|
the Creator; it is part of the Creator. If that spirit, by itself, is our true self, and it returns to the Creator, it resumes existence as a part of everything, which means that our identity becomes dissolved into the cosmic All and becomes as nothing. This goes back to the concept of nirvana and the cessation of all personal identity - oneness with the universe by becoming everything and nothing. If nothingness, non-being, is the result of the culmination of many life experiences and meaningful transformations, it is a vision of futility. It is the same as dying a mortal death and becoming nothing, except on a grand scale.
If, however, you can see the true self as the indwelling spirit fused in oneness with your evolutionary soul, you have conceptualized the creation of a new eternal being, a being that the divine spirit takes up with it in its return to its source. This being will not become subsumed into the whole and become as nothing, rather this being will exist eternally as an entity apart from the Creator but still one with it: separate in form, volition and identity but unified as one in spirit, intent and love.
The First Source and Center, God, the absolute, eternal, infinite Creator being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent needs beings to associate with that are separate from it in order to escape from the fetters of unqualified infinity and diffusion of personalities into an undifferentiated whole. We become those beings. That eternal self, an entity created from the merging of the eternal and evolutionary, a being that will never die or become nothing, but will exist in consciousness as a separate but unified associate of God, is our true self. An associate of God, a friend of God. An offspring of God. There are even some who will say that we are God with self-limitations.
God
In this book, the word "God" does not refer to a Judeo-Christian deity, nor to the deity of any organized religion. I use the word synonymously with the word "Creator" and also "First Source and Center" and other variations on that theme. The word symbol is used to mean the actual creator of the universe, the cause of all causes, the maximum holonic unit.
In any valid exploration of reality, God must be considered, even if he/she/it is to be rejected or dismissed as being superstition. However, any decent exploration of our states of consciousness should give us some inner evidence of the reality of God. In my personal experience, I have found God, but it would be impossible to provide any direct material evidence of that. Even verbal expressions, sung, written, acted out and played throughout history, have not been able to portray the magnificent totality of the eternal First Source and Center, the absolute personality and force that we call God. But it is essential, if indeed God is real, that we figure him in on our exploration of reality in a major way, after all he's the one who created it all. "From him all things come, and to him all things return."
As new discoveries and inventions arise, we develop new conceptual frameworks. Due to the advent of new terms used in computer technology, we can even say that God is like a master server, a mainframe computer that is the source of all the programs that is within each of us personal computers. For those of you who have a dislike for the word God, this concept of the Creator as a master server computer may make it easier to relate to the ideas in this book.
There are not enough words to define God for those who have no personal experience with the Creator. For those who have such a personal experience, words are not necessary. Suffice to say that God is the Creator of All. However, here are some thoughts regarding the nature of God:
Is God a personality or a force? A being or a law? Personality, beingness, force and law are all aspects of the universe, of the All. Since God is the creator of All, logically God is all of those but much more.
Is God external or internal? Inside or outside of us? Both. It is a stretch to put spatial limitations on a being/force that is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, infinite and absolute. Being a transcendent entity, he is the source and manifestation of both material and spiritual realities. It can be conceptualized that physically, he exists at the center of the largest unit of matter, the universe, as well as at the center of the smallest unit of matter, an as yet undiscovered particle. In this way, he exists everywhere, not limited by space and beyond most human concepts of size and location.
Is God male, a female or a thing? A he, she or it? Again, since God is the creator and origin of maleness, femaleness and things, God is all of those and more. Attributing our limited biological concepts such as male and female to God has many shortcomings. However, because of the lack of suitable words, we can't help but use pronouns such as he, she or it to designate the Creator. In this book, the pronoun that seems to best fit the context of the sentence will be used, sometimes the pronoun he, sometimes she or it.
It is also true that God is like a father/mother, a universal parent who has created many creatures that he/she loves as much, actually more than any human parent can love his or her child. The concept of the eternal God having a Son or sons is to instill the idea that we are all one big family. Since the family is our highest concept and loftiest ideal of personal relationships, it is natural that we use words like son of God to refer to the relationships of our loving Creator and his creations. In this sense, all creatures are sons and daughters of God and God is
|
|
