The Threshing Floor Radio Show-August 27, 2011-Randy Maugans with Dr. Joseph Lumpkin
Fifth Estate Publishing
Dr. Joseph Lumpkin joins us for an encompassing discussion about the ongoing redefinition of religious thought and practices. Dovetailing off the Sacred Feminine and Forbidden Books, he looks back at a pivotal period, and asks if we may, in fact, be seeing a new period of rapid transition in spirituality.
The Axial Age" is a period of time between approximately 800 BCE to 200 BCE (some say 100CE in order to include Christianity).
In this period of time all major religions began. It is as if the human consciousness was awakened all over the world at the same time. We went from idolatry and ritual to a mystical experience aimed at direct communication with God.
The question is why? What happened to us on a world wide scale that effected our human souls? This "shift" in religious thought produced:
Zoroastrianism
Judaism
Jainism
Buddhism
Hinduism (development of the Upanishads)
Daoism (Lao Tze)
Mystery cults of Mediterranean region
Christianity
More intriguing...we appear to have entered yet another age when religion is now fading...humanity is transitioning away from institutions, rigid dogma, and external forms, and moving toward the personal revelation of Deity. Just as axial man passed through a change in consciousness, and moved away from tribalism, polytheism, and ritual sacrifice; we are now experiencing an acceleration towards awareness of the wholeness of creation: of a God who is "in" us; of a quantum reality that connects the dots and bridges the distance between Deity and humanity---and human and human...away from "us and them" and towards "I and thou."
Links:
A brief overview of the "Axial Age" by Dr. Adel Elsaie, from: "History of Truth, The Truth about God and Religions"
Julian Jaynes-The Origin of Consciousness in the Bicameral Mind- While Jayne's work is now somewhat outdated, in view of the more recent research into hemispheric neurological function, and the understanding that the "mind" is not a localized brain function as per David Bohm's "Hologreaphic Universe" model, Alain Aspect's Non-locality Principle, and Benjamin Libet's work on brain function and cosciousness; however, Jaynes' work is useful in seeing the trends of human consciousness evolution in the axial age.
Martin Buber-Wikipedia entry - The spiritual relationship of "I and thou"
Jim Ryun Breaks the human barrier for the mile - A metaphor of a "forerunner"
Music: "Jesus On the Barricades" - Agents Of Mercy
“The Sacred Feminine: Searching for the Hidden Face of God” - The new book by Joseph Lumpkin
Fifth Estate Publishing offers books on religion & theology, philosophy, martial arts, poetry, biographies, and fiction. http://fifthestatepub.com/
