THE SCIENCE OF SACRED RITUAL
The utility of a scientific theory lies in its practical applications, and the ancient science was no different in this regard—but the practical applications of the ancient science were rooted in a completely different paradigm than those of modern science.
Whereas the material technologies of modern science are designed to engineer the local laws of nature, the spiritual technologies of the ancient science were designed primarily to engineer the nonlocal laws of nature. These technologies involved the practice of sacred rituals. As we have learned, the ancients required that the dimensions of their sacred altars, temples, arks, and pyramids be measured using an integral number of digits. Although these were material constructions, they were designed for spiritual purposes and were typically associated with ritual practices involving specific actions of the body accompanied by the recitation of specific sacred sounds to invoke the gods.
Human speech involves the production of sound waves in air, which impinge upon the human ear and are then “heard” by the mind. As we have discussed, the smallest impulse of audible sound that can be heard by both the human and divine mind has a wavelength of roughly 1 digit. The fact that sacred constructions were measured purposefully in terms of an integral number of digits implies that they were designed to “resonate” with the smallest wavelength of physical speech that can be heard by the human mind as well as the smallest wavelength of divine speech that can be heard by the divine mind.
This wavelength scale represents the sonic foundation of heaven and the quantum of divine speech on the basis of which all higher (larger) forms of divine speech are measured. Because the higher wavelengths of divine speech are related harmonically to the quantum of that speech, sound waves that are roughly 1 digit are capable of resonating throughout the entire upper half of the spectrum—which the ancients viewed as heaven.
By invoking the digit in their expressions of sacred speech and in their sacred constructions, the ancients sought to invoke heaven on earth. They sought to attune their own physical bodies as well as the body of the sacred altar with that of Logos.In ancient times the performance of such sacred rituals was deemed essential to uphold on earth the balance of human life, both individual and collective. In addition, such rituals were deemed essential to upholding the balance in nature so that the rains would come on time, the crops would fructify, and so forth. This balance was seen as a blessing of the gods, who ultimately control all things in the universe by means of the adrishta—the unseen sonic influence that manifests the will of the gods or God. In order to obtain this blessing, the ancients believed in the importance of worshipping the gods by reciting sacred sounds and performing sacred rituals using carefully measured instruments, materials, and altars, which were designed to resonate with the fundamental mode of the adrishta—that is, their measurements were based roughly on 1 digit.
Such rituals were designed to establish a harmony between heaven and earth; so that the unseen influence of the gods in heaven could be manifested on earth in a beneficial, harmonious way. Unfortunately, over the course of time, the science that inspired these ancient rituals originally was lost, and as a result, they became ineffectual. In the earliest cultures on earth, however, such rituals served as an important practical application of the ancient spiritual science: They were designed to engineer the field of pure consciousness for the benefit of humankind on earth.
When the ancient spiritual science was lost and the reasoning for the rituals was reduced to religious platitudes and dogma, the effectiveness of its practical application was also lost. As a result, the harmony between the gods in heaven and human beings on earth began to erode. The gods departed, leaving humankind to its own devices, for better or worse.
Rather than relying upon spiritual technologies to engineer the nonlocal and unseen forces of nature, human beings then began to rely upon physical technologies to engineer the local and observable forces of nature. This has had its benefits: by developing material technologies on the basis of physical science, our physical lives have become more comfortable and convenient. Yet in the absence of any real spiritual technologies based upon a genuine spiritual science, our spiritual lives have suffered greatly; we have forgotten completely the gods, and the notion that the human soul is immortal or might hope to become immortal is now looked upon as a delusion, which no sensible person would take seriously. Even though our physical lives have become better, our spiritual lives have become worse.The ideal state would be to have both physical technologies and spiritual technologies in our lives. There is no reason to abandon physical science or its material technologies—but physical science must be supplemented with a complementary spiritual science and its technologies. In this way, we could have our cake and eat it too; we could engineer both the local and nonlocal forces of nature for our benefit. Whether or not this will come to pass remains to be seen. The signs indicate that it will, but whether we will follow those signs is another matter.