Changes

Recall that the first rule of formulating a good scientific [[hypothesis]] is to start with the most elegantly simple explanation, not the more complex. In this case the simple explanation is that '''there are not two but three building blocks, matter, energy, and consciousness, and all three are interchangeable, co-equal, [[eternal]], neither created nor destroyed'''.  From the standpoint of simple observation we routinely see that when matter/energy becomes assembled in more complex ways, it becomes increasingly conscious.  Is not consciousness therefore the third partner of matter/energy, the underlying impulse that drives matter to self-assemble into complex forms in the first place?  This makes consciousness not a product, but a progenitor of [[physics]].  If so, then it [[logic]]ally follows that there is a larger Consciousness (capital C) underlying what we know and [[experience]] as our [[individual]] consciousness.  Indeed it could be said that we are only conscious as individuals because  we participate in this larger ([[universal]]) Consciousness.  This touches on the core [[idea]] of so many forms of [[mysticism]], which is that the universe itself is enchanted and alive, not [[mind]]less and dead. To hold this [[frame of reference|viewpoint]] is the first step on the path to religiousness.  Beyond that first step, of course, religion branches out in many directions.  Some will heavily personify Consciousness in the form of one or more [[transcendent]] [[Deity|deities]].  Others will understand Consciousness to be thoroughly embedded within [[nature]].  At this point we have no concern with those or other branches of developed religion.  Our inquiry is concerned only with the possibility of a common starting point to religious [[thought]] and [[feeling]].

Recall that the first rule of formulating a good scientific [[hypothesis]] is to start with the most elegantly simple explanation, not the more complex. In this case the simple explanation is that '''there are not two but three building blocks, matter, energy, and consciousness, and all three are interchangeable, co-equal, [[eternal]], neither created nor destroyed'''.  From the standpoint of simple observation we routinely see that when matter/energy becomes assembled in more complex ways, it becomes increasingly conscious.  Is not consciousness therefore the third partner of matter/energy, the underlying impulse that drives matter to self-assemble into complex forms in the first place?  This makes consciousness not a product, but a progenitor of [[physics]].  If so, then it [[logic]]ally follows that there is a larger Consciousness (capital C) underlying what we know and [[experience]] as our [[individual]] consciousness.  Indeed it could be said that we are only conscious as individuals because  we participate in this larger ([[universal]]) Consciousness.  This touches on the core [[idea]] of so many forms of [[mysticism]], which is that the universe itself is enchanted and alive, not [[mind]]less and dead. To hold this [[frame of reference|viewpoint]] is the first step on the path to religiousness.  Beyond that first step, of course, religion branches out in many directions.  Some will heavily personify Consciousness in the form of one or more [[transcendent]] [[Deity|deities]].  Others will understand Consciousness to be thoroughly embedded within [[nature]].  At this point we have no concern with those or other branches of developed religion.  Our inquiry is concerned only with the possibility of a common starting point to religious [[thought]] and [[feeling]].

==Proposition==

==Proposition==

In terms of that starting point I propose that the definitive difference between the religious [[person]] and the non-religious person is that '''the non-religious person believes in the Two Things''' (matter, energy) '''and the religious person believes in the Three Things''' (matter, energy, consciousness).  Religion builds on the [[intuition|intuitive]] certainty that consciousness is not a mere mechanical [[product]] of matter/energy.  Consciousness therefore must transcend, be equal to, or be embedded within matter and energy.  Even primitive people lacking the modern [[concept]] of matter/energy could certainty note that consciousness as experienced [[Phenomena|phenomenologically]] is qualitatively different from the routine mechanics otherwise observed in nature.  With us they no [[doubt]] shared the [[feeling]] of not being responsible for one's own consciousness, and from there it is a simple step to externalize, project, and name the result "[[God]]."  It is true in a sense that man always produces God, but that must be qualified by pointing out that this production is not only inevitable, but in fact impossible if God--or Universal Consciousness--did not actually exist.  Thus in their awe for the living [[quality]] of the universe, as initially experienced within themselves, men proceeded to create an extensive anthology of legends and [[myth]]s in response. Without even knowing the number or names of the Three Things they believed in, they fleshed them out in story. Christian myth comes breathtakingly close with its Holy [[Trinity]] of [[Universal Father|Father]] (energy), Son (matter), and [[Holy Spirit]] (consciousness). Myth has many names for God, but clearly they all refer to the unknown [[power]] that urges [[matter]] toward ever more complex forms, animates nature with consciousness, and even makes the [[Ascension|ascent]] toward [[love]] possible.

In terms of that starting point I propose that the definitive difference between the religious [[person]] and the non-religious person is that '''the non-religious person believes in the Two Things''' (matter, energy) '''and the religious person believes in the Three Things''' (matter, energy, consciousness).  Religion builds on the [[intuition|intuitive]] certainty that consciousness is not a mere mechanical [[product]] of matter/energy.  Consciousness therefore must transcend, be equal to, or be embedded within matter and energy.  Even primitive people lacking the modern [[concept]] of matter/energy could certainty have noted that consciousness as experienced [[Phenomena|phenomenologically]] is qualitatively different from the routine mechanics otherwise observed in nature.  With us they no [[doubt]] shared the [[feeling]] of not being responsible for one's own consciousness, and from there it is a simple step to externalize, project, and name the result "[[God]]."  It is true in a sense that man always produces God, but that must be qualified by pointing out that this production is not only inevitable, but in fact impossible if God--or Universal Consciousness--did not actually exist.  Thus in their awe for the living [[quality]] of the universe, as initially experienced within themselves, men proceeded to create an extensive anthology of legends and [[myth]]s in response. Without even knowing the number or names of the Three Things they believed in, they fleshed them out in story. Christian myth comes breathtakingly close with its Holy [[Trinity]] of [[Universal Father|Father]] (energy), Son (matter), and [[Holy Spirit]] (consciousness). Myth has many names for God, but clearly they all refer to the unknown [[power]] that urges [[matter]] toward ever more complex forms, animates nature with consciousness, and even makes the [[Ascension|ascent]] toward [[love]] possible.

==See Also==

==See Also==

*[[Spirituality]]

*[[Spirituality]]