Proof Of The Existence Of The Great Spirit

I had a dream recently where I was visited by three spirits, at least one of which I felt was an old ancestor. In the dream they pointed out that I was lost, and then I pointed out that maybe it was them that was lost. I asked them, "What about the Great Spirit?" Then, as quickly as they had arrived in my consciousness, they turned around and left.

What is proof of the existence of The Great Spirit? Is it the same as proof of the existence of God? Mostly I'd say yes, with the exception to those individuals who define God as a creature who tortures so-called "evil doers" for eternity or those who define God as a head administrator who arbitrates a set of subjective temporal laws through a group of divine bureaucrats here on earth. Do you follow what I mean? The Great Spirit is, but anyone can take any name of anything and construe it in a way that obfuscates the truth or worse, exploits the labor of weaker individuals so that a small group can live in opulence. But I digress. Yes, you say, Ben Zoltak would you please get on with it, where is your so called "proof"?

Alright keep your pants on, I'm getting to it. The singer Paul Simon has a great line in his song Proof, where he sings, "Faith is an island in the setting sun, but Proof! Yeah Proof is the bottom line for every one."

I've always taken that to mean, there is something about faith that endears your spirit, that delivers you from the bottom, or minimum of this world.

One last word before I give my spirit away to the world again in hopes of making it a better place. In this world, we need to embrace latitude. Whether your friend worships a fella named Mohammad, Moses, Jesus, Buddha, The Goddess, Quetzalcoatl, The Great Spirit, or a myriad of names deemed by a people or person, you first need to honor what that person defines as their relationship with the Great Spirit.

I honor atheists and agnostics for their relentless and vigorous pursuit of a more tangible understanding of life and existence. To me, atheists and agnostics are people who have been turned away from a divine connection because of someone else's arrogant or manipulative approach to religion. In my life, when getting to know agnostics, these people often turn out to be individuals who are sick of religious zealots killing in the name of their chosen Deity. For them, any so-called relationship with God is an exercise in futility at best and a device for servitude at worst. Why do I preface with all of this information before I give away my proof? Well that's easy, I don't want to appear to be sanctimonious or in anyway smug. What I admire about many agnostics is they are still searching in some way for proof, while other religious zealots who have claimed to have found it long ago, are no longer searching but are instead stuck in a quagmire of half-truths and manipulation. As an agnostic friend of mine who read the first draft of this article informed me, not all agnostics are searching or care to search for proof at all.

I believe that when we die and our physical bodies disintegrate there is one thing left behind, our imagination, our thought. Our thought, as defined by those prickly and erudite syllables of science, is a creation of the rapid fire of synapses in our brains correct? Well, yes and no. Our thoughts are also connected, very physically, to our hearts and all the nerves in our bodies. We are as violas in an existence where the very wind plays our strings. We are affected by multiple stimuli, light, sound, magnetism, gravity and more. You can't take our imagination out of our head and pour it in a cup, but we know it exists.

Thought and existence itself is my "proof" of The Great Spirit. Unfortunately for many this is not validation enough, but for me it is. For me the sights of forgiveness and natural beauty help redeem the suffering and sorrow in this world. For others I know the existence of mindless suffering and torture is enough to turn them away from any divine connection.

I believe in The Great Spirit but I also believe in human beings and Science. Where the two meet has historically been bent. They are usually seen as arguing apples and oranges. Certainly balderdash like Creationism and it's weaker cousin Intelligent Design hasn't helped redeem the balance. In my musings I wonder if at a time in the future Science will discover more about what happens to our consciousness when our bodies fade away? There are subatomic particles (quarks & leptons) that appear to change to Scientists, according to how they look at them! The observation itself appears to have an effect on how they appear. These quarks and leptons of course, exist whether Scientists label them or not. That's where many agnostics and atheists get lost I believe.

I like to argue with my atheist and agnostic friends that their anti-Deism is a modern invention. It is a reaction to The Great Spirit not being fair. They are upset that the Deity is not predictable, like paying a utility bill or turning on a desk lamp. When they want an answer to something, they want it now and they want it easily defined. We all exist whether we Scientifically label objects or not. That is the proof. It would be easier for me to believe there were no God if we did not exist.

But all these beautiful plants, all these magnificent animals, all those bright stars in the sky, all the opalescent art created by people, all this kindness I've experienced, in spite of my personal tragedies, in spite of the world's tragedies I believe in The Great Spirit. I believe our consciousness is pure energy and as Science points out energy can not be destroyed, it can only change forms.

Update 10.29.2010

As an artist, writer and spirit seeker I thought it would be poignant to add that I find the image of my orchids to be a solid sort of evidence for the existence of the Great Spirit. In and of themselves, they are tonal variation in pure crescendo, and arches and waves of shape that are unparrelled.

Ben