The Doctrines of a Modern Religion   

By Korin Nakayama   

Notes updated since 2007 on and off with gaps of years.   

This essay is largely based on my imagination. I do not practice religion. Every day I do not think about God at all. I am writing this essay because I feel I have got some good ideas that need to be put on paper.  

This essay deals with the three most important issues that every major religion should do in clear and unambiguous terms with details, but they do not. It will be from a modern point of view to suit modern needs based on the scientific theory of evolution. It is a matter of believing like all the religions. 

This essay is in 3 parts:   

1   The description of God  

2   The Purpose of Life  

3   Life after Death  

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1   The description of God                                                

Traditionally, God means a divine being sitting on a throne in Heaven, making decisions on everything that is happening down below, or someone who can perform miracles such as conjuring a watch from thin air or walking on water and so on, which all seems to be made up. However, it does not mean there is no God.  

The fact is that there is God. However, this God is a mysterious energy in the Spirit World that created human beings and their modern world through inspiration and evolution and today continues to inspire them to progress and evolve further. This belief is based on the scientific theory of evolution, which can be developed. From this perspective, religion and science are the two subjects that can move forward hand in hand to explore the unknown and are no longer enemies.  

Therefore, to disassociate this concept from the traditional one, we need to use another word for God – the Divine Energy.  

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In the beginning, some 4 billion years ago, when Earth was formed and empty, the Divine Energy, the silent mysterious and invisible Energy which covers around Earth atmosphere like air, inspires bacteria to form themselves, then split, multiply, diversify and evolve. It guides living things what to do and how to do it in the given environment with the Energy required. As a result, today, there are millions of species (plants and animals) living in their respective environments on Earth, and these environments are of millions of kinds and in constant change.  

Evolution is through a struggle for species to adapt to changes in their respective environment. It is this struggle inspired by the Divine Energy  to adapt generation after generation over millions of years that gradually leads to the physical changes of a species because the effect of this struggle passes on from one generation to the next and this is how the Divine Energy has created all the species on Earth.  

Life is a struggle. Even to indulge a pleasure, you will have to struggle, try or use energy physically and mentally; otherwise, nothing will happen or change, let alone make a living or survive.  

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When apes appeared on Earth, which had been of course prepared by the Divine Energy through evolution, it inspired them to gradually stand straight and walk on their two back legs, then use their two front legs as hands to use stones to work, hunt or make things so that they evolved into human beings over millions of years. Stones were humans’ first means of production. Therefore, to be able to use the two front legs and use stones to do something was specially designed by Divine Energy. It was not an accident. What is more important is that the more apes use their hands, the more their brains develop, and the more ideas they receive from Devine Energy about how to make more and better things.  

On the other hand, the Divine Energy only inspires species to progress and will never make progress for them. Therefore, those who have adapted to their environment survive and evolve, but those who have failed become extinct.   

The Dvine Energy has created all the species on Earth in the past 4 billion years, starting with single-celled bacteria. It aimed to create a humankind that has the most developed brain of all for some unknown reasons in the Spirit World. The emergence of human beings was planned with a definite purpose. It was not an accident. It was part of a set course.   

For this reason, human evolution is different from all other species. Other species can only passively adapt to their environments and survive. But human beings can use their hands and well-developed brains to create more and better things and thereby improve their environment and the quality of their lives. Based on this progress over millions of years, they will evolve into the next species with changed physical form.   

For example: If human beings invent machines and use their fingers to press buttons to produce more and better things instead of toiling with hands, their hands will have physical changes in just a few years – they will become smoother for example – let alone after millions of years.          

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There is an evolution on every planet where there is life, and worlds were created for spirits to descend on them.  

The evolution on Earth indicates there is also an evolution in the spirit world around the Earth, and the two are connected.  

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In this struggle of humanity to make progress in improving their environment and their quality of lives, a flash of divine inspiration in their heads could mean: a recognition of what is right, wrong, good or bad, a solution to a problem, a realization of the truth, a sudden feeling of enthusiasm about how to make something, a sound or new idea about how to do something, an insight, a rectification, an improvement, a breakthrough, a turning point, a milestone, a historic moment, a full mark, a masterpiece, a world record, an invention, a discovery, a creation, a transformation, a triumph or even a miracle, etc. – and this is how the Divine Energy has created the modern world, and there will be more to come.  

Inspiration strikes human beings around the world all the time. It can be about anything and everything, big or small, in all aspects – no one will be missed. The Divine Energy which is silent, invisible and mysterious, covers around the Earth’s atmosphere like air.   

Scientifically, it is roughly correct that the struggle to make progress needs a combination of 1% inspiration and   

99% perspiration.  This applies to all species.  

Inspiration works through brains, energy, and spirit. The more you use your brain and struggle, the more inspiration strikes.  

Devine Energy also inspires living things and human beings to recognize what is right, wrong, good or bad in their course of making progress. 

