{"id":6069,"date":"2024-02-21T13:59:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T21:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/?p=6069"},"modified":"2024-02-21T13:59:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T21:59:56","slug":"personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"My Personal Cosmology – Part 4 – The Journey Back to God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

13. The Journey Back to God<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what does the \u201cJourney Back to God\u201d look like? The first thing to realize is the philosophical fallacy of \u201cThe Myth of The Given\u201d. This is the belief that our sensorium provides us with a radically accurate map of what exists. And it\u2019s a myth. It can\u2019t do that. All we can say is that we\u2019ve got five senses with very narrow ranges. It\u2019s like we\u2019ve got a tiny laptop between our ears. And when we apply our narrow group of senses and this little laptop, we have a limited model of reality. If we had a bigger laptop and an extended sensorium, we would have a totally different model of what\u2019s out there.<\/p>\n

Even if you take the electromagnetic spectrum discovered by science, that\u2019s only a tiny portion. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot more to the electromagnetic spectrum than even modern science can comprehend. But just take what we can detect now \u2013 counting x-rays, gamma rays, heat rays, radio waves, TV waves and the visible spectrum \u2013 and stretch that out. Imagine it\u2019s a line connecting New York to Los Angeles. And then pick the visible part of that spectrum \u2014 the part that we can actually see. Do you want to guess how big it would be? It\u2019s the diameter of a dime! Of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, spanning three thousand miles, the visible portion is the diameter of a dime!<\/p>\n

And we insist on making our maps of reality from that tiny slice. It\u2019s ludicrous. So, what do we need to do? We need to shift the wavelength. We need to shift the frequencies constantly and move into different kinds of experiences. We need to begin thinking and experiencing outside the box so that we can make our maps of reality less inaccurate. They will never be accurate. But they can be less inaccurate.<\/p>\n

So, imagine that you\u2019re an explorer 200 years ago and you went to Africa. You heard of this continent called Africa. And you want to find out what kind of wildlife lives in the jungles in Africa. And you go to Africa with a hundred mousetraps. And you set them out in the forest. And then you come back a few days later and look and there\u2019s a mouse caught in each of these. And you think,\u00a0\u201cWow, so Africa\u2019s jungles contain only mice!\u201d<\/em> \u00a0If you put out mouse traps, you\u2019re only going to trap mice. What did you expect? Is an elephant going to be caught in a mouse trap?<\/p>\n**

And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing with our little models of reality. We\u2019re setting mouse traps in the Cosmos and we\u2019re capturing just a little slice of reality. And we\u2019re claiming that\u2019s all that exists. That\u2019s ludicrous. If you put out mouse traps in Africa, you\u2019re only going to catch mice. If you put out this tiny mindset, you\u2019re only going to catch material science. So, we need the courage to change the channels, to experiment constantly with altering our states of consciousness.<\/p>\n

And when we do that, we\u2019ll have real\u2013time experiences with different energies and entities. And then we can bring them back and cross\u2013fertilize what we\u2019ve learned with our current models and extend what we believe.<\/p>\n

14. The Equation of Enlightenment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, I was making a pilgrimage near my home where I have the 23 stations of my \u201cEucharistic Prayer of the Cosmos.\u201d At each station, I ring a bell and say the prayer for that station. As I walked, I had a realization, \u201cI need to create a simple equation of enlightenment\u201d.<\/em> Here\u2019s what I came up with.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cE\u201d stands for Enlightenment. E = AX1 + BX2 + CX3 + DX4. X1 stands for Self-Understanding, or Self-Identification. X2 stands for Intelligence. X3 stands for Wisdom. And X4 stands for Compassion. So, if you add these four variables and weight them appropriately (A, B, C, D), you have an Equation of Enlightenment.<\/p>\n

X1 is Self-Awareness \u2014 to the extent that we misidentify with our physical bodies and the physical world \u2014we cannot become enlightened. We have yet to realize that we are \u201cSpirits in Spacesuits\u201d, \u201cSouls on Safari\u201d on Planet Earth \u2014 and that we are bite-size pieces of God. Until we come to that Self-Identification, there\u2019s no chance of becoming enlightened beings.<\/p>\n

X2 is Intelligence, the ability to understand, manipulate and control our physical environment, our physical bodies, and the communities in which we live \u2013 and maybe even our planet.<\/p>\n

X3 is Wisdom, the ability and faculty of understanding and aligning with the Metaphysical Universe \u2014 not just the Physical Universe. It\u2019s the ability to understand and align fully with Kosmic principles.<\/p>\n

And X4, Compassion, is the ability and practice of treating all sentient beings as my neighbor.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I played with this equation, I began to wonder, \u201cWhat if each variable were measured on a scale of zero to 100?\u201d<\/em> Zero being total absence and 100 being perfection. What would it look like to score 95 on Self-Awareness? It would be to really understand that I have a body, but I\u2019m not my body. I have emotions, but I\u2019m not my emotions. I have an intellect, but I\u2019m not my intellect. I have a personality, but I\u2019m not my personality. I\u2019m a bite-size piece of God.<\/p>\n

Intelligence would represent my ability to understand how the physical Cosmos works. How people operate. What creates cultures. What makes me happy or sad. Wisdom would be my realization of how the Metaphysical Universe works.<\/p>\n

When I came to Compassion, I realized that all the others go from zero to 100. But Compassion goes from minus 100 to plus 100. On the others, you can\u2019t score below zero. On Compassion you can. Not only can you lack Compassion completely. If you were a psychopath, you would take pleasure in either watching or inflicting torture on somebody else. So, you can score way below zero on Compassion.<\/p>\n

