2.10 The evolutionary development of Western models of reality.

A clear, purposeful, evolutionary pattern can be seen in the development of Western spiritual models of reality. This pattern can at last be perceived clearly, because of the unique conditions shaping our general Western cultural consciousness in the late-twentieth century. We in the West can look back with clarity on our spiritual history, because we are on the verge of an evolutionary leap forward in our spiritual development.

In comparison with the spiritual development of the Eastern cultures we in the West have been developing, until now, at a much slower rate. For many thousands of years, great, spiritually-based cultures have risen, flowered and decayed in the East. These vastly different cultures – predominantly, but not exclusively, based on the Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist models of reality, have all reflected a profound understanding of the true nature of reality, variously expressed in terms appropriate to their several moral, social, political and economic environments.

In contrast, we in the West have developed more slowly from a primitive base of tribal religions, through the civilising influences of the Egyptian and Graeco-Roman cultures, past the unitive vision of Judaism to the great, ethically-based teachings of Christianity and Islam. This pattern of slow and steady growth reflects the sustained karmic conditioning and preparation of countless individuals, including you who are reading these words, across the experiences of many lifetimes. You have been carefully prepared, through the evolutionary purpose inherent in karma, for the role you will have to play in this lifetime, as our Western culture makes its transition from an ethically-based to a spiritually-based civilization.

You have lived and gained experience, however slowly and unwillingly, and died many times in many different cultures. Evidence for the truth of this is contained in your own memory. Committed daily practice of the Implicate Technology meditative techniques taught in this book will release from your memory the skills, the experience and the inherent knowledge you will need to enable you to fulfil your role in the transformation of our culture, and will simultaneously assist you to progress towards achieving your full spiritual potential.

The Graeco-Roman cultural model of reality expressed a fragmented and relatively underdeveloped view of reality. The various gods and goddesses gave expression to the discrete and warring components of the individual mind. Only in the ancient Mystery model of reality did Graeco-Roman culture offer the committed individual the opportunity for a complete synthesis of the various aspects of mind, transcending the divisive schema of gods, goddesses and titans.

The fulfilment of individual and selfish aims was the end-product of the Graeco-Roman model of reality. The gods were offered sacrifices so that their powers might be invoked for human benefit. Without the benefit of an all-embracing and unifying vision of life, reality is experienced as devoid of coherent and purposeful meaning, subject to the chance whims of powers outside the control of the individual.

The unifying vision in general Western culture was introduced through the Jewish Old Testament model of reality. The Shema, the great Jewish prayer invoking the essential unity of reality, the first Western vision of monotheism, is expressed with succinctness and clarity: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.’ The experience of the inherent unity of all that exists which underlies the Shema is expressed in Implicate Technology terms as: ‘There is only one reality. Reality is one.’

The Old Testament model of reality embodied the merciless face of karma: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The Western European scientific model of reality, produced over two thousand years later, reflected an equivalent level of understanding: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Jewish model of reality interprets the law of karma in a moral sense, and the scientific model interprets karma in a mechanistic sense – from the Implicate Technology perspective of a fully developed model of reality, these different formulations of a universal law merely reflect varied cultural approaches to the same level of understanding.

The Old Testament model of reality offers a coherent, if unforgiving, context in which to understand the experiences of life. Thousands of years later, the scientific model of reality is unable to offer even that much. The understanding which was once brilliant and clear becomes faded and obscure.