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God
God is one, infinite, all in all and over all. For those who ask whether God exists or not, let the following explanation suffice: Is it possible to prove with certainty that God, or anything for that matter, does not exist? What evidence can there be that something does not exist? We would have to be aware of everything that does exist in order to be sure of what does not exist, and that would be omniscience, one of the characteristics of God! As human beings we are often reminded by ignorance and errors that there are others who know things that we do not. Even the human race as a whole continues to learn new things and really knows only a little about one small planet and little else. It is always possible that something could exist beyond our limited awareness. That we can never know what does not exist, I call the paradox of negative knowledge. It is a paradox, because we cannot know that there is no way to prove that something does not exist, either. Thus the statement contradicts itself. Nevertheless this recognition of our experienced limitations of awareness can open us up to the infinite possibilities of what can exist. Perhaps, after all, it is possible to be God and know everything that does exist. If so, then there still is no way to prove that God does not exist. I do not aim to prove the existence of God but rather to describe the characteristics of the absolute and total reality according to what mystics and I have intuitively experienced. Just the concept of the infinite transcends all mental limitations, for wherever the mind places a limit, the infinite asks, "What is beyond that?" Let us experiment by thinking. Why should our physical universe with its billions of galaxies be the only one? Could there not be other physical universes with their own space-time continua somewhere else? Certainly all reality is not even merely physical. We have many nonmaterial experiences that indicate to us that there are realms beyond physical bodies. How many other types of realms could there be? Theoretically there could be an infinite number. We might even be so bold as to wonder whether the God that contains all the realms we experience is the only God! Perhaps there are an infinite number of Gods, each one creating its own self-contained universe. Perhaps the ultimate thought we might imagine in this direction is a divine evolution where each God in its universe is giving birth to individual gods which are evolving to become Gods of their own universes after they "graduate" from the universe where they "grew up" to Godhood.
Obviously these thought experiments take us into speculation which some might consider blasphemous. Or, we might conclude that no matter how many "universes" and "Gods" there are, they are all a part of the One Universe of the ONE GOD. Actually then, if the ONE GOD is infinite and absolute, there could be nothing outside of it, and all "Gods" and "universes" must be contained in Its ONE UNIVERSE. Since I accept that the infinite is real, the unity of God and the universe is the basic premise of this work. What, then, are the characteristics of God? If God is infinite and absolute in every way, then God must be eternal, perfect, complete, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. God has no beginning and no end, but is eternally present. God is whole, total, and perfect in every way. God is everywhere all the time. God is totally aware of everyone and everything. God not only has the power to do anything and everything, but also God actually is everything and does everything. God is absolute reality, and nothing can exist except as a part of God. Everything is part of this divine unity, and to understand anything perfectly is to know its relationship to the whole and to everything in the whole. Since God is in everything, and since we can understand things by knowing their relationship to the divine whole, it will certainly help us to describe and understand some of the divine attributes or qualities as they are experienced in life. Although everything has some relationship to the divine whole, as attributes of God these principles are perfect and pure in their divine essence. In the relativity of the phenomenal world, the dualistic mind contrasts each of them to its polar opposite. As we shall see, this is because of the nature of the created worlds. However, the negative contrasts only exist as relative opposites, but not as positive and absolute essences. Thus absolute good, God, has no absolute evil or devil, because God is one and whole. That one whole is good; but within the parts of the complex whole, temporal and partial evils are interpreted as contrasts to the good we seek. Again this can be understood by the mystical experience of God and the divine essences or by the intuition of the infinite logic--that what is infinite is one and whole, and therefore can be defined in absolutes. Because nothing can be outside of God, the "devil" or negative contrasts must be contained within God. These divine principles are described as absolute values, because they guide us to the direct experience of God, help us to understand various aspects of God, and show us how God manifests in the world. The divine principles are all one in essence and interrelated to each other. They are being discussed separately for the purpose of clarification and understanding. These principles apply to our experience as guiding Light, but to try to follow some of them while violating others abuses the divine unity which integrates them in the whole. I will discuss them in groups of three, where the first represents an active principle, the second a receptive principle, and the third a synthesis.
