The Term God Is Overused In Christianity

[soma]

The symbolic systems of religion work if our ego-centric consciousness is directed from the external contemplation of God as a separate object to the interior of our being where we become conscious that we are inside God. In full development our soul is expanded in both directions because it receives impressions and sensations from the external material realm with thoughts and intuitions from the spiritual reality. The soul is our link between the spiritual and physical where the spiritual develops our intuition and the physical develops our sense organs as a result together they give us observation, insight and awareness. The ocean of pure consciousness in which we are involved is composed of energy, frequency, vibration, light and color, consequently our soul is a rainbow of colors in God’s ocean. From the soul’s perspective it is not words that communicate, but the vibrations behind them that are felt and if the frequency is sympathetic the souls dance making available the feelings of peace and harmony. In our soul we find all the secrets of the universe, the vibrations in God’s ocean of pure consciousness because the soul strives to understand the multitude of vibrations while our ego consciousness uses words to be understood. It is our choice to identify with the awesome reality deep within or with the ego consciousness that creates short-lived realities as it submerges sorrows below the surface. Full development stretches out to encompass both the physical and spiritual realms and it is not difficult to get hold of this awareness if we establish an uninterrupted mindfulness on all levels and planes. We can experience waves of light and bliss in the spiritual realm and not forget our zip code, but approaching from the mind it is difficult to clear away the preconception that the nature of our soul is just a more refined portrayal of the physical. A prayer to comprehend a problem invites awareness, insight, instincts and intuition in order to take in and make out the difficulty and discern the solution. Being mindful, one makes a distinction between a spiritual revelation and a mental inference in order to use both properly to get to the bottom of investigations and disentangle our tribulations. Our world is made of matter; however, it has invisible energy fields passing through it as well as an accepting, compliant interconnectedness that has not limitations or borders of any kind. This one ocean of consciousness contains our physical, mental and spiritual realities; therefore, understanding our external, internal and higher awareness makes a big difference in dealing with our individual activities in these fields. For this reason, we have all the tools we need to be who we are as we sense and become conscious of the energy around us and incorporate it into our experience. This allows us to imagine, focus our intentions, expand our awareness and clear our mind to look inward and be able to pick up intuitions and higher images and respond to them. When our life is harmonious with all the dimensions, fields and realities in the here and now and we are receptive, life will provide us with what is needed and yield to our request with its immeasurable love, quanta energy and creative resources. “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it Intuition or what you will, the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why.” (Albert Einstein)

[SteveS55]

I know you are a fan of Meister Eckhart, Soma. I love this quote from him in Sermon 87:

"While I yet stood in my first cause, I had no God and was my own cause: then I wanted nothing and desired nothing, for I was bare being and the knower of myself in the enjoyment of truth. Then I wanted myself and wanted no other thing: what I wanted I was and what I was I wanted, and thus I was free of God and all things.

But when I left my free will behind and received my created being, then I had a God. For before there were creatures, God was not 'God': He was That which He was. But when creatures came into existence and received their created being, then God was not 'God' in Himself - He was 'God' in creatures."

Peace.

Steve

[soma]

Thanks Steve that quote is great and good description of samadhi, mukti and nirvana. It made my day.

[JosephM]

It does seem to me that the term God has indeed been overused in Christianity. It has been used to conjure up images which to me seem to limit understanding to the traits of men rather than more abstract words that point to that which is beyond such. I prefer words used by Christians that echo even other religions such as "ground of being", "the uncreated", "the unborn", "the nameless" , "absolute reality" , "the One", "the unconditioned", "the great I am", "the Sacred", "the Unity of all Life", "Creator", "Source", "Love", etc.

 

What these things have in common is that they are more or less abstract terms that point but seek no finite definition and are less likely for us to make an idol of.

