Evolution of religion
“There is no creation story. There is no final culmination to all experience that you can conceive of. So what then is religion without a creation story, without a final culminating experience and without a judgment day? Clearly, if religion is to be of service to its peoples, it must have a deeper foundation. It cannot be a story or a threat.”[1]
The Evolution of Religion in the World
"Christianity and all the other major religions have fostered a bridge between cultures and between races. These are not simply religions of one tribe or one group. They are religions for all of humanity. This is not to say that everyone can adhere to them, follow them or receive them, but they bridge the normal boundaries that seem to separate people and cast them apart. The religion of forgiveness, the religion of reunion with the Divine, the religion of human development, the religion of compassion—all of these tremendous movements in the evolution of religion in the world were fostered by the establishment of the world’s religions, which have brought the world to its present state."[2]
"The evolution of religion requires adaptability—adapting methods of practice and vehicles of expression for greater religious experience— in order for religion to survive and to have a place in the world. This meets the greater needs of people and serves humanity at large by fortifying the ideas of peace, cooperation, understanding and tolerance. Without this presence and without this constant emphasis, humanity would lead itself towards destruction very rapidly." [3]
"Greater Community Spirituality represents the evolution of religion in the world. It represents the evolution of your race and your intrinsic relationship with the Greater Community. It represents your relationship with your Creator and with all in the physical universe who serve the Creator in many, many capacities. It demonstrates an essential and translatable spirituality that you can learn, that you can utilize and that you can give to others. It represents a gift, not only from your Creator, but from the Wise Ones in the Greater Community who seek to restore and to preserve Knowledge as a living force in physical existence. Their achievements and their contribution are reflected in a Greater Community Theology and in a Greater Community Way of Knowledge. Their methods of learning and their achievements in this regard are demonstrated in Steps to Knowledge in its adaptation into human life. You are blessed, then, by those who walk ahead of you, by those who are more advanced."[3]
The Evolution of Religion in Personal Development
"Ritual and ideology are valuable, however, in setting a precedent or a pathway. People need this to get started and to use it to help them balance their lives, to give them structure and orientation. It is like preparing to fly, preparing to fly the aircraft. You have to study first. You have to become oriented first. You have to learn about the physics, the environment, the winds and aviation before you can take the helm of the aircraft. This is what ritual and ideology are for, to orient you, to prepare you for flight. But the experience of flying is a different matter. Here you step beyond the boundaries of intellectual understanding and enter into the Mystery— the Mystery that is pure and uncontaminated by the world, the Mystery that is not governed by magic or romance and the search for power. This is the pure Mystery. This is the pure religion because here you are engaging with God directly in ways that are essential and elemental to you." [4]
References
- ↑ Life in the Universe, Chapter 13: God and the Greater Community
- ↑ Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 26: Who is Jesus?
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 27:What is the evolution of religion in the world?
- ↑ The Pure Religion (March 13, 2013)