The Religion of the Universe
In fact, the title of “The Religion of the Universe” is a bit of an overstatement. Please bear in mind that what I am about to convey here is what I’ve learned so far, and I’m sure there are people out there much more knowledgeable than me about this subject. I wish they could share their knowledge with me, so I could learn more from them as well.
When I talk about the religion of the universe, I’m not talking about a religion only applicable to our world but rather one that’s relevant for the whole universe. Our planet is of course a part of the universe, so it applies to us as well. In other words, I am talking about the basic rules that are acknowledged throughout the whole universe. Don’t ask me how I know this because I don’t know. It has not come from an angel, channel, or revelation. All I know is there are oracles that came out after my deep reflections and meditations. I came up with these ideas after a long process of deep contemplation. They could be regarded as a thesis, which is obviously open to debate, developed after a considerable amount of research.
The things I’ll explain here are real to me. They are, shall we say, my truth. Others might think or believe quite the opposite. No one can force me to defend my beliefs and thoughts, so I cannot judge others’ beliefs either. In fact, the suggested religion I’ll be mentioning here relies entirely on this way of thinking. These are the basic rules that are immutable, no matter which religion we believe in, or even if we don’t believe in a religion at all. A temple for any kind of religion or belief system can easily be built on this structure. In other words, once these basic rules are acknowledged, any additional beliefs, whether individual or collective, can be considered glorious. This is why I neither criticize anyone’s beliefs nor impose my beliefs on others. All people are free to believe in whatever they want, and they can take whichever path they prefer. I feel I’ve fulfilled my duty when people hear what I say, think about my words, and maybe embrace them. It doesn’t matter who it is. My duty is to convey what I think. The rest comes through joint decision, as I will explain later…
I’ve written many articles before, but believe me when I say this particular article excites me the most, although my fingers are a little indecisive on the keyboard. This isn’t because I don’t know what to write but rather because I’ve struggled hard for a long time about whether to write this or not. I actually know well what to write. At the end of this struggle I was asked to give a conference speech, so I stopped resisting myself as the title “The Religion of the Universe” suddenly emerged in my mind. Therefore, I will write this article quite quickly without much effort, although I might make some amendments and additions later on.
Aside from becoming a member of a wonderful family, like everyone else I’ve questioned why we are born to this world. My wife calls me the “most self-educating person she knows.” I think this describes me very well. From a very early age, I’ve been interested in secret and mysterious things. I’ve examined religion, philosophy, and esoteric and immanent doctrines, both theoretical and practical. I’ve also made great use of practical studies and the expansion they provided. Although there was a long way ahead of me, I completely purged my mind and educated my soul, and now I’m trying to rid myself of all the memorized things. Many people taught me many things throughout this process, yet no guru, sheikh, or master has shaped me. This is why I do not want to shape anyone else, being a person still learning from his past and future mistakes. Being able to answer more questions than others doesn’t enable you to answer every question. Therefore, I will only answer the questions I can with my current knowledge while continuing to learn. What I will mention here are the main rules, but there is always much more because the journey of learning is an endless one. As human beings, we will never be able to learn everything in our lifetimes because we have limited minds. No matter how much we try to clear our minds, or even pause them, as long as we live, we will never be able to eliminate the limits of our minds. On the other hand, the things we perceive and realize will always develop and grow. My contribution here is, with the knowledge I have, to become a guiding light to those who choose this path.
If you agree with my words here, the only thing I wish of you is to share them with others who might also be interested. Now, let the journey of truth begin…
Limits of Topicality and Locality
First, let’s clarify what religion is. Religion is a collection of rules to life that are considered superior to current local laws and morals by its followers. There are many other definitions, but these definitions do not cover every religion. They generally focus on defining organized and monotheistic religions. In some religions, there is no god, whereas in other religions, there are numerous gods. Some religions do not include religious practice, whereas other religions base people’s lives exclusively on religious practices. Therefore, the most general definition that highlights religion is a collection of rules to living that differs from ethics and laws by acting beyond topicality and locality.
Today, there are people who live happy lives as members of ancient religions. On the other hand, there are people who believe in various sects of these religions and have different interpretations. There are people who believe in contemporary interpretations or who believe in a religion but do not apply its rules. There are also people who do not believe in any religion whatsoever. Because of this diversity, it is enough to define religion as a collection of rules like ethics and laws with the exception that it should go beyond topicality and locality.
