Opening the Pandora's Box of Religion | The Wisdom of Kleoth

By Anthony Joseph and Miriam

Opening Pandora's Box is an essay inspired by the horrible deeds of terrorists on 9/11 2001. It is a personal investigation into the nature of the world's great religions, their positive and negative traits. The author's conclusion is that of the three or four most influential spiritual geniuses of

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Vine Press
• Release date: Apr 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781951886769

Anthony Joseph

Anthony Joseph is a Trinidad-born poet, novelist, academic and musician. His 2022 collection Sonnets for Albert was awarded the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry and the OCM BOCAS Prize for Poetry. He is the author of four poetry collections and three novels. His 2018 novel Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award and the OCM Bocas Prize for Fiction. In 2019, he was awarded a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. As a musician, he has released nine critically acclaimed albums, and in 2020 received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Composers Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Kings College, London.

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In a Nutshell

Human beings are comprised of consciousness (which might live forever), and a body, which will surely die.

In order to survive, this combination takes on a self-surviving method of action which we call ego. Because human beings have free will, the ego part also takes on self-pleasuring, which Freud called the id.

Because the ego is basically self-serving, it easily creates negative karma, which, when it returns, causes suffering to the entity. This, and ignorance, are the roots of suffering.

The only remedy for this is the golden rule, albeit combined with wisdom (don’t invite a serial killer to dinner).

New Thoughts about Avatars

As has been said many times, the beginning of religion is in the fact and fear of death and the insurance of going to the right and happy place in the hereafter! Many are born into a family with religion being injected at an early age and with the thought that this is the one true faith, the only way to the heavenly realms. Many are filled with feelings of guilt about sin and that only this religion can forgive ones sins. Many feel pity or anger toward nonbelievers, pride at being the defender of the faith, and shame at being unworthy to carry the banner. It is very difficult to abandon all these feelings of anger and rejection from one’s family and friends, fear of damnation, and often a lack of resoluteness. Some are equipped with a kind of infantile reality about plowing through life’s challenges.

The dark side of religious education is consumed both with the religion’s holy books and the taint of world history with their thought biases.

These thoughts are based on absolutely no experience of true spiritual tenets but, since they deal with eternity, are defended with arcane fierceness and sometimes with violence. Dark faith blends with the kind of ego that carries grandiosity and anger-violence with it. Some people are current with the religious mores of the times, some as much as 3000 years behind the times, showing features of a tribal or even caveman-like mentality about it. Scientific beliefs, open to proofs, are much less problematic since they can be proven or not and are not mixed up with God’s will. It is time to improve religion. The new age demands it!

What happens after death is the ultimate prod to fierce beliefs since one wants to be right. Indeed, one must be right to ensure entry to higher realms. This is the true Gordian Knot of religion that can only be cut with a high level of wisdom and determination and grace. The key to cutting through is meditation at a profound level.

If one believes in other universes, then perhaps we can say that religion is at the point of switching from faith to experience, and that other universes or galaxies—perhaps in our distant past—have been at the same point.

Ultimately, religion must answer the question of suffering: why is there suffering, and where does it come from and can it be stopped?

Faith is one of the hallmarks of the Piscean age. It is very likely the Aquarian age will enter into the age of religion as heartfelt science through its mystical practices (to be discussed thoroughly in this paper). We are not yet complete, not yet one with the universe or God if you prefer. How long will all this take? The Hindus suggest half a million years per soul! Is there a way to shorten this process?

Religion falls into three distinct areas: those dealing with the fear-anger complex, like Islam, aspects of Roman Catholicism and archaic Judaism; those dealing with social justice, like modern Judaism and Christianity; and finally those dealing with direct connection to the higher levels—that is, mysticism and the power of avatars (incarnations of perfected beings) for example, Eastern religion in general. Any success in obtaining any of the avatar powers will break apart belief systems that have no grounding in reality. These practices were already codified over four thousand years ago— yes, on this planet—and are indeed in books!