generalized concept of value. Individuals do not always agree on what they think is good. Even one person often feels inner conflict between different goals and motivations, consciously and subconsciously. Which good, then, is best? Since all of God is good, and since the Spirit of God is in each one of us, then all of us must decide from moment to moment according to the Spirit within us what is good. In fact we do, by the choices we make, by how we direct our consciousness, and by the actions we take. What standards do we use? I believe the divine principles discussed here can guide us to experience these same divine qualities, if that is what we choose. Who judges us? Each soul ultimately judges itself according to the divine principles. Those expressions that some people judge comparatively as bad are finite and will eventually be resolved by all those who are involved. Yet even when we make evaluative judgments, the purpose is to mentally and emotionally clarify the situation so that we can decide what would be good to do about it. No one ever tries to do evil, except in the convoluted case where a person has been perverted to believe that "to do evil" is actually good. Our spirits can rebel against past beliefs of what we thought was good, and thus choose new values; but all this is done as a search for the good. As spiritual beings, our essence is goodness, we have an innate sense of well-being, and our consciousness is always moving toward the good in various experiences. Our process of living is constantly choosing what we understand to be good. Through experience as we grow in wisdom, our understanding of what is good improves the quality of our life, and we approach closer to the absolute goodness of God. God is also absolute truth, that which is. As the good is the basis and objective of action, truth is the basis and objective of knowledge. We can know things only by the Light of truth, the knower within us. Consciousness always seeks the truth, whether it be physical, imaginative, emotional, abstract, or spiritual. Falsehood is illusionary shadow and darkness which only has meaning because of the truth it lacks. Everything always is what it is, but consciousness is dualistic in that a being is conscious of something, and thus is free to choose its objects of consciousness. Truth is the consciousness of what actually is real. God, Spirit, and soul are the truth, because they are the divine reality aware of what is. As human beings we can realize that we are this divine reality, as when Jesus the Christ said, "I am life, the truth, and the way." Because we are the truth as souls, we can also be aware of the truth about the phenomenal world through our consciousness. However, the spiritual truth of being is one and eternal, while the truths about phenomena are many, finite, and changing. Thus spiritual truth is one and absolute, while objective facts have meaning limited to their relationship with time-space, energy-matter, and mental definitions. Understanding the truth of spiritual principles is essential to the spiritual life, and understanding of the facts related to our experience in the world helps us live a better, more knowledgeable life. The principle of truth is the guiding Light of our consciousness in its search to become aware of reality and its manifestations. By choosing truth over falsehood and deception, we align ourselves with divine reality and the spiritual flow of life. By being true to ourselves and the divine principles, we radiate Light for all to see. To the extent that we deceive ourselves and others we cast a shadow on our life. An old saying of divine wisdom declares, "There is no God higher than the truth." Beauty is another of the classical Greek ideals that can be attributed to God. People know beauty when they experience it, but philosophers have difficulty trying to describe what it is. Beauty attracts love; it charms, delights, and bewitches us. Beauty is the value found in appreciating the wonder and enchantment of God's universe. Again,
because we are the divine essence of beauty, we perceive it in the world. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Beauty is a subjective evaluation of what pleases our personal perception. Thus objectively it is difficult to define standards for judging the degrees of beauty. Some might say that beauty is related to balance, harmony, rhythm, symmetry, vividness, originality, expression, contrast, consistency, accuracy, coherence, truthfulness, meaningfulness, and many other qualities, while others might disagree with any or all of these criteria. Perhaps beauty is what awakens love--for a person, an experience, or simply love of life. Beauty has a major purpose in helping to perpetuate life on earth. The beauty of flowers is designed to attract insects for pollination and reproduction of the plants. In many animal species the male uses his beauty and charm to attract a female for mating. Among humans beauty and attractiveness are more often associated with women than with men. As intelligent beings we are able also to perceive beauty in God's creation and thus be stimulated to love and seek God. Through art we can create new forms, which through their beauty can awaken love for people, art, and life. When we perceive life through the consciousness of love, then we become aware of the beauty in all things. Thus love creates beauty in order to perpetuate or create more love. Beauty is evidence of love in the world. Beauty carries love's message. Beauty pleases and reflects joy back to the loving heart.
the divine presence. Our eternal source of true happiness comes from within. To be true to ourselves gives us inner contentment. As Spirit flows through us, we vibrate joyfully and radiate a sense of well-being. "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God." Happiness is the one goal in human life that is not a means to something else. Rather, any other goal can be viewed as a means to happiness, which is an end in itself. Ultimately to be happy is to be blessed by God.