 

Fundamental Buddhist teachings (the Pauli Cannon) do not mention the word God and many would assume they are atheist yet words like the uncreated, the unborn, etc are part of those fundamental teachings. Christianity also speaks of God as unborn and uncreated. It seems to me that religion unfortunately is largely quarrelsome over the details for which no certainty exists or as Alan watts has said..

 

"Religions are divisive and quarrelsome. They are a form of one-upmanship because they depend upon separating the “saved” from the “damned,” the true believers from the heretics, the in-group from the out-group. . . . All belief is fervent hope, and thus a cover-up for doubt and uncertainty.

 

Perhaps not all belief but dogma and what is referred to as blind faith based on someone elses word/s seems to me a coverup for some uncertainty which we all must live with.

Joseph

[soma]

Joseph I like those identities also as they make more synapses light up than the word God, which is used to parrot and repeat without any inspiration. A new term I like is Inter Being as it stretches with the person who reads it. Joseph, I want to thank you for the title because it come from one of your comments which rang the bell of truth. Thanks

[Deva]

A major problem I found myself struggling with was how God was so defined that all the mystery was taken away. I was raised Baptist where they may talk about mystery in relation to God, but there really is no room for mystery, just some kind of a "personal relationship" as if God were just another person. That was how I saw it.

 

Now if you read writers like Meister Eckhart, you know they come from a completely different place, but still considered themselves Christian even if they were thought by others to be heretics.

 

The early Church had to make definitions in order to attain unity and have some authority. But from the beginning there was always mystery. That is the reason when I was much younger I was attracted to books of the Bible like Revelation and Daniel. They captured a sense of mystery for me.

 

The Orthodox have a saying that is something like "God became man so that man could become God." Understood properly, I think that is right.

[overcast]

My Orthodox priest used to have a easy answer to tough questions - "it's a mystery"

I like the way Buddhists bow to each other (in acknowledgement that God exists in everybody I suppose?).

[JosephM]

 

I like the way Buddhists bow to each other (in acknowledgement that God exists in everybody I suppose?).

 

Yes, i think it is a good and humbling practice. In a sense, it acknowledges that no one person alone has claim to the Divine.

[soma]

We don’t climb mountains to take a selfie, but to get wind of the beauty around, above and inside us. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) This intimacy requires a freedom to awaken the happiness and love within and the evidence that we are free is the absence to judge those that are napping, unaware of the joy around them. It takes righteousness to be tolerant, have compassion, be forgiving and find meaning in life because anyone can pass judgment, find fault, complain, and condemn. I think Jesus was teaching the mysteries of the Divine, but people didn't understand the teaching and started worshiping the form.

[fatherman]

"We don’t climb mountains to take a selfie, but to get wind of the beauty around, above and inside us." ~ Soma

 

I absolutely love this phrase. So much going on there.

 

This thread title is very provocative. If you mean the term "God" versus some other name for God, then that's one thing. If you mean that we talk too much about God (by any name), that is another.

 

We name God according to our needs. If we are sinners, we call God "Grace". If we have needs like children, we call God "Father" or "Mother". If we need mystery in our life, when call God "Unknown". We name God according to our beliefs, as well. But this is where we limit what God can be in our lives. If I believe God is masculine, then how can I receive a mother's touch from God? Or if I believe that God is entirely separate from us, then how can I find him in the faces of my neighbors?

 

However, if you mean that we are too God-centric. I would disagree. We're in a damn religion that is all about a people's relationship with a god! Of course we're going to talk about our god!

 

But, I believe I know what you are saying. We are made of "God" stuff.

Edited April 23, 2015 by fatherman

[soma]

fatherman I liked the way you explained our different relationships with the Creator and Overcast explaining the Buddhist custom of bowing to recognize God in everyone. You both are right I feel using God in one way is very limiting. I feel serving our friends, wives, sons and daughters can be elevated if we serve them as God besides the people who need help. I think it satisfies our craving for a personal relationship so we can also search and discover our self in the Abstract Absolute Reality.