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Cosmic Heroism and The Art of Eminence
“God emptied to the limit is man, and man emptied to the limit is God.” ~ Alan Watts
A cosmic hero is a man emptied to the limit realizing that he is one with God while also understanding that God emptied to the limit is him.
Cosmic heroism is heroic because it is a call to adventure. It’s a call to transcend the ordinary, to seek something profound about existence, self, and the cosmos. It’s a battle with the ego and a reconciliation with the shadow. It’s a letting go of societal expectations, personal comfort, and control.
The transformation into a cosmic hero requires one to die to their former self, leading to rebirth. It’s both a descent into the labyrinth of the self and an ascent into the self-actualization of the soul. Ultimately, it’s a sacrifice of all that you have to the interconnected cosmos.
Cosmic heroism is cosmic because unlike many tales where the hero's journey ends, the cosmic hero's path is endless, marked by continuous learning, unlearning, sacrifice, and evolving beyond sacrifice. It’s a deep recognition that enlightenment is not a destination but a way of traveling through life, always seeking deeper truths and living by them.
Becoming a cosmic hero is not about defeating enemies or achieving personal glory but about transcending self to connect with the universal, embodying virtues that resonate with the essence of existence, and contributing to the evolution of consciousness.
Which is why the first and most important part of the journey is emptying God to the limit and redefining the concept of God.
God emptied to the limit is man:
“We are all mothers of God, for God is always needing to be reborn.” ~Meister Eckhart
If we envision God or the divine as infinite, unbounded, and all-encompassing, the process of "emptying" God to the limit means reducing that infinite nature to something finite, tangible, and human.
When God is equated with the universe, every part of creation, including humanity, is an expression of God. As such, "emptying" God to the limit means every individual is a unique, finite focus of the infinite divine. A cosmic hero is deeply aware of this.
God is thus reborn. The cosmic hero had to kill the religious God so that the spiritual God could be resurrected from outdated ashes as the infinite interconnectedness of all things.
By emphasizing interconnectedness, this perspective reflects contemporary ecological and quantum understandings where everything in the universe is related and influences each other. It fosters a more holistic, empathetic approach to life, encouraging care for all beings and the environment as part of a single, sacred entity.
It goes beyond anthropomorphism. Where the traditional religious God is often portrayed as a human-like deity, with intentions, emotions, and judgments, redefining God removes the anthropomorphic elements, focusing instead on an abstract, universal principle that transcends human qualities.
It also provides a new ethical framework. If everything is interconnected, then harm to any part affects the whole. This leads to a profound ethical shift towards sustainability, justice, and compassion, seeing all actions within a cosmic context. Health then becomes a moral leveling mechanism.
If we are all God perceiving itself, then there's an immense responsibility placed on each individual to contribute positively to this collective experience.
This definition might also alter spiritual practices. Meditation, environmental conservation, art, and science could all become forms of worship or communion Thus bridging the gap between scientific understanding and spiritual belief, where scientific exploration becomes a form of spiritual discovery. The laws of physics, biology, and ecology could all rightly be seen as expressions of divine order.
Having emptied God to the limit, the cosmic hero redefines the divine and moves on as the tip of the spear of cosmic evolution.
Man emptied to the limit is God:
“Man is God asleep, and God is man awake.” ~Voltaire
Man emptied to the limit speaks to the human journey towards enlightenment, spiritual awakening, and self-actualization. By emptying themselves of ego, desires, fears, and illusions of separateness, cosmic heroes achieve a state where the individual self merges with or reflects the divine. This "emptying" of self leads to what might be described as God-like awareness or unity with all things.
The cosmic hero is all at once God and worm, sky and earth, yin and yang, life and death. Flexing his cosmic muscle, he realizes that he is but a microcosm (individual self) within a macrocosm (interdependent universe or God), but he is a microcosm that can perceive the interconnected construct, and this gives him great power.
As Carl Sagan said, “We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
The distinctions we make between self and other, or between human and divine, are mere constructs. By emptying ourselves of these constructs, we see the interconnectedness of all things, which in essence is to perceive from a god-like perspective. Elevated above the battlefield, we see with Over Eyes, perceiving reality through the big picture of the soul rather than through the small picture of the ego.
But cosmic heroisms would still be elusive if we cannot empty ourselves even further through great sacrifice.
As Stan Lee said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” This is the meaning of the analogous warning in Luke 12:48, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48). Much is given to those of us who have emptied ourselves to the limit and become one with God: great power.
It is in establishing a healthy relationship between talent, opportunity, and responsibility that Universal Law (God defined as the infinite interconnectedness of all things) ensures the maintenance of the eternal balance of justice. The level of sacrifice demanded by the infinite interconnectedness of all things is proportionate to the degree of privilege and power awarded to the fortunate or withheld from the less fortunate.
“Aim up and offer all that you have.” JB Peterson says in We Who Wrestle with God. But this statement of sacrifice goes beyond what Peterson naively perceives as “good/evil” “right/wrong.” He forgets the lessons taught by Rumi and Nietzsche. The essence of which is found foremost in the “healthy/unhealthy” metaphor of the striving individual human’s dynamic relationship with the health of the “tribe” (sacred community, interdependence, and God as the infinite interconnectedness of all things). It is deeply spiritual (both encompassing and going beyond all religions) and not arbitrarily religious (forsaking deep spirituality for mediocre dogma).
As Ernest Becker said, “As the ancients believed that the kingdom would perish if the king’s mana ebbed, so do we feel uncomfortable and anxious if the figure “at the top” doesn’t show real excellence, some kind of ‘magic.’”
A person who sacrifices greatly, who truly aims up, is practicing the ‘magic’ of hero expiation. This is a person who wants to be more than merely talented, wealthy, and powerful. They also want to be prestigious, honorable, and compassionate. In short: they want to be responsible with their power. They would rather be revered for their heart than for their ego. They would rather be “emptied to the limit” than filled.
Hero expiation is about the freedom to give, and the freedom to be responsible with one’s power. It’s the freedom to do the right thing. The freedom to help maintain a healthy cosmos. Sure, the hero is also free to hoard their wealth and power, but they do so at the expense of personal shame, regret, and a guilty conscience, and at the expense of the health of the sacred community upon which they rely.
Better to simply bypass shame, guilt, regret, and a bad conscience by becoming a cultural hero, a New Hero, a Cosmic Hero, a hero who expiates their power. With expiation comes next-level power: prestige, honor, courage, and a good conscience. All of which are priceless and cannot be gained in any other way.
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About the Author:
Gary Z McGee, a former Navy Intelligence Specialist turned philosopher, is the author of Birthday Suit of God and The Looking Glass Man. His works are inspired by the great philosophers of the ages and his wide-awake view of the modern world.
This article (Cosmic Heroism and the Art of Eminence) was originally created and published by Self-inflicted Philosophy and is printed here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Gary Z McGee and self-inflictedphilosophy.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this statement of copyright.
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