The Criticism That Cures The Heart

In this “late-time” (or “dark” epoch), religions are, fundamentally, being used by humanity in a “Narcissistic” manner. A collective “Narcissism” is being expressed and reflected through people’s participation in religion. People think religion is about themselves, whereas religion is supposed to be about the Divine. The word “religion” has traditionally been interpreted to mean “to connect again”, “to re-join”—to re-establish Unity with the Ultimate Reality, the Divine Condition. Thus, true religion is about being connected to the Divine.

True religion is not about the “me” of “you”. True religion is not about the ego-“I”. True religion is not about the “me”-person who participates in religion. Rather, true religion is about the Divine—with Which any individual is re-associating, or re-uniting. True religion is, ultimately, about discovering Oneness with the Divine Self-Condition to be Always Already the Case. That is true religion.

In this “late-time” (or “dark” epoch), religion has been reduced to being a reflection of humankind. The “talkers” of religion are constantly making pronouncements about matters of a social (and obsessively sexual) and political nature—matters that are essentially about humankind (rather than about the Divine), and of a gross nature (rather than of a Spiritual, Transcendental, and Divine Nature). In the midst of all of that, each person’s religious “cult” becomes his or her “identity”—and the “cults” even wage war on one another, through association with states or nations that give them power and supply weaponry.

Thus, in this “late-time” (or “dark” epoch), religion is being used “Narcissistically”—as if religion were about the human ego, instead of being about the Divine Condition of Reality Itself. To Realize the Divine Condition of Reality—to re-unite with That, to discover Oneness with That—requires the transcending of the human ego.

Moreover, religion is being collectively used in a divisive manner, generating confrontation and more illusion. True religion is not about generating illusions—but conventional religion is, in its fundamentals of belief and of seeking, a common means that is everywhere used to support, and propagate, and serve illusions. Conventional religion is about “Santa Claus” deities—and conventional religion is everywhere exploited to provide costumes and theatre for mummers.

When people’s participation in religion is “Narcissistic”, their religion is merely a reflection of themselves—and, in that case, people do not find the Divine. Thus, all over the world, true religion is being lost—and religion is being misused, for “Narcissistic” purposes. That is not true religion. That is false religion.

Exoteric religion is not enough. The true practitioner of exoteric religion must (and will) grow-up, and, thus and thereby, enter into the domain of esotericism. Esotericism is about finding (or Realizing) That to Which exoteric religion is merely pointing.

Remarkably, the first six stages of life are entirely about human beings. Thus, it can be said that the Great Tradition of humankind is, as a whole, “Narcissistic”. That “straight-on” assessment of the Great Tradition is fundamental to what I have Revealed. The first six stages of life represent the totality of human endeavors previous to My Divine Avataric Self-Revelation-Work.

The first six stages of life are all about the ego, the mirrored (or “objectified”) persona, the separate “I” looking for That Which Is Reality, or That Which Is (by Its Very Nature) Divine. But all these endeavors simply make use of the various structured levels of the human mechanism. This is true even of the esotericism of the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth stages of life. That esotericism simply plays upon the gross, subtle, and causal (or total psycho-physical) structure of the human entity, which is (at root) the ego.

Religion (both exoteric and esoteric) points toward Truth. The Perfect Realization of Truth Transcends religion (and, thus, Perfectly Transcends the ego-“I”). Therefore, right use of religion is a use that directly relates to the Divine. All human matters can be readily resolved when people are rightly re-associated with Reality Itself—or That Which Is Divine.

When people are not thus re-associated, religion is simply another device that human beings use to shore up the ego, to give it a theatre in which to play—and, thus and therein, to generate forms of pseudo-identity and all the possible illusions associated with belonging to a collective pseudo-identity. To do so is to utterly misuse religion—because religion is not about the human self (or the ego-“I”). Religion is about That Which Transcends the human self (or the ego-“I”). Therefore, if religion has anything to say about human behavior, it is entirely in the context of the ego-transcending Non-“difference” from the Ultimate Divine Condition That Is Reality Itself.

Religions need to re-discover (and become re-directed toward) That to Which they are pointing. Ultimately, What true religion points to is not within the context of the human body-mind. In other words, What true religion points to is not at all in the realm of the first six stages of life. What true religion points to is Beyond all of that.

