Modeling Cosmic Consciousness: How Might Humans, God, Religion and Purpose Fit In?

By Dr. Raymon McAdaragh

Consciousness is something that is very difficult to define and study scientifically. It is a topic that is often discussed in philosophy, but, by its supposed nature, it is considered to be a "soft science." This book is written with the intent of identifying what the actual nature of consciousness might be and to determine how consciousness mi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stratton Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648955754

Dr. Raymon McAdaragh

Dr. Raymon M. McAdaragh is a retired NASA aerospace research psychologist. He spent his career as an air traffic control specialist, a flight simulator instrument ground instructor, a laboratory technician, and a research scientist. He was also a certified meditation instructor (AIHCP) and a certified karate instructor (Bushin Kan Martial Arts). He has studied in many fields, including meteorology, aeronautics, biology, anthropology, chemistry, physics, philosophy, parapsychology, and education. He has chaired and participated in many philosophy discussion groups. He was a member of the Free Masons and attained a 32nd degree as a Scottish Rite Mason. He is a self-taught musician and writes and records his own music. In his younger years, he was a lead guitarist in three rock bands, which won first place in separate Battle of the Bands competitions (1967-1972). Beginning in 2006, his biography was included in Marquis's book of Who's Who for five consecutive years, including Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Science and Engineering.

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Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1: Modeling Cosmic Consciousness

Current Scientific Terms, Postulates, and Theories

Current Psychological Terms

Cosmological Models

Ontological Models of the Cosmos

Theological Models of the Cosmos

Supporting Models for Cosmic Consciousness (Review)

Part 2: What Could All This Mean?

Proposition 1: Proposed Definitions

Proposition 2: Concerning Consciousness

Proposition 3: Concerning Energy

Proposition 4: Concerning the Concept of What Is Real

Proposition 5: Concerning the Soul

Proposition 6: Concerning Sentient Beings and the Cosmos

Proposition 7: Concerning Yin-Yang And Beauty-Imperfection

Proposition 8: Concerning Existence or Being (Ontology)

Proposition 9: Concerning Theology

Proposition 10: Concerning the Greater Cosmic Picture

Proposition 11: Concerning the Nature of the Cosmos

Proposition 12: Concerning Good and Evil

Proposition 13: Concerning How Actions Affect the Cosmos

Proposition 14: Concerning the Concept of Repentance

Proposition 15: Concerning Subjectivity and Ecstasy

Proposition 16: Concerning the Concept of Faith

Proposition 17: Concerning Intuition, Insight, Inspiration, and Intervention

Proposition 18: Concerning the Purpose of Life

Proposition 19: Concerning Our Tasks

Proposition 20: Concerning Beauty, Wisdom, Being, and Sin

Proposition 21:Concerning the Following of Our Intended Path

Proposition 22: Concerning Miracles and Magic

Proposition 23: Concerning Awakening and Enlightenment

Proposition 24: Concerning the Future of Mankind on Earth

Part 3: How Might Religion Fit In?

Christianity

Hindu Teachings

Buddhism

What Is Zen Buddhism?

Zen Quotes

Native American Spiritualism

Gnostic Christianity

From the Gospel of Thomas (A Random Sampling of Fourteen Verses):

From the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Commentary on Gnostic Christianity

Part 4: Review of the Big Picture

Preface

We live in a universe that is expanding (inflating) so fast that its most distant portions are leaving us at a speed that is relatively faster than the speed of light. We don’t know if our universe is contained within some sort of medium or not, so we don’t know what it is expanding into. Within our universe, there are giant stars called black holes, which swallow portions of galaxies into a single point, without our knowing where the matter goes from there.

Quantum physics demonstrates that our empirical scientific approach to the investigation of the nature of our universe is sadly wanting. Subatomic particles seem to be waves, and waves seem to be particles, depending on how you measure them (particle-wave duality). Knowledge seems to be everywhere at once (quantum entanglement). We don’t even know if our universe is the one and only universe, or if it is one of many. What does all this say about our unwavering faith in the empirical scientific method and the idea that there may be other approaches to aid us in the determination of the nature of our universe?

