Classical Pantheism is a way of thinking, realization or a philosophy [and/or religion if you like] that offers a mental perspective or a vantage point that’s other than theism or atheism, one that doesn’t entail having to believe in a god or not believing in one but views the subject in a different light. This understanding -of Classical Pantheism- might enable filling-in the gap between scientific facts and the mysterious, logic and emotions, and it encourages thinking beyond the ever so common dualities of human existence. It encourages skepticism and spirituality, logic and emotions, living in the now, acquiring knowledge, being of high moral character, learning from others, knowing one’s self, and the nourishing of a truly holistic human experience.
Classical Pantheism is a very broad view, and very basic. Beyond the basic definition, it does not concern itself with matters of rituals, rules, secrets, divine canons, etc.. leaving these to organized groups and religions. Classical Pantheism at it’s best is free of dogma and hierarchy, free of secrets or initiations, free of guilt and psychological manipulation, free of shame, it’s a personal pursuit, holistic and empowering to the individual; further, it is very open to all of human knowledge and wisdom.
Three Basic (Foundational) Concepts:
1- Omniverse: An awareness (via a definition of the word “omniverse”) of an “all-there-is”, perhaps an “all-inclusive-oneness”, that is the sum of, and includes everything material and non, known to us humans and not-known yet, knowable things and unknowables. The “omniverse” is a “philosophical” mental construct that can be equated with the universe, but more accurately it is “all of the possible universes”, or simply “all of existence”, thus omni-universe (or all-universes). Read more on the omniverse here.
2- Spiritual: Explores the inner self and the outer world with a spiritual perspective. Everything around us and that we do is spiritual. Spiritual experiences, moments of connecting with one’s inner self, connecting with others, or with nature are very valuable (or as some might say, holy.) The understanding of the Omniverse is beyond scientific or philosophy it is the sum of both and is a spiritual concept.
3- Knowing: Accepts and utilizes: scientific knowledge, general knowledge, facts, theories, hypothesis, including myth, inspiration, imagination, also unknowables. Encourages seeking truth while noticing the influence one’s ego has on such pursuit. In doing so, it is very open, and allows individuals to interpret their own experiences. Individual opinions vary.
There are only three basic ideas to Classical Pantheism; of these, the first one is the heart of Classical Pantheism (i.e. the understanding of what an omniverse means). Other aspects of Classical Pantheism (listed below) are derivatives or elaborations on these basic concepts, often evolving, and vary amongst individuals.
Aspects of Classical Pantheism include:
1- Universality: Accepts and acquires knowledge and concepts from known facts along un-proven things, science, mythology, traditional wisdom, philosophies, spirituality, art, nature, and any spiritual practices that are free of guilt, dogma, dependance, original sin, human-body vilification or disfiguration, ones that truly respect life and aim to empower people. etc..
2- Evolving: Evolves with human knowledge and experience. Encourages personal growth and the respect of human thought, knowledge, experience, philosophy, morality, potential, spirituality, and the human body. Encourages each person to grow holistically.
3- Holistic: A holistic view of existence, one omniverse unifying the known and unknown as parts of existence. Accepts the dualities of life while holistically encourages a non-dualistic perspective of our life experience. Encourages a holistic way of living, and holistic mind-body well-being, mind, body and spirit. Wishes that people find wholeness within themselves and reflect that upon their world.
4- Nature Spirituality: Nature is one path to experience spirituality and our place and connection to existence. Each spiritual experience is sacred or holy.
5- Morality: No established canon of ethics. Emphasizes discussions on morality and ethics. Accepts moral ideals from all works of philosophy and religions. People are born innocent (or good) and seek to be good.
6- Life Respecting: Respects all forms of life, considers life, and consciousness sacred. When we eat meat, we respect and give thanks to the animal that had to die for us to eat, some decide to eat no meat.
7- Environmental: We love, respect and experience a spiritual connection to everything in nature. We respect the environment we live in, mother earth, and the interconnectedness of nature and its “systems”. We seek to preserve and live in harmony with nature and sentient beings. When it comes to life choices and diet choices we seek to be aware of the implications of these interactions on nature and thus work to have a positive influence.
8- Practice: Just as physicians “practice”, it is encouraged to make ones daily life a “practice”, in mindfulness, and in all the above.
9- Patience and kindness. Always ask “what if it was me in this persons’ position?”. Always consider this scenario: Other people are in essence just like you, made of the same essence, are a part of the omniverse. They might be exactly you if it wasn’t for their genetic, cultural, mental uniqueness (imagine a world made up of people identical to you, I like myself but that kind of world would be boring); consider these people to be you in a different situation, you in a different skin, you with different priorities; now, how do you feel towards what they (you) did/said? are you more tolerant, a bit more kind, do you want to help them?