All religions, known or unknown, have their roots in past times, and this is very normal because of our notion of time. A religion should start in the past, so its followers can keep it alive by following the rules. However, our knowledge of history is very limited. For the moment, the emergence of writing only 6,000 years ago prevents us from learning about religions prior to this. In other words, we talk about a history of only 6,000 years.
The topic of locality is even more interesting. Today, the religions with the largest number of followers have Asian origins. Meanwhile, the monotheistic religions dominant in today’s world have Middle Eastern origins. In spite of having local origins, these religions today dominate more than half of the world’s population, yet, as far as we know, all religions have their origins in our world. In other words, all these religions emerged on Earth, although there is a possibility they may have come from elsewhere in the universe.
Still, the followers of many religions have a very definite belief that their religion is the only religion for the world, the future, and the universe, and this is where the problem starts. Anyone can believe anything—that’s for sure. However, claiming that your beliefs are superior, or even more universal, than any others is yet more proof of human beings’ foolish audacity within the infinity of time and space of the universe. (By the way, I am still debating with myself about whether I’m doing the same thing by writing this article…)
People who believe their religions are universal often mistreat people from other religions, judge them according to the rules of their own religions, interfere with their way of living, or even murder them. This only proves how localized and shortsighted they are. However, a universal doctrine should cover the differences for the whole universe, not just on this planet at this moment. It should be valid anytime and anywhere. Nevertheless, the followers who believe their religions are universal claim that the values of a geographical location in the past are valid for the future and the whole universe.
Universality refers to being free from the limits of time and space. In fact, it most probably requires independence from various other things beyond our comprehension. A knowledge, doctrine, or religion can only be universal if it goes beyond time and space under any circumstances. The dominant religions today are incapable of serving the needs of modern people because they are localized and come from the past.
In fact, religions are more universal during their early times. During the spreading process, tolerance, simplicity, and compassion are dominant. It has always been like this for all religions. However, later on, as a religion becomes institutionalized, its followers turn a simple, tolerant, and caring doctrine into harsh rules, hierarchy, and refutation. In order to enforce solidarity among its followers, they encourage and impose a differentiation between “one of us” and “not one of us.” As a result, the religion turns into something much more intolerant, complicated, and scowling than its early form. The same toughness is also experienced in sects based on diverse interpretations of the same religion.
Actually, what prevents a religion from being universal is its institutionalization process. At this stage, rules and admission policies are established based on local and current values. However, because these values become normal, they are expected to be applicable in different times and places as well.
In other religions, competition and even struggle occur during the process of institutionalization. During history, this struggle has resulted in bloody wars as monotheistic believers tyrannized one another. Rivalry and a desire to exterminate each other turned into struggles where religion was applied rather than the locality in which the religion originally came from. For instance, had the Crusades succeeded, Islam would have become a marginal belief system at the time, just like how Christianity dominated Mithraism during Roman times. Alternatively, what if Islam had spread further and deeper into Europe from Spain and Austria, if Hitler had slaughtered every single Jew in the world, if Pakistan had not been established, or if one side had achieved complete victory in the war between the Catholics and the Protestants.
Whether it is sacred or not, a religion can only be universal if it is valid for all of humanity, as well as whoever else exists in the universe. Unfortunately, the dominant religions of today are not universal because they were established on local values during the time of their inceptions. As I mentioned earlier in the definition of religion, they are not universal because many problems occur when they contradict current laws and ethics.
Another important point is how religions are expected to explain subjects and mysteries that cannot be explained by science. A religion loses its credibility when it contradicts science, as it usually does, when explaining subjects that are actually related to history and science, such as whether the universe created itself, whether it was a planned design and who designed it, why the universe was created, and so on. Thus, the criteria of universal truth is wounded again, because this requires correct information under any circumstances.
Similarly, we also observe how religions have laws that make it inappropriate to discuss some things. These generally emerge from a localized opinion about subjects such as death and the afterlife, spirits, and corporal and incorporeal life in the universe. However, explanations based on the parameters of our world, especially concerning the afterlife, are not very credible, even if they do feed people’s fears.
