The Spiritual Life consists primarily of two interrelated factors - Mind over Matter (otherwise known as 'Creation by mere Thought') and Mental Telepathy (also known as 'Clairvoyance').
These two, working together, are the underlying principles upon which a genuine Spiritual Life is based.
It is impossible to understand correctly either the Bible or the teachings and Way of Life of the Orthodox Church without an understanding of these two principles and how they work together in a synergistic manner.
Thinking/Feeling/Willing taken together equals Intent.
Essentially, we have been given the power to create at will merely by intending that it be so.
Presently, there is a 'governor' placed on our ability to bring things into being in the form of Time/Space and the Laws of Physics.
This governor is only applicable as a guardian until we are able to handle this awesome power with responsibility. At that point this governor begins to recede and ultimately, to disappear entirely.
The only way to handle the power and ability to bring things into being instantaneously is to develop a symbiotic, telepathic relationship with God who is everywhere present and fills all things.
God knows all of creation intimately, knows how to bring things into being in complete harmony and balance with All-That-Is and is willing to share that Knowledge, Wisdom and Power with each of us if we so desire…
These principles are the means of understanding correctly everything written in the Bible and are at the heart of the Orthodox Way of Life.
Western Civilization on the other hand, has sought to understand the Laws of Nature from the much more limited perspective of logic, reason and extrapolation based primarily on the subjective evidence of our five senses and then, to bend nature to suit our own ends.
This temporal and extremely limited perspective can't help but be incomplete at best and at worst, be fraught with serious repercussions and a whole host of disastrous, unintended consequences.
In fact, the world that we have built with logic and reason with ourselves as the central focus is rapidly coming apart at the seams. The center cannot hold, the wholeness of things has been seriously disturbed and the chickens are coming home to roost, (whatever that used to mean...)
In other words, what goes around, comes around and as we have sown, so shall we reap. Not to mention that, as we approach the Singularity, Instant Karma gonna get us.
We live in a time most accurately described as 'The Decline of the West' and quite possibly as the 'Apex of Apostasy'.
It is quite likely that our present civilization, built on these limited and incomplete principles will continue to devolve into tyranny and barbarism.
Without the ability to reform human nature that a genuine spiritual life provides, the only logical solution may very well become a One World Government, a Microchipped Population and a Totalitarian set of extremely strict and comprehensive laws which will dictate our every move from the cradle to the grave, (for our own good, of course…)
Under the guise of 'basic human rights ', the masses will be provided with a substance living while the Elite, who suffer the burden of having to oversee the rest of us, will take the cream off the top before divvying up whatever is left to the rest of us.
What to do? What to do?
Well, no one in their right mind would ever suggest that living an actual Christian life might be the best solution because Christianity, especially here in the West, has stepped away from Orthodoxy for the last thousand years and henceforth, obviously become ineffectual and downright counterproductive.
The schismatic forms of Christianity that we have inherited here in the West have caused more harm than good and have given all of Christianity a bad reputation.
Even Orthodoxy, to one extent or another, has suffered from its exposure to modernity and has lost touch with its ability to be a constructive and positive influence on the world.
Nevertheless, a remnant still exists and always will continue to exist.
For this reason, it behooves us not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' and to reexamine both, the Bible and the Orthodox Christian Way of Life in light of the two basic principles mentioned above.
In this way, we may very well discover an unexpected and almost unimaginable response to the crisis we find ourselves in, a response that has the power and ability to transform ourselves and our world entirely.
Now, I'm not saying that Orthodoxy is necessarily the only way to understand and accomplish these things, however, in my own personal experience, it is the best and most effective way, which contains extremely helpful elements not found anywhere else.
This world is meant to be a 'stepping off place' into another kind of reality altogether where whatever we Intend comes into being instantaneously and we were originally Created to be 'like' God and to become gods in our own right.
As counterintuitive as it may seem from the evidence of what the modern world seems to provide, this is still the case and still ours for the asking.
"Even Orthodoxy, to one extent or another, has suffered from its exposure to modernity and has lost touch with its ability to be a constructive and positive influence on the world."
This is a sobering and sadly needed caveat. As an Orthodox trying to live an Orthodox life and build Orthodox community, the staunch fact is that today's "Faith of our Fathers" shares much in common with the form of Protestant Tent Revivalism.
