Philosophy of Personal Greatness Behind Western Evolution

The Western Preparation for Joy

Joy is associated with achievement and evolution toward a promising future. Joy is associated with a union with others and with the attainment of common goals. It is therefore natural to look within the highly evolved Western world for unique methods of finding personal evolution and joy rather than in the relatively undeveloped East. But where does one look for finding methods of developing such inner power and when and where did they originate in the West?

There were two momentous periods of time when large numbers of individuals recognized and awakened to their own inner power. This large-scale rise in the inner powers of individuals became evident during the rule of Constantine the Great in the 4^th century and then again following the Reformation in the 16^thcentury.

The period of Constantine’s rule seemed quite dramatic in terms of the criteria for the evolution of individuals. Constantine ‘the Great’ was credited with recognizing and using the special inner power of the early followers of Jesus as well as that within his soldiers. With his inspired army and citizens he reunited and strengthened the mighty Roman Empire and built its exemplary city, New Rome or Constantinople.

The history of Constantine is far from being consistent and complete. He is credited with being a Saint or a Devil, with many of the records of his time being burnt and many rewritten after his death.

All of the historians do seem to agree that it was through his beliefs and/or actions that a large change started to take place in the Western world. Christians including the authors, credit the tremendous changes he brought into the Western world to his reliance upon the power of Christ. He recognized this power as so important that he required the State supported Christian churches to accept Christ as being the manifesting of the power of God. Since Constantine was not a Catholic but rather, a follower of the state religion of Sol Invictus as well as being a henotheist, his insistence upon the acceptance of Christ appears to be incongruous.

In order to explain the above incongruities, we found it productive to assume that Constantine was more scientific than religious in his beliefs and to assume that he used the term Christ in a very different manner than it is used today.

As a follower of the Sol Invictus cult he believed that the sun was the source of energy for the creation and manifesting of life on earth and that the sun also contained a creative and ruling intelligence that others called God. Even though the cult used metaphors such as a physical chariot and driver to carry the sun, it was notably lacking in the old anthropomorphic depiction of God or gods. It seems safe to assume that the Sol Invictus followers envisioned the sun as the source of different forms of energy and contained intelligence that directed how and what the energies should do. To the sun worshippers it was the sun that was the source, maintenance, as well as being a power for the enrichment of life on earth. The sun was considered as a symbolic heavenly father wisely ruling and benefiting his family below.

One of the greatest mysteries of the sun is its radiance. It is a metaphysical force that conveys the energy and intelligence of the sun to earth over a vast distance. The radiance allows the sun to actually touch, stroke, change or energize an individual or life form even if far away. For instance, it touches a tree that then grows and produces wood which when burnt produces the same energy of heat as the radiance that first touched the tree.

It should be noted that modern religions tend to ridicule the worship or honoring of the sun as being primitive, yet the sun is perhaps also the closest model that science has of the creative, regulating and evolutionary power of the universe. For instance, science is now generally agreed that the universe began with a source of energy, intelligence and radiation that tied all of the evolutionary steps together as energy became matter throughout the universe.

If radiation is studied, the source can be known since the radiation has the same properties and nature as the source. In the case of the sun, we learn about the sun by burning wood and studying the flames that can then indicate the nature of the flames on the sun. Flames on earth are known to have many mystical properties such as being able to change an ore into a metal, metal into malleable metal, raw food into edible and aromatic food. Flames produce light that penetrates darkness. In today’s world, flames also produce electricity, drive our vehicles, cool and heat our houses.

This discussion seems obvious, yet there is one more step that Constantine must have taken and that is that the Will of God is understood to be radiated exactly the same as heat and intelligence from the sun. God is remote, yet the radiance of God makes God as knowable as the sun when the radiance of God is absorbed and manifested within our bodies. God is also omnipresent and available to every life form.

This relationship with God is described as henotheism which can be compared with monotheism. The Greek heno comes from eis which in this case means ‘one’ or ‘a unity,’ while Greek monos means ‘alone’ or ‘standing alone,’ Henotheism can then be described as believing in a united God, but monotheism describes a belief in an isolated or singular God. The view that God has an omnipresent radiation that manifests the power of that God, all of which is the same as God, is henotheistic; whereas a God standing alone such as in heaven without equal or parts is monotheistic.

When the sun " is considered to be a henotheistic God, it consists of three separate characteristics. The first is the nature of itself. The second is the radiation of that nature and the third is the reconstruction or manifesting of that same nature in some person or object. These three natures are obviously the same yet different. Henotheism is therefore the recognition of these three elements as being one. The early Jews had a similar view of the power of God by recognizing the glory, weight or heaviness (Hebrew kabed) of God on an individual. The glory of God may then be considered to be quite similar to the radiation of the sun’s energy and intelligence. God is known by absorbing the Will of God or allowing the Will of God to manifest through you.

