Why is it that some of us struggle to connect with Divinity or even to accept the ease with which others get this right? Are the Gods and Goddesses real or are they man-made in order satisfy a deep-seeded need within mankind? Is faith a psychopathology? Is this pathology caused by a “god gene” as some materialist scientists have postulated?

Hinduism, Pagan Philosophers and Christianity have told us that our body is a temple and that our own personal divinity dwells within it. We have been told that the greatest mystery is “know thyself”. It’s an injunction. Know your own Godhood, we are told. When we do not know our own inherent Divinity, we struggle to believe, for that which we find not within us, we cannot find outside of us.

No matter how hard it is for some of us to connect, it is true to say that the belief in God/Goddess is widespread. Is this simply due to the fact that humans are hardwired for the Divine Experience? And does this happen through the presence and absence of monoamine serotonin? And can scientists say with certainty that the “god experience” amounts to nothing more than a chemical reaction?

Can meditation and deep contemplation send thought energy from the “core” consciousness to the “higher” consciousness? And is the “god experience” to be equated with a “drug experience” of the psychotropic kind?

All of what has been mentioned above can (according to modern-day science) be in part attributed to a “so-called “god gene”. Faith is self-transcendence, the ability to reach outside and beyond oneself. This state of “at-oneness” or “all-oneness”, this interconnectedness with the world and the Divine is in part provided by the “god gene” and may be defined a genuine psychological trait.

Spirituality is the capacity to self-transcend, whilst religion is rational and a practice instituted in dogma. Religion is more rigid and “factual”.

“Mind the mind, minding the mind, for in minding the mind, the mind can lead the mind astray.” Adaptation of Zen Proverb.

The unending succession of our thoughts is nothing more than the expression of our ego, the manifestation of our self, our id, our “I-ness”.

Someone once wrote that if we manage to conquer our mind, we have conquered the Universe. And yet, why is it so hard to let go our obsession with pride, honour, dignity, prestige and glory?

Scientists, amongst whom we count Dean Hamer, have studied the VMAT 2 gene, the flow of monoamines within the brain, and how ecstasy, trance, pleasure and depression and spirituality can be attributed to natural chemicals like dopamine and serotonin and various chemical reactions within the brain.

People in who the VMAT 2 gene is predominant in its spiritual function, experience self-transcendence, optimism and spirituality which is then passed down, from generation to generation, from father to son, mother to daughter and to their children’s children ad infinitum. This naturally makes some families and some members of those families, more geared towards the “God experience” than others, but essentially speaking, every single human is “built for God/s”.

Are faith and spirituality then simply factors provoked by degree of chemical reactions? Does any effort to create a genetic explanation for the generic experience of self-transcendence fall short of scientific credibility; is it an urban myth, a post-modern science? And does science fail to provide a theological explanation for how humans can and know the Gods?

Materialism can’t answer all the questions regarding the Gods and spirituality and neither can empirical research.

Holy men from different spiritual walks agree that the body is the temple of the Gods.

Man searches for the Divine experience near and far, in disparate things such as drugs, in a life of excess, in pilgrimages, in temples, churches, austere practices and sacred texts. It is a real pity that man does not seek the Creatrix/Creator within the shrine the Gods purposefully fashioned for Themselves to live in. Us!

Throughout history one man went to war against the next, one nation against its neighbour. If we ponder on the fact that our body is the abode of the Divine Essence, then going to war against our brother is nothing less than two temples engaging in a holy war, one portion of the Divine pitching itself against the other. And this makes no sense, for when man enters the sacred precincts of a temple, mosque, church; man dons false piety like a cloak of religion. He clears his mind of mundane matters and is on his best behaviour, reciting God’s name with reverence and casting his eyes heavenwards in feigned religiosity. Spirituality is way different. Spirituality is acknowledging the divine within and living in accordance to that realization as it extends itself from our core, outwards to include all others and everything.

If the Gods really dwell within us, why is it then that some struggle so to find them?

The Gods can be made manifest through the company of adepts and through the sacred perceived connection with Pythagoras’ the Song of the Spheres. Environment and association also play a huge role.

Richard Dawkins wrote that “religion is a meme and spirituality comes from a gene”. Williams said that predisposition to religion is the knot which unites religion and spirituality and which leads to faith, which leads to optimism, which leads to survival. It is spiritual but also has a genetic basis. It provides man with a purpose beyond himself and keeps him from being incapacitated by the dreaded fear of mortality. Through it man senses his genetic immortality.

Wise men of all religious walks have always maintained that the pure heart alone can see the Goddess/Gods. Just like one cannot see one’s reflection in a turbulent and murky pool of water, or in a dirty mirror, so man cannot see the Divine reflected in his own self and others unless the mirror of his hearts is immaculate and spotless. “That which thou findest not within thee, thou shalt not find without”… the reason being that conscience is stirred by random thoughts, as on the surface of the lake is stirred by the slightest wind blowing, the divine reflection vanishes when we are centered primarily on ourselves and allow the fingerprints of all life to leave its fatty blemishes on the brilliance and clarity of our spirit.

If our hearts are agitated by anger, greed, insecurity, hatred, addiction, etc. then the vision of the Divine/Goddess will not remain clearly visible within us or within others.

What then can assists us towards the achievement and the maintaining of this spiritual goal? The constant keeping of good and edifying company.

Just as darkness is dispelled by candlelight, so the Good (righteousness) and the light of devotion, Love and Virtue shine resplendent within us, chasing the chaotic shadows of godless ignorance before them.

It is the teacher’s duty to guide his students in his battle against harmful passions, the thirst for “more”, the desire to possess even the abstract, to mitigate the blind fever of temper and to remove the tarnishing flecks of obstinate ignorance. Only this ensures the conquest or transcendence of the mind and the connection with the All-comprising Nothingness.

In some humans the VMAT 2 gene’s spiritual function is more pronounced than in others. This means that spirituality comes more naturally to some than to others.

This is not a contradiction of the maxim “that which thou shalt not find within thee, thou shalt not find outside of thee”. Our genes are within us. The monoamine chemicals are contained within our genetic make-up. This is the Divine within; the sacred reflection of the Divine housed inside the temple of our bodies.

Our faith gives us optimism to continue, to press onwards, regardless of the hardships we may be facing in our day to day living. Faith has healing power. No wonder most of the god men and saviours were also healers. Faith can prolong life and improve human health.
Man has continued to evolve and through natural selection (genetic insurance for survival) spirituality has reached us.

Spirituality is nothing more and nothing less than human inheritance. It is an instinct. It is the law of survival of the fittest, through connection with the whole. It is an irrefutable specialization of the “god gene” even if to be scientifically correct, it must be stated that there is more than one gene involved in this process of natural selection.

Materialism can’t answer all the questions regarding the Gods and spirituality and neither can empirical research. Spirituality is far more than the belief in a particular God or Goddess. When it comes to connecting with the Divine, environmental influences are just as important as genetics for this nurtures the inherent spiritual nature of man.

Insofar as I can understand, to walk with the Gods, Know Thyself!

References:
Plato – Alcibiades
The God Gene – Dean Hamer
Divine Discourses – Maharaj Charan Singh