The hero II

The Hero II

It seems as though Science has proved the existence of God. A statement that Stephen Hawkins would disagree with however it’s in plain sight. I will explain. Existence came about a big bang that created space and time. Science explains that the big bang just happened – that it came out of nowhere. Okay, fair enough however that big bang created a vacuum and the existence of the universe and life is contained in that vacuum of space and time. What surrounds that vacuum of space and time is nothing. Pure nothingness. We cannot comprehend that “nothingness” because we are in this vacuum of space and time. Human beings cannot sit for an hour without being distracted by their smartphones; what is an hour to forever. It is clear an entity outside space and time created the universe. The bible states that God is abstract and all around. It states that God is formless and forever – that is to say exempted from time and space. There is no time outside the Universe, no space – it’s just nothing. Seems like a beautiful canvas for God to put his paint brush on don’t you think? Human beings we are terribly limited, we are not intelligent enough, we rely on our senses which are not reliable, we are vulnerable and we die. Is there an afterlife? Since I am propagating God’s existence, I will answer in the affirmative. My main argument being the transcendence of consciousness and near death experiences. I read studies by Dr. Jeffery Long who is an author and leading researcher on the subject of Near Death Experiences. He has devoted his life to the subject of NDE and has surveyed and interviewed thousands of participants who experienced NDE. What he concluded from these interviews and studies is that NDE patients usually experience a transcendence of consciousness meaning that they temporarily exit or harbor above their bodies and are able to see everything despite the fact that they are clinically dead. They also report that they feel peace and see a light that they enter into. Entrepreneur and Rapper, Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent also encountered a Near Death Experience when he got shot 9 times. On the way to the hospital, 50 was clinically dead and interestingly enough he also reported that he was separated from his body and could see everything despite the fact that he was unconscious. 

Our culture is proficient in articulating Near Death Experiences. You see this displayed on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows when “The Dark Lord” Voldemort kills Harry Potter with the Death Curse spell. At that moment, Harry Potter dies and separates from his body. He walks into a white light and everything crystalizes as he sees himself on a train station. He meets Dumbledore, a late friend and mentor and they converse for a while. Harry is made aware of his options. He can stay there with Dumbledore and experience peace forever or he can go back into the real world and defeat “The Dark Lord”. Harry chooses the latter and rejoins his body. Typically, it is the route of all patients who experience NDE. They walk into a light and experience peace and then they converse with a “Guardian Angel” who helps them find their way. The aftereffects of patients who have experienced NDE are groundbreaking, unbelievable – amazing! The aftereffects are met with a drastic change in personality and outlook on life. There is greater appreciation for life, a greater compassion for others, a heightened sense of purpose and self-understanding, a desire to learn more and an elevated spirituality – some might say that it is Gods touch. It is comically represented on the hit cartoon show “Regular Show” when Rigby’s body quits on him. Rigby eats so much junk food that his body can’t take it anymore – the body forcefully separates Rigby’s consciousness out of its constrains and runs away. When Rigby finally reunites with his body, he vows to never mistreat it again – this behavior is typical of a person who has experienced a Near Death Experience. NDE is a useful phenomenon as it suggests that the world is metaphysical as Plato and Socrates hypothesized. It validates God’s existence and makes a point for true world destinations – who knows maybe there is a heaven. 

 Ancient Mesopotamian religions take on the reality of things is interesting and I want to explore that. Before the world and universe existed; there existed, Gods Tiamat who is known as the Goddess of Chaos and Apsu the husband of Tiamat. They created a union, which was sexual (creative) and gave birth to the World of gods. Shortly after the creation of the World of gods. Apsu, the great king, the husband of Tiamat dies. He leaves Tiamat who is known as the goddess of chaos alone. Tiamat is feminine energy. She represents what is unknown – she represents chaos. Now that the great king of Order Apsu is dead, the cosmos is met with instability. The cosmos is now surrounded and run by chaos which is feminine energy. The World of Gods that was conceived by the great king Apsu and the Goddess of Chaos Tiamat is ran by their son – Marduk. As the son of Apsu, Marduk represents Order and he brings about order in his world. Seeing this order, Tiamat imposes herself and serves as a threat that wants to diminish this order. Marduk challenges Tiamat and defeats her – indoctrinating order and chaos in the world. To live in the world of the gods now meant that you were in point A, what is, the unbearable present and going to point B, what should be, the ideal future. To get to the ideal future, you have to go through chaos and triumph. It is the ideology of the hero. The hero makes himself out of the chaos. Chaos strengthens him and keeps him focused. A hero explores unchartered territory which is chaotic and instills order. The hero conquers chaos with triumph.

