A World Beyond

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to ask:

• do human beings have a spiritual as well as a physical nature?
• do near death experiences and profound epiphanies point to a spiritual realm beyond the physical?
• does the persistence of religion in the modern world point to a spiritual reality?
• are there other indicators?

I also argue that the spiritual life is unique to the individual and does not have to involve religous beliefs.

Homo religiosus 

In the caverns of Lascaux in France there are 30,000 year old cave paintings that clearly show this early
human society was involved in rituals, an expression of religious belief. Karen Armstrong begins her book "The Case for God" with these paintings. She discusses the importance of myth and ritual in shaping human understanding, and the role of religion in helping people make sense of their existence and the mysteries of life. She titles this chapter, Homo religiosus to develop the idea there is more to Homo sapiens than the merely physical, and despite thousands of years of human history and the scientific revolution, religious belief is still firmly embedded in the human race. Why should this be? Science tells us we are only complex biological machines so do we pretend we have a spiritual side because we can’t face an uncomfortable truth, or is our spiritual nature actually as real as our DNA?

If the word "spiritual" does represent some kind of non-physical reality must we accept there is a God? Not at all, there is a big problem with the G-word.

The Problem with the G-word.

In her Introduction to The Case for God, Armstrong writes: 

God is not a being at all. And that we really don't know what we mean when we say he is good, wise or intelligent. People of faith… sometimes assume they know exactly who He is and what He thinks, loves, and expects. We tend to tame and domesticate God's otherness. We regularly ask God to bless our nation. Save our Queen, cure our sickness, or give us a fine day for the picnic. We remind God that He created the world and that we are miserable sinners, as though this may have slipped His mind. 

Here we have the nub of the problem. The word “God” means what exactly? 

In “The Christian Agnostic”, Leslie Weatherhead, a Methodist minister, began the chapter “God and Guesses” as follows: 

There is something almost ludicrous in sitting down at a desk and writing the word God at the top of a sheet of paper and then being presumptuous enough to add. Anything. So, the Ant or the Mouse might be imagined sitting down to write about man. Having just written the word God. I feel that the most appropriate thing to do would be to leave half a dozen blank sheets of paper. … No language can do other than belittle. No words can be other than caricature. 

Weatherhead invites his readers to explore faith through personal experience and reason. 

CS Lewis, famous for the Narnia stories is a widely read Christian apologist.  In his poem, “The Footnote to All Prayers” he says he cannot comprehend the God to whom he prays: The poem begins:

He whom I bow to, only knows to whom I bow
When I attempt the ineffable Name, muttering Thou,
And dream of Pheidian fancies and embrace in heart
Symbols (I know) which cannot be the thing Thou art.

(Pheidias was an Ancient Greek sculptor, who made statues of the gods)

Weatherhead also says:

 “to prove his existence is impossible if the word proved is used in any scientific, unanswerable sense. To quote authorities is futile. … There is no authority for God's existence except the inward conviction that is born of mystical experience.

All three writers are saying the very word “God” is a big problem because it cannot be defined. Dictionaries are useless – no one knows what G-O-D actually means. Weatherhead says it's like an ant or a mouse defining a human being –clearly impossible! “G” = “mystery” is the equation.

But we don’t like mystery, we want to know, and over the centuries religions with their holy books, prophets and teachers claim to have solved the G-mystery. The plain fact is, the existence of so many different faiths and the many sub-divisions in each one (45,000 in Christianity alone) demonstrates the mystery remains a mystery.

Hafiz: “Dear ones, beware of the tiny gods frightened men create to bring anaesthetic relief to their sad days”

The temptation is to agree with Stephen Fry, “Religion sod it”. There is no mystery because there is no G. But there is another approach. If we really are spiritual beings and there really is a spiritual realm then we should expect what Weatherhead calls mystical experiences - epiphanies.

Epiphanies

Epiphanies are totally unexpected, fleeting moments experienced by single individuals that have a profound impact on those who receive them, leaving an inward, unshakeable conviction. They include those “aha” moments of deep insight which open up new possibilities for a person’s life.

