MatriTalks 31
A
NEW RELIGION?
Questions
& Answers
with
Han Marie Stiekema Sermes
Q. Some time ago you have promised to further
explain to me, why Mother Worship differs from the existing religions. Is it possible to
elaborate?
A. In order to bring some
clarity in this matter, we first of all have to go back to the beginning of patriarchal
religion. The foundation of these (Indo-European) religions is based on the experience of
nomad-life. It is characterized by the awe for wide plains. Heaven therefore, was much
more prominent, than the earth. That's why the "sky-god" became the dominant
deity. This sky-god obviously, had very little relationship with the earth. "He"
was considered to be above everything, hence its distant character.
Q. Was this the cause for the absolute gap
between "God" and the world, as has been advocated by e.g. Christianity?
A. That's right. Moreover, the
second major factor, responsible for the alienation of the Divine from mankind, was the
instruction of Paul, that contrary to Jewish religion belief in God was enough.
Look, the Jewish at least had a sense of necessity of bridging the far away God and
everyday life. Not belief was (is) important, but to conduct a life according to God's
will, is. Paul changed this all. In order to easily catch souls, the threshold should be
as low as possible, hence "belief" was said to be enough. For Christians
"God" has very little to do with everyday life.
Q. On Sunday to the church; in the rest of the
week pursuing your selfish ambitions. Is that the consequence of Paul's
"principle?"
A. It has indeed led to a
totally schizophrenic approach to reality. The latter has become hopelessly split between
a "secular" and a "sacred" realm.
Q. The de-sacralization of nature for example?
A. The de-sacralization of
everything. The point is, that this is based on a totally wrong understanding of the
Essence of the Divine. Let me explain. "Like the sky-god", the Great Mother is
the Ultimate Reality. Contrary to the former though, She is not separate from the world,
but embraces it. The split early patriarchy brought about is an artificial one. It doesn't
correspond with reality. Emptiness implies fullness. In Dutch this is wonderfully
expressed by one word: "Vol-Ledigheid". The image of a room (again) helps here. Because
the space is "empty", it is containing the furniture, the vase on the table, the
stove and the lamps. If "God" is truly the Omni-Present One (as also stated in
Christianity), then "He" cannot but embracing everything. However, the
Christians maintain the principle of the absolute gap, which contradicts the very Essence
of the Divine. Hence, the "Christian God" being an artificial one. Separate
realms: one in which "God" dwells and one "of the world", ultimately
don't exist.
Q. Thus, religion being a construction?
A. God is only God, if
"He" is All-Embracing. If not, "He" isn't truly God.
Q. So, we have a problem here. For instance,
our entire society has been built on the assumption, that God and the world are separate.
A. I am certainly not the only
one, who has understood, where Reality is all about. For countless people, it starts
dawning, that we have been living in a dead universe. They all long for the return of the
Living Cosmos.
Q. The consequences will be enormous.
A. The world won't do with
less.
Q. Could you elaborate a little on how you
think Mother Worship would be able to fill in the gap?
A. The starting point,
obviously, is the Great Mother. She is the All-Embracing Cosmic Womb, giving birth to both
the Divine and the universe. This implies, that the latter are the manifestations of the
former. They are not separate entities, but are intimately connected to their Origin. They
originate in the Mother, while continuously returning. The world is thus embedded in the
Divine (Being, Eternal Light, "God"), while the Divine in its turn is embedded
in the Vacuum. With other words, the Mother and the world are inseparable. She
uninterruptedly includes and pervades the universe. Hence, Mother Worship including all
aspects of life, nothing excluded. This can be made clear by some examples.
Q. Which are?
A. There are two lines of
descent (and ascent) from the Mother to individual consciousness and back; and from the
Mother to the world of objects and events and back.
Q. This may be a little difficult to visualize.
Could you go into detail more?
A. Contrary to the
"Christian God", who is static, the Mother is including all Planes of
Consciousness. It includes the birth of the Divine (which is equal to Full Enlightenment)
out of Her Emptiness, the birth of Satori out of Full Enlightenment; the birth of
Conscious Presence out of Satori and the birth of Awareness out of Conscious Presence,
each simultaneously going back to where they originated. It means, that our personal
awareness is a gate to the Reality of the Mother. It is the Divine Spark in us, through
Which each of us is intimately connected to the Ultimate. We "here" and God
"there" proves to be a fraud. On the contrary, ultimately everything is part of
the Ultimate Reality*.
* See for overview: "Cosmology".
Q. That I understand. How, may the material
world be connected to the Mother, though?
A. As has been said before, the
Vacuum is the Essence of the Mother; the Divine, as Her first "emanation" is Her
Light Body, while the visible world is being born out of the Divine, actually being the
Mother's Material Body. Thus, forms are potentially included in the Body of the Divine.
The are the content of it. Through the Mother's ("pushing"/centrifugal)
dynamics beyond, the forms (Plato's ideas) are being born out of the Divine, becoming
materialized, e.g. becoming the visible world, the former moving from the Center toward
the "periphery". The more they move in this direction, the greater their
independence. At last they become "alienated" from the Source. It reflects the
time we live in. Everything has become fragmented. Diversity is getting mad of itself.
That's why we are longing for Unity once again, to return to our Original Home.
Q. If the world is the content of the Divine,
while embedded (through the Divine) in the Mother's Womb, how could this possibly have
consequences for both the New Mother Spirituality, as well as the world?
A. You say it: the world is
embedded in the Womb of the Mother. It is not separated at all. Hence, the totality of the
universe being sacred, nothing excluded. If the Mother includes and pervades the grass,
the trees, the plants, the animals, the rocks, the rivers, the clouds and the atmosphere,
which is the case, then in principle the sacredness of nature has been restored. But not
only with regard to nature. In the same way, She is embracing and penetrating the world in
all its aspects, e.g. the neighborhood, the houses, the streets, the lanterns, the
crossings and the cars. But here it doesn't stop either. Also our achievements, our laws,
regulations, social structure, our organizations, institutions and future designs, all are
part of "motherly concern". The consequences are far-reaching. Everything, that
is part of Her Body, has to conform itself to Her Law.*
* Her Law is the "natural
law". It has nothing to do with the man-made laws/morality/ rules of existing
religion.
Q. To some this will look like
a new kind of fundamentalism.
A. On the contrary. Instead of
imposing things on the people like fundamentalists would want, the introduction of new
values include an ongoing debate with all people involved. The context is decisive. In a
top-down hierarchical society it goes along the line of power, dictating everything from
above. This is not my aim. I advocate a bottom-up Self-sovereign society in which all new
things are introduced to the base: the family, the street, the neigborhood etc. In this
case the new - spiritual/ecological - values would be the outcome of a truly "free
and democratic" process. Norms and values becoming integrated in everyday life. It is
re-introducing the principle of "as above so under" or "macrocosm is
microcosm", something that has been a core philosophical issue in all cultures of all
times.
Q. Which corresponds with the principle of
"Restoring the Unity with Heaven, earth and the (new) community?"
A. It exceeds completely the
old notion of "religion". The spirituality of the (near) future will include the
entire existence. That's why it is not called a "religion". Instead it is the
Restoration of the Original Unity, something which we therefore have called "The
Original Tradition". A spirituality locked up in a (golden) cage, while "the
world" simultaneously pursuing the ugliest of goals, this cannot be. The former has
to start containing e.g. curbing the latter, before it is too late.
Let's celebrate the Return of
the Mother and the birth of A New Era.
Hail to the Mother!
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