This is seen every day in the world we inherited from the Gods. Rapper Jermaine Cole affectionately known as J. Cole is the perfect example of a hero conquering the unknown. As a young boy Jermaine always wanted to be a rapper. He envisioned himself as the greatest. However, his dreams didn’t align with his present. The present was hard and unbearable. He came from a small town that no one in the world knew existed. The town didn’t have notable heroes and crime was rife. To compound matters, he was raised by a single mother who had abusive partners – resulting in her mother resorting to drugs. Jermaine understood that his only chance was school and so he got good grades and was offered a scholarship to go study in New York. In New York, he endured a lot. He was alone and he was often broke. However, he survived and fought for his dream to be a Rapper. He forced things and by chance met his idol Jay – Z and asked him to listen to his mixtape. Jay –Z shunned the young Jermaine. That didn’t deter the young Jermaine Cole who kept on working hard on all fronts of his life. He was often in survival mode. Broke, studying, working piece jobs and at the same time actively pursuing his dream to be a Rapper. Two years later after he was shunned by Jay- Z, he received a call from the big man who was interested in signing him. Jermaine Cole had done it, he had conquered New York City. He had attained a degree and was signed to Jay –Z’s Rocnation. He had realized his dreams. He was fulfilled. He explored unchartered territory and made it familiar – he made it his own, he dominated it. He showed characteristics of the hero. He triumphed against chaos to get to his dreams. He had a great future. Interestingly, he often referred to himself as Simba in his songs. Simba is a fictional character in the story “The Lion King” who is the son of the great king Mufasa. After his father’s death, Scar the brother of Mufasa forces Simba to retreat so he can become king of Pride Rock. Scars inauguration signals chaos in the animal kingdom and puts an imbalance in the ecosystem of most life forms. After a hiatus, Simba comes back to defeat Scar and restores order to the animal king. Simba is the hero. He is the slayer of chaos. He is the archetypal son – like Marduk.

Another example of the archetypal son as the hero can be found in Egyptian mythology. In a battle for order (to be king) brothers Set and Osiris engage in war. Set wins this battle and cuts his brother (Osiris) into multiple pieces before scattering these pieces underground. Set therefore wins the battle of order – he becomes the king. The underground which represents chaos is occupied by Isis. Isis recuperates the pieces of Osiris and assembles him again. Isis makes herself pregnant from the pieces of Osiris. From the pregnancy, Horus is born. Horus comes out from the underground to battle his uncle Set and wins. This made Horus the divine son of order and chaos. After the battle with Set, Horus went underground and devoured his father Osiris. He did this so they could be one, so he can restore order in the world with his father. Horus is the archetypal son, the hero, the restorer of order – the great god. This Egyptian tale is great for goal directed behavior. The notion that you can build yourself with pieces on the ground to create something greater. Isis reminds us that defeat is only temporarily, that if you can navigate your way through chaos you will be a king. Horus is Simba the archetypal son who saves the world from chaos. Horus is Jesus Christ, the hero of humankind. 

The world, reality is Ying Yang. It is order and chaos. We are always in a place of insufficiency aiming for better or the best. The world is explored territory and unexplored territory. It is the hero and the adversary. It is order and tyranny. It is destruction and creation. It is exploration and repression. The world is divided into two and it seems we have the luxury of choice. If you want a life of self-actualization and realization you need to identify with the hero. The life of the hero is the only way to live. It is specifically and custom made for you – the individual. It requires that you turn unexplored territory into explored. It requires that you step out of your comfort zone. It requires that you build yourself out of external forces to propel yourself into greatness. It requires a thirst for life. It requires fight. It requires you being uncomfortable. How do you live the life of the hero? By following the things that have meaning for you. By paying attention to the structure of your being. By following the things that manifest themselves as interesting to you. Egyptians worshipped the human eye because they understood that it was the thing that paid attention. There is a game in the Harry Potter franchise called Quidich and how you win that game is by following this golden snitch that beckons all around. The golden snitch is so fast in its movements that it is almost impossible to detect it with your eyes. The golden snitch requires special attention and a “seeker” from either team is assigned to retrieve it. The golden snitch requires someone of great focus, someone with great determination, someone who is creative and is willing to do anything to get it. The golden snitch represents chaos and the one who retrieves the snitch wins the match for his team because he has instilled order. The message of the game of Quidich is simple; follow what you are interested in, it will be difficult sure, it will hell of course, but it will make you a better person. A person with character and strength. A hardened, knowledgeable machine who is self-sufficient and confident. The life of the hero will make life bearable. The life of the hero will give you control. The life of the hero will make you great. God is alive and you honor him by being the best that you can be. You honor him by approaching great uncertainty and making it a certainty. You honor God by instilling order in your life. 

Never be afraid, approach action with boldness, be comfortable in being uncomfortable, fight, discover uncharted territory, identity with the hero, bring order to chaos, be masculine energy to the feminine, bring light to the night, discover the unknown and conquer nihilism with your dreams and goals. Don’t let anyone deter you. God is on your side. God is being at peace with yourself. God is manifesting your talents. God is you. God is everything you touch and do. Identity with the archetypal son, be Horus, Jesus, Spiderman, be Neo on the matrix, the one - be yourself and explore!