The glory or power of an individual can be equated with the amount of absorption, response or the manifesting of the radiation or glory of the sun as well as of God. All life forms may receive the same radiation, yet they have extreme variations in how well they utilize that radiation. This is true for plants, trees, animals as well as humans.

Comparing the radiation of the sun to the radiation of God, which we suspect was done by Constantine, leads to some interesting conclusions. The first is that perhaps the greatest variation of the usage of the power of the sun or God may be due to the degree of awareness of that power. For instance, trees can be compared according to their activity to extend branches to catch more sunlight. If a tree is unaware of the sunlight in a particular area and fails to extend growth to absorb it, it becomes weakened in the battle for survival. Similarly, an individual unaware of the radiance of God may likewise be weakened by following the outer forces of society instead.

Let us now guess at what is considered the high point in Constantine’s life that began with his facing a much larger armed force than his own as he sought control of the Roman Empire. He reported receiving a vision of two Greek letters, khi, X, and rho, P, formed on the face of the sun, followed by another vision that assured him that these two letters would give him victory.

Since Greek was not his spoken language, although he was certainly trained in it, he must have carefully looked at all of the Greek words that began with XP or chr-. Surprisingly the majority of such words seem to offer a common meaning in terms of Constantine’s challenge. For instance, chrao means ‘gods giving what is needed,’ or ‘touching lightly.’ Chreia is related to need. Chreo means ‘an oracle.’ Chri, is ‘the sense of needing to do something.’ Chresis is ‘the use made of something.’ Chrestos means ‘auspicious.’ Chrio means ‘to touch the surface of the body, to color, or anoint.’ (Christos (or Christ) the adjective form of chrio.)

The above words starting with XP or Chr- can be easily assumed to be related to the radiance of Sol Invictus and its manifestation in individuals. The second vision was then interpreted by Constantine to mean that if the radiance of Sol Invictus is used, then victory will result. (It is possible, of course, that these two letters were used before by the Romans in a similar manner although there is no record of it.)

Constantine no doubt then addressed his troops and told them that a higher power could be trusted and would in fact lead them to victory. This had to result in the troops breaking from their past method of fighting as a solid uniform body moving in concert to an army made up of individual fighting men trusting in their own inner guidance. As such they did, in fact, conquer the opposing larger army which no doubt moved in uninspired concert.

We were next attracted to the powers attributed to the early Christians since historians reported how the Christians, because of their personal evolution, had managed to fill many of the important posts in Constantine’s government. They were exceptional citizens cooperating fully with others, and were quite literate as well. It is reported that Constantine had a discussion with some of the Christians after his visions and probably did ask them about KP or chri-. What is not obvious, is however, who suggested the word Christos? It seems quite likely that the word Christos may have originated with Constantine rather than being an earlier Christian term. The reason for this is simple. If Christos was such an integral description of Jesus then it would have been expected to appear in other documents such as the Gospel of Thomas, where it does not. Likewise it does not appear in the Sermon on the Mount. It is also known that during the reign of Constantine and his son, that Jesus was not perceived as being God as will be discussed. The appearance of the word Christ in the New Testament can easily be attributed to the heavy editing and rewriting that was known to have taken place after the death of Constantine. The word ‘Christians’ would no doubt have been rendered as those individuals who followed the glory or radiance of God which would have made them certainly in agreement with Constantine.

In any event, both Constantine and the early Christians agreed upon the meaning of Christos during the Council at Nicea in 325 CE. This meeting was called by Constantine who commanded all of the Christian church leaders to attend. The chief object was to agree to the relationship of God to Christ. Since the Catholics later burned most of the records of that time, little remains except for the central statement in the agreement now called the Nicene Creed. The sentence states that Christos is issued (or begotten) by God and is of the same substance as God, through whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth. This statement would certainly agree with our definition of what a henotheist or follower of Sol Invictus would believe. It should be recognized that later versions of the Nicene Creed have gradually been amended in order to include Jesus as God.

The early Christians not only agreed with Constantine’s definition of Christ, but they also started observing the holidays and feasts associated with Sol Invictus. Perhaps the most significant was the switching of the honoring of the Sabbath on Saturday, commanded in the Ten Commandments, to the day of the sun. The birthday or day of renewal of the sun, December 25, was likewise observed, as was the feast of Easter, the ancient celebration of rebirth. Leo the Great in his day also said that it was the custom of many Christians to stand on the steps of the church of St. Peter and pay homage to the sun by obeisance and prayers.[1]

There can be little doubt that Constantine admired Jesus as evidenced by the portraits of both Constantine and Jesus with an aureole of the sun shown behind their heads, Jesus was also portrayed as a noble clean-shaven warrior, the equal to Constantine. Constantine trusted the teachings of Jesus and used the early Christians to render the state welfare system and probably education. Constantine also put the Bishops on state wages and paid for many new churches as well as the cost of running the churches.