In this respect, religions also make predictions about the future. Some say that some of our life experiences were planned in advance, while others believe all of our life experiences were planned. They also claim that we will inevitably be judged on doomsday or after our deaths, based on how much we obeyed the religious rules during our lifetimes. However, this raises a question: Why do we live then, if everything has already been planned? On the other hand, it forces you to drift from universality because the whole doctrine is established on the world and nothing else.
Although a religion could rightfully claim that it has more knowledge than science in areas such as history, physics, astronomy, or spiritual topics like death and afterlife, it doesn’t make that religion universal. For a religion to be universal, it should be able to explain not only the world but also the universe.
Finally, the prayers, rituals, and ceremonies of the current religions cannot even fit in with today’s world, let alone the various other creations in the universe, because they were established according to the norms of the times and places where they were conceived. Even climates, plants, and animals vary over time and location, so it is unlikely a religion born in the past in a different environment could have universally applicable prayers and ceremonies, especially when you consider the infinity of the universe.
Today’s dominant religions still claim they are universal, yet they don’t even encompass all times and places on Earth, never mind the universe. It’s therefore time to make a fresh proposal…
One Basic Rule
God does exist, definitely. However, he is different to what we think.
God is not a judge who occasionally punishes us with love or rewards us with worldly things. He is not far removed from us or different to us. He is also not the source of light and love.
God is the intersection of us all, the intersection of our willpower, our choices, and the power to change ourselves…
Once, he wanted to know himself, so he recreated his infinite turn potential in a way that enabled him to meet it in polarity. During this infinite turn of polarity in the shape of a horizontal eight, he met himself over and over in the middle and continued to know himself. He still continues to know himself through us.
In fact, we have a single aim, to know God inside us in order to reach him, who once separated us from his entirety to know himself, in his entirety. This is the reason for our existence, as well as the universe.
It’s as simple as that. Although people try to complicate it and make it difficult, the truth is very simple.
However, the system is too complicated. The target is simple, and in fact, we all inwardly know what this target is, but on the other hand, the human mind is curious about the answer to the question of “How?” Today’s science believes that the question of “How?” should be answered completely to know the reasons behind it. It also suggests we shouldn’t proceed to the question of “Why?” until we know the answer to the question of “How?” We should focus more on “How?” rather than “Why?” because there is no absolute scientific answer to “Why?”
Nevertheless, we possess the answer inside us. Both the universe and we exist so God could know himself better, because we are a part of him. Is this scientific? No, not yet. Would those who have this information within themselves be content with it? No, they would also like to know “How?”
Yet, the answer to the question of “How?” is not scientific. In other words, the mechanism of how things happen is not the same in all parts of the universe. There are different mechanisms at different levels, okay, but do they have any common rules? Yes, they do.
Later on, I will return to the question of “How?” For example, how should we live in the world according to the universal religion, but we’d better focus on some basic rules first.
All rules serve the purpose of God’s will to know himself, to motivate his potential, and to allow him to learn from the experiences of his parts. Therefore, all rules exist to feed, enrich, and embellish this learning process.
The main aim is to have as much experience, knowledge, and diversity as possible. To achieve this, they should be free to move forward without any obstacles. In other words, anything obstructing experience, knowledge, and diversity is forbidden, whereas anything enhancing them is encouraged.
The basic rule the parts should obey during their journey to entirety is very simple: Do not treat others in a way you would not want to be treated yourself, and treat others like you would want yourself to be treated. This rule is universal and valid anytime and anywhere.
The rule of not treating others in a way you wouldn’t want to be treated is well known by everyone. It resembles some other “Do not do” religious rules. Of course, many other things are forbidden in religions, and they are believed to be forbidden by God’s commands. These were far more important and meaningful in the past in local cultures I mentioned earlier, but they are not universal. Forbidding pork or beef is not meaningful to the whole universe, for example, but our rule speaks out to the individual’s conscience. The phrase “Do not treat others in a way you would not want to be treated yourself” has a broader point of view in terms of both time and place. It also individualizes morals, so you could raise a question: Could someone who doesn’t care about being murdered murder someone else? If we look at the question from a simple perspective, the answer would be “Yes.” However, when we say someone else, we don’t mean for just a single person. If the person you will murder is someone’s son, you should also ask yourself if you would want your son to be murdered.
However, despite all this, if someone doesn’t care at all, he might very possibly commit the crime. Then, maybe for real or only in our minds, we judge him, convict him, and punish him. We forget that he is also a part of God, who wants to know himself, and that he is also a part of the entirety, just like us.
