Section 5: One thought, one world
After our ancient ancestors gained considerable wisdom, they became curious about everything around them, asking countless "why's?" in their hearts.
How did the world come to be? Where did our ancestors originate from? What happens after we die? Why do day and night alternate? Who controls the wind, rain, and thunder? The list goes on and on.
Given their limited understanding of nature, they hypothesized that an extraordinary force must be manipulating everything. The immediate answer to explain each phenomenon was the sun god, moon god, thunder god, and rain god.
As they observed changes in weather, the passing of seasons, and order within chaos, they realized that all things in the universe possess a spiritual essence, eliciting a sense of awe.
For our ancient ancestors, who depended on hunting and gathering, any disaster or illness was attributed to the gods. When the wind blew and thunder rumbled, they believed the gods were angry. They offered sacrifices and prayed for forgiveness and protection, believing in myriad deities.
As agricultural and pastoral communities emerged, beliefs changed along with their way of life, and the tasks of the deities expanded from managing nature to dividing labor in society.
At the dawn of ancient Egyptian civilization, there were dozens of deities governing the sun, moon, heaven, earth, rain, drought, underworld, death, and various animals such as the crocodile deity for war, jackal deity for mummification, cat deity for household management, and scorpion deity for medicine. There were also various guardian deities protecting pharaohs, regions, and the deceased. Many deities held multiple positions, such as the deity of war, who also governed chaos, storms, and drought.
Most of these deities possessed animal heads and human bodies, with both male and female appearances.
Through this belief system, the ancient Egyptians amassed a tremendous collective power that allowed them to construct pyramids, with the goal of ensuring the pharaoh's soul ascension to heaven and bringing about favorable weather and abundant harvests.
The mythological script became increasingly intricate, with a growing number of players. Pharaoh Akhenaten eventually settled the score with the other deities, declaring that only the sun god, who provides light and heat to the earth, was the one true god. This marked the first instance of monotheistic religion in human history.
To this day, major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam uphold belief in a supreme God and forbid idol worship.
The evolution from myriad deities to gods to one God is logical, as the "first cause" is always the goal everyone strives for.
I believe in one God, but I also acknowledge that all things have spirituality. I believe that the God of the universe created the universe not for observation but to be a part of it.
The entire universe is a vast spiritual body, from the grandest celestial bodies to the tiniest particles, with all matter operating under the guidance of physical laws. While God transcends the universe, the entire universe is a part of God.
When certain planets have the necessary conditions to foster life, God provides additional spiritual energy as needed, nurturing its growth, reproduction, and evolution.
If further evolution produces creatures that are suited to receive intelligent souls, God allows His soul sub-body to merge with them, granting each intelligent creature self-awareness and the possibility of reincarnation, as with humans on Earth.
Though the material universe is the same, every intelligent being with self-awareness in the universe has a distinct subjective perception of the world, with each having its unique characteristics.
Each thought creates a new world, and the universe is transformed from a silent objective reality to a colorful and fascinating array of subjective perceptions.
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