Theologians like Romanides and Lossky saw how "Western" the Church had become and sought to bring us back to some kind of Patristic consensus throughout the 20th Century, but the East had been "Enlightened" for nearly 500 years at that point.
The (re)discovery of Eastern Christendom by the West is better, more mystical, than Western Christendom, but still almost completely imbued with Enlightenment values and agency laundering. There is a pseudo-gnostic nominalism at the heart of American spiritualism that most are simply unable (or unwilling) to shake.
A not-insignificant percentage of Orthodox people I know are on Zoloft or some form of SSRI. Even in the hospital for souls, the doctor's vestments are still predominant!
I'm genuinely blown away by how deeply this resonates with my own understanding.
Your articulation of the relationship between individual and larger consciousness perfectly expresses how we participate in reality without losing our uniqueness. And your insight about continuous creation ex nihilo, that reality is constantly receiving its form rather than existing as static matter is exactly my view.
The way you describe matter as a medium rather than a prison.. To me, I hear reality itself is sacramental, physical forms that conceals SO AS TO reveal deeper spiritual presence.
I'd love to explore these parallels further. There's something extremely vital and important here about how consciousness flows between divine and human awareness through physical reality.
I don't know anyone else who shares these ideas....
Where laws of nature and laws of physics loosen, may be contained in the mathematical clauses and phrases in which a so called “constant” occurs. Is the speed of sound constant or just appear to be close to a constant?
Same question with gravity and with speed of light and with co-efficient of forces of attraction and repulsion “constants”
Second law of thermodynamics has constants in its mathematical equation which I know can be altered a bit by meditation among other things.
The Path not taken
The Spiritual Life consists primarily of two interrelated factors - Mind over Matter (otherwise known as 'Creation by mere Thought') and Mental Telepathy (also known as 'Clairvoyance').
These two, working together, are the underlying principles upon which a genuine Spiritual Life is based.
It is impossible to understand correctly either the Bible or the teachings and Way of Life of the Orthodox Church without an understanding of these two principles and how they work together in a synergistic manner.
Thinking/Feeling/Willing taken together equals Intent.
Essentially, we have been given the power to create at will merely by intending that it be so.
Presently, there is a 'governor' placed on our ability to bring things into being in the form of Time/Space and the Laws of Physics.
This governor is only applicable as a guardian until we are able to handle this awesome power with responsibility. At that point this governor begins to recede and ultimately, to disappear entirely.
The only way to handle the power and ability to bring things into being instantaneously is to develop a symbiotic, telepathic relationship with God who is everywhere present and fills all things.
God knows all of creation intimately, knows how to bring things into being in complete harmony and balance with All-That-Is and is willing to share that Knowledge, Wisdom and Power with each of us if we so desire…
These principles are the means of understanding correctly everything written in the Bible and are at the heart of the Orthodox Way of Life.
Western Civilization on the other hand, has sought to understand the Laws of Nature from the much more limited perspective of logic, reason and extrapolation based primarily on the subjective evidence of our five senses and then, to bend nature to suit our own ends.
This temporal and extremely limited perspective can't help but be incomplete at best and at worst, be fraught with serious repercussions and a whole host of disastrous, unintended consequences.
In fact, the world that we have built with logic and reason with ourselves as the central focus is rapidly coming apart at the seams. The center cannot hold, the wholeness of things has been seriously disturbed and the chickens are coming home to roost, (whatever that used to mean...)
In other words, what goes around, comes around and as we have sown, so shall we reap. Not to mention that, as we approach the Singularity, Instant Karma gonna get us.
We live in a time most accurately described as 'The Decline of the West' and quite possibly as the 'Apex of Apostasy'.
It is quite likely that our present civilization, built on these limited and incomplete principles will continue to devolve into tyranny and barbarism.
Without the ability to reform human nature that a genuine spiritual life provides, the only logical solution may very well become a One World Government, a Microchipped Population and a Totalitarian set of extremely strict and comprehensive laws which will dictate our every move from the cradle to the grave, (for our own good, of course…)
Under the guise of 'basic human rights ', the masses will be provided with a substance living while the Elite, who suffer the burden of having to oversee the rest of us, will take the cream off the top before divvying up whatever is left to the rest of us.
What to do? What to do?
Well, no one in their right mind would ever suggest that living an actual Christian life might be the best solution because Christianity, especially here in the West, has stepped away from Orthodoxy for the last thousand years and henceforth, obviously become ineffectual and downright counterproductive.