Ultimately, over thousands of years, religion will move—I think—from a belief system to a system of heartfelt science, yoking oneself with higher beings and realities through specific techniques called yogas. This text explores all these possibilities.

Early or primitive religion is based on protection from the forces of nature through nonexperiential, but often fierce, trust in animal or nature or facts of nature, that is, volcanoes, spirits, and/or totems. The unexpected events of life also promote some kind of belief in the unseen.

From the beginning, there was/is some hope or belief in the spirit living on after death, some think as wish fulfillment.

Around four to five thousand years ago, the Universe (God) sent hugely developed spirits (avatars, or perhaps benign and developed alien beings) to instruct mankind on the nature of themselves and the universe and how to eliminate suffering and the causes of suffering. There seem to have been—that is from their own actions, gifts, and manifestations—five of them: Krishna (Hinduism), Moses (Judaism), Lao Tzu (Taoism), Buddha (Buddhism), and Jesus (Christianity).

Though simply a student, I have pursued studies with masters of the mystical traditions that are part of the first four traditions. Christianity has never had such a continuous school. (Teresa of Avila and Madam Guyod are two names that come to mind of important mystics that were silenced by the Roman Church.)

These teachers agree on the following points: spirits enter and reenter bodies for development not only on this plane, but on thousands more in the universe; with this phenomenon, a sense of dualistic separation, maintenance for oneself, protection, desire for pleasure, a fear of one’s own destruction, and anger at anybody or thing that thwarts one’s wishes is created. There are perhaps three basic angers that occupy incarnated reality: (1) that of being in a body with its limitations, pains, old age and death; (2) that of having to take care of the body with food and protection; (3) that of pleasuring it, what some would call Freud’s id. These are spoken about in the later chapters. This basic phenomenon we of course call the ego.

The ego, listed as one of the component parts of a human being in the Indian spiritual system, is necessary for survival at lower stages of evolution. Its physical home is the medulla oblongata in the brain. It looks out for itself basically and is friendly to its own sexual mate and offspring and is suspicious of the other. Its negative thoughts are of fear, anger, desire, and aversion; and it is ignorant of the rebound effect of karma. It is a detriment to spiritual advancement precisely because of these limiting qualities. Survival in the world in a more advance state is pursued by the ego trying not to hurt others or oneself but without attachment to the results of its efforts. Eventually, in a more advanced entity, the ego must disappear. There is always need for a small amount of ego to survive in a body, even in the case of very advanced beings.

Willed action called karma is the fundamental activating force of the universe. Such action always returns to the actor, albeit within a huge time possibility. The return gives the spirit, now in a body, a chance to view itself, more often within suffering (because vested self-interest is the primary quality of ego), less often within a pleasant experience. This viewing may be used to forward one’s own development. One can speak of development in two parts: part one improves the ego, making it kinder, less willful, retaliating, and defended; part two dissolves the ego. This is done not only through actions for the benefit of the other, but by a very high level of focus coupled with nonattachment and very specific yogic practices which always involve the central channel. (This spiritual godlike channel rises from the base of the spine to the spot between the eyes at the tip of the nose and is called sushumna within the Indian system. It is flanked on either side by two other mundane channels called ida and pingala.) The area where one’s spirit guides (guardian angels) reside is called luminosity by the Tibetans. We all have it, although it is usually cloudy! It’s where our imagination resides and flourishes in our minds. These avatar practices yield about eighteen achievements which the great spiritual geniuses in the history of humankind all achieved and in fact demonstrated in their lives.

Our towering figures, mentioned above, could do the following things which no ordinary man can do—speak with other spirit entities; foretell the future; remember the distant past or unknown past; read other’s minds and speak to others mentally; heal other’s physical, spiritual, and emotional ailments; defy the laws of nature by forcing matter to do their will, walk on water, levitate, generate a holograph body during life which, after death, is visible to all, even at the same time and in different places; reinvigorate their own and other dead bodies or produce a similar real material body after death; have their bodies disappear and reappear in a differing space; produce warmth in the belly area, protecting their bodies from the cold.