and being all as well, everything that is done or can be done is accomplished by God. God is both unitary and plural as souls in the world. Thus the power of God is disseminated among all individuals. Because we are divine souls, we each have divine power or infinite potential. However, unlike some human conceptions of power, spiritual power is one with all the divine principles such as goodness, love, truth, etc. Spiritual power in humans can best be understood as ability and virtue. Power without virtue is a menace and cause of injustice, sowing weakness and destruction to be reaped later. Virtue is the power to do good in the world; its power is real and lasting. Because of intelligence, humans have great ability to act creatively and through experience to learn to act wisely. These ever expanding abilities come from God and are accumulated in the soul. The integrity of virtue gives a person true strength which cannot be overcome by any worldly force, for the source of virtue is a divine energy.
way. As we are successful in our work, we are able to give more and thus magnify our life experience.
The laws and principles of the universe require that all creation be balanced so that equilibrium may be maintained and the experience of life continue. This balance is divinely established by the laws of nature and of spiritual relationship. Every interaction between souls is balanced eventually according to equality and justice. The balance of nature has been established in such a way that any temporary imbalances become selfcorrecting or adjusted by other aspects of the whole. Humans experience balance in innumerable ways through various physiological systems of homeostasis, emotional and mental adjustments, and spiritual and ethical considerations; even finances are balanced by debts and credits. Harmony is a principle of good relationship between the parts of the universe. God's universe is diverse and multiform, but it all fits together and co-exists in harmony. Harmony is experienced by humans as friendship, cooperation, complementarity, integration, and interdependence. It is not necessary for everyone to be or do the same thing, but only to get along and adjust so that we can all share the same universe happily. We can appreciate the harmony of the way everything fits together and act so as to create that which will make the whole beautiful. By harmonizing with the whole we experience joy, beauty, and other divine principles. Harmony includes a sense of rhythm and proportion in time and space, feeling tones, logical relationships of the mind, and spiritual values.
presence of Spirit. Humans can experience this oneness through spiritual consciousness. The universe becomes most meaningful to us when we see how each thing relates to the whole. As we identify with the whole instead of just a part, we spiritualize our awareness. Health is the natural and best condition of a living organism. God is the perfect health of the whole, and Spirit is a healing power which maintains and adjusts living processes for balance and harmony. We say, "The body heals itself," but it is the living Spirit that is the healing agent. When the soul withdraws from an organism at death, that organic unity is dissolved as other living organisms continue to function and break down the corpse. Life gives health; but if we act against the principles and processes of life, then our health can break down. These experiences teach us how to be responsible for ourselves. A natural life-span in a limited body makes this an educational challenge that cannot be avoided. God is perfect, and every soul is perfect also. They are pure Spirit and therefore unconditioned. Creation of energy-matter in space-time establishes conditions and limitations which are designed to be thus incomplete so that individuals can exercise freedom in choosing experiences to learn responsibility and the other divine principles. Perfection means completion, wholeness, purity, and totality. Spirit and all souls are these qualities, and ultimately consciousness experiences this realization. In human experience we look at perfection as a goal or end, but it is also our source and beginning as well. As souls, we are always perfect. As humans, we are always learning how to be perfect. These divine principles are the attributes or qualities of God as we experience them in the world. They are concepts describing how Spirit manifests in creation; they are also guides and spiritual values that humans can use to experience the divine while on earth. God also transcends all earthly life and worldly experience, but it is almost meaningless to try to describe the infinite aspects of God that are beyond our experience. All we can do is infer that God is so much more than we could ever conceive or imagine. Yet it is helpful to acknowledge our human ignorance of transcendent God so that we can see a more accurate perspective of our limited worlds.
true being but only temporal or illusionary experiences. Yet in a broader sense as spiritual beings that are eternal, we are also everything that we become as well. Our experiences are changing, but we never really lose experience. All experience is a gain for the soul. In this sense our experiences in creation are continually expanding and enriching our divine value. Spirit is not a static being but an ever moving, evolving, dynamic process of life. In this greater sense, being not only transcends becoming but also includes it. Yet it is important to realize that the limited experiences in the created worlds are not the whole of who we are.