More importantly, we can’t even agree among ourselves on what the actual nature of consciousness is, even though we agree that we are all conscious. Some believe that consciousness is the product of brain activity, while others believe that consciousness is ubiquitous throughout the cosmos. We do know that the basic essence of the cosmos is energy, which cannot be created or destroyed, so consciousness must be, at least, composed of energy. Could it possibly be the case that energy itself is conscious?

Considering all this, we must ask ourselves questions concerning the purpose of our presence on this planet we call Earth. Are there any religious theologies that might relate to the type of cosmos we find ourselves in? Is there a reason for the existence of our universe, and is there some sort of Source from which it emanates? Do humans have a purpose to serve as a part of our cosmos? If so, what is the Source of the universe and what might our purpose be? This book attempts to address these issues, so that the reader may be able to expand his/her perspective, in order to make informed decisions toward the development of his/her own conceptual understanding.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my son, Jeffrey, for allowing me to use his inspiring poetry to introduce each section of the book and to conclude the final section. I would also like to thank my wife, Carol, for providing support when I needed it. She was willing to put up with my constant desire to discuss many of the topics covered in the book and to provide supportive feedback, especially during our morning walks in the park.

Introduction

It is well known that individuals live quite different lives, even though they live in the same, or similar, communities. Two different individuals may work in similar occupations, shop in the same stores, reside in similar families, and attend similar, or even the same, religious organizations, yet one may be living an experience that could be described as heavenly, while the other is living in hell. This is primarily because of the perspective each individual has on life. But how could people be living such different lives when the opportunity for a heavenly experience in life should be available to us all?

When I finally decided to begin writing this book, it was only after I had come to the realization that the fields of metaphysics, in general, and metapsychology, in particular, are two of the most important and yet most ignored, or misunderstood, fields of study that have been explored by most people. This is particularly true for scientists, who confine their research to the empirical observation of the physical cosmos.

Consciousness is something that is very difficult to define and study scientifically. It is a topic that is often discussed in philosophy, but, by its nature, it is considered to be a soft science. This book is written with the intent of identifying what the nature of consciousness might be and to determine how consciousness might relate to the overall cosmos, including the relationship between humans and deity.

While science and metaphysics explore the basic nature of the cosmos, in general, theoretical psychology and metapsychology are important, because they more closely consider the psychological and spiritual aspects of consciousness, as well as qualia (individual experience). They also consider how these nonphysical aspects of mankind’s nature integrate with the physical-empirical cosmos. Science is used as a method to explain the empirical aspects of the cosmos, but we must also have a way to explain the extra-physical aspects, such as consciousness and/or spiritual experiences. After all, the empirical aspects, which scientists study, are only known through sensual experience. As we will see in upcoming chapters, these empirical observations can never meet the standard of infallibility that scientists would like to believe. Therefore, it is important to understand how consciousness fits into the cosmos as well!

Metapsychology is the field of study that concerns mental processes and the mind-body relationship, beyond what can be studied experimentally. Basically, it means the first principles of psychology. It is speculative psychology concerned with making postulates concerning the mind’s structure, such as the ego and processes, which can’t be demonstrated objectively. It is the study of philosophical questions, such as the relationship between the mind and body, which go beyond the laws of experimental psychology. To come to a fuller understanding of metapsychology, I believe, would be to come to an understanding of mankind’s nature and purpose for being. If this were possible, it would bring about a marriage between science and philosophy that could make the diverse world religions obsolete.

Religions are diverse because they are culturally influenced, and they don’t easily change to incorporate new information from new findings, because doing so would be an indication that their teachings were not correct in the first place. Religions don’t like to change their doctrines, because they are supposed to be infallibly correct and set in stone. Without the burden of religious dogma, which stifles intellectual and spiritual growth, mankind could come to a better understanding of the relationship between what we call God and our cosmos. There would no longer be a need for creeds or religious dogma to guide our lives for us. Rules and counselors are necessary for children, until the children learn the purpose and necessity of following their directions. By the time children become adults, they have, hopefully, internalized the values associated with the rules they have learned. It is then that they will behave accordingly, without the need to refer to the rules.

