Human development through pantheism

Far eastern and, in the West, pre-Christian pantheism see divinity in every natural phenomenon, a multitude of gods. Activities such as cultivation of the soil become religious rites. Although not polytheistic, modern pantheism still emphasizes experience of nature or ecological consciousness. Contact with nature "in the wild" leads to spiritual catharsis and peak experience. Intellectually, there is an acceptance of evolution and scientific discovery as a means of spiritual enrichment - knowledge of how a rainbow is formed, for example, enriches without removing the mystery. Worship consists of reverencing something for what it is rather than as a symbol of something else. Nature ceases to be viewed as an external resource to be exploited - the forces and workings of nature are God, the sacred exists within the natural world and may be experienced with joy, the impulse to use nature for one's own ends is checked. This is monism, the universe being one sole substance, God and nature. This holistic view sees no division between the individual person and his physical surroundings. God is not personified, is neither masculine nor feminine; anthropomorphism is rejected as too limiting, reality is more diverse and abundant.

Particularly characteristic of Hindu religion, but approached by mystics of many religions, is the belief that God is the totality of existence. Pancosmism sees God as only the physical creation, with nothing existing outside the creation, a view some have taken to be atheistic; whereas acosmism sees the creation as an illusion in that it appears to change and God the only reality, unchanging, the view of Hinduism and Brahmanism. These are viewed by some authorities as the two extremes of pantheism, whereas the latter is sometimes referred to as panentheism.

Some commentators (e.g. Silas Goldean) do not see pantheism as a religion at all but, without fixed dogma or system of worship, as a celebration of life expressed as a recognition of the life-force (alternatively referred to as spirit or power) which exists within everything and links everything and everyone. Because of this interlinking, "No man is an island". One can only come to know one's identity through developing relationships beyond one's self, in what is seen as a dance of creation in which the component parts are all equally important. Despite claiming to have no fixed system, several practices are recommended, in particular that of attention or awareness of the present moment and of meditation on the elements. The identity is extended, transformed, but not lost. It simply transcends its previous limitations, which is true freedom, freedom from domination and also from the desire to dominate.