Following the death of Constantine and his son, a number of changes occurred which were centered upon the nature of Christ. The sequence was that Jesus was no longer considered to be filled with the radiance of God through Christ, Jesus became Christ, and hence, because of the Nicene statement, Jesus had to become the begotten of God and the same as God and the manifesting of God. The description of Christ then changed from being simple radiation in henotheism to a God/man in Trinitarianism. The churches, instead of spreading the teachings of Jesus and inner powers, now became concerned with administering the access to the blessings and salvation of Jesus.

The earlier Christian views were not completely lost during the extensive burning of documents that followed the new regime. They became rephrased as the Arian Heresy so that the Catholic Church could then anathematize anyone who repeated any part of the heresy. The intent of the church is made quite obvious in its choice of the word ‘heresy’. Heresy is from the Greek word haireis which means taking or choosing for one’s self. Under this definition, Jesus could be argued to be teaching heresy since he taught of the power of the individual and that one should seek and find what the heart longs for.

For those interested in learning more of the Heresy, we would recommend the official Catholic Encyclopedia’s section on the Arian Heresy. The heresy is named after a Bishop named Arius who was deemed guilty of having rationalized the relationship of God to Christ, “stripping it of mystery.” The article describes how the “wranglings of the rationalist” were wrong and that the “aberrations should be laid to Syria where Aristotle flourished with his logic and its tendency to Rationalism.”[2] The above arguments that we gave are certainly rationalistic, simple and even understandable which is the chief reason given against henotheism, Sol Invictus or Arian beliefs.

As a scientist, educators and followers of the early teachings, let us, the authors, dwell a bit on the above statements which seem to have laid the barrier between science, experience and religion. There is a fairly large amount of resentment today of ‘religious’ individuals against rationality (and consequently science) that is supported by a philosophy called Fideism (from Latin fides: faith). This philosophy is built upon the acceptance that it is wrong to attempt to explain theological concepts, since God is unexplainable. It all must be taken on faith, and the harder something is to understand, then the more likely it is to be correct.

Curiously, science maintains this barrier with its refusal to admit to the existence of the metaphysical such as the mystical nature of energy and intelligence. This is no doubt based upon the requirement that the Catholic Church approve of all scientific statements that continued into the 17^th century. In order to avoid censure of the Church it became easier to avoid any statements that could be taken as metaphysical. Religion still clings tightly to tradition and Fideism. However, it seems reasonable to assume that at the time of Constantine, religion and science may have been merged with wondrous results with the rise of individual inner powers and the consequent evolution of State and Religion.

The cleanup of the Arian Heresy was not complete since many of the Greek writings escaped heavy editing or rewriting such as found buried at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. We also believe that the Sermon on the Mount is relatively pure, or at least the Greek descriptive words are valid because of self-consistency as well as agreement with other documents such as the Gospel of Thomas. Since the Sermon was placed near the front of the New Testament, it seems to indicate some special respect for its content, which is certainly warranted. We also found that when the Sermon is translated with the original Greek, its meaning aligns with Constantine’s search for Truths and certainly adds more evidence to why Constantine placed the Christians in a good light. (For the Greek words and translations see the Appendix.)

Let us start with a few translated words[3] from the Sermon that defined Christians in a manner that certainly would have impressed Constantine. Christians, in the original Greek, are described as being: not egocentric (ptochos), alive and sensual (penthos), open to new ideas (praus), seeking constant improvement (dikaiosune), responding to needs of others (eleemosune), bright and genuine (katharos), and bringing people together in unison (eirenopoios).

The teachings of Jesus in his Sermon could then be seen as providing an answer to the question of how the power of a remote God is to be found and utilized. The answer is that the power is found in the absorbed radiance of that God being manifested within the self and not by attempting to supplicate an untouchable God or through some intermediary such as the Haruspices, the old Roman priests who advised and foretold the future.

Just as Constantine could open his senses to feeling the warmth of the sun or to the feeling of his vision before battle, so could he open and feel the Radiance, or Christos of Sol Invictus or God. The early Christians labeled the initial feeling of Christos as agos, a particular type of awe that is recognized by those who have experienced it, as had he. If agos is not rejected but continues, additional feelings arise such as being swept up, cleansed, filled with vibration, experiencing a rising force, etc., that leads into the state of experiencing Agios or the state of being Holy. Agios is recognized by the change in breathing that takes place, characterized by being filled with a strong breath called pneuma which is translated as the Holy Ghost. The individual is then said to be in the state of hagios, commonly translated as being filled with the Spirit or Holy Ghost.

Once the body becomes filled with the manifesting Christos, then an active center, tameion, is found in the body where an inner search, called proseuchoma, can be undertaken to find the answers or the needed powers of God. It is at this stage that Logos can start to be experienced or the manifesting of that which is needed.

Those who have experienced the manifesting of Logos, creativity, vision, insights, etc., are familiar with the final problem of allowing the Logos to take a physical form that the brain and body can identify with. Have you not had the feeling that you suddenly know the answer to your problem but also know that it is going to take a while to describe it?