The problem is that many religious teachings are more about the religion and its rules than they are about the philosophy (taught by the sages) they are based upon. Religious organizations also tend to make icons of the sages upon whose teachings they are based. This is something the sages themselves most likely would never have wanted. Sages don’t typically want to be super stars! They simply want to share their insights with other members of their societies.

Many religious organizations also tend to depict their god, or gods, as some sort of super human beings. This is known as anthropomorphism (applying human characteristics). The ancient Greeks had their gods living on mount Olympus. Gods typically had the same characteristics, emotions, and behaviors as humans, such as anger, revenge, happiness, and pride. The Christian God supposedly lives in a place called heaven, where God sits on a throne, with Jesus sitting by His right side. The Christian Bible even says that God made us humans in His own image, but this can be interpreted in several ways. If there is a God, these descriptions of Him are not very reasonable ideas of what He would be like.

However, today’s various religions do have a lot of insightful teachings, if you look deeper into their philosophical content and give less importance to their cultural influences. In fact, many of them seem to be saying very similar things at their basic philosophical level. Some of the teachings can be linked to certain philosophical ideas that relate to the cosmos and mankind’s relationship to it. In this book, I will mention some examples attributed to the sages. Many of these come from the parables attributed to Jesus the Christ, because I was raised in a Christian environment and happen to be familiar with His teachings.

Sages don’t typically attempt to create large organized religions. For example, it wasn’t Jesus who started the Christian church. That was started much later after many diverse Christian groups, with very different interpretations concerning Jesus and His teachings, had spread around the ancient world. It was actually the Roman emperor Constantine who put together what would eventually become modern Christianity in his attempt to unite the Roman Empire under one religion. His motivation in this endeavor, however, was likely something less that spiritual.

Over the course of Christianity’s development, only Christian literature, which fit the bill for Constantine’s goal, became a part of the church doctrine that was being initiated. If everyone in the empire believed in and followed the same religious doctrine, they would become subjugated to the leaders of that religion and, hence, the empire of which it was a part. They would also be obliged to follow whatever rules the enlightened leaders of that religion instructed them to believe, and they would have to live out their lives accordingly, as well.

Modern Christianity came into being as a means to subjugate and control the masses! Everything that didn’t agree with the state religion had to be burned (although some gnostic Christian literature has survived). This is what all would-be dictators and autocrats have done throughout history. Religious leaders put themselves in a position of authority between God and mankind. It’s not the religious organizations and their leaders that should be honored, but rather the enlightened sages and their teachings, upon which these organizations are based.

However, we must also acknowledge that all leaders and members of the clergy in these religious organizations are not bad people who want to control the masses. Many religious leaders fully believe that their church doctrine is valid and that they themselves are faithfully serving God’s intentions. These are people dedicated to serving God and mankind. I have personally known some of them, and I have even received support from them when I needed it.

We now live in an age of science and philosophy, which should make it easier for us to understand the cosmos, so that we might come to understand what the concept of God might really be all about. We should also be more able to understand how we humans relate to the cosmos and to God. If people had a thorough understanding of themselves and their relationship to the cosmos, they could come to understand how they should live out their lives as a part of it, acting appropriately, without any need for directions. With this powerful understanding, individuals could choose to live a life that could be described as heavenly on a daily basis.

The problem of understanding the issues associated with God, however, is that it requires more than just a study of the empirical sciences. It also requires a solid understanding of consciousness. This requires an understanding of psychology and metapsychology. Metapsychology is a field of study that attempts to determine the source of psychology and consciousness, in general. It is assumed that, whatever God is, it is spiritual in being, rather than material. A better understanding of consciousness might afford us a better understanding of God.

The problem with metapsychology lies in the fact that the field is not a hard science. Science deals with empirical data that can be measured quantitatively through direct observation. Scientific research produces pragmatic facts and conclusions, which are best answers, until any possible new evidence amends or invalidates it.

This scientific approach to studying nonmaterial concepts, such as consciousness, simply can’t be fully employed. It requires more of a qualitative approach, which produces hypotheses that may be evaluated for their rationality. This only produces logical validity and best answers (or hypotheses) based upon the arguments presented.