The schismatic forms of Christianity that we have inherited here in the West have caused more harm than good and have given all of Christianity a bad reputation.
Even Orthodoxy, to one extent or another, has suffered from its exposure to modernity and has lost touch with its ability to be a constructive and positive influence on the world.
Nevertheless, a remnant still exists and always will continue to exist.
For this reason, it behooves us not to 'throw the baby out with the bathwater' and to reexamine both, the Bible and the Orthodox Christian Way of Life in light of the two basic principles mentioned above.
In this way, we may very well discover an unexpected and almost unimaginable response to the crisis we find ourselves in, a response that has the power and ability to transform ourselves and our world entirely.
Now, I'm not saying that Orthodoxy is necessarily the only way to understand and accomplish these things, however, in my own personal experience, it is the best and most effective way, which contains extremely helpful elements not found anywhere else.
This world is meant to be a 'stepping off place' into another kind of reality altogether where whatever we Intend comes into being instantaneously and we were originally Created to be 'like' God and to become gods in our own right.
As counterintuitive as it may seem from the evidence of what the modern world seems to provide, this is still the case and still ours for the asking.
So be it! Amen, Amen, Amen!
An original and unexpected solution to the various misfortunes we are beset with in the modern world!
https://substack.com/profile/100124894-steven-berger/note/c-42590036
"Even Orthodoxy, to one extent or another, has suffered from its exposure to modernity and has lost touch with its ability to be a constructive and positive influence on the world."
This is a sobering and sadly needed caveat. As an Orthodox trying to live an Orthodox life and build Orthodox community, the staunch fact is that today's "Faith of our Fathers" shares much in common with the form of Protestant Tent Revivalism.
Theologians like Romanides and Lossky saw how "Western" the Church had become and sought to bring us back to some kind of Patristic consensus throughout the 20th Century, but the East had been "Enlightened" for nearly 500 years at that point.
The (re)discovery of Eastern Christendom by the West is better, more mystical, than Western Christendom, but still almost completely imbued with Enlightenment values and agency laundering. There is a pseudo-gnostic nominalism at the heart of American spiritualism that most are simply unable (or unwilling) to shake.
A not-insignificant percentage of Orthodox people I know are on Zoloft or some form of SSRI. Even in the hospital for souls, the doctor's vestments are still predominant!
Many such cases. Lord have mercy.
https://stevenberger.substack.com/p/creation-by-mere-thought-why-havent
Steven,
I'm genuinely blown away by how deeply this resonates with my own understanding.
Your articulation of the relationship between individual and larger consciousness perfectly expresses how we participate in reality without losing our uniqueness. And your insight about continuous creation ex nihilo, that reality is constantly receiving its form rather than existing as static matter is exactly my view.
The way you describe matter as a medium rather than a prison.. To me, I hear reality itself is sacramental, physical forms that conceals SO AS TO reveal deeper spiritual presence.
I'd love to explore these parallels further. There's something extremely vital and important here about how consciousness flows between divine and human awareness through physical reality.
I don't know anyone else who shares these ideas....
It's very much what the Orthodox Church is really all about, (though very few seem to realize it…)
The writings of the Fathers of the Church talk about it in depth, but the ‘language’ they use has become a foreign language to most of us.
What I try to do is to ‘translate’ that language into something a little easier for us to understand and hopefully, be able to make use of.
Thank you for your encouragement!
https://open.substack.com/pub/stevenberger/p/quantum-mechanics?r=1nm0v2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://substack.com/@stevenberger/note/c-83936440?r=1nm0v2
https://substack.com/profile/100124894-steven-berger/note/c-46059948
https://stevenberger.substack.com/p/a-most-profitable-discourse-on-sobriety
Where laws of nature and laws of physics loosen, may be contained in the mathematical clauses and phrases in which a so called “constant” occurs. Is the speed of sound constant or just appear to be close to a constant?
Same question with gravity and with speed of light and with co-efficient of forces of attraction and repulsion “constants”
Second law of thermodynamics has constants in its mathematical equation which I know can be altered a bit by meditation among other things.
https://stevenberger.substack.com/p/creation-by-mere-thought-why-havent?utm_medium=reader2
Creation by mere thought! Why haven't I seen this all along?
https://youtu.be/zy7XEMeBROQ?feature=shared