The Cosmic Religion: The Next Step

By Quentin L. Green, M.D.

The author wrote this book while seeking personal answers to situations and their existing problems encountered in his life. The Cosmic Religion is a book written to provide information about past and present religions in our world – it does not promote any one religion. Many religions have constantly shifted their beliefs and evolved with the times. Green’s beliefs involve a spiritual direction which have now taken center stage while offering support to others at critical times. A person’s structured religious and spiritual background is necessary for that support and the solace needed during times of dire need. The Cosmic Religion was designed and developed to secure a direction for survival and avoid the various spinoffs of depression. It includes “quasi-facts” which lead towards the seeking of truth. The Cosmic Religion searches through mythology, astronomy, psychology and religious philosophy for the “correct path” leading to an untarnished spiritual road and spiritual world. Knowledge of how this was successfully achieved, in spite of adversities, is passed on to you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781939472144

Book preview

Closure

INTRODUCTION

This is a personal search toward a conclusion regarding religion.

Most people, including myself, have a limited knowledge of religion.

It is a review for reflection and consideration of what the beliefs are and why they are held.

Information was obtained from research performed by religious scholars.

Any conclusions reflect my own belief from a non-denominational and non-emotional viewpoint.

Three situations contributed to this interest in religion.

Remember, time flies.

It is always, later than you think.

Religion takes center stage for spiritual consideration at some time in life.

MY RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

The Bible states our soul is everlasting.

Consider the world’s religions and Karma.

Religion gives a moral direction during life, a satisfying belief that continues into an afterlife.

Reincarnation is not a religion.

____________________________________

THE COSMIC RELIGION

When Combined With

Directs The Individual

Toward The Spiritual Path

While Minimizing

STRESS - ANXIETY - DEPRESSION

ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS AND BURIAL TRADITIONS

Ancient cultures reflect mythical beliefs and an afterlife.

PALEOLITHIC:

The Archeological Stone Age extended from 3 million years ago to 13,000 B.C. The end of the Paleolithic Age introduced the Mesolithic Age and culture.

NEANDERTHAL:

Neanderthal man existed when the last Ice Age of intermittent glaciations was tapering off 100,000 years ago and ending 20,000 years ago. Neanderthals were named after skeletal remains discovered in a German Neanderthal valley cave. Burials included offerings of food and hunting implements buried with animal and skeletal remains. These findings indicated their belief in spiritual powers and an afterlife.

CRO-MAGNON:

Cro-Magnon man existed from 40,000 to 10, 000 B.C. and represented a more modern form of homo-sapiens. Skeletal remains were found in the Cro-Magnon cave in France. There were molded clay figures, engraved bones, and painted pictures of animals and hunting scenes on cave walls. It is believed a magical-religious interpretation developed with animals. This demonstrated the beginnings of mystic powers and the medicine man (shaman).

MESOLITHIC:

The Mesolithic Age was a transitional time beginning about 15,000 years ago. It marked the end of the latest Ice Age cycle and the melting of the world’s glacial ice sheets. Nomadic life was changing, shifting towards villages, fishing, farming, boats, and advanced cutting tools.

NEOLITHIC:

This age in the Middle East extended from 10,000 to 3,000 B.C. It brought forth the use of animals, tilling the land, weaving, pottery, invention of wheeled carts, and evidence of the first surgery. Ceremonial funerals developed with deceased persons being buried with containers of grain and sacrificed animals. Cremation was conducted in some regions. Chinese burials four thousand years ago indicated respect for dead ancestors as integral elements of their funerals. Those dynasties included bronze vessels and lacquered objects. Animal sacrifices were gradually substituted for the human ones buried with the deceased.

STONEHENGE:

The Stonehenge people of 2500 B.C. in England combined magical beliefs with those of religion and astronomic knowledge of equinox and solstice.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF TWO FUTURE COMINGS

Archeological history offers a time line illustrating the cultural development of the supernatural, religion, and science. Stories surrounded their rituals. Quasi-historical myths involved accomplishments of certain individuals. They developed into magical-religious and overtones of divinity that were developed into stories and beliefs which were associated with the coming of a Messiah proclaimed by written history or passed down via oral history.

