The God Dichotomy: Chapter 1
- Hans Benes
- Mar 5, 2020
- 9 min read
Chapter 1 - My Grandfather's Message
...continued
It took me a while to fully comprehend and understand what was being told to me. God, I learned, was not out there, but right in the innermost realm of the self. God was within me! More importantly, God was within everything there is, both animate beings and inanimate objects. Once I began to ponder these revealing insights, I began to understand God's omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience. My grandfather's statement of, "You don't have to got to church to believe in God" took on greater meaning and gave me a deeper understanding that, more often than not, put me at odds with the teachings of mainstream Christianity.
God is within us! My, what a refreshing revelation. Suddenly, heaven and hell are no longer idealistic places that one will be sent to after death, based on achievements during their lifetime. We are all creators of our material condition and, more importantly, we can tap into the goodness and love of God whenever we want. Everything, as a result, is available to us if we ask. Knowingness is the secret. Believing that God will provide isn't good enough for it places God "out there," separated from us and ignites the feeling of hope. Hope is a state of mind that, unfortunately, too many people hold dear. Hope may come to pass for some, but for many it is a state of expectancy that can last years or even a lifetime. Knowing that something will come to pass ignites that internal assurance that cannot be denied, a passion that lights the fire under the creative process; a passion that is identified as the bedrock of faith. With passion and faith there can be no denial that the creative process will work for you. Your faith in the Eternal Divine will assure signs or people are sent your way to meet your needs. God will not abandon you or let you down.
To be honest, I am still learning how this creative process works. But what I do know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is that God is loving and kind and wants us all to succeed and have the very best life has to offer. All too often life and societal expectancies cloud the path to success. All too often life and societal expectancies lead us towards a path of selfishness and materialism. All too often we forget that, "With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)."
"The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21)." Jesus also stated, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need (Luke 12:31)." Marianne Williamson eloquently stated, "We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us." After reading and studying these and other similar writings, I began to understand our dichotomy of God and began to shift my thinking from a God with-out to a God with-in. Not only does this make much more sense to me, but it now puts me in a place where Divine Spirit is easily accessible and much less intimidating. Swami Vivekananda sums it up well when he stated, "All that is real in me is God...Thus by knowing God, we find that the kingdom of heaven is within us." Is it any wonder that the search for God can last a lifetime for most people? They look everywhere but where he is, with-in. Muhammad Ali proudly proclaimed:
T.B. Joshua takes Muhammad Ali's lesson a bit deeper and proclaims a more intimate relationship between God and ourselves.
"There is no one ugly, deep, dark, powerful or evil enough to stop God from loving you. Nothing anyone can ever do to you can sever your connection to God. Nothing you could ever do can dam the unstoppable love of God for you. His love for you is undeniable, unrelenting and unconditional. You may ignore God, ridicule Him and reject Him but His love for you will remain constant and unchanging...When the Spirit of God comes into us, He wants to be Himself in us. He wants His energy to be poured through us. He wants His wisdom to be deposited in our hearts. He wants His instinct and nature to be evident and obvious in you. He wants us to see what He is looking at, to feel what He feels, to know what He knows, to work with His projects, see life the way He sees it, get His ideas and know His opinion about yourself and others...Jesus wants to expressHimself and carry out His mission of love to others through you."
Of course my grandfather's message was never intended to proclaim a dogma or spiritual belief in a higher being, it did, nevertheless, expound on the fact that the church body was more concerned with self advancement rather than growing people's spiritual awareness. For him, the church was a model of opulence supported by people with meager earnings and limited means. Alexander Mahns had the insight to know that God was someone who did not require to be worshipped from the altar of a church sanctuary but that God was receptive to all men regardless of their church affiliation. As a Communist, I suppose that his beliefs were influenced by Karl Marx who stated, "The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion." It is little wonder, therefore, that he had little regard for organized religion or its system of beliefs. That influence ultimately filtered to my mother and, to some extent, to me. Until my teens, God remained an individual, an overseer who watched and cared for his flock, much like a shepherd. Today he is that ever-present loving energy that, regardless of what I do, stays deep with-in. It is simply up to me to tap into that energy or let it linger idly inside of me.
During one of my meditations I asked, "Who am I?" It did not take long for that internal reply to formulate in my consciousness. "You are what I am. I am love, you are love; I am peace, you are peace; I am the great creator, you are the great creator. Whatever I do, you do and I am with you always. I experience life through you." This meditative message has become, quite simply, the cornerstone of my spiritual understanding and belief. I find it much more palatable to believe in a God presence that lives within me rather than a father figure who resides outside of me as a judgmental and demanding deity.