Opposed to the concept of the Radiation or Christos from God were the even earlier Western monotheistic views of God being anthropomorphic with limited metaphysical powers. God in the earlier ‘pagan’ religions, for instance, had to have separate god-like messengers going between Heaven and earth to carry out the Divine commands. Many individuals at that time accepted the existence of indwelling spirits, demons, devils, or tutelary angels. It was common at that time, for instance, to ascribe changes in individuals to the presence of winged Angels coming down from God in Heaven above or to Devils rising up from Hell. Even today it is still common in Christianity to believe in Angels coming down from Heaven to assist individuals.

A further discussion is necessary about the Arian Heresy that so upset the Catholic Church. Apparently Bishop Arius was teaching that all men could become sons of God as exemplified and taught by Jesus. It can be assumed that Bishop Arius believed the description in the beginning of the Book of John in the which could be read as stating that anyone can become the child of God when they become filled with the Word of God. Opposed to Bishop Arius was a Bishop Athanasius claiming that Jesus, God, and Christ were all the same and that individuals had no direct access to God.[4] Athanasius, of course, won out with his ideas, but only after the death of Constantine and his first son.

It needs to be noted that Constantine seemed to have found a balance of power and responsibilities among the citizens, the clergy, the military and himself that was evidenced with the growth of the power of the State. This balance of power was certainly evidenced with the power and freedom of the citizens. Constantine was able to obtain a common observance of the Sol Invictus holidays but each religious sect was able to maintain its own individuality in the process.

Following the death of Constantine and his first son, the world gradually slipped into the Dark Ages. History is quite descriptive of the underlying forces of greed and power that placed the average individual under tight bondage to government, religion or both without any recognized inner metaphysical powers.

Most historians seem to agree that it was in the Reformation that the limitations of the Dark Ages in terms of personal freedom, expression and powers were overcome. As to the actual causes of the oppression of the Dark Ages, we think they become obvious in the unfolding of the Reformation, not in what was changed so much, but as to what the churches and rulers attempted to maintain. The people had awakened to their individual and collective power with their many successful revolts across Europe. These revolts shifted the concern of religious and government leaders from increasing to preserving their own power and wealth. In order to do that, they resorted to negotiating new relationships within government and religion as well as with the people that would allow them to remain in power yet satisfy the mass of the people. All of this is, of course, well recorded in history books. It should be recognized that the clergy of the Christian Churches did not change, but rather that the former Catholic Priests became the Protestant Clergy. This can explain the continued Catholic Dogma as to the nature of God, Jesus and the Clergy or Priesthood as well as the continued clerical garb and titles.

We found an intriguing book that provided insights into what religion and government were desperately hanging onto. Written by Benson Bobrick,[5] it is primarily concerned with the history of the English Bible and all of the forces that were involved in its evolution. Bobrick gives strong evidence that the translation and printing of the English Bible finally brought forth a stable equilibrium among the people, the King and the Church. Despite his careful research, his argument seems limited, and we couldn’t help but observe in his data another force at work that was present in the process of translation itself.

This hidden force was suggested by the fact that all of the versions of the Bible translated at that time were suspiciously identical (excerpts of several are given in his Appendix). He only mentions one translation that differed as being written by an ‘insurgent fanatical leader’ because it taught of an ‘inward Word.’ This sounds like a variation of the outlawed, earlier Arian Heresy interpretation of the scriptures.

We are suspicious of translations that are nearly identical ‘word-for-word’ in meaning because of our own experiences in translating. Let us pause for a moment and give you an example with the translation of the Greek word paraptoma. The dictionaries define paraptoma as meaning something that inadvertently happens to you that stands in your own way. We immediately think of such things as: a slip of the tongue, accidentally bumping into someone, passing gas or coughing in public, or mispronouncing someone’s name. What English word or phrase would you use to convey this meaning if you had to translate the word? Now would you be suspicious if you found that all of the available accepted translations used the exact same word, ‘trespass,’ to exemplify paraptoma? Using the word trespass is also questionable since it implies a willful act and not an accidental act. It should also be noted that the Jews believed that only God could forgive intentional sins. (Paraptoma is found in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus tells his followers to forgive others for their paraptomas.[6]) This universal shifting of the meaning of a word is not an isolated case. For instance, the words used in modern translations of the Bible describing the ideal Christian in the Beatitudes [7] give a far different image than what the Greek words imply, and all of the translations use the same erroneous words, how strange!

One reason for the rigidity in translation of the Bible can be understood from Bobrick’s book, since he describes the persecution faced by the early translators in the 15^th and 16^th centuries if anything in the translation was judged to differ from the Royal view. He gives a insight into the Royal position with his quote of James I stating that, “Monarchy is the supreme thing on Earth, Kings are called God by God Himself because they sit upon God’s earthly throne.” This Divine Right seems apparent as we read the opening dedication to James I at the beginning of the English King James Bible. He is credited with “…maintaining the truth of Christ,” as well as “…being the principal Mover and Author of the work.”