However, the problem facing the scientific approach is that more recent discoveries in quantum physics have demonstrated that our physical world isn’t quite what we used to think it is. We can’t just rely on our senses to see how the world really is. According to findings in quantum physics, it now appears that the cosmos has a universal consciousness (quantum entanglement) and that solid particles have a wave-like (frequency) nature, in addition to being matter-like. Is the world really matter-like (solid material), or is it wave-like (frequency)? It seems to be both! But what might that mean?

It has also been suggested by quantum physicists and astrophysicists that our universe might be holographic in nature. A holograph (or hologram) is a three-dimension projection of a two-dimensional actual object. The idea that our universe is a hologram is being considered by scientists because it satisfies some of the current problems with our understanding of string theories and quantum gravity. It also seems to be suggested by the principle of uncertainty in quantum physics and by our need to hypothesize dark matter to describe how galaxies are formed and stay together. This three-dimensional space extended over time, which we call our universe, may be an illusory product emanating from another source. In other words, our universe may be an illusion!

Not only do these findings call in to question our accepted beliefs, but some new findings in string theory indicate that subatomic particles come into existence by action of unseen filaments (strings), which vibrate at a certain frequency to produce them. Some of these particles have been observed to go backward and forward in time. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz said to her dog, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore, Toto. It could also be the case that Kansas isn’t what we thought it was.

There are also researchers today that think there is growing evidence that our universe is actually a computer simulation that is being run by an advanced civilization. They cite some research in quantum physics and work in computer simulations as evidence. Extrapolations indicate that we ourselves should be capable of developing such a thing in the future. However, I haven’t seen any explanations concerning how consciousness would fit into this simulation, or even a description of what consciousness might actually be. A simulated universe would leave the question open concerning where the advanced civilization that developed it came from and what their nature might be.

For now, it is best for us to work with the data that we have and to come up with our own hypothetical model. It could be that, someday, we will actually discover that we are in a computer simulation, or that we are all programmed robots, but, for now, I’m going to assume that I have a free mind to make at least some decisions and hypotheses for myself.

Psychology and metapsychology are considered to be soft sciences dealing with qualitative data, which primarily produces hypotheses. These hypotheses may become pragmatic facts if a consensus of several independent research studies produces the same, or similar, results. This is how they rate validity in qualitative studies. Discovering pragmatic truths in the field of metapsychology requires a meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative research findings, in order for us to produce rational conclusions that can aid us in the development of pragmatic models to illustrate our best answers.

Absolute truth in any type of research can only be known to those who experience it for themselves as being such (personal experience). In our human condition, absolute truth is a value judgment of an individual’s own experience. And even experience can be faulty. This is because direct observation of phenomena is accomplished using limited human biological senses. The observed phenomena are then interpreted by a mind that has evolved to interpret these sensual inputs in a particular way that suits the biological needs of our human condition. It could be that real absolute truth is an ideal that only exists within the realm of what we call God. This will be discussed further in the following chapters.

It is because of this that both direct quantitative measurement and qualitative experience, in conjunction with rational, critical thinking, and hypothesizing, all combine to make the best way for us to understand phenomena. This is true whether we are making quantitative measurements with research instruments, or qualitative observations, where the researcher him/herself is the research instrument. Detailed empirical observation, individual experience, and rationalism must all work together. Either one by itself is far too incomplete, if our goal is to get as close to the truth as possible in our understanding the cosmos.

I didn’t always study, or even contemplate, philosophical topics such as metaphysics and metapsychology, but I did obtain a slow introduction into this field over a period of many years, beginning at a time when I was still a young man. I grew up in a military family and was pretty much a nerd throughout most of my younger years. It was music that finally rescued me from becoming an adult nerd when I was a teenager and became obsessed with the desire to become a musician in a rock band.

The 1960s was an era in which we experienced a multitude of rock bands that invaded practically every aspect of our society. I bought a cheap guitar and keyboard at the age of 15 and did practically nothing else but practice alone in my room until I eventually taught myself to play what I heard on the records I had purchased. I also went to local dances to watch the guitar players in the bands in order to figure out what they were doing.