A modern illustration of this was during World War II when the United States occupied Pacific atolls. Native islanders saw the arrival of warships, airplanes and aircraft carriers. Cargo ships also arrived and supplies were shared with the island’s inhabitants. Once United States forces eventually departed and disappeared, stories and beliefs soon developed among the islanders. The belief exists today that a similar messiah-like group would eventually return at some future time.

Another illustration is exhibited by the history of King Arthur’s life. Facts are entwined with the mysticism of Camelot.

The English hero, King Arthur, did actually exist either as a king or chieftain. He defeated the Saxons who had invaded the British Isles. Stories of his heroic feats in the fifth and sixth centuries were handed down from generation to generation. Those exploits were eventually recorded 400 years later in the tenth century as traveling minstrels in Europe enlarged the legends. French chronicles included the Round Table and Arthur’s Knights. A 13th century French drawing depicts King Arthur surrounded by knights attempting to pull the sword, Excalibur, from an-anvil shaped stone. Everyone failed. Arthur then succeed in pulling Excalibur from the stone, establishing his claim to the kingdom.

The History of the Kings of Britain, written in the 12th century, chronicled King Arthur’s past exploits. Arthur was presented as victor in many conflicts. He held court at Camelot in Cadbury Castle.

When King Arthur responded to a call from Rome to participate in one of the Crusades, he placed temporary guardianship of his kingdom in the hands of his nephew, Modred.

Modred took control of the kingdom and kidnapped King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere. In the fight that ensued when Arthur returned, he defeated Modred but was severely wounded. King Arthur was taken to the sacred Isle of Avalon to be healed, but unfortunately died. The King’s Knight, Bedivere, threw Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, into a lake where it was caught by the hand of the Lady of the Lake and both disappeared into the water. Legend states that Arthur will return and rule his kingdom.

Further legends included tales of Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, the Holy Grail, the chalice from Jesus’ last supper, and King Arthur’s predicted return.

This recurrent theme of future comings is present in many religions*:

The Hindu Krishna

The future Buddha

The Jewish Messiah

The Christian’s Jesus Christ

The Muslim Imam Mahdi

*Some of these prophecies are proclaimed to be accompanied by a catastrophic destruction of Earth.

MESOPOTAMIA

Mesopotamia is a Greek word for between the rivers.

The rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates located in Iraq, the site of the first settlements established before 7,000 B.C. The region was apparently fairly serene up to 3,000 B.C.

The known history of Mesopotamia begins before 4,000 B.C. The Neolithic pottery makers were gradually replaced by villages on the Euphrates River. These inhabitants were thought to be non-Europeans of unknown origins along with non-Semitic Sumerians of the south.

Invasions from the north were made on this fertile plain occupied by a succession of the Sumerians, Semitics, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. All were involved as empire builders over the centuries. Each culture brought its own myths, beliefs, faiths, and religions over a 3,000 year time range before Christ.

The Semites in the north and the Sumerians in the south originally struggled for dominance. The Semites were victorious and the Sumerians in the south ceased to exist as a political entity after 2,000 B.C.

Several kingdoms united and started the Babylonian empire. Hammurabi (1792 - 1750 B.C.) was an early Semitic ruler of Babylon. He united the various kingdoms and established a culture with rules of law and order for his people and the Sumerians. Babylon fell to the invading Indo-Europeans around 1600 B.C. After a dominance of 500 years, they were ousted by the Assyrians in 1100 B.C. The Babylonians regained control under Nebuchadnezzar (630 - 562 B.C.) from the Semitic-Chaldean dynasty and rebuilt Babylon. He was responsible for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and deported the Jews to his Babylonian empire. Babylonians believed the only enjoyment was obtained in this life on earth. Blessings were secured through prayer and priests, through sacrifices, and showing reverence. They were among the first to read the stars (astrology) to learn about future events and omens. The empire reached its supremacy between 626 and 605 B.C. which included Syria and Palestine.

Babylon became part of the Persian Empire when it fell to Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.

King Philip II (382 - 336 B.C.), founder of Macedonia, defeated the Greek states and achieved peace with all of them except Sparta. His son, Alexander the Great (356 - 323 B.C.), ascended to the throne in 336 B.C. at age twenty. Alexander defeated Darius and the Persians in