Bobrick concludes his book by telling how the rebalance of powers among the Clergy, the King and the people was based in great part on the statements of humanism in the Bible and the Protestant doctrine of the ‘priesthood of all believers.’

It was Martin Luther who advanced the concept of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ which was quickly adopted by the other Protestant churches. In his writings, however, he appears uncertain as to what it actually implies. Our guess is that he faced a severe dilemma in that he had three very important criteria to contend with. The first was he had to deny that the Catholic Church had the sole priesthood of God. The second was he had to have some claim to a unique priesthood to retain his control over the laymen in his church. The third was if the common people could overpower the new Church then he had to give them some assurance of their own importance. Otherwise, the concept of a priesthood of believers implies that laypeople might also believe that they wouldn’t need an intercessor between themselves and God and that the clergy would not be needed, and Luther would be unemployed.

What this ‘priesthood of believers’ actually meant to believers over the centuries, led to the personal interpretation that individuals did in fact have a direct relationship with God. However, the modern Churches have found the need to try to limit and redefine this interpretation by the ‘believers.’ (It should be remembered that the priesthood was never defined or mentioned in the Bible.) There does seem to be a general agreement among the modern clergy that the ‘priesthood of believers’ must not allow an individual to recognize any inner power to individualize oneself or to believe whatever one desires. The ‘priesthood of the believers’ can not have any power to disagree with the proclamations or dogma of the Church. The authority of the Church is above any authority of the individual and must be obeyed.[8] Obviously, the powers that are ‘outlawed’ are those that are becoming increasingly manifested. This action to limit the ‘priesthood’ sounds surprisingly like what we read in the arguments against the Arian Heresy during the time of Constantine.

In Constantine’s time as well as in the modern world, the creative powers of individuals can certainly be defined as a special ‘priesthood’ since the individual is capable of going directly to the inner source of his or her own powers. The power of this special priesthood is certainly manifested in the rapid evolution of individuals who were able to play key roles in the development of the new world of industry and technology as well as within those Roman citizens who helped rebuild the Roman Empire.

Our next question concerned what happens if individuals all respond to their own inner powers rather than being tightly controlled by a central authority. Does the world reduce to absolute anarchy? In reading biographies of individuals who played a role in bringing about the Industrial Revolution, we became aware of their trust and strong dedication in their inner powers as well as their future. Their goal might have been to make lots of money or to gain power over others, yet the results of their efforts somehow fit into a necessary space and time to fulfill the gradual advance of the entire world into an unexpected evolution.

This startling parallel march of individuals seeking their own ends during the Industrial Revolution is probably best described by Adam’s Smith’s ‘hidden hand.’ He describes the forces acting upon an entrepreneur in his well-quoted sentence: “He intends only his own security … and he is … led by an invisible hand to promote an end that was no part of the intention.” [9] In other words, individuals attempting to reach their own goals in life will invariably contribute to the betterment of everyone.

In today’s modern economy, many people find it difficult to perceive this invisible ‘guiding hand’ because of the tremendous complexity of our society and many even deny its existence. However, Peck had a personal experience that gave us an excellent illustration of what happens without this guiding hand. During the 1950’s Cold War with the USSR, he was talking with some Russian scientists when they mentioned their considerable problems in getting research materials in their highly controlled, Communistic society. Major projects would actually stop for the lack of some normally insignificant part such as a particular bolt or switch. This was a shock to Peck because at that time in the U.S., it seemed that someone already would be manufacturing whatever oddity he might require including some special bolt or switch. Now in today’s Internet-connected world, anything needed can be obtained from anywhere in the world in a matter of days if not hours.

Our modern society can be viewed as a united body of individuals who in serving their own needs also serve the needs of others in a scope far beyond the wildest conceptions of Constantine. We would think that every entrepreneur in our free society has this inner confidence in the future and an unconquerable trust in his or her inner abilities to answer any needs that might arise. It is this awareness of an inner Father of individuals that acts in concert with the ‘Hidden Hand’ of society that increased our respect for the Sermon of the Mount.

Abraham Maslow,[10] the founder of Humanistic Psychology who was mentioned earlier, was a strong spokesman for the inner guiding power within certain individuals. Maslow studied the exceptional and successful people instead of studying average individuals or those with psychological problems. He gave strong evidence that evolved individuals are guided far more by their own inner powers than by those rules imposed by the outside world. In his research he described the state of joy as a ‘peak experience.’ He noted that a person during a peak experience is decisive, stronger, has control of the mind, is able to handle opposition and appears to be reliable, dependable and trustworthy. We are sure that Maslow would have described Constantine’s soldiers as being in the state of a ‘peak experience’ as they were able to defeat stronger opposing forces. Those familiar with mastery of martial arts speak of the ‘peak experience’ when time slows, you know what move your opponent is going to make, and you find the skills to counter it.