Other things that are unseen that avatars can do are the following: enter their own and others’ dream states consciously; force their own spirits (souls) out their cranium at death; see the varied lives and karmas of other beings, their deaths, and reincarnations; enter other physical bodies of their own will; dissolve the negative actions of others; possess a complete and noncontingent peace and joyfulness of spirit; merge with what is termed as the white light at the moment of death; eliminate the need to enter other bodies for further development (unlike nearly all of humanity). Note how many recent science fiction films incorporate some of these traits. There is real public interest! Soon we might have Levitation 101 in college courses!

The three figures which are recorded in their respective holy books to have done these things were the following: Krishna, Lord Buddha, and Jesus. Of course, tampering (let’s call it Zealoting) with the master’s words became somewhat common in less-advanced students.

In the case of the Gita and the 108 volumes of the Buddha’s teachings and methods, the students both recording the information and addressed, have to have been advanced since all major practices require Samadhi (a perfectly focused meditation state, requiring at least twenty-five thousand hours of practice in which the ego disappears, at least within meditation). What has come down to us as the Bible contains both enlightened words of great masters, as well as unenlightened information and opinions.

In the Hindu description of major avatars (those completely one with the universe, not needing to incarnate, not needing teachers), these three entities are stated, along with quite unknown figures that lacked public recognition and public encounters. The first two lived among spiritual students that had accomplished long meditation practices, which would include the first great stage of merging with (no separation between) what is perceived or heard during meditation; and the second stage, which is meditation with the cessation of breath, which brings about noncontingent bliss and complete lack of anxiety or suffering.

All of these accomplishments have yoga associated with them, which are part of the spiritual tradition of Hinduism and Buddhism, and which are available in contemporary texts and which can be studied and (usually with the help of someone who has accomplished them) practiced. In the largest sense, a quieted mind state produces the possibilities of speaking to and receiving responses from one’s own spirit guides. This is the first development that will come to a seeker who has practiced enough sincere meditation. Remember how we speak of guardian angels, but have medication suggested if we claim contact with them!

With quieter mind states, one can mentally speak telepathically to those who have similar development (Karl Jung was an advocate for the practice of telepathy).

A central channel runs through the seven major chakras (base of the spine, three inches below the navel, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye or just above the middle of the eyes, and the crown), and within these is a series of knots at each of the points, which need to be untied in order to accomplish the other avatar qualities just spoken about. On either side of the channel are smaller channel tubes through which pass the energy of ordinary everyday perception; these energies need to enter the central channel, and are most easily penetrated by the process of visualizing heat-fire at each chakric point or of visualizing the breath entering each chakric point. The specifics of the channel practices are available through the following: the Tibetan tradition, that is, the Six Yogas of Naropa, easily accessible in texts (e.g, The Six Yogas of Naropa, Glenn H. Mullin, Snow Lion Press) the same or similar practices in the Indian school called Kriya Yoga, with breathing descriptions in one or two texts and which must be studied with an accomplished practitioner in order to be learned. (See texts of Lahiri Mahasay, SriYukteswar, and Yogananda [Autobiography of a Yogi] and Swami Giri.)

The basic prerequisite for all these practices is the attainment of great focus within normal life and meditation (average person’s focus power is about 35 percent, as contrasted with 95–99 percent focus needed for a high-level version of meditative practices.)

The central channel exercises are much more complex and are described along with their names as follows:

Inner Heat—One who focuses on the central channel below the navel point generating a vision of fire and visualizes having the energy of the side channels enter the central one. When successful, this produces not only real heat, but bliss that pervades all one’s consciousness. Google tummo and find on YouTube for actual demonstrations of this technique.

