cosmic religion

i happened upon a little book today
a bound text of some thoughts he presented
to the jewish telegraphic society
by albert einstien in 1931

the first essay is entitled
"cosmic religion" which is the
title of the book
the other pieces are entitled
"militant pacifism" "disarmament"
"the homeland" and some comments and
aphorisms on scientific matters and
the religious disposition of man

it appears from the outset that einstein
is not willing to consider revelation
as a real experience of people
rather he put it thus:

"everything that men do or think concerns the
satisfaction of the needs they feel or the escape from pain.
this must be kept in mind when we seek to understand spiritual
or intellectual movements and the way in which they develop.
for feeling and longing are the motive forces
of all human striving and productivity---
however nobly these later may display themselves
to us"

he then goes on to describe the three levels of
religious understanding which more or less
outlines for his readers the relationship between his
opening thesis and the "observations" of religious practice

the first level of religious practice is the "religion of fear'"
into which he places almost all early expressions of
world religious experience
the idea here is that somehow there develops the awareness
that a "god" is very powerful and at times very angry
as evidenced in the calamities from which primitive people
were evidently at a loss to protect themselves
so a set of rituals develops that are designed to
appease the "anger" of the god or the "gods"
animal or human sacrifice might do the trick

the second level is the "moral religion" whereby it is
discerned that in order to keep a sense of sanity
within a group and harmony with god
and/or a society there needs be some
rules of behaviour which will hopefully dissuade
people from encroahing on the autonomy of the family or the clan
and if they do then there are some casuistic formalities
by which the infraction can be mollified if not the emotions
of the "victims"
the gist here however is for people to adhere
to the precepts in order to be in right relationship
with the god

einstein sees this as quite an advance from the fear based
religious practices but is quick to point out that
there is no purely moral religion as he sees it
there must be some fear in there some where
in order to get the "faithful" to take it seriously

and even the fear based religions can display
some aspects of social application that are
exceedingly humane and dignified by any standard

the third level the level he sees as being somehow
essential and most important for the modern world
is what he terms "cosmic religion"
and this is the spiritual expression given usually by one
individual with strong religious/spiritual/intellectul characteristics
like ghandi or francis of assisi or he even mentions spinoza
who tend to see beyond the constraints of their religious milieux
and express something that is useful and perhaps necessary
for everyone to hear and know

the cosmic religious sense is that motivating principle that is
seen in the lives of scientific geniuses and artists and
spiritual seekers alike...it is the human motivation that
takes the effort to know or to see or to express beyond the
boundaries of what is presently accepted as the limit

i am thinking of someone like gurdjieff as a contemporary example

thus he groups into a "New religion" a sort of eclectic
array of individuals like kepler newton galileo st francis
luther i suppose the baal shem tov theodore herschl
ghandi and joan chittester
(she'd probably put herself into that group)
madame curie mozart i suppose shakespeare
chaucer dante siddhartha darwin thomas merton
sam walton (kidding kidding kidding!!!)

anyway he makes this category of
extraordinary people whom he deems are
essential to having a sensible approach to
matters of human endeavor
be they scientific artisitic social or religious
or all of these

it is one thing then to be objective
and see that there are always people with
exceptional insight and training who
pioneer some way of perception by which
all people can benefit

it is however
one thing to make these statement from the point of view
of human anthropology
which einstien in effect does

it is another to see the fullness of human effort
in the context of lived and practiced faith
where there is not much room for elitism
or if one does perceive a gift
it is understood in terms of service

where would einstien place
therese of lisieux? or the cure' of ars?

what i do like about his thesis
is that he indicates that man has an
inclination to the good
even if governed by the religion of fear
humans are given to trying to work out
what is best for not only themselves
but the ones to whom they are given
to protect and nurture
implicit within religious practice of any kind
is the sense of obligation to the continuance
of the good in humanity

odd how this sense can become the fuel
for zealous righteousness and hatred

the christ phenomenon defies the categories
of einstien
or else
perhaps combines all three into one
"do not be afraid"
" i am the way the truth and the life"
"hey everybody...it's about the crucifixion!!"
it would appear that the one called jesus
takes the issue of religious intuition
and links the problems of all humanity
to one deciding fact...god's willingness to enter into
the most detestable display of human behavior
his willingness to make a case
for the ability of the human soul to transcend
even grotesque murder
the hope of the faithful lies in the fact
of human suffering
and our willingness to see our experience
as a part of the experience of christ's eternal
resolution in the story the fact of resurrection
without this revelation
i think all of western cultural development would be
but a repeat of the rise and fall of kingdoms
the endless cycle of violence and revenge

it seems to me that if we are following christ out of fear
of "hell" or simply because we feel that
he has defined the bottom line in terms of man's
moral relationship to his fellow humans
we are limiting the experience of god to
a social agenda or a personal feeling
when in fact it becomes apparent to
those who take the matter seriously
that we are constantly being opened up
through the experiences of living in the world
the painful oftimes nearly deathly
eventimes the end of life
and being constantly encouraged by the
doctrine and practice of our faith
that we will in fact attain to the heart's greatest desire
the desire to see "god"
what a strange agenda that is mr einstien


i will finish the book and report to this
blog my thoughts

i am wondering however
if albert einstein were writing today
would he observe the world of science
as having become a sort of religion
unto itself
complete with extraordinary narratives
rituals and presuppositions about
what is good for the world?
complete with enlightened adherents and docile
adherents to the faith
souls who will trust themselves to the
power of science no matter what?

i think of walt disney
making the serious decision to be
cryogenically preserved
so that all those funny creatures
can somehow live again in the
never ever land of
disney world

walt disney will come back to life
and save the world
he will be the new angel of
the new science

everyone needs something to have faith in

good night kids