Maslow called those exceptional individuals being guided by their own inner powers ‘self-actualized’ to differentiate them from those individuals who were controlled by their conditioned social responses to the demands of the outer world. He described these self-actualized individuals in glowing terms as being strong and sure of themselves. They are able to separate truth from falsity; they see the world as it is, not as they might wish to see it. They have an amazing ability to see, predict and understand the future. They listen and learn from others and are not self-important. Maslow saw many similarities between superior people and children, starting with their lack of arrogance and complexity. Both look upon the world with uncritical eyes and are able to see without limiting judgments. They are both highly creative and can invent games and switch viewpoints without delay. Self-actualized individuals can be characterized as having strong commitments to what they are doing, and what might be called their play and work seem to merge together such that play can become a strong, joyous commitment as does work. They are not bothered by the criticisms or judgments of others and are generally immune to the limitation of worrying about what ‘they’ will think.

We would recommend reading The Third Force, if you wish to understand more about the work of Maslow and his refreshing views of the superior possibilities or potentials of individuals. The book also discusses his approach to enabling individuals to find the higher state we call joy. It describes his ‘hierarchy of needs’ that must precede the evolution of the self. Of importance to this chapter is his recognition of the starting world of the individual in which there must be freedom, justice and a level of orderliness that can sustain evolution. It might be that the efforts of Constantine led to the introduction of a global level of freedom and orderliness that allowed the rapid evolution of individuals that later opened the doors to the tremendous modern evolution of society and individuals.

There has been some more recent work in the field of psychology that we feel is of importance in understanding more specific mental requirements for finding joy and evolution. To this end we would recommend the book Persuasion & Healing for another source of descriptions of individual powers. After studying many different forms of therapies, the authors found that a session with someone capable of fully listening to you and trusting his or her inner response in replying to you is equal to a session with any other therapist. This includes the best paid psychoanalyst, the best witch doctor, psychic reader or any other individual or organization offering personal advice. The ability to really assist others in mental problems is not learned in a college or gained by some invocation of powers, but comes from an inner power of a dedicated individual.

Persuasion & Healing gives a summary of what any session must offer to help overcome what the authors call demoralization. Demoralization occurs when a great difference exists between inner expectations and what is perceived in the outer world. One common form of this is experienced when your goal is not your own but comes from attempting to live up to someone else’s expectations such as is common with socially conditioned individuals. The authors’ summary for bypassing this external force discusses three basic requirements. The individual must make a preparation that includes the finding of hope, or a trust in the future; emotional arousal or becoming vitalized; and enhancing the sense of self-mastery or trust in your own inner powers .

Modern medical research has surprisingly also given strong evidence to the inner curative power of individuals that equals the power of most prescription drugs. This evidence became obvious when medicine attempted to prove the value of their drugs. Every drug must be tested against individuals who do not use the drug as well as with individuals who take a fake pill or placebo. In almost all cases, the placebo drug indicates an equal potential of cure as the applied drug but also without side effects. The number of individuals, however, who respond to a placebo is generally lower than those who respond to the drug, at least for the drugs that are approved. There is now sufficient data, nonetheless, to indicate that there is a power in the human body that is somehow capable of being tricked into fighting an illness just as well as any known drug. No one knows what this inner power or mechanism is, and for obvious reasons, no known pharmaceutical company is looking for that power. There are some medical researchers who are now suggesting that medicine has lost the inner powers of the old physicians whose bedside manner may have been the chief curative power in medicine before the miracle drugs.[11]

Norman Cousins, who wrote the preface for Persuasion and Healing, also gave a secret for healing in his book [12] that was based upon the healing properties found in laughter which compares to the Eastern techniques called churning of the abdomen . The laughter must be considered to be in addition to the Franks’ three elements when evaluating any medical treatment. In other words, if Cousins had not had the hopeful expectations, emotional arousal and an enhanced sense of mastery, it is probable that the laughter would have done him little good . All medical treatments must be built upon the mental expectations and the arousal of the patient if they are to be effective over any extended time. Medicine is now forced to accept the metaphysical mind/body relationship as critical in healing many illnesses including psychosomatic illnesses.

Because we have been biased by considering the importance of an inner energy in finding joy and evolution, it might seem natural that we would wish to describe the beliefs of two Nobel Laureates in Physics for whom we have the highest respect. These two men could not, of course, have published the following thoughts in the technical journals, yet they have been well received nonetheless. The two men are Erwin Schrödinger and Ilya Prigogine who, we believe, made major contributions outside of physics in describing the energy relationship of life with its surrounding environment.

Schrödinger describes the difference between life and the rest of the universe in his short book What is Life? We will attempt to rephrase his ideas in terms that are compatible with the concepts presented so far in this book. Schrödinger describes the body as a very complex physical and chemical process. He leads the reader into the realization and understanding of the relatively large amount of energy that is required to keep an individual alive to replace the continually decaying cells of the body (the body loses many millions of cells a day). To understand this decay we would suggest considering the rapid decay of a corpse that takes place without the life force or the rapid loss of weight as the body eats its own flesh during starvation. Schrödinger then states that a human must make up for this continual decay by eating other life forms that include other animals as well as vegetation to replace the decayed flesh.

