Spirituality In Politics

  • Home
  • Intro
  • Articles Index
    • Introductory
      • 1. Metaphysics in a Spiritual Society
      • 2. The Spirit of Guidance
      • 3. Divination
      • 4. Raynor C. Johnson: The Imprisoned Splendour
    • Articles 2: Headline Policies for a Spiritual Society
      • Education
        • The Importance of Fairy Tales
        • The Importance of Fairy Tales, Part 2 – Fairy Tales and Feminists
        • Fairy Tales and Feminism – the Story of Psyche
        • Fairy Tales and Feminism — the Story of Psyche, Interpretation
        • Save Our Fairy Tales — Concluding Remarks
    • ARTICLES 3: MORE DETAILED IDEAS
      • Politics from a Taoist Perspective – Arguing for the Centre
      • Politics from the Centre — Is that the only way forward?
      • Changing the World – Spirituality or Socialism?
      • The Superorganism – a Challenge to Materialist Science
      • Is the Earth a Superorganism?
      • Humanity as Part of the Superorganism
    • Articles 4 The Role of the Citizen
      • The Role of the Citizen in a Spiritual Society
      • Reflections on Eastern and Western Spirituality
    • The Superorganism Question and the European Union
    • A Vision for a Spiritual United Kingdom Outside the European Union
    • Consciousness
      • Is the Self an Illusion – Series Introduction
        • Is the Self an Illusion? – Neuroscience, Gurdjieff and Buddhism
        • Is the Self an Illusion? – The Opposing Viewpoint
        • Is the Self an Illusion? — Yes and No
        • Is the Self an Illusion? — Summary and Conclusions
      • The Hidden, Deeper Self - Introduction
        • The Hidden, Deeper Self - Freudian Slips
        • The Hidden, Deeper Self - Dreams
        • The Hidden, Deeper Self – Synchronicity
        • The Hidden, Deeper Self - Automatic Writing
        • The Hidden, Deeper Self – Divination
    • Why Christianity Must Change or Die – Introduction
      • Christianity Must Change or Die — Gnosticism and Carl Jung
      • Significant Moments in Church History – Introduction
        • Number 1, The Council of Nicaea, 325AD
        • Number 2 – The Anathema Against Origen, 553 A.D.
          • Reincarnation and Christianity
    • Was Jesus Divine? – Introduction
      • Was Jesus Divine, the Son of God? – 1. The Adoptionist Problem
      • 2. The Jewish Messiah
      • 3. The Eschatological Prophet
      • 4. Shakespeare’s Heretical Play
      • 5. The Resurrection of Jesus – part 1
      • Was Jesus Divine, the Son of God? - Summary and Conclusions so far
      • 6. Was Jesus Married?
      • 7. Was Jesus Married? — part 2
      • 8. Was Jesus Married? — part 3
  • Blog Introduction
    • Blog Index
    • Religion and Spirituality
    • Politics
    • Science
    • Mythology
    • Miscellaneous
  • Contact

The Hard Problem of Consciousness — Afterthoughts 1

20th November 2020

Image for post

    This is the latest in a series of articles. In the previous one I offered a spiritual solution to the so-called Hard Problem of Consciousness. This was based on two almost identical understandings of what it means to be human, one by the author Raynor C. Johnson, and another by the Theosophical Society. Both say that a human being is a hierarchy of several bodies. If required, please consult the previous article  (click here) for the details.

    In the articles which follow this one I’ll consider whether there is actually any evidence which might lead us to believe that this scenario is correct. Before I start that, it’s worth considering how this hierarchical system works.

    According to the significant religions and spiritual traditions, the multi-levelled universe is ultimately nothing but consciousness in its various manifestations, a philosophy known as idealism. How therefore should we understand the existence of all these different bodies/levels of reality? I think a useful analogy is that of making a sauce with flour. The liquid at the beginning represents the original primal consciousness. This is completely fluid. Then, as flour is added, the mixture becomes progressively thicker. At some point, if enough flour is added, the sauce becomes completely solid, what we call physical reality, the body. However, no matter how much flour is used, and no matter how thick the sauce becomes, there have only ever been two ingredients, the original liquid (consciousness) and the thickening agent (flour).

    This analogy, however, only takes us so far. If we have these distinct levels of reality, represented by the hierarchy of bodies, this suggests that a significant amount of flour has been added each time, in order to create the next denser level. On the other hand, there seems no reason why we could not add just a small amount of flour; that is actually what we might expect as one level becomes more dense in order to create another.

    The question therefore arises whether there are any further intermediate levels. Raynor Johnson does refer to these several times: the mental body which contains “the many lower levels of mind”, the astral body which “is itself composed of many substrata or interpenetrating levels”. He also describes the etheric double as being “interposed between the astral and physical bodies. It is not a functional body or vehicle, but it may best be regarded as a bridge between the physical and astral bodies”. From our vantage point within the physical body, it is hard to contemplate what all this looks like in reality.

    Another possibility might be ghosts. (I’ve never seen one, but I know someone who has.) They would seem to be interdimensional — not actually physical, but somehow dense enough to be visible to humans. This suggests a level between the physical body and the astral. I’ve always assumed that a ghost would be some form of the astral body, but could it be what Johnson calls the etheric double?

    As I said, in the next article or articles, I’ll consider whether there is actually any evidence to suggest that this scenario of hierarchical bodies is correct.

· Religion and Spirituality

Recent Posts

  • Quantum Physics and No Spirituality — Carlo Rovelli and Helgoland
  • Quantum Physics and Spirituality — Danah Zohar and a Quantum Worldview
  • Quantum Physics and Spirituality — Danah Zohar and a New Society, part 8
  • Quantum Physics and Spirituality — Danah Zohar and a New Society, part 7, Quantum Relationships
  • Quantum Physics and Spirituality — Danah Zohar and a New Society, part 6

Copyright © 2022 · Simply Pro Theme by Bloom Blog Shop.