More:
The word Pantheism is built upon the Greek pan=”everything” & theos=”God”; In Classical Pantheism the Omniverse (multiverse/cosmos/all of existence) is divine, eternal, one and infinite.
Classical Pantheism is a philosophy (and/or religion) that offers an alternative that is very logical, free of dogma, simple and intuitive, one that is not: theistic, atheistic, deistic, pandeistic or panentheistic. Pantheism does not see theism as it was defined by Abrahamic religions, it is META-theism, meaning: beyond, outside and above ordinary theism. I sometimes describe it as non-theistic due to the widely accepted definition of what the word “theistic” means. If you view theism as it is defined by Abrahamic religions or mainstream culture world-wide then Pantheism is “not” theistic, despite the term theism being a part of the word pantheism.
I believe pantheism fills-in the gap between those who believe in a god and those who don’t. It unifies those who see creation and those who don’t, those that rely on science and those who don’t.
We live in a world of duality, two very visible camps, those believing in a god (or multiple) the others denying anything resembling a god, those spiritual and the others denying spirituality exists. Pantheism does not engage in these petty wars, pantheism offers a middle ground, many theists and atheists alike find a home in pantheism. Pantheism attracts atheists who do not believe in the Abrahamic god, atheists that are spiritual, and spiritual people from all backgrounds.
As you read this article and others on this website you will begin to see the essence of what pantheism is and the logic behind it. Pantheism does not waste time debating the common idea of a god as is defined in the mainstream (as defined by atheists and theists alike). Pantheism concerns itself in the oneness of things.
The Omniverse is synonymous to the whole itself, the one itself, here the Omniverse is the god itself. There is no Abrahamic personified god, no eternal being but the Omniverse in its wholeness and oneness (that is the source end destination of all existing dualities). There is no separation of a divine being outside of this oneness that is itself all there is.
Further logical processing leads me to say that you and I are distinct parts of this Omniverse’s oneness, aware of ourselves, and very likely interconnected or interdependent. No genuine scientist could find fault in this paragraph, and shamans, animists, pagans and other spirituals also find this paragraph in agreement with their ideology.
You see, when using common theistic terms, Pantheism is atheistic because it does not acknowledge the existence of the Abrahamic god; it is also a sort of monotheism (that is beyond the traditional definition of theism). There is one Omniverse and it is all there is (similar to the one monotheistic Abrahamic god) yet this Omniverse is not the same as the theistic god of the Abrahamic religions. In fact, many prefer not to use the word god to refer to the concept of the Omniverse (i.e. all there is, nature, universe, cosmos, oneness, eternal infinite thing).
If you have to use the word god you must remember it is not a person, also remember in Classical Pantheism god and the Omniverse are coextensive.
Pantheists refer to the Omniverse in any terms they prefer including including: divinity, infinity, goddess, cosmos, the oneness. Keeping in mind this Omniverse is not a human or a person but it is the Omniverse and all that is or ever will be in it, possibly incomprehensible to most.
I prefer to use words such as divine or oneness, but often people are more open to the use of the term god as long as I explain to them what the Pantheist means by the word god.
As you might have noticed, a key concept in Pantheism is the the Omniverse.
Another important aspect of pantheism is being ok with not knowing. Not knowing things is accepted in pantheism. We respect and use science and the scientific method as a tool to explore the Omniverse, but we acknowledge that one tool might not be able to do every job the universe has to offer. Until science is able to prove, measure or acknowledge certain things we cannot dismiss them as not to be in existence. In circumstances such as these, we use logic, rather than denial for the sake of denial (or for the sake of appearing to be logical skeptics).
A break down of specific concepts:
To define Classical Pantheism in specific points common with most people, I looked at terms and concepts other religions use to define themselves and used these concepts/points to define Classical Pantheism.. Naturally, the word “god” is used often, this is due to the fact that I am using existing terminology used by other religions to clarify how Classical Pantheism is different.
