390: How Fear Shapes Humanity's Gods, Buildings, and Beliefs

Series Title:  Exploring Mormonism's Immortality Projects [Episode III of IV]

In this episode, Valerie and Nathan continue to explore the universal impulse that humans have to sense our divinity but channel it into false-self-preserving “immortality projects." 

Using examples from ancient civilizations to modern religion, they show how fear drives humans to build complex theologies and systems aimed at saving the separate self because embracing the oneness of true God-consciousness is quite frightening.  

They then focus on how this plays out in Christianity and especially within Mormonism, where doctrines like eternal families, temple work, and worthiness function as sophisticated strategies for managing existential anxiety. 

They end by contrasting these false-self-preserving efforts with the perennial call to transcend all separate self identities and awaken to our inherent unity with one another and the divine, setting the stage for next week’s discussion on how to “transcend and include” these patterns on our own spiritual paths towards true self-realization. 

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction and Series Overview

00:20 – Recap of Previous Episodes

01:10 – The Perennial Tradition and the Atman Project

02:08 – Understanding the Atman Project

04:30 – Transformation vs. Translation

06:15 – Universal Nature of the Atman Project

09:33 – Examples from Ancient Cultures

12:20 – Legacy and Ego in Human History

15:41 – The Atman Project in Religious Traditions

18:30 – The Symbolism of Names and Identity

21:37 – The Atman Project in Christianity and Mormonism

25:10 – Dualism and the Quest for Wholeness

28:45 – The LDS Path and Eternal Individuality.

32:00 – Non-Duality and the True Self

35:55 – Exploring the Atman Project

36:34 – The Anxiety Management System

37:51 – Temple Work and the Atman Project

38:52 – The Concept of Separate Selves

39:35 – The Essence of God and Eternal Family

41:32 – The False Self and Power Hierarchies

43:39 – Deification and Godhood in LDS Teachings

46:55 – Forgiveness and Repentance in the Atman Project

49:30 – The Role of Sin and Learning

52:41 – The Struggle with the False Self

55:00 – The Sleepwalking Analogy

58:15 – Challenges in Transitioning from Atman Project to Atman

01:00:30 – The Stickiness of Correct Intuition

01:03:21 – The Path to True God Consciousness

01:06:45 – The Illusion of Spiritual Pinnacle

01:09:00 – The Challenge of Letting Go

01:11:01 – Transcend and Include: The Next Episode Preview