ocean is doing." . . . ~Alan Watts
I remember this kind of stuff from college. Am I, are we, the Universe experiencing itself? It sounds fun. Idolizing the Universe is tempting, because it´s so big! And beautiful! But, am I the Crab Nebula "experiencing itself"? Well, I like the idea because it allows me to perceive my and our continuity with physics´ type energy and matter, and better, ecosystems. Yet, philosophy of systems notes emergent properties. We living beings, and we higher mammals, and we language-using humans, have certain unusual characteristics. So, while Sagan said, "We are starstuff, forged in a furnace!" the actual supernova was a long time ago. We as human animals have evolved through lots of natural selection since then. And historical, cultural, and psychological development.
We can be grateful for knowing about nuclear fusion and supernovae (s), because we are a specific PART of the Universe with unusual abilities, and those abilities are not just physical, nor just biochemical. Being "grateful," as opposed to just ecstatic, involves qualities like in Huston Smith´s saying, in books like The World´s Religions, "The purpose of (things like spiritual practice) isn´t altered states, but altered traits." John D Rockefeller founded Standard Oil with a ruthless reputation, while his descendant R Rockefeller, MD devoted his medical skills to Doctors Without Borders, and founded an alternative non-currency Hour Exchange in Portland, Maine. Richard Alpert was a secular Jewish psychologist who went to India and returned as "Ram Dass," founding a not-for-profit to teach meditation in prisons.
That "ecstatic cosmology" has characteristics that need to be grounded to greater relevance and sustainability, and awareness of personal and transpersonal health. Joseph Campbell made interesting connections in his books like Myths We Live By, including to shamanism. I always liked linking JC to Jung. In Jung´s vein, Karen Armstrong validates spiritual practice and a transcendental ultimate reality. The Universe came from somewhere, and confusing the Universe with us blows continuity out of proportion. It seems like a reaction against scientific reductionism, but it misplaces the Universe alone equating it to our spiritual experience, interdependence, emotional awareness, needs around empathy, and the Universe´s own cause. Continuity exists, but there are distinctions that reflect our emergent minds and spiritual experience that has a specific religious history, broader anthropological diversity, involving a materialistic down side of biological tendencies summed up by the Buddha as ignorance, greed, and hatred.
It was Moses´ Top 10, ca 1690 BC/E by D Rohl´s chronology, that linked things like murder to God and prophetic history, and Jesus´ fulfillment of Moses´ 10 with 2 plus about lovingkindness that have led to telescopes, the UN, UNDP, and UNEP. Greenpeace´s slogan has been, "This Fragile Earth Needs a Voice," and Oxfam´s Make Trade Fair. Both groups included Quaker founders. Human life and Western Civ´s UN community are PARTS of the Universe, and Jesus´ commandments are key parts of Western Civ. Sustainability, too. Redemptive Panentheism truly offers hope, when all is said and done.
How does your continuity with Universe make you feel, and any differences you might observe? Is it God, as pantheists seem to imagine, or what, in your view? Thoughts?
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