Of course, when That is discovered (or re-“Located”), that discovery (or re-“Locating”) obviously has an immense impact on human behavior. In fact, that discovery (or re-“Locating”) generates the course of right life altogether. However, even the generating of right life is a result (or a reflection) of the Realization of Truth. In and of itself, right life is not Truth.

Truth Itself Is Reality Itself. And Reality Itself Is the Only God There Is. All the mere “God”-ideas are reflections of the human entity, the human ego, the body-mind. Therefore, with reference to Reality Itself (or to That Which Is Divine), all religions are inherently limited (and even, in and of themselves, false)—and, therefore, all religions can be grossly misused.

When religions do not reach Beyond themselves to That Which Is Divine, every separate religious tradition becomes a “something” in and of itself—and religion is reduced to what is gross, and merely of a political and social nature, obsessed with the self-“righteousness” of “correct” social and sexual behavior, and darkened by social xenophobia, sexual paranoia, and every kind of prejudice based on “purity laws” and complex, loveless taboos. All of that is entirely “Narcissistic”. Therefore, conventional (and self-deluded) participation in religion has all the negative results of “Narcissistic” behavior (or ego-based, separative behavior altogether).

Religion is not the only dimension of human life that is being misused. All aspects of human possibility are being misused—in exactly the same manner. It is simply that religion is one of the key dimensions of human life in which it can be clearly seen how the human entity works (individually and collectively)—and why egoity must be transcended. Therefore, mere religion (or any and all religion in and of itself) must be transcended. Religion, in and of itself, is not the point—and much of religion has now lost its legitimacy. Religion must be established, in present-time, with reference to Reality Itself. Reality Itself Is Divine. Reality Itself Is all the God there Is. Only Reality Itself Is true religion.

If religion is relevant at all, it is in the context of Reality Itself—not in the context of the cult of “Narcissistic” mind, entirely absorbed in the mere ideas of humanity’s preoccupation with itself. As I have Said, “You are suffering because you have too much of one another and not enough of Me.” That is a Criticism of the misuse of religion—and of the misuse of life altogether.

Unless religion actually turns people to the Realization of That to Which it points, it is misused—and it is inherently false. That is a “radical” message—but it is the fundamental message that is relevant to the issues of religion in present-time. The “ecumenical” message is not “It”. Going Beyond religion—to That to Which religion points—is essential.

Religion is not “It”—and, indeed, religion never was “It”. However, the human misuse of religious possibility is purposed to make religion seem to be “It”—and even, in the centuries since the Western Renaissance, to make humanity (in and of itself) seem to be “It”. In Truth, and in Reality, humanity is not “It”.

In Truth, and in Reality, Only Real (Acausal) God Is “It”. Only That Which Is God—Which Is Reality Itself—Is “It”. Real (Acausal) God is not a myth. Real (Acausal) God is not merely an idea. The Existence of Real (Acausal) God cannot be disproven. And, paradoxically, the Existence of Real (Acausal) God cannot even be proven. Rather, the Existence of Real (Acausal) God is Self-Evident, or Self-Affirming and Self-Authenticating—because Reality Itself Is Inherently The Case, Inherently True, and Inherently Divine.

Rightly used, religion is something like a “picture book” for leading people to mature human understanding. However, if religion is not used in that manner, it becomes a “something” in and of itself. In that case, religion becomes false cultism, in one form or another—shoring up its own imagery, and reinforcing its “authority” and control over people within the domain of institutionalized lies. In the form of such ego-based cultism, religion does terrible harm to everyone. The global human situation has now become a terrible collective calamity, a global tragedy with ego-based religion at its roots—and such ego-based religion is utterly false.

True religion is simply a Call to the Divine Condition That Is Reality Itself. That is What true religion is about. That is What true religion is for. And That is the Only Truth in true religion. Indeed, the Divine Condition That Is Reality Itself is the Only Truth in life altogether. Everything else is mummery, everything else is false. The Divine is not false. However, human beings are, by tendency, false—and, therefore, they must be served to be rightened.

If the word “religion” is to be used at all, that process of rightening is the purpose of true religion. True religion turns people from separate self (or egoity, or the habit of “Narcissus”, and the life of mere ideas) to Reality Itself, through a process of Real transcending of egoity and comprehensive rightening of life. If religion does not do that, then it is merely part of the unspeakable self-deludedness of humankind, with its terrible present-time and potential results.

