Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What Is the Difference between Religion and Spiritual Science?

What Is the Difference between Religion and Spiritual Science?

To most people you cannot separate religion from God, and this means that when you hear the word God, you think that we are now talking about religion. But when you think about it, it really should be possible to talk about God without getting any of the religions involved. That is indeed what Martinus, the Danish visionary points out. To him, God and religion are two vastly different things. The concept of God can be separated from the religions – it is a concept that stands above and beyond all manmade religions.
Martinus calls his work cosmology or spiritual science. It explains in a completely logical and convincing way how the cosmos is organized. And because there is organization, there is an intelligent thinking process behind the cosmos. As you cannot have intelligent thinking without a thinker. There logically has to be a creator – God. This all-transcending consciousness is responsible for the existence of everything. As Martinus explains this in a totally logical, intellectual and straightforward way, his work is not an object of faith. He does not want us to believe in his work, but to study it and analyze it with our intelligence. The work of Martinus appeals to our intelligence – it is not intended to appeal to our feelings. In contrast to this, most religions appeal mainly to our feelings. So, to put it shortly the difference between religion and spiritual science is that religion appeals to our feelings whereas spiritual science appeals to our intellects. Religion is faith-based whereas spiritual science is based on a logic that is acceptable to our intellects.
But why do we need spiritual science. Why are we not content with ”just” having religion?
In the long run religion cannot satisfy our intellects. Religion has not been ”designed” to appeal to our intellects – it is mainly meant to appeal to our feelings.
A religious belief is based in our ability to believe. When our ability to believe is strong, we do not need logical explanations in order to sustain our belief. We simply believe because something inside us tells us that what our religion tells us is right and true. We do not question the beliefs nor do we question what the religious authorities tell us. We believe because it feels right. This ability to believe is based on a strong presence of the energy of instinct in our mental set up. When we are believers the energy of instinct is predominant in our mentality.
Our ability to believe walks hand in hand with a strong belief in authorities. We do as we are told and it feels right. We do not doubt or question what the authorities say.
But as we live life after life our intelligence grows because we add more and more experiences to our ”life bank”. The challenges we are faced with in our everyday lives develop our intelligence and gradually the energy of intelligence increases in our mentality at the expense of the energy of instinct. As the energy of intelligence ”dethrones” the energy of instinct, we become less and less able to believe. Instinct loses ground and intelligence gains ground, and when our intelligence has overtaken our instinct in strength, then we are no longer believers. We simply cannot believe just because somebody tells us to. Our ability to believe is simply no longer strong enough to allow this to happen. In order to become convinced, we need explanations that nourish our intellect.
Together with the decrease of the energy of instinct comes a growing inability to believe in authorities. The person can then no longer just accept what some authority tells him – he becomes a kind of ”rebel” that cannot just conform. He now lives more and more by his own rules. With the predominance of the energy of intelligence both the road to faith and ”obedience” has been blocked.
Religion cannot nurture our intellects. It asks us to ”just” believe without offering logical, watertight explanations. Those who are still able to believe cannot understand how some people can be atheists without any access to faith, because to them it all seems so simple. They just believe and are happy with that. They don´t see the problem that those whose intellect has overtaken their instinct are faced with. It is not that the intellectuals don’t want to believe. They simply cannot. They no longer have “the tools” with which to believe.
Today we have reached a point in time when the percentage of the population that cannot believe is growing rapidly. The churches are getting emptier and emptier. A growing number of people have lost their ability to believe. They then become atheists and throw God overboard.
But that is really just a stage. Sooner or later they will look for a proper intellectual solution to the mystery of life. And when that happens the Martinus material is there to support them. When the pupil is ready, the teacher appears.
The shortest version of Martinus´ fascinating world picture is in my book ”Ten Great Ways to Understand the World – The Larger Perspective on the Leading Edge of Thought”.