The Divine Energy is right in front of us. But distracted by busy and complicated modern life, we do not notice it. However, the higher out in space, the more perceptible it becomes, and back in the past, when life was simple and primitive, human beings were more aware of its presence.  

The most significant thing is that human evolution means not only gradual physical changes but also gradual changes in behavior and soul because of the improved environment and the quality of life so that they become more suitable to the new environment.  

Human beings have evolved differently from all other species because they can use their brains to improve their environment instead of just passively adapting to it. And the descendants of humankind may also evolve differently from humans because, in the future, science and technology will become so advanced that these descendants will be able to control their environment. So, their evolution will be based on mental struggle rather than physical struggle.  

The existence of humans is brief in the history of Earth. By the design of the Divine Energy, the descendants of humankind will evolve further and further into something fantastic or more different than human beings from bacteria and so will be the millions of other species on Earth. And there will be a final divine design, which could be the end of the evolution on Earth before the sun burns out, and the Earth comes to an end.   

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2   The Purpose of Life  

The Divine Energy created human beings on Earth. Now, what are they supposed to be doing on Earth?  What is the purpose of their existence? What is the meaning of life for an individual being? And where are they going?  

To answer these questions, it is necessary to go back to the Spirit World.  

It seems as if there is an evolution going on in the Spirit World around the Earth. For some reason, a particular group of spirits needed to be improved with higher quality and more developed abilities through human species, but they could not do so because the Spirit World was void. So, they needed to appear in a physical form in a physical environment on a planet to improve themselves through improving their environment and the quality of their lives, and consequently, their behavior and soul in that order. This is because in the human world, by the design of the Divine Energy, the environment determines the quality of life, the quality of life determines human behavior, and human behavior determines the state of the human soul.  

The human environment means all the things that surround human life – means of production, institutions, facilities, products, services, knowledge, conditions, influences, etc, not just land, water, air, plants, animals, etc.    

To improve the human environment means to make more and better things available to human life through human intelligence and capabilities. That is to make life more secure, safer, more stable, richer, freer, healthier, happier, more enhanced, more civilized, more dignified, more meaningful, more pleasant, more comfortable, more enjoyable, more interesting, more beautiful, more harmonious, easier, more convenient, or simpler. In short, to improve the quality of their lives.  

By the design of the Divine Energy, human behavior is automatically adjusted to the changes in the improved environment and the quality of life so that it becomes more suitable. It is just like other species adapting to the changes in their environment to become more suitable for living. In other words, because of the improved environment and the quality of life, humans automatically think, feel, and behave differently and become more refined. The extent of this improvement in the behavior depends on the scope of the improved quality of life, and this improvement can be immediate in some respects, in others may take 5, 10, 15, 20 years or generations depending on the person but is in the process.   

It is generally believed that good upbringing and good education leads to good behavior. But being well brought up and well educated are all part of a good life. It is still the quality of life that determines human behavior. Likewise, education facilities with excellent teachers, knowledge about the good upbringing of children and so on are all part of the human environment. So, it is still the environment that determines the quality of life.  

Human behavior covers the ways of treating people, the idea of doing things, and the ways of conducting oneself, speech, manners, styles, etc. in thousands of respects when it comes to details.  

The soul is the invisible part of a human being capable of thinking and feeling, and human beings behave according to what and how they think and feel, which is determined by the quality of their lives and environment.  When the behavior of a human being has improved, their soul is automatically improved, because the state of the soul is reflected through behavior.  

If you compare human behavior century by century, you will see that it has been improving all the time throughout history in every respect, as life is getting better – especially in the last two centuries or so it has been sudden and rapid.   

This sudden and rapid improvement of behavior can be seen in these things: the abolishment of slavery, union rights, equal pay, the minimum wage, foreign aid, the Geneva Conventions, international laws, the UN Charter, peacekeeping force, the Red Cross, the World Bank, charity organizations, the Amnesty International, doing voluntary work, making donations, welfare system, redistribution of wealth, the Civil Rights Bill, condemnation of Apartheid, the abolishment of capital punishment, complaints procedures, Band-Aid, RSPCA, you name it. It is endless, not to mention personal behavior like speech, manners, style, etc. The trend is clear, and there will be more and more of this kind to come, and they will become more and more widespread in the future.  

So, based on this relationship between the environment, the quality of life, behavior, and soul, human beings on Earth are supposed to work to improve their environment and the quality of their lives and thereby to improve their behavior and soul. Therefore, for an individual, the purpose of life must be to work and improve the quality of their lives and try to behave well in every respect at all times. The keyword is ‘try.’ So, in everyday life, it is not a question whether one has behaved well, but a question whether one has tried. It is the attitude that matters.   

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In the 21st century, it is possible to see what human beings are supposed to be doing on Earth or what the purpose of human existence is, because for the past two centuries the improvement of the human environment, the quality of life and behavior has suddenly accelerated and has been rapid due to the 4 industrial revolutions which have created vast wealth on Earth.  

1   1760 – 1840, using steam as Energy instead of people and animals, starting with textile industry in Britain.   