The interesting point that results from this discussion is how it leads Schrödinger into comparing the functioning of the body’s maintenance to something that can be described as akin to the functioning of a city. Like a city, the human body must coordinate a great number of closely functioning departments and services to build and rebuild itself. Keeping the analogy, it is easy to see that another main function of the body is to bring in supplies and take out refuse. Schrödinger is able to see himself as the city’s mayor overlooking and directing the major operations of its integrated departments.

With this model, Schrödinger comes to the realization that physics would be completely inadequate to begin to explain the operation of the functioning of the city or of the body and that he needs to revert back to the ancient concepts that the mayor of this complex city or body must be God. He further points out how his consciousness of himself as mayor must also be eternal, since he knows that he is still aware of himself even with the loss of memory of his past. He concludes by this observation that he has only two choices: believing he is God, or accepting the undesirable existence of being only a mechanical machine as some scientists seem to be attempting to prove.

Fourteen years later, Schrödinger wrote an even more important book, in our view, that is part of the inspiration for this book. Entitled Mind and Matter,[13] this later book has as its main thrust the disproving of any inevitability of the future resulting from Darwin’s theory. Schrödinger introduces the requirement that, even with a genetic change, for the change to become functional and useful, there must be a directed activity toward using that change by the organism. Consider a very simple example that humans have suffered with a genetic variance for millennia of having too many fingers and toes. There was no reason for our ancestors living in primitive conditions to need so many fingers and toes. In fact, there were many times very much in the way such as in protecting them in stacking rocks. However, some clever inventors finally thought that all of these fingers could be used to independently press keys on a keyboard. Today, as a result, we can write much faster with a keyboard connected to a computer and produce far more complex melodies on a piano keyboard than our ancestors could do. But similarly just because we have nimble fingers, does not mean that we are a pianists, or just because we have analytical abilities, we are an Einstein or without false thoughts. Schrödinger places a responsibility on individuals in that they are in charge of their future. He recognizes the dependencies on their genetic conditioning but teaches that one’s dedication can bring forth genetic variances that have never been realized because there was no previous need for them such as playing a sonata on the piano.

Schrödinger spends a chapter arguing the existence of unity of mind between individuals and the finding of samadhi and samyama, which he was unable to describe before in his previous book. And so at this stage of his thinking, Schrödinger believes in the inner power of individuals and also that this power can be coupled under proper conditions with that of others.

The other physicist from whom we wish to draw is Prigogine and in particular a few ideas from his book, The End of Certainty. This book offers similar conclusions about an inner power but gets there by a much different route. Prigogine studied chaos and its energy reactions that result in a different type of organization and structure of matter. A simple explanation of his work can be given with recalling how boiling water in a pan is far different from the sparkling water in a lake. When boiling, water is in a state called chaos and is far from a state of equilibrium such as when found in a lake. Most scientists ignored the chaotic state since it seemed impossible to describe, but Prigogine found that in chaotic systems a new state of formation or inner organization does take place. This new state can, however, be made quite stable with a constant rate of the input of energy. For instance, you can easily observe three different states of boiling that exist with different rates of heating. The first is a relatively calm and steady state as the bottom of the pan starts to form steam bubbles. The chaos then increases with more added heat until bubbles are formed over the entire bottom of the pan, and finally with extreme heat there is complete formation of large bubbles within the entire volume. With even greater input of energy, other highly organized inner processes such as swirling or rotating tunnels can be observed that will remain as long as the applied heat is constant. The effect of added heat has a primary function of stimulating the change in the inner organization as well as the basic characteristics of the water, which is obviously much different from placid, sparkling lake water.

Prigogine offers a comparison of chaos in physics with personal mental chaos. He associates the creative abilities of an individual with the existence of a rising chaos within that individual. You might express this as how your mind can become a whirlwind (chaotic) with ideas before you perceive a clear insight.

Many individuals report how their minds became perfectly clear after facing an overpowering chaos caused by some emergency or threat. The resulting state of the mind was quite different from their normal state of mind and far more efficient with seemingly instant responses. Many minds seem to love the excitement that results from chaos and attempt to create it on their own by bringing up worries, fears and exciting possibilities, much to the chagrin of the conditioned brain that wishes to be content and quiet (particularly at two A.M.). Many individuals are also aware of how they may go out of their way to present problems for themselves or to seek challenges that create stimulating chaos. This power of an inner chaos also reminds us of one of our favorite verses in the Gospel of Thomas which states that one should first seek for truth , and when found, the mind becomes ‘troubled’ (chaotic), then astonished, and then rules.

