If we live in a truly lawful universe of cause and effect, is the future predetermined? The ancient Greeks recognized deities, called fates, who ruled the fortune of humans and gods. The fates personified destiny and their number eventually became fixed at three.
Shortly after a child’s birth the fates would appear, making their presence known and determining the course of its life. Greek and roman mythology is littered with stories of individuals who struggled against their fate, and usually lost.
The ancient Persians spoke of Kismet. The sages of India philosophized about karma. From the earliest times astrologers have sought to foretell the future by reading the position of heavenly bodies. Likewise, throughout the ages, prophets, psychics, fortune-tellers, numerologists, palm readers and the like have offered their services as predictors of individual and collective destiny.
This idea of predestination is not simply an artifact of primitive thinking. Sigmund Freud created a psychoanalytic model of human behavior which insisted that a child’s future was defined, to a large extent, in its early years by its relationship to its parents. Freud was a big fan of ancient mythology and made extensive use of mythic figures such as Oedipus, Electra, and Narcissus in the development of his psychological model.
Ardent 20th century behavioral psychologists such as John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner claimed that human behavior was simply the result of environmental conditioning. These social scientists theorized that by controlling a child’s learning, the child could be shaped into whatever direction was desired. From a behaviorist perspective, humans are not really all that different than the rats and pigeons used in behavioral experiments.
The current fascination with all things genetic is only the latest in this long, philosophical linage of predestination. Adolph Hitler unsuccessfully tried to implement eugenics to breed his master race.
Modern geneticists are usually a bit more humble about their craft, but are still prone to making some pretty astounding predictions about controlling the future – eliminating diseases, extending the lifespan, and producing optimal humans – just by manipulating the genetic code. Almost sounds a bit like the Greek fates, doesn’t it?
In the next three lessons we will be exploring the concept of destiny and its role in our search for God. The central question of course: Is the search for God preordained, in some manner? We will begin by examining the destiny of the mind.
For those familiar with metaphysics, the importance of mind is a given. Mind is the builder. Thoughts are real things. However, remember that ultimately, there is only one force that is the basis for the physical universe.
All that is, is the manifestation of spirit – the one energy we call God. The one force has many vibratory levels or frequencies that produce the diversity and complexity of the physical universe that we see around us. Life itself is an expression of this vibratory energy or life force.
The diverse manifestations of the one force are due to the form that the energy takes. The pattern that energy takes is provided by mind. Thus energy condenses or takes on the quality of matter in its various forms.
This is not so different than modern theories of energy and matter developed by physicists. For example, Einstein’s formula (E=MC2) shows that energy and matter are really the same. However, the metaphysical assertion that it is mind that gives energy its pattern for materialization goes beyond any current theory in physics.
In Edgar Cayce’s metaphysical cosmology, this primal interaction of energy and mind is the source of the cosmos. In other words, the universe was created and exists within the mind of God.
You may recall from the Cayce creation story, that in the beginning souls were created by God to be companions and co-creators. Spiritual rebellion required an intervention to allow the rebellious souls to have their own sense of self to become aware of their separation from their Source.
The material universe provided that context for soul growth and development. So spirit moved and the universe was created in the mind of God.
Modern physics tells us that the universe began over 13 billions ago as a singularity, smaller than an atom. From this tiny unified oneness in space and time, the universe has expanded in size, complexity, and diversity to the point we find it today. The universe has evolved and continues to evolve in the mind of God.
The universe is on purpose – it is a school for godlings – souls made in the image of god. Just as the mind of God provides the pattern and form of the universe – the laws that govern and regulate material reality – the destiny of the mind of each soul is to develop its own co-creative potential as full companions to the Creator.
Thus mind is in the process of evolving. We are gods in the making – souls gradually awakening to the realization that mind is the builder. The realization of divine mind is our heritage and our destiny as companions and co-creators with God.
As the energy of spirit takes on a mental form or pattern and condenses into matter, mind functions as a mediator between the spirit and matter. Thus the expression – Spirit is the life, mind is the builder, and physical is the result.
As a mediator between spirit and matter, mind has its various phases that we experience as conscious mind, unconscious (or subconscious) mind, and super-conscious mind. Thus we have the spiritual dimension of mind as well as the material or earthly aspects of mind.
Modern neuroscience is making tremendous progress in discovering the material aspects of the mind as it relates to the brain and nervous systems of the body. But the biological dimension is only one phase of mind. Mind has its spiritual dimension as well, that may interface with the physical body but transcends the neurological tissue that scientists find so fascinating.
It is all one mind, just at different levels of functioning. At a practical level, we develop the mind by attuning it to its spiritual source. The ideals exercise with its mental ideals is a primary tool for using the power of mind the builder, in a constructive, co-creative manner.
Thus the destiny of the mind is to become more spiritually attuned and less materially minded. As we focus on a spiritual ideal, the forms and patterns by which we channel spiritual energy will express a raised vibration that is more consistent with the mind of God – more attuned to the laws of the universe. That this process may require many lifetimes in terms of reincarnation and numerous planetary sojourns associated with astrological influences, is a matter of will and choice.
By being mindful of the divine in our daily lives, being attuned to creative forces in our meditations, mental patterns are transformed and raised in their purpose. Thus the destiny of the mind is attunement with the mind of the Creative Force called God.