Here’s what this comparison looks like:
| Idea | Classical Pantheism |
| God exists now? | yes (i.e. Omniverse) |
| God existed in the past? | yes (i.e. Omniverse) |
| God will exist in the future? | yes (i.e. Omniverse) – (this also begs the question “what is time?”) |
| God existed before the universe? | not applicable (n/a) – or the Omniverse itself is god and eternal as time is localized within universes |
| God created the universe? | yes, Omniverse contains any and every universe possible, thus it is in constant creation within.
no, the Omniverse wasn’t created
|
| A personal god? | Varies:
no, it is not anthropomorphic
yes, we are interconnected with it, can learn, interact with it, we are the consciousness of this Omniverse, divine soul in a body filled with spirit and experiences itself via the scenes, ego, and mind.
|
| God was a “being” pre-universe existence? | Only the Omniverse itself is eternal, universes are born/created thus are not eternal. |
| God is a “being” now post-universe creation? | Cannot separate god from the Omniverse, the Omniverse is everything and everything is it |
| God will become/remain a being post-universe existence / after universe? | Cannot separate god from the Omniverse |
| god = universe? | yes , more accurately: Omniverse = the idea of god |
| God transcends the world/ universe? | n/a or open to interpretation: the Omniverse is it, no transcendence or separation transcendence implies separation or anthropomorphism |
| God “in” our universe but is “separate from” it | no, and open to interpretation: the Omniverse is it all , no transcendence or separation also, divine soul/seed is within living things not transcending them |
| God is present in world | the Omniverse is it, all there is, everywhere, thus god is present everywhere in everything. open to interpretation, see row above. |
| God is active in the world / influences its affairs? | no, and open to interpretation: Omniverse doesnt influence our world and lives in the anthropomorphic sense. the Omniverse is it, all there is, everywhere, the omniverse creates. this begs the question do aliens, angels, spirits, ascended masters, christ, buddha, other energies, thought forms, physical or non-physican consciousness exist and can they influence our world? |
| God is conscious now? | varies:
yes, the Omniverse is, through everything everywhere, yes, through conscious beings like human being.
no, it facilitated the existence of individual consciousness but is not linked to them no, but it experiences consciousness through us |
| God was conscious before the universe existed? | n/a – the Omniverse is eternal not preceded by anything or a god, time exists within our universe thus any talk of past or future is not applicable when discussing the Omniverse |
| God was an entity pre-universe existence? | the Omniverse is it, eternal, cant talk of time .. also, is the word entity suitable to describe something like the Omniverse or god? likely not. |
| God is entity now post-universe creation? | it is the Omniverse itself, see row above. |
| God will become/remain entity post-universe existence / after universe? | Omniverse always existed and will, see row above. |
| God was sentient (able to have experiences) pre-universe existence? | varies: Omniverse always existed. no: it is not human-like or anthropomorphic yes: it is, no: it is sentient through conscious beings like humans |
| God is sentient (able to have experiences) now | varies: yes the Omniverse is sentient as itself as a “thing” everywhere experiencing its creation as a whole, yes, as parts through individuals’ consciousness |
| God will become/remain sentient after universe existence | n/a – always existed always will, time doesn’t apply. |
| God was person-like pre-universe | no – we may not comprehend the nature of Omniverse, it is not a person. A person is made a person via the mind, ego, personality, and possibly body and spirit.. through duality, through in-completeness , something as infinite and eternal and complete as an Omniverse cannot be described as “person”. |
| God is a person-like now | no – we may not comprehend the nature of Omniverse, it is not a person, see above row |
| God will be person-like post-universe existence | no – we may not comprehend the nature of Omniverse, it is not a person, see above row |
| God could be reached now | varies: yes, we are a part of the Omniverse and interconnected with it and interact with it physically and non-physically, reaching to nature and within ourselves we reach larger understandings of life, yes, we are the Omniverse looking inwards reveals our divinity |
| God created the universe and abandoned it? | n/a – it is it (Omniverse did not abandon itself), cannot abandon what it is and what it encopases, esp when time and space are all contained within in. |
| How did the physical universe originate? | The physical universe is a part of the Omniverse – see Omniverse below |
| How did the Omniverse originate? | The Omniverse is eternal and infinite – was never created by a god, always existed. No need for a pre-Omniverse creator or an eternal creator to create the eternal Omniverse. Cannot have a begining if time doesnt exist. It is beyond physical it is beyond our 3D, 4D, 5D or 11D universe. |
| What is the universe? | a part of the infinite eternal non-dimensional or multi-dimensional all there is “thing” “one” or “Omniverse”. Possibility of multiple universes. Most people refer to the local known universe taught in undergrad classes |
