Who or What is God?

"The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too. " -- Teresa of Avila. (1515 - 1582 A.D.)

I sometimes get objections from some readers who feel that my use of the term "God" or similar concepts is "outdated". I have also received objections from some who felt that some concepts similar to or resembling Christian, Jewish or Islamic philosophy were incompatible with their beliefs.

So what exactly is "God"? "God" is a word. according to dictionary.com, the meaning of the word is:

"the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe."

"the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute."

"one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs."

"a supreme being according to some particular conception: the god of mercy."

"the Supreme Being, understood as Life, Truth, love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle. "

We use words in an attempt to convey meanings. But what words can convey the meaning of something like "God"? If you think about how vast the universe is and how limited out mental scope is, how can we even grasp the idea? If you think about the perspective of our most brilliant scientists versus the vast unknown, and then compare how much they understand versus how much most of us understand, where do we even begin?

The reality is that many choose to believe in "God" or some version of a supreme being because it gives them a sense of security in a sometimes arbitrary, confusing and scary looking world. Others sense that there is really something there.

Most of the images of "God" that are common to our myths, beliefs and religions assign human attributed to "God". God can be "jealous", "vengeful", "judgmental", "demanding of subservience" and may appear as a wise old human male loitering in the clouds. In short, humans often create "God" in their (man's) own image.

My working definition of "God" is this: (A working definition means that it is the one that I am using today.)

"God is the intelligence and energy behind, and a part of, everything that is known and unknown. "

I often use the terms "Source", "the Divine" and "the Infinite" instead of the word "God" to avoid association with the pre-set definitions that everyone has regarding the meaning of the word "God".

Based on this definition, here are a few true things that one can say about God:

"God is real."

"Most of what you have been taught or told about God is wrong."

"God is not human."

"God did not create any religion. "

"No religion or person has any exclusive claim to God. "

"God has not and does not condone, support or inspire any war, inquisition, act or thought of prejudice or any form of meanness, greed or violence. "

Why is this important?

It is no secret that religion has been used as a means of controlling the masses. What may not be obvious to some is the depth of the damage that corrupted beliefs have caused. The bottom line is that in order to successfully use religion to control people, it has to disempower those people by manipulating their beliefs. To effectively disempower them, it is necessary to create or enhance a separation between the soul of the individual and the Infinite, Source or God. While the separation exists, the individual does not have access to direct Spiritual knowledge, or the energy and power necessary to direct their own reality.

One establishes a Spiritual, psychic, telepathic, etc. connection to the Infinite through the practice of Meditation and by deconstructing the belief systems that sabotage this connection.

The issue of separation versus connection is elaborated in the two paradigms.

While we have witnessed horrible corruption, moral license, prejudice, hatred and greed among religions and religious leaders, there are also examples of extraordinary enlightened mystics and inspired individuals. This is true of all religions. The journey of life is a test that brings out the best and worst in each of us. It is what we do with each that decides who and what we are.

The Path is a book about the Spiritual journey that we all take. Who are we, why are we here, what is consciousness, what is enlightenment, how do we grow Spiritually? There are detailed instructions on basic and advanced meditation and the Kuji-In or nine syllables meditation from Hindu, Buddhist and Ninja traditions. There are also instructions on using forgiveness and recapitulation to recover energy and resolve karma.

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