In this sense, I am not in the slightest “religious”. I do not “believe” anything. The Prior renunciation (or inherent transcending) of all mere belief is the basis on which I have always lived—and the basis on which I have Done all of My Divine Avataric Work.

There are no mere ideas that must—or even should—be accepted absolutely. Indeed, there are no mere ideas that are acceptable As Truth. Therefore, nobody in this world has the right or calling to absolutely affirm the verity of anything for which they do not have absolute evidence—and there is not anything that Is Truth (or Really Absolute), except for That Which Is Self-Evident As Reality Itself.

Look at all the affirming of religious doctrine in the world—always affirming mere ideas, and imperfect evidence, and even human lies and inventions to be absolute Truth! Where is the evidence that justifies making such absolute affirmations? I am not speaking of any religion in particular. All religions are filled with such absolute affirmations—and such absolute affirmations are complete nonsense. People do not make these affirmations because they actually know them to Be Truth, or even because they have proven them to be (in the conventional sense) true—nor is it the case that these affirmations are referring to Self-Evident Reality Itself.

Truth cannot be proven. Truth is not in doubt. Therefore, neither can Truth be disproven.

Reality cannot be disproven—nor can Reality be proven. Reality is Intrinsically and tacitly Self-Evident.

People constantly make grandiose affirmations about religion—but, in doing so, they are merely playing power-games and mumming on one another. They make absurd affirmations that something is absolutely so, and they commit their entire lives to it—but it is absolute nonsense. They do not know, with the certainty born of real “testing and proving”, that what they affirm is true. And if you do not know something is absolutely true, absolute affirmation of it is not appropriate. The same is true for any other kind of presumed knowledge—not only religious beliefs.

If you do not actually know something absolutely, it should not be affirmed absolutely. It may be interesting, it may be worthy of further "consideration”—but if you do not know it absolutely, you should not affirm it absolutely.

In Truth, the only thing that can be affirmed absolutely is Reality Itself—Which Is Truth Itself. No mere “point of information” can be absolutely affirmed. Therefore, any mere “point of information” is simply a subject of further “consideration” or discussion, and should only be tentatively affirmed as something that may be the case, as something that seems to be the case based on some level of evidence.

Making absolute affirmations is not a proper disposition for any exercise engaged from a scientific perspective. However, scientists frequently make absolute affirmations, as if they have some sort of absolute knowledge, whereby they are entitled to absolutely affirm that such and such is or is not the case. To indulge in absolute affirmations—including the affirmation of scientific materialist philosophy—is a gross misuse of the “authority” of science.

Science is not in a position to make absolute affirmations. True science is the method of enquiry-without-prejudice—and that method of enquiry enables science only to make propositions that are tentatively affirmable, and that must, necessarily, be tested by all yet future evidence. In the realm of science, further investigation is always required. The basis of all right and true science is this: Nothing absolute can be known (or, otherwise, said) about conditionally arising phenomena.

Religion, as an “objective” phenomenon, is a collection of ideas and doctrines that cannot—and should not—be absolutely affirmed. Therefore, what is the point of getting absolutely affirmative about religious doctrines, myths, and reports? Truth Is the Only Absolute—and Reality Itself Is Only Self-Evident. Much can (and must) be made of Truth Itself, or Reality Itself—but there is no point in making much of any mere ideas or any merely conditional appearances, because everything that appears conditionally is (itself) tentative and non-absolute.

Adidam is not what is conventionally called a “religion”. Adidam is a Way. Adidam is not based on absurd affirmations or beliefs. Rather, Adidam is about Reality Itself—Which Is Self-Evident, and, therefore, not a “something” in the realm or category of “things” that are either provable or disprovable. Adidam is a Wisdom-Way, with Reality’s own Means provided—in Which you are Called to Really participate, such that you Really (and Intrinsically) Realize the Self-Condition of Reality Itself.

I have much to say of a critical nature relative to egoity (as it manifests both individually and collectively), and relative to all the “stuff” of humanity and its mere ideas. Nevertheless, My Criticism is Spoken in a positive disposition. There is no harm intended in My Criticism. My Criticism is a Revelation of That Which Is Divine. Therefore, My Criticism Cures the heart, and Cures the life—but by the Means of Truth, or Reality Itself, and not by all of the means concocted by ego-bound humanity in its world-mummery of suffering and seeking.