I do not, however, mean to reject all organized religion for they serve a purpose that has helped millions of people on their spiritual path. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad and others were the great teachers attempting to point us in the right direction. The churches built around their teachings were, I believe, meant to enlighten people, not enslave them in principles and sacraments. For many the church body provides guidance and ideals that help with spiritual understanding and growth. Anyone who chooses to join a church is well on their way to divine insight and the understanding of that higher power we call God, and that is always a good thing. The road to enlightenment is never straight or easy, but it is a path we are all following. Unfortunately, many of us get lost or take steps backwards as we embark on our journey. However, it is important to know that all roads ultimately lead to God. As Walter Starcke stated in his book The Third Appearance:
"God is a state of consciousness that can be experienced anywhere, not something that can be found in a particular place. Our own higher consciousness is our church or synagogue, and it goes everywhere we go. Whenever we feel the presence of higher consciousness while sharing with others we are in church. There are places where we more easily sense an all-inclusive oneness than in other locations - most often in nature or while listening to inspiring music - and those places are our church."
But what about those who reject the spiritual nature or existence of God and profess that the universe and our lives as well are nothing more than a link in the great evolutionary chain of events? What about those who believe that we are all here for a brief moment in time and once that lifetime ends we return to the dust from whence we came? Do those beliefs exempt us from believing in, or being accountable, to any external forces except those created by civilized beings to create some law and order in this vast, diverse civilization?
It certainly appears that such believers would be more focused on day-to-day events and needs necessary to augment and enhance the means required to meet daily obligations and issues life brings our way. However, even daily survival requires prioritizing necessities and relationships that often lead to roads of success or failure. Personal values become, therefore, the cumulative focus of internal and external means of survival. A common definition of god is as an image, person or thing that is worshipped, honored or believed to be all-powerful. Hence, god doesn't have to be spiritual or material, eternal or temporal, enlightened or intolerant, god can be anything or anyone one deems to be important or necessary to success. God, therefore, can be the need for wealth, power or notoriety. God, therefore, can take the shape of tangible possessions such as mansions or money, or intangible influences such as power or authority.
These non-spiritual advocates often adhere to a naturalistic philosophy that maintains that nature encompasses all that exists and operates according to the principles of physics and natural laws. The supernatural does not exist. In the words of Carl Sagan, "The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." While this is certainly a very brief synopsis of naturalism, it, nevertheless, leads to a very interesting dichotomy; is there a spiritual domain or, more importantly, does God exist?
Articles, papers and books, as well as ad-nauseam discussions throughout the ages, have been documented for and against the arguments for the existence of God. I certainly do not intend to go through that rabbit hole here for it would be far too overwhelming for me to decipher and tackle such a vast and controversial subject. God, as I believe, holds a very personal and intrinsic ideal for each individual and is, therefore, subject to many interpretations.
Philosophers who argued for the existence of God can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle and include St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and Rene Descartes, whose, "I think, therefore I am," at least proves my existence and I am eternally grateful to him for that. Those who oppose the existence of God include Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan. There are others who support both positions to be sure but, again, it's a topic beyond the scope of this book. As the title, The God Dichotomyin, and of itself, confirms my belief that God exists.
I believe in the existence of a higher power, someone or something that has existed and will continue to exist eternally. Can I prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, probably not. But I do have that internal, intangible connection to a consciousness that helps me to react instinctively to events or situations, a consciousness that makes me aware of what is inherently right or wrong, good or evil. This consciousness does not follow the laws of physics nor can it be scientifically verified or analyzed. For me, it is all the proof I need that there's an existence beyond this physical realm, an existence that conforms to a higher order; you may call it the realm of spirituality, I call that existence God. We are all conscious beings driven by our thoughts and desires; we innately know the difference between love and hate, likes and dislikes; we understand empathy and heartlessness; we feel the difference between brotherhood and separation. These are all qualities that go beyond the animalistic needs of self-preservation. They are qualities and behavioral traits of a higher order.
Geologically speaking, we are here on this planet but for an instant. With an approximate lifespan of seventy years, our impact on this world, for the most part, is minimal and insignificant. So what then is the purpose for our brief visit to this world? I have problems believing that somehow, out of this vast ocean of evolution, we, as a species, emerged to grow a mighty civilization only to have it evaporate in a universe filled with chaos and uncertainty. To me, the seventy or so years I will spend here are not inconsequential, they provide a learning opportunity given to me by a Higher Power to help me evolve into the very best conscious being possible. Since this connection is not physical, it can never be validated scientifically, but it exists, nevertheless, intrinsically embedded into my ability to think, understand and reason. I do not have to go to church to believe in God, all I need to do is to look inward and listen to those instinctive messages that continue to proclaim my connection to an Almighty God. As Walter Starcke states, "Great temples or cathedrals have been built more for the purpose of intimidating people and encouraging them to accept the authority of the establishment than to honor God." There are no intermediaries required for anyone to know God, "God is divine mind. We can't change it, but we can have access to it."
Comments