By age 16, I was performing as the second guitarist in a local band. By age 17, I obtained professional equipment and became the lead guitarist in one of the most popular bands in our part of the state. We won two Battle-of-the-Bands competitions and played as the guest band on a local television dance show. I made more money than my friends who had real jobs, and I got the girlfriend of my dreams. Life was a big party, and school was something that just got in the way. The transition from nerd to cool guy was practically overnight and hard to believe. It was also a little difficult to deal with. My nerdish behaviors were hard to get rid of completely. My friends just overlooked them.

I did, at least, graduate from high school with very poor grades in 1969, and, after that, I spent nearly five years in the army married to my high-school sweetheart. I never did well in high school and didn’t believe that I could ever be smart enough to go to college, or even smart enough to pass a college course, let alone get a degree. So the only thing for me to do was to join the army and pick a career field to get training in, before I ended up getting drafted and assigned to the infantry in Vietnam.

Because I joined the army voluntarily and had an above-average IQ score, I was able to pick what career field I wanted to train in. I was wise enough to pursue a good career field in the army and became both an air traffic controller and a flight simulator instrument ground instructor. I did well in my training and also gained a few years of experience working in the field of aviation as both an air traffic control tower operator and an instrument ground instructor. That gave me the confidence I needed later, when I got out of the army, to go to college.

My first marriage occurred in 1970 after joining the army in 1969. We then had a daughter in 1972. It was during this time, while I was stationed in Germany, that I put together a hard-rock musical group. We participated in and won a military Special Services Battle-of-the-Bands competition. I spent the next three months on a temporary-duty assignment playing hard rock music for the troops all over North and South Bavaria.

About four months before I was discharged from the army in 1974, I experienced what might be called a life-changing event. It isn’t important to mention exactly what it was, because we all pretty much understand what that sort of thing is. It was the sort of thing that led to my first marriage ending in a divorce.

A life-changing event is an event that completely alters the life we had been living up until its occurrence. Everything I had become, or built my life around, at that point and all my intentions for the future disappeared in an instant. At that point, I had the choice either to die or to somehow become reborn and start life over again. After making that realization, I symbolically killed myself and started anew with the objective of accomplishing everything that I never would have even considered being possible for me to do before that point. All I needed was a strong desire or interest in learning or accomplishing something, and I was going for it.

To make a long story short, I attained the following accomplishments while working full-time as a shipyard electrician’s helper and a laboratory technician the 1970s, an air traffic controller in the 1980s and 1990s, and an aerospace research scientist for the FAA and NASA after 1999. I retired at NASA in 2014. From the time I acquired my first bachelor’s degree, I took college courses from time to time, even when not working toward another degree, and I also participated in, or chaired, discussion groups in philosophy, particularly focusing on metaphysics.

At one point during the 1990s, while I was a graduate student, I took a break and enrolled in a course in parapsychology at the local community college. The course just happened to be taught by the well-known psychologist, parapsychologist, and paranormal investigator Dr. Andrew Nichols. He presented some of the research he had done for some of the shows I had seen on television. The course was very interesting, and we even did an investigation at a local haunted house. Unfortunately, I didn’t experience anything paranormal.

I don’t mention these accomplishments for the purpose of boasting, but rather to demonstrate the difference that can be made in an individual’s life once the decision has been made to start life anew. Having this sort of rebirth can reset the conditions in one’s perspective on life, to open up doors that had never before been conceived possible of being opened. I believe this to be one of life’s most important lessons to be learned. Once an individual accepts that all has been lost, the individual must let it all go and take the position that the future is now wide open for many new paths in life, many of which can be even more exciting and fulfilling than the one that was lost. Every ending truly is a new beginning!

Another important lesson that I learned is that, once we begin to follow our new path in life, we must maintain a life of activity. In my case, I went to college in the daytime and worked full-time in the evening five days out of the week. I also took private lessons in martial arts for three hours every Saturday morning. I simply didn’t allow myself to have any time to wallow in self-pity. I learned to love the new journey I was on, while having little time for anything else.

My early college years were a major part of my rebirthing process. My choice of major in evolutionary biology gave me the opportunity to discover how life may have originated on earth. It either started on earth through chemical processes, or it may have been brought to earth through panspermia, in a seeding process, to evolve into the diversity we see and experience today. This course of study provided me with a big-picture view of our world and our personal experience in it. It also taught me that our social world of everyday experience is very limited and that we all need to expand our lives to where we have a broader perspective.