Illusory Body-Based on the concept of emptiness; that is to say, on the interdependence of all phenomena and its ultimate nonpermanence, this practice will not only generate a holograph body which leaves and can reappear to others after death, but also promotes the experience of all things as dreamlike, which then produces the experience of joy through the release of attachment. This practice is done by a man with a women, requires sexual penetration without orgasm and various visualizations during the process. One immediately connects Mary Magdalene as Jesus’s possible consort for this practice! One is also able to project this illusory but conscious body to anywhere in the universe!

Clear Light—This yoga is to produce the experience of oneself being conscious in dreams. This practice is done by visualizing varied colored lights in the throat and heart areas when falling asleep and/or falling asleep directly from a state of Samadhi. The further application is at the moment of death where one is able to stay in consciousness during the eight stages of dying (mentioned in the books referred to above).

Consciousness Transference—This practice forces the soul consciousness out of the crown area and coincides with the moment of death, enabling the entity to transfer his/her awareness to a higher or even Buddhic level. This practice is also described in detail in the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The practice is done with the raising of awareness from the bottom of the central channel with certain syllables, the most common being hic and forcefully pushing the spirit out of the fontanel.

Forceful Projection—An offshoot of the former practice, the practitioner aims to place his consciousness into another body, usually for the purpose of helping others by reincarnating into a more suitable body, without having to be born again!

Bardo Yoga—The purpose here is to achieve higher levels of enlightenment after death by staying in awareness and recognizing the phenomena (negative and positive entities) that occur after death as part of one’s own awareness.

These are doubtless at the extreme high level of skill and virtuosity in practice and cannot be done even in a beginning way without the required very strong level of focus and the energy and blessings of one’s teachers and indeed the universe itself.

Like the former two avatars, Krishna and Buddha, it is very likely that Jesus taught these techniques to whatever students were qualified to receive them—probably a tiny few—and basically worked on improving through the Golden Rule, rather than dissolving the ego of most of his followers. Like the former avatars who rose to this great level of spirituality through lives of spiritual effort, it is likely that Jesus did the same, taught his inner (advanced) disciples that they should (must) do the same, and gave them exercises for this at whatever level these students were. Humankind then progresses through hundreds of thousands of years from caveman-like status to oneness with the universe or God and partially through the accomplishments of the yogas mentioned above.

The early Roman Catholic Church, unable to really comprehend who Jesus actually was (like a beginning piano student listening to a finished virtuoso), started by writing stories about him to convert others, finally concocting to good to be true statements such as the forgiveness of sins through confession to a priest (a concept totally incompatible with Judaism, from which Christianity was born) and a permanent heavenly state attainable by simply by believing in Jesus. Reincarnation (a belief of CE Judaism and before was also common in early Christianity until it was condemned as heresy in the sixth century by a synod) was bad because it took away the power of early Christianity (one life and one eternal heaven or hell state) and so was condemned. Of course, if one’s mistakes are forgiven simply through confession, then humankind will simply make more of them, knowing they can be forgiven. The power of karma then is erased!

Whereas scientific principles can be tested and then believed in, religion has no such phenomena, being a belief system without experience as a background (unless one undertook the aforementioned practices).

Although I stated this at the beginning of my introduction, I will say again that religion is a true Gordian Knot. In its intense form—especially Islam and Roman Catholicism—it is injected at an early age: This is the only way to ‘salvation’, if you leave, you are damned, if you convert to another religion, you are damned, and we have already a direct connection to God which you should not question or even investigate!

Somehow, punishments are often eternal, even for transgressions that appear small! Your family often adds intensity to this, or even your city or country. Those who believe sins are forgiven by a ritual confession to a priest often think they can commit any transgression since it is immediately forgiven through the power of confession! Those who believe intensely in a particular faith often behave irrationally in defending it (since it is nonexperiential) sometimes with anger and violence. The following parts of this book deal with issues of most parts of spiritual practice.

Opening The Pandora’s Box Of Religion 9/11/04

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Travelers on their way to the great city, by sea and by land stop and meet quite by