A N Whitehead: “only at rare intervals does the deeper and vaster world come through into conscious thought or expression, but they are the memorable moments of life. It is then, if ever, that the door to the invisible world silently swings open, and something of the wonder and greatness of the spiritual universe is flashed upon the soul.”

Roger Bacon: “Of the three ways of acquiring knowledge, authority, reasoning, and experience, only the last is effective.”

Examples of epiphanies:

• Spiritual Experiences: Many people report feeling a profound sense of connection with a higher power during meditation, prayer, or moments of deep reflection.
• Nature: Some individuals feel a divine presence when they are in nature, such as witnessing a breathtaking sunset, standing at the edge of a vast ocean, or hiking in the mountains.
• Near-Death Experiences: There are numerous accounts of people who have had near-death experiences and describe encountering a divine being or feeling a sense of peace and love.
• Acts of Kindness: Witnessing or being part of acts of kindness and compassion can sometimes feel like a divine intervention or presence.
• Art and Music: Engaging with or creating art and music can evoke a sense of the divine, as these forms of expression often tap into deep emotions and transcend everyday experiences.

These encounters can be deeply meaningful and transformative, providing individuals with a sense of purpose, peace, and connection to something greater than themselves. But though they may convince one person there is something greater than themselves, they don't convince anyone else. We all need our own epiphanies. 

Longing & Guilt

If we are spiritual beings, it would be normal for us to have a longing for spiritual fulfilment, like an exile longing for home. But do we?

Children’s literature and fantasy writing tap into this kind of longing. The conflict between good and evil is played out in the stories, hidden worlds are just a step away from our own, and children set out on heroic quests.  In Narnia it is Winter but never Christmas; the power of the White Witch must be broken, and it is children stepping into Narnia through the back of a wardrobe who bring about her downfall. In Harry Potter, Platform 93/4 is the portal to another realm where the power of Voldemort is on the rise, and in Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, a Subtle Knife cuts through the space-time fabric between worlds.

Is our love of these stories a pointer to our spiritual exile? It is interesting to note that Jesus said we have to become like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

There are two sides to our nature, the selfish and the unselfish, that are often in conflict. We feel guilty when our selfishness prevails and our actions or words cause hurt and suffering. In Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, Fowler feels guilty that his actions caused the death of Pyle. He says, “How I wished there existed someone to whom I could say that I was sorry.”

Are the longing for something more for our lives and the desire to be free of guilt just part of the human condition or are they pointers to a spiritual self we should not ignore? 

Perhaps epiphanies and “aha” moments of illumination are times when a door swings briefly open  and a sublime Spiritual Mystery makes connection with our spirits?

A journey only you can make

Human beings are gregarious. We mostly live, work, play, and relax with other people. We join organisations, clubs, societies and so on and share our lives with others. But our spiritual journey is ours alone – it cannot be shared, and neither can we share in any other journey. 

Religions do not allow for individual journeys. They have an exclusive take on the spiritual life - it’s mostly their way or no way. Though Quakers are an exception, welcoming people with all beliefs and none. Making a spiritual journey does not mean conforming to someone else's idea of what it should be. 

Jesus spent his brief teaching ministry focussed on the individual. He preached about the Kingdom of Heaven and wanted everyone to enter it, but he knew each person had their own spiritual journey and tailored his words to meet their need. A woman collecting water from a well heard something very different from a rich young man who wanted to follow Jesus. In Jesus’ story of the Prodigal Son the father had different words for his two sons. He told a story about a lost sheep not a lost flock. When Peter, one of his followers asked him. “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus replied, “If I will that he remains till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." What is that to you? That man’s journey is not yours. 

Jesus didn’t conform to the rules of his own religion and poured scorn on some of the religious teachers, calling them whitewashed graves, - “You don’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven yourselves and you prevent other people from entering.”

We all have a spiritual life to lead. You don’t have to believe in God (whatever that means) or be a member of a religion to live spiritually. But you do need to make time for reading and quiet reflection, and be more aware of your spiritual nature and allow for new possibilities. 

Perhaps there will be epiphanies” and aha” moments where a door swings open and new worlds open up.

 “The longest journey Is the journey inwards, of him who has chosen his destiny, who has started upon his quest for the source of his being."  

Dag Hammarskjöld : (Sec. Gen of UN)