Murder and rape could never be my life choices. I don’t know what I would do if I had to protect my children’s lives, but I do know that if someone doesn’t care about being mistreated himself, he might easily do it to others.
On the other hand, aside from these exceptional examples, many committing these crimes do not want to be treated the same way. They are the ones who do not obey the rules, so how are we supposed to punish them?
We can only do it by obeying the very same rule. We should not punish these people in a way we wouldn’t want done to us if we committed a similar crime. I know, it’s tough, but this is the rule. If we are supposed to obey a rule, we must obey it, no matter how complicated its consequences could be.
The rule continues with a lesser-known phrase: “Treat others like you would want yourself to be treated.” Actually, the “Do…” rules in every religion look more similar than the “Do not…” ones. In all religions, virtues like helping, loving, tolerating, and protecting each other are advised. Followers of these religions are being invited to higher virtues and morals. For this reason, the “Do” sentences in all religions are generally similar. (However, if the main aim is to acquire more knowledge through experience and diversity, so God can know himself better, and if everyone becomes a part of this high morality, it would be the end of high morals and new experiences, wouldn’t it? Well, this is a brilliant question, and I will answer it later.)
However, the way we want to be treated can sometimes be listed in the “Do not…” list of religions. Therefore, we find ourselves in a situation where we defy our religious rules while doing something to someone that we want done to us. Like I said, we need to bear in mind that rules, especially the “Do not…” ones, are not universal but limited to the time and place where they emerged.
More interestingly, while doing something to someone that we would want done to ourselves, we fail to ask if he or she actually wants it or not. As we want to be treated this way, we assume others want it too. This sometimes turns into coercion. Therefore, a condition of consent should be added to the rule. In fact, the rule already contains this condition. If we want to be consulted before being treated in a certain way, we should act the same way too.
However, the universal law is not the sum of these two rules because they only determine our relationships with others. They summarize how we should treat the other parts of the entirety, but they are inadequate for the relationship of God’s part as me and my part as God.
However, my most important relationship should be the one with myself if the real aim is to know the God inside me, being one of God’s separated parts enabling him to know himself. Therefore, I should apply the same rules to myself as well. I shouldn’t treat myself in a way I wouldn’t want others to treat me, and I should treat myself the way I want others to treat me.
This is where the modern human struggles the most. Because of the increasing means to socialize, people are now under the influences of larger groups and cultures rather than their own localities, and there are more rules to obey in terms of social approval, success, and so on. Therefore, people treat themselves harsher than they treat others. They push themselves too hard, punish themselves, or even torture themselves. However, as a principle, you shouldn’t treat yourself in a way you wouldn’t treat others.
Another thing is how people have forgotten to do good things for themselves, to treat themselves well. Even worse, they don’t know how to do it. Especially in eastern cultures, becoming “we” is always ahead of becoming “me,” and people always delay their personal wishes, desires, and pleasures in life. Their turn never comes because they live according to the expectations of others.
Although they are less numerous, some care little about others while giving themselves too much freedom. This is a system of thought generally observed in new-age groups. However, a pacifistic state of mind, agreeing with everything unconditionally, prevents self-improvement and does not help to learn more about one’s self and God. God expects us to experience more, rather than surrender, in order to learn more and more.
The relationship with ourselves has one simple rule: To treat ourselves like we would treat our children. No matter how old you are, or if you have a child or not, the critical thing is to see as a parent sees his or her child. Teach life experience to yourself as you would to your child. Encourage yourself with rewards, motivate yourself, empower yourself, show affection to yourself, and so on. Meanwhile, make yourself learn from your mistakes, teach yourself how to work out possible risks, and keep yourself disciplined.
In fact, we are all God’s children. If you want to understand how he sees us, just try to remember how you see your own child. Imagine how the choices of your child could make you happy, such as choosing a spouse. How would you feel if your child came around with a special someone? In a career decision, how would you want your child to choose?
The basic universal rule is unique and very simple: Do not treat others like you would not want to be treated yourself, and treat others like you would want to be treated yourself.
If we succeed in obeying this rule, our journey towards entirety will succeed perfectly. However, the journey will inevitably take longer if we fail to obey the rule.
(To be continued)
