A pantheist is a person who believes that God -- or our Creator -- is in all things, all parts of life, all structures and processes in life.
Now, most of us know what the 'Holy Trinity' is -- God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit.
If you believe in pantheism -- like I do -- then it becomes a pretty easy stretch of logic to include man -- and indeed all living things -- within The Holy Trinity. Or actually, to make The Holy Trinity -- bigger.
That is where I arrive at 'The Holy Quintrinity' -- God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, I, and Thou.
And/or, bringing in a full Martin Buber (and later Gestalt-Existential) influence: 'The Holy Septrinity' -- God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, I and Thou, Here and Now.
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Martin Buber (Hebrew: מרטין בובר; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian-bornIsraeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship.[1] Born in Vienna, Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies inphilosophy. In 1902, Buber became the editor of the weekly Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, although he later withdrew from organizational work in Zionism. In 1923 Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du (later translated into English as I and Thou), and in 1925 he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language.
In 1930 Buber became an honorary professor at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and resigned in protest from his professorship immediately after Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. He then founded the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education, which became an increasingly important body as the German government forbade Jews to attend public education. In 1938, Buber left Germany and settled in Jerusalem, Mandate Palestine (later Israel), receiving a professorship atHebrew University and lecturing in anthropology and introductory sociology.
Buber's wife Paula died in 1958, and he died at his home in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem on June 13, 1965.
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A 'mythologist-psychologist' -- interprets dreams, fantasies, symbols -- and our 'projections' -- which include our external projections into mythological figures, Gods, heroes, villains...and our 'internalizations' or 'introjections' of these mythological external projections in the form of internal 'archetype figures and stories'. Thus, in 'God' and 'Jesus Christ', we are looking for projections of our own 'self-ideals' that can then be contrasted against our 'self-image'. The 'gap' between 'self-ideal' and 'self-image' can then be psycho-therapeutically work on....seeking better self-integration....
In an 'I' and 'Thou' encounter, once we have let down all or most of our 'character armour', and we are showing 'congruence' between our 'outer persona' and our 'inner self', we become capable of touching our 'inner Holy Spirit' -- our 'Godliness' or 'Spirit of God' -- and likewise when we are sharing in this type of manner with another person who is doing the same -- thus, creating a situation where we are both 'sharing our mutual and dialectical Godliness' in a manner that 'enters' us into 'The Holy Quintrinity' or 'Holy Septrinity' -- God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, I and Thou, Here and Now....
That is the type of 'ideal religion or spirituality' that appeals to me, and is a spiritual extension of all my work. It is also my post-Hegelian rendition and humanistic-existential extension of what Hegel called 'The Absolute'.
And it is also an extension of Plato's famous mandate:
Know thyself.
And more than this -- experience yourself spiritually both in terms of being who you are, and becoming who you can be. -- dgb, Sept 1, 2012.
-- David Gordon Bain
-- Dialectic Gap-Bridging Negotiations and Creations...
-- Are Still in Process....