| What is the Omniverse? | “god is the whole” Every possible thing that could, has, have or will exist in existence itself, physical, non-physical, energy, non-energy, wave, light, seen, unseen, known to humans or not, vibrational, thoughts, emotions, parallel, multiple dimensional universes. everything in existence. Learn more by reading the Omniverse page. |
| Emanationism? | yes |
| Creation? | yes (Constant creation), creating of local universes (with possibly local time, space and other “laws”) |
| Intelligent design? | varies: yes, the Omniverse has consciousness and works based on rules (laws), no it’s all random, yes eventually the duality spurts evolution and some order. |
| Pro science? | yes, science improves our understanding and life experience and a natural part of life itself, but we must however understand the limitations of science, there will always be mystery to study, as long as mystery exists science is not an answer-to-all, we cannot blindly ignore things we cant see/understand. |
| Compared to other isms | non Theistic (in the Abrahamic sense), non Atheistic, non Polytheistic (but may accept guiding powers, spirits, etc), non Panentheistic, is Spiritual, Mystical, related to neo-paganism and taoism, varies: allows for miracles and spirits and “supernatural” things |
| God runs the world? | Omniverse is it, everything is part of it, with our consciousness we interact and experience the Omniverse |
| Holy books from god’s person? | varies: yes, as people are able to connect with the “one” matter or inner divine and “know” or receive knowledge transcribed into books, no, as god is not a person, yes, all the human thought written represents human intellect and instinct which is part of human nature or the larger nature of this life or the Omniverse or these books are from other beings but not the Ominverse itself since it itself is not a being. |
| God judges people? | varies: no, Omniverse doesn’t judge, it flows through us and us through it, we interact, and we experience cause an effect, yes, the karma concept where a person reaps what they seed, yes in the form of human conscious that is in pain when at guilt. no, god is not a person to pass judgment.. |
| Religious reverence of? | the Omniuniverse and everything in it (i.e. nature, other sentient beings) but, the word religion often indicates holy books being followed, hierarchy of religious leaders, etc.. classical pantheism is both a scientific and a spiritual philosophy, and for some a religion. legally it is a religion. |
| One god only? | yes, i.e. the Omniverse, all there is, we are part of it. Still allows for guides and so called masters, guiding beings etc.. |
| Has a mystical component? | likely, but not for everyone .. mystical here mans anything science cannot verify and we agreed that science is only a tool that we use, thus the word mystic itself is biased in implying secrecy or un-normalcy.. |
| Accepts miracles? | varies, define miracle first.. |
| Spirit / Soul / life force exist? | varies, yes likely, to some unknown. |
| Consciousness | varies: people, animals, tree all living matter is conscious, only people are conscious, the Omniverse is conscious in all its parts and as a whole |
| Angels / Spirits / Guides may exist? | varies, unknown, but likely |
| Supernatural beings | “supernatural” is a matter of semantics, define supernatural first.. Supernatural implies un-natural but how can anything in the Natural Omniverse be un-natural? perhaps only not understood by some religions or science but that does not make something above/beyond the natural. |
| Nature based? | yes 100%, Classical Pantheism is nature-based, elemental based, spiritual, inner-divine based, likely-mystical, understands duality and non-dualty .. define nature |
| God is active in us? | yes – we are part of it, our consciousness allows us to experience and interact with all there is, physical and non (imagination, emotions, thinking, planning, etc) |
| God has personality? | n/a, most likely Omniverse is not a person with human personality as we define human personality |
| All things interconnected interdependent | yes |
| Life pre/post this one? | varies per individual’s beliefs |
| God and universe identical | yes |
| Emotional connection towards nature | yes, most pantheists have a true emotional relationship/connection to the elements around them |
| Spiritual? | yes, define spiritual (everything in existence) |
| God owns nature or people | no, they are a part of the one Omniverse, no ownership of physical body or soul, each person is independent, unique incarnation/creation/part of the Omniverse |
| God is a ruler? | no, no one is |
| People worship god? | no, not in the Abrahamic sense. People live in and interact with, admire, walk with, learn from and live the Omniverse. |
| Original sin? | no, doesn’t exist |
| Sins | don’t exist as defined by Abrahamic religions. |
| Heaven / Hell | don’t exist in the Abrahamic sense, ones own mind/life/present moment could be ones hell, we can make heaven on Earth |
| Oneness ? | yes, the omniverse is one, every consciousness is an expression of the one unity, all matter is also essentially a different expression of the one. |
| A person retains their personality after death? | unknown, varies |
| People born evil? | no, people are born good or neutral |
Read more:
- What does a Pantheist Mean by God?,
- The Pantheist God,
- The Pantheist Universe,
- What’s an Ominiverse?,
- FAQ: How is the Omniverse Similar to the Abrahamic God?,
- FAQ: But Who Created the Universe?,
- FAQ: Why is Pantheism not Theistic?,
- FAQ: What’s an Omniverse?,
- FAQ: Why do Pantheists Use the Term God to Refer to the Universe?
Updated 07/13/2011
Ethan Z.
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