Prigogine also sees the relationship of the rise of chaos in groups who then reform themselves into a different structure that becomes a more stable and efficient group. One example that comes to mind was the difference in dancing the minuet to a quiet source of music to dancing to rock with a wild beat on a crowded dance floor. Prigogine, however, gives no examples other than including a report to the European Communities from Biebracher, Nicolis and Schuster [14] which advocates letting each group of individuals find its own organization rather than attempting to let a central management control all groups. The strong suggestion here is that if groups become tightly controlled without chaos, the potential value of those groups to society as a whole as well as to their own members cannot be manifested. Again, consider a sedate discussion group versus one that is addressing some emotional theme with rising excitement and energy. The value of the first group lies only in what the members bring with them and are willing and capable of sharing. However, in the second group, the group can many times produce very creative, surprising and worthwhile results if chaos is maintained and shared.

This book began with the words of Schiller, and it is useful to include now his description of joy, [15] which was written ten years after he wrote Ode to Joy. He starts with describing the two basic forces (earlier expressed in philosophy as the feminine and masculine) as feeling and reason. Feeling is to Schiller a physical, manifested characteristic of all animals that does not result from cognition or judgment such as pride or avarice, while reason is the higher metaphysical power of the developed human. He does not use the word joy but instead uses the word beauty, perhaps because he thought it would be easier to explain than joy. Joy or beauty is only obtained when there is a balance or union obtained between feeling and reason. In viewing a spectacular sunset, for instance, your visual sense is very active, while your reason is also active in attempting to assimilate, absorb and integrate with what the eyes perceive. If your vision becomes dominant and you attempt to see the individual colors or if the brain attempts to explain why it is beautiful, beauty is lost. (Schiller describes those individuals with more feeling as savages, while those with more reason as barbarians.) It is for this reason that scientists as barbarians are felt incapable of viewing beauty, since their analytical minds are assumed to ruin their chance of beauty. Similarly, a savage or an individual operating at the near animalistic stage with strong feelings is also unable to view beauty since without reason she cannot separate beauty from the mundane.

Beauty cannot be without both thought and feeling nor with only thought or feeling. Schiller describes the necessity to essentially nullify and integrate both through their metaphysical union. In beauty, as in joy, the thoughts and the physical responses are merged together such that neither controls nor is absent. Schiller describes this merger as occurring when individuals are able to lose themselves in playing games.

He sees that the state of beauty can be obtained by starting with a strong dedication for what is perceived to be good and then letting the search become a game. He is quite aware of the change that occurs in a game and argues that man can only play when he is fully alive and can be fully alive only when he plays. ‘To be fully alive requires an energizing element that must be moderated by a melting force.’

Unfortunately, Schiller cannot explain how the higher state of beauty or joy is to be found other than stating that it is a gift of nature that furnishes the special powers. These powers then lead the savage/barbarian towards beauty, which brings us back to his statement in his Ode to Joy that joy is the beauteous lightning of the gods.

A world of Schiller’s savages was illustrated in the Cultural Revolution of Mao in which reason (and the elite) was thrown out and feelings were allowed to control. In the present world of high technology and increasing loss of individual freedom, savages can still be assumed to dominate; however, they have been forced into submission as we state, ‘for their own good’. The savages appear to be quite productive as they fill the allotted slots with controlled ‘curricula’ or procedures within our modern corporations and institutions, while the cold logical barbarians are generally kept isolated in some ivory tower with little access to the public as they are coerced into following the dictates and policies of the ruling institutions against even their own logical discoveries in order to maintain their position, income and titles.

The barbarian is now generally distrusted and believed to be able to disrupt the modern world with some created truth and that must be avoided at all costs. Schiller’s barbarian is now probably more tightly bound and controlled by the surrounding organizations than is the well-controlled savage.

In conclusion, the opening question about why the Christian West evolved further than the East can be explained not by religious differences, but rather by philosophical differences. In the West, the pervading, hidden philosophy that individuals could find greatness with personal inner powers persisted, despite prevalent seemingly contrary Catholic teachings. Even though construed to be preaching the powerlessness of individuals these teachings still managed to somehow inspire and assure certain individuals that they could seek and find. The East, in contrast, became burdened with the philosophy of Nirvana or the shrinking of a world into nothingness rather than the belief in the evolution into an ever-expanding world that was powering the West.

[1] Catholic Encyclopedia, Arianism

[2] Arian Heresy

[3] The Beatitudes, Mt. 5:3-9

[4] See R. Rubenstein's When Jesus became God, 1999

[5] Wide as the Waters (2001)

[6] Mt. 6:14

[7] See Appendix

[8] For example, Southern Baptist Convention, 6/14/2000

[9] The Wealth of Nations

[10] Read F. G. Goble's The Third Force, 1970

[11] Frank and Frank, Persuasion and Healing, 1991, pp. 133-134

[12] Anatomy of an Illness, 2001

[13] What is Life? 1992, pp. 92-164

[14] The End of Certainty, p. 71

[15] On the Aesthetic Education of Man