Next, I created a six-column matrix. In the first column, I put the names of famous people: Jesus, The Buddha, Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein, and Hitler. The second column was Self-Awareness. The third column was Intelligence. The fourth column was Wisdom. The fifth column was Compassion. And the sixth column was the total.<\/p>\n

Then I plugged in a whole bunch of numbers. Where did I think Jesus was with Self-Awareness? How intelligent did I think he was? How much Wisdom and Compassion did he have? I did the same with The Buddha, Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein, and Hitler.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to tell you the results. But I invite you to create a simple matrix of those four pieces: Self-Awareness, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Compassion. And plug in any character you want and give them grades. Add them up. And find out. Also, place yourself into the equation to see where you fit in.<\/p>\n

In 2013, I co-authored and published a book with two other psychologists, Matt McKay, and Ralph Metzner. The name of the book is: \u201cWhy? What Your Life is Telling You about Who You Are and Why You\u2019re Here\u201d.<\/strong><\/em> In the book we try to dismantle old, dysfunctional cosmologies that say that the secret to happiness is to avoid pain, seek pleasure and pursue power. That hasn\u2019t worked for 100,000 years!<\/p>\n

We tried to write different cosmologies that put together the mission of the Universe, the mission of the Planet and help people identify what their mission might be. And there is a series of exercises so that you come into alignment with that mission.<\/p>\n

15. Life is like a Jigsaw Puzzle<\/strong><\/p>\n

My final point is that \u201cLife is like a Jigsaw Puzzle\u201d. If you were to scatter all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle on a table, the first thing you would do is identify the four corner pieces and put those in place. Next you would identify the straight lines and put those in place. Then you have three clues for the rest of the pieces: contours, colors, and the picture on the box.<\/p>\n

So, what are the four pillars of your understanding of life? What are the lines that hold you together and round out your life? And what are the colors and contours of the experiences you had as you put the pieces together? And, most importantly, do you have any idea of what picture is on the box? If you don\u2019t have any idea of what the picture is, there\u2019s no way you can create the puzzle.<\/p>\n

The picture on the box is \u201cYou\u201d. The picture on the box is your divine face. And the greatest part of it all is that when you throw the contents of the box on the table, you must realize immediately that everything that\u2019s there is necessary, and everything that\u2019s necessary to complete your life\u2019s mission is there. You\u2019re not going to wind up with 15 pieces left over.<\/p>\n

And so, the greatest tragedy of all is the person who comes to their elder years with big gaps in the jigsaw puzzle of their life \u2014 and a whole bunch of pieces that have never been used. You know that you\u2019re living life to the fullest if there are no holes in your jigsaw puzzle and there are no pieces left aside.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong>
\n\u2981 The Soul is a Dream that God is Having
\n\u2981 And when the Soul Dreams, It Dreams a Body
\n\u2981 And when the Body Dreams, It Dreams an Ego
\n\u2981 And when the Ego Dreams, It Dreams a Lifetime.
\n\u2981 We are Players in God\u2019s Dream
\n\u2981 And so, Our Ultimate Identity is Source<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image by\u00a0Karin Henseler<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2524,"featured_media":6015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2619,113,11,1221,2610,2400,55,2622,315,486,2604,310,723,2601,2616,2613,43,1,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bite-size-piece-of-god","category-buddha","category-compassion","category-einstein","category-equation-of-enlightenment","category-gandhi","category-gods-dream","category-hitler","category-intelligence","category-jesus","category-metaphysical-universe","category-myth-of-the-given","category-personal-cosmology","category-physical-universe","category-self-identification","category-self-understanding","category-soul","category-uncategorized","category-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Companions on the Journey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/608\/2024\/01\/buddhist-737275_1280-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"509\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/\",\"name\":\"My Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#\/schema\/person\/19f4629e9bb222fc7f23889d4eab6ff8\"},\"description\":\"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My Personal Cosmology – Part 4 – The Journey Back to God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/\",\"name\":\"Companions on the Journey\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#\/schema\/person\/19f4629e9bb222fc7f23889d4eab6ff8\",\"name\":\"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD\",\"description\":\"Fr. Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire is a co-founder and the Spiritual Director of Companions on the Journey. He was born in Ireland and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1972. He spent 14 years living and working among the Kalenjin people of East Africa and came to the U.S. in 1987. Fr. Se\u00e1n speaks six languages and is the author of multiple books. Fr. Se\u00e1n has a BSc degree in mathematics and a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology. He is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Los Altos, California.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/author\/solaoire\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God","description":"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God","og_description":"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/","og_site_name":"Companions on the Journey","article_published_time":"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":509,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/608\/2024\/01\/buddhist-737275_1280-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/","name":"My Personal Cosmology - Part 4 - The Journey Back to God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-21T21:59:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#\/schema\/person\/19f4629e9bb222fc7f23889d4eab6ff8"},"description":"What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences? What are the four pillars of your understanding of life, your personal cosmology? What are the lines that hold you together, the colors and contours of your experiences?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/2024\/02\/personal-cosmology-journey-back-to-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My Personal Cosmology – Part 4 – The Journey Back to God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/","name":"Companions on the Journey","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/#\/schema\/person\/19f4629e9bb222fc7f23889d4eab6ff8","name":"Father Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire, PhD","description":"Fr. Se\u00e1n \u00d3Laoire is a co-founder and the Spiritual Director of Companions on the Journey. He was born in Ireland and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1972. He spent 14 years living and working among the Kalenjin people of East Africa and came to the U.S. in 1987. Fr. Se\u00e1n speaks six languages and is the author of multiple books. Fr. Se\u00e1n has a BSc degree in mathematics and a PhD in Transpersonal Psychology. He is a licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Los Altos, California.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/author\/solaoire\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2524"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/companionsonthejourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}