2   1870 – 1914, using oil and electricity as energy particularly in the USA which led to mass production in millions with millions of varieties.   

3   1990s, use of computer – a change from mechanical to digital with labor-saving software.   

4   2015, trends towards automation in production – the use of Robots. In the future, you will be able to use robots to build cities and there will be more revolutions to come. 

This change was impossible to notice up to about 200 years ago because human progress had been too slow. They were stuck in agriculture for 10,000 years using almost the same methods and tools, not to mention what it was like before then. Therefore, it was difficult to see the relationship between the environment, the quality of life, behavior, and soul.  

Knowing the purpose of life means there is a clear direction to follow instead of groping our way in the dark without certainty. So far, Humans have been drifting and did not know where they are going. Therefore, all the plans, policies, and objectives in all human fields must be in that direction for a better life. 

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3    Life after Death  

When the lives of human beings end on Earth, their souls return to the Spirit World. The Spirit World is not split into two extreme parts – ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ – for souls to return according to their behavior on Earth. These so-called ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ with nothing between and next door to each other are imaginary.  

In the present kind of environment, everyone’s behavior on Earth is a mixture of good and bad in different variations and to a different degree, sometimes good and sometimes bad, or good in some respects but bad in others. No one is 100% good or bad. So, all the souls can neither go to ‘Heaven’ nor ‘Hell’. Even if they did exist, they would be empty without a soul.   

We do not know what souls are doing in the Spirit World. But one thing is certain: they are neither in ‘Heaven’ nor in ‘Hell’ that human beings have imagined. However, the so-called ‘Heaven’ and ‘Hell’ are here on Earth metaphorically.   

When in ‘Hell’ – in the beginning when human beings emerged – the environment was primitive, and life meant suffering for all with all human needs being denied and everyone behaved badly in every respect which caused fighting all the time, individual against individual and group against group.     

When in ‘Heaven’ – in the future – the environment is perfect, and life means happiness for all with all human needs being met and everyone behaves well in every respect all the time – and this is the direction human beings are going.  

By the design of the Divine Energy human beings are meant to progress through a million-mile journey from ‘Hell’ to ‘Heaven’ to gradually improve their environment and the quality of their lives and so consequently their behavior and souls, and then will eventually evolve into the next species with a changed physical form, a more refined soul of higher quality with more developed abilities. Therefore, by the design of the Divine Energy, reincarnation is possible based on their own choice according to the rules of the Spirit World. It is through reincarnation that the new generations can live in a better environment and a better life which was created and contributed by all the individuals in the previous generations. Therefore, the new generation should be able to behave better than the previous one and, in this way, you can see human behavior hence human souls are improving generation by generation.   

In theoretical terms, the effect of this improvement in behavior passes from one generation to the next. It is like the effect of a struggle that passes from one generation to the next, which gradually leads to the physical changes of a species over millions of years. So, it seems that this continual effect of improved human behavior as a whole – as a human species – is needed for the evolution in the Spirit World, rather than the improvement through the reincarnation of the same individual soul on earth. 

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Just keep the above three doctrines: the description of God, the Purpose of Life, Life after Death and improve them. Cut all the rest.  

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The essay, A General Theory of Human Progress I drafted first in the 90s was in fact a difficult one. A theory of this kind would take a lifetime, perhaps two to complete. That is why it has been cut. 

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A note about the Doctrines of a Modern religion and A Theory of Human Progress.   

I drafted ‘A General Theory of Human Progress’ first in the 90s. It was in complete form with a beginning and an end, chapter by chapter, and paragraph by paragraph so that I could see the whole thing which would show all the problems. Then I was going to improve and develop it by looking at it or by cutting, changing, and adding since it would be quite easy to do so on a computer. Some people may have thought the essay was nearly finished. But in fact, it was just the beginning! Now I write articles in separate paragraphs with big gaps between them to show it is not finalized yet.   

Most writers express their thoughts and views by gathering material from books. But my material entirely depends on what comes to my mind or through imagination. At the time, I needed to put down enough material on paper for me to work from, so it did not matter whether it was good or bad. However, at the time due to my mental health problem, my brain did not work very well, and the progress was very slow, and I also left it for many years.   

In 2007 after I started to recover, inspiration came to create a modern religion! The idea was developed from the random notes or passing thoughts I wrote in the 90s, which I think has led to discovering the meaning of life or why we are here on earth. It was just like doodling on a piece of paper and ended up in a discovery.   

This modern religion is largely based on my imagination, not on reading books. I seldom read books or long articles because at the time I could not concentrate, and I also had not got patience. I have never read a book from beginning to end in my life. However, sometimes I did browse through books on various subjects. Now I am browsing the Internet.    

I have not read ‘The Origin of Species’ but know the gist of it from an encyclopedia. I think the theory of evolution needs to be developed.   

In fact, I have written six essays, then reorganized them into one essay: The Doctrines of a Modern Religion. 

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