In the Image of God

Was the physical body we call "man" made in God's image?    Or is it that "human beliefs about God were made in man's image?"   Ancient humans, like people today, also looked for answers to the mysteries of life.   

Who am I?   Where did I come from?    Why am I here.   What happens after I die?   Who made this place I'm in?   Why do people die?   What causes earth quakes, floods and the other  natural disasters?   I must have done something terrible.   What could I have possible done that was so bad that I got sent here?    How do I escape from all this grief, and all this  misery and from all those big, powerful animals that want to eat me?

Life in ancient days was dangerous, short, and filled with things that had no explanation.   Having no evidence to go on except what they experienced, ancient humans still  searched desperately for answers.   They made up stories to answer these unanswerable questions.   These stories became legends.   These legend, along with what humans were still experiencing, became the basis of what we, today, refer to as religious beliefs.   Many present-day human beliefs have been handed down to us, generation after generation with little or no change.   As an example, examine the beliefs humans have about God.°    

Humans looked around and noticed that no matter which way they went the Earth appeared to be flat.   Of course, in had mountains and valleys, but these seemed to be merely ups and downs on what appeared to be a flat Earth.   There was no visible end to this flat Earth; at least, nobody ever reporting finding an end.   

Humans looked up and, most of the time, saw bright sunshine and beautiful, white, billowy clouds.   They felt the sun's warmth and gentle breezes.   They saw the rains that fell and refreshed the land and caused the plants to grow.    They noticed that when some of their fellow beings experienced what we, today, call near death experiences, most reported rising upwards in the direction of the sky and  into a warm, inviting, welcoming light.   The people reported seeing friendly beings waiting there to greet them.   They concluded that good things came from above, and whoever lives up there must be good.    Everybody wanted to go there.

They also notice that occasionally the earth they walked on did violent things.   It shook violently and knocked things down.   The mountains sometimes made terrible noises and spewed out smoke and  fire and brimstone.   When whatever was down there became angry it killed people and destroyed things.   They conclude that bad thing came from beneath their feet.  They also concluded that whoever or whatever lived down there must be bad and should be avoided.   Nobody wanted to go there.  

These experiences along with the  natural human impulse to go toward that which felt good and away from that which felt bad were the inevitable foundations of legends, myths, and beliefs.   Humans started appealing to the above to help them with life, to avoid their pain and to avoid whatever was beneath their feet.   Nobody knew exactly who or what was above the clouds or who or what was below the Earth's surface, but humans believed that whatever was in these two places controlled human life.   Humans appeared to be victims of circumstance.   

The natural tendency was to translate the unknown into something known.    The image of whatever was above their heads evolved into beliefs such as  "God is above in heaven.    The image of whatever was  below their feet evolved into beliefs such as "Satan is below in hell."   And naturally the descriptions of God followed the beliefs and experience of the people of that era.   See the page titled:  Imagine a God.°    

So, were these people actually describing God?  NO.   Why not?  Because whatever it is we call GOD, is still  the ultimate mystery of life.°   Instead, they created an image of God based on human beliefs.   

What if the reverse were true?   What if it was possible to create an image of man based on the attributes of God.   Religious leaders claim to know what humans are, but are those claims accurate?   We don't know what God is or isn't, but we can we use some common  ideas and create hypothesis of what man might be if he were an image of God.   

A logical hypothesis could include these characteristics:  Man (and woman)  is a creator.   He is non-physical and, at the same time, lives is a physical body as if he/she were a physical body.   He has/is eternal life.   Birth and death are simply changes in form.   As an analogy, one could think of birth and death as  similar to the way an egg becomes a worm and then a butterfly which lays eggs.  Consciousness controls physical experiences.   Man is consciousness.   God appears to be consciousness.    Man (and woman) appear to  be a part of God.   

God would very likely place his consciousness into  a physical vehicle as one of his/her/it's tools to experience Earth.  God would then  be a temporary dweller on Earth.   For whatever it is we call God, living a life on Earth in a physical body would be an experience quite different from the non-physical world.    To experience life as humans know it, He/She/It would probably need to block portions of  His/her/its full memory.     If God is everything, then humans, as pieces of God, would be walking around inside of God.   God would very likely enter into many bodies and come to Earth numerous  times.   

All this is speculation, but are any of these possibilities any less believable than the present religious beliefs about God?   What does the circumstantial evidence indicate?   -- that man is a creator -- that man is a non-physical being who enters and temporarily use a physical body to experience life on Earth -- that life continues after the death of the physical body --that man is consciousness -- that man is a part of God.   

All this is nice, but so what?   What do you do with this information?   The N.V.P. team recommends that you do nothing with it except hold each of these two conflicting perspectives as possibilities.   Treat this information from the perspective of the beginners mind.°    Neither accept it or reject it.   Observe your life and see, hear, and feel what fits into your personal experience.