Source: “In the Beginning Was the Spirit Science, Religion, and Indigenous Spirituality”, By Diarmuid O’Murchu, Orbis Books, 2012.
This topic explores the vast landscape of Asian spirituality, arguing that a foundational, immanent life force, often termed the "Great Spirit", underlies both ancient indigenous practices and the major formal religions of the continent. The author structures the analysis by tracing human spiritual evolution from prehistoric archaeological finds in China and Indonesia to the sophisticated philosophical systems of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. A central theme is the diversity of energy concepts, such as the Chinese Qi, the Indian Shakti, and the Polynesian Mana, all of which describe a sacred power that permeates the material world and every living creature. Ultimately, the work serves to challenge Western monotheistic prejudices by reclaiming these transpersonal traditions as a sophisticated and integrated way of experiencing the divine within the natural order.
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Modern Western inquiry often suffers from an addiction to religious certainty, seeking to manage the divine through rigid definitions. In contrast, Asian spiritual traditions possess an ancient track record of respecting Mystery as a living reality rather than a problem to be solved. The silent testimony of the strata suggests that our "advanced" civilization has actually drifted away from the deep spiritual integration held by our ancestors.
Archaeological sites like Jinniushan and Sangiran reveal that humans were spiritually informed as far back as 1.6 million years ago. Even the 18,000-year-old "hobbit-like" remains of Homo floresiensis in Indonesia remind us that the human story is far more diverse and sophisticated than our linear histories suggest. We are not necessarily more evolved; we are simply noisier, having traded the ancient respect for the numinous for the hubris of the modern ego.