After I graduated with my first BS degree, I took a topics course from one of the new philosophy professors at CNU over the summer of 1980. The course was titled The Philosophy of Space and Time. There were only a few students in the class, and we all loved the subject so much that we continued to meet with the professor for weekly discussion groups after the course ended. I continued attending these meetings until I was hired by the FAA in September of 1981. This experience sparked in me a lifelong interest that drove me to continue studying philosophy and to participate in discussion groups wherever I lived for the rest of my life.

Now that I am retired from working with the FAA and NASA as an air traffic controller and research scientist, I finally have the time to pursue the other things that I love in life without the necessity of working a steady job. Since retiring, I have been a singer/songwriter in an original folk and blues band with more than fifty of my own songs. I am also an assistant karate instructor at the local YMCA. I have also been a member of a fellowship, which has group meetings to discuss the topics that I love to study, and I have done volunteer work interviewing prisoners in jail who have applied for a Christian-based drug rehabilitation program. Lastly, I have also participated in the Coast Guard Auxiliary periodically.

Now that I have more time to focus on the topic of consciousness and the cosmos, I have made the decision to seek out their true nature. I believe that it is important to figure out where I came from before my birth and where I might be going when my body finally gives out. I also believe that it is everyone’s ultimate responsibility to discover his or her purpose in life and to accomplish it while living. As you will see, there are methods for accomplishing this. I also believe that it is my duty to use the gifts that have been provided to me to help others to better understand the nature of our cosmos and how we all might relate to it. I, in turn, have benefited from the talents and knowledge of many others who have influenced me to seek my own purpose and to develop my own talents and abilities.

Historically, the various religions of the world, which have developed since the dawn of civilization, have been culturally derived institutions developed for the purpose of explaining man’s relationship to the cosmos. Most religions include some sort of spiritual aspect that is, in one way or another, considered to be the creator and/or ruler over the earth and mankind (God). One major problem with religiosity is that each culture believes that its religion is the only correct explanation of reality and that their god is the only true God. This almost always leads to conflict. These religions also tend to utilize static doctrines, which never change in light of new knowledge that might help them to view the cosmos from a more enlightened point of view.

It is quite evident that religious organizations have the positive effect of awakening individuals to the idea that there is a higher purpose for our being here on earth than just existing as members of the sociocultural world. The problem is that these same organizations also have the negative effect of stagnating an individual’s spiritual growth, in that they provide followers with all the rules and answers rather than encouraging members to seek spiritual growth themselves.

The truth is that we don’t know where we came from, and we don’t know where we will go once we die. Yet we live out our lives as if we were members of a colony of ants, doing what ants do. We are so consumed by our sociocultural activities that anything beyond that seldom attracts our attention enough for us to seriously pursue it.

My primary purpose in writing this book is to try to determine what consciousness really may be and to attempt to understand the cosmos and the concept of God. I would also like to understand how mankind fits into the big picture and to determine what our purpose might be in being here. I feel that I am driven to determine as much as I can about this while I am still alive and capable of doing so. In turn, I hope that this book might be of some aid to others in their quests of seeking understanding and purpose. In order to accomplish this task, I have attempted to present a rationally derived pragmatic model of the cosmos, which demonstrates how consciousness and/or spirituality might relate to it in a manner that is always open to amendment, based upon the introduction of new information.

This task must be approached using the scientific method of empirical observation, as well as rational inductive/deductive reasoning. In addition to the empirical observation method, logic, and rational, critical thinking about the things that can’t be observed and measured must also be included as part of the basis for an attempt to understanding the cosmos. This is because the cosmos is more than just the observed universe, which can be described scientifically through empirical observation. It also includes the quantum realm and the metaphysical realm, where the empirical scientific method cannot easily be used to make logical conclusions.

For instance, how can a particle be in two or more places at once, or how can a particle instantly affect another particle at a distance (quantum entanglement)? Also, how can a particle be both a particle and a wave, based upon how it is measured (wave-particle duality)? It must also be noted that scientific empirical observation isn’t just an observer seeing what is actually happening; it is an observer using a set