Like all P-B institutions, religion has its roots in the expression of the collective false self. Some of the world’s great religions made short-lived attempts to embody the more profound principles of Simple Reality but ultimately could not overcome the fear-driven survival strategies of the false self. Perhaps humanity will choose to express a second “Axial Age,” a paradigm shift that will embody the principles that the world’s great religions only give lip service to today.
The Axial Age gets its name from the flowering of consciousness that produced extraordinary mystics and philosophers several of whom, unwittingly or not, became founders of several of the world’s great religions or philosophical movements. “It has often been remarked that this period was distinguished by a shower of stars in the history of genius: Mahavira and Buddha [563-483 BCE] in India, Lao-tze [604-517 BCE?] and Confucius [551-478 BCE] in China, Jeremiah and the Second Isaiah in Judea, the pre-Socratic philosophers in Greece, and perhaps Zarathustra [the founder of Zoroastrianism] in Persia.” Adding Jesus of Nazareth (Christianity) and Mohammed (Islam) we can begin our analysis of some of the major defining characteristics of P-B religions and the causes of their failure to produce a sustainable human community.
Some of the aforementioned teachers cautioned against “institutionalizing” their teachings for fear that the simple but profound principles might be lost. Their fears were well-founded as we shall see. The emergence of the world’s religions was in response to humanity’s need for them. The creation of great empires and the need to unite diverse tribal groups with a common religion and culture led to the spread of, first, Mithraism (Zoroastrianism), then Christianity in the Roman Empire, and Buddhism in India, China and finally Japan. These religions had the effect of linking together diverse areas of human civilization. These religions also had the effect of “civilizing” and unifying vast regions of hitherto “barbaric” Europe and Asia.
The first principle we know to be essential to a sustainable worldview is that of Oneness. The world’s religions all shared a belief, broadly speaking, in a single reality, a first cause. Unfortunately, they would let the details of that belief become contentious (e.g. “my god or your god”) and thereby lose the intuitive realization of Oneness and thus the possibility of sharing a common aspect of Simple Reality, a common thread that could have bound them together in a harmonious human community.
Instead, we had the emergence of that poisonous delusion called the other. To the Jews, the “gentiles” were the people “outside the law.” The Hindus would not accept the reforms posed by Buddha. The system of ethics championed by Confucius found the mysticism of “the Tao” too subjective. People often found their neighbor’s religion, skin color, ethnicity, clothing, food preference, language, method of making a living, etc., objectionable and threatening. Pervasive violence became the norm as it is today when humanity cannot embrace a common worldview, including a common religion. Fear had triumphed over compassion, jealousy over reason.
The Jews insisted on remaining the “Chosen people” apart from their neighbors and failed to win for themselves in Palestine a long-term homeland. The Roman destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. resulted in the “diaspora,” the scattering of the Jews throughout the civilized world.
The conversion to Christianity by the emperor Constantine sealed the fate of the oriental cults that were dominated by the Roman Empire but the pax Romana brought peace in name only. The Nestorian Christians spread their religion from Antioch and Edessa to Persia, India and China.
Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 A. D. and precipitated the most important historical era between the fall of Rome and the European voyages of discovery. Islam quickly became a major political force and helped preserve and transmit the cultural riches of Hellenic civilization. Following the prophet’s death in 632, Islam spread to Spain (712), the Middle East and North Africa (786-1260), Southeast Asia by the 16th century and throughout India by 1690 A. D.
Islam was a civilizing influence as the great religions often were but periods of world peace were shattered by the very religious influences that promoted them. Religion focused humanity too often on the afterworld and distracted people from the very Simple Reality that would have united them in creating “Heaven on Earth.”
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References and notes are available for this essay.
Find a much more in-depth discussion in books by Roy Charles Henry:
Who Am I? The Second Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Where Am I? The First Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival
