The Position of Human Beings in the Cosmos

Lesson Objective: Understand that God created human beings to be the rulers, the center and the microcosm of the cosmos.

Divine Principle Reading:

The position of human beings in the cosmos has three aspects. First, God created human beings to be the rulers of the universe. The universe does not of itself have internal sensibility toward God. Hence, God does not govern the universe directly. Rather, God endowed human beings with sensibilities to all things in the universe and gave them the mandate to rule over the universe directly.

Activity:  The Rulers

1. Explain:

  1. Since we are composed of both a spirit and physical body, we are able to interact with both worlds. This allows us to have dominion in both the physical and spirit world and thus become the “rulers.”
  2. We are meant to understand and master the laws and principles of both physical world and spirit world. Originally this was meant to be very natural.
  3. To be able to do so, we need to understand the laws of both the spirit and physical world so that we can have dominion over the cosmos.

2. Give everyone a mini quiz about the laws of the physical world by saying the following three words and three definitions in a random order. Ask everyone to pair up the correct law with the correct definition.

  1. Inertia: The tendency of a body in motion to stay in motion without an external force acting upon it.
  2. Gravity: The force that attracts an object towards the center of the Earth.
  3. Periodic Table: A table of chemical elements arranged by atomic number and atomic structure.

3. Give everyone a mini quiz about the laws of the spirit world by saying the following three words and three definitions in a random order. Ask everyone to pair up the correct law with the correct definition.

  1. Give & Take Action: The interaction between two entities when a common base is formed.
  2. Dual Characteristics: Everything in the cosmos is made up by a yang quality and yin quality.
  3. Growing Period: All parts of creation must pass through these three stages to reach perfection.

4. Go over the correct answers and expand on any laws that your class did not seem to understand.

Concluding Point: We have both a spirit and physical body which allows us to impact both the spirit and physical world. In order to do so, we need to become masters of the laws of both the spirit and physical world.

 

Divine Principle Reading:

Second, God created human beings to be the mediator and the center of harmony of the cosmos. When a person’s flesh and spirit unite through give and take action and become God’s substantial object partner, the physical and spiritual worlds can also begin give and take action with that person as their center. They thus achieve harmonious integration to construct a cosmos that is responsive to God.

Activity: The Center & Mediator:

1. Explain:

  1. The Spiritual and Physical world can only have a relationship with us working as a mediator between the two worlds.
  2. The Spiritual World wants to work through and support us in our work on the physical plane.
  3. We are able to receive help from people living in the spirit world through our common interests. They can help us to achieve success in our physical life.

2. Watch this Ted Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA
  2. Start this video at 6:22 and finish at 17:12. She talks very quickly, so try to catch the timing right before she moves on to the next point.

3. Explain: The Ted Talk is referencing the idea that we are able to receive help from the spiritual world in the things we are doings because God created it that way.

Concluding Point: Human Beings are meant to be the center and mediator of the cosmos so that spirit beings can help us reach success on the earthly plane. Without human beings as the center, the spirit world would not be able to work on the physical plane.

 

Divine Principle Reading:

Third, God created human beings to encapsulate in a substantial form the essences of everything in the cosmos. God created the universe by projecting and developing the pre-existent prototype of the human internal nature and external form into countless substantial forms. The human spirit encapsulates all of the elements found in the spirit world, since God created the spirit world as the unfolding of the spirit’s internal nature and external form. The human body encapsulates all the elements of the physical world, since God created the material realm as the unfolding of the body’s internal nature and external form. Accordingly, since human beings contain within themselves the essences of all things in the cosmos, each person is a microcosm.

Activity: A Microcosm

1. Explain:

  1. We contain within us all the essences of the cosmos.
  2. God created the universe so that we could see ourselves represented in all of creation.
  3. Our spirit and physical body has all the elements that make up everything else in all of creation. To show that we are going to do an art project.

2. Have everyone trace their hand on a blank piece of paper.

3. Read through these explanations as you ask everyone to draw each of the following within their hand print:

  1. Minerals are naturally occurring solid inorganic substances that are made up by a specific mix of chemical elements. Examples include aluminum, lead and sulfur. Just like human beings, they have a specific chemical character and are made up by atoms and molecules.
    1. Draw something to represent the similarity between human beings and minerals in your hand print.
  2. Plants have a specific chemical character, atoms and molecules but also have an autonomous life force and are composed of cells, tissues, structure and shape, just like human beings.
    1. Draw something to represent the similarity between human beings and plants in your hand print.
  3. Animals also have a specific chemical character, atoms and molecules, a life force, cells, tissues, structure and shape, but also have instinct (physical mind), sense, organs and nerves, just like human beings.
    1. Draw something to represent the similarity between human beings and animals in your hand print.

Concluding Point: Human beings are composed of the same elements of all of creation, from minerals to plants to animals. We also have a spirit mind and spirit body which has the same elements of the entire spirit world. So it makes sense that we are literally a microcosm of the entire cosmos!

section-sixManish Saluja