THE INNER MEANING OF GOD
Revealing the divine in daily life.
(As appeared in InnerSelf magazine - Issue 9)
Life is an every day event, and for many of us this every day event is filled with struggle and stress. We worry about our finances and future; our relationships leave us feeling broken hearted or betrayed; there is never enough time to do all the things we think we need to do; and the endless news reports of our media result in profound feelings of disquiet.
Beyond the drama of our human experience, many of us know there is a deeper reality that nonetheless remains largely unacknowledged or overlooked. Indeed, it is not just a deeper reality. It is the ultimate reality and out of this all else arises. The mystics speak of this as spirit and the scientists speak of this as consciousness. But whatever word we use, it is the source of all that exists.
As the source of existence, it is also called God. This small word has come to have prodigious meaning. Here I am using the word as the ultimate reality of pure consciousness, of pure potential. This ultimate reality is before and beyond all concepts, even space and time. It is supremely intelligent and this intelligence is the creative and organising principle behind everything. It truly is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, everywhere at once.
The great insight at the heart of this wisdom is what it means for us. In a culture based so heavily on ‘what’s in it for me’ this has got to be the most significant of all time. What’s in it for me is the realisation that I am God, and with that comes harmony, inspiration, joy, freedom, love, meaning and unrestrained, unabashed wellbeing. I know this is an extraordinary notion to comprehend but as you realise the full measure of these words, so you begin to realise your full measure.
We are so convinced of our limited physical being that we rarely recognise our infinite, unlimited being. Even these words “infinite, unlimited being” remain a vague abstraction with a nice feel to them perhaps, but little real significance in our daily lives. On the contrary, our days are spent playing small when all the while we are really Gods. In the sacred texts of Judaism it is written that God said, “You are Gods”. Later on Jesus said, “All that I can do, you can do, and more”. In appearance you are a person, but in reality you are consciousness, God consciousness, the source of all that exists. But we forget that we are the likeness of God. We forget because we have no direct experience of God.
How do we have direct experience of God? The answer to this question has beauty and sweetness to it that is beyond the reasoning of your mind and can only truly be heard by your heart. It requires an awareness of the meaning of God in its purest sense - God is love. Indeed, the inner meaning of the word God is love. Love is the motive for existence. It motivates Consciousness to express exquisitely in raindrops, roses and whiskers on kittens. For love is the wellspring of life itself, the supreme power that projects the universe into existence. Love is the divine force of creation, the power that brings everything into being.
The poet, Tagore expresses it powerfully and pragmatically in The Cloud of Unknowing. He said, “Love is far the most important thing of all. It is the golden gate of Paradise. Pray for the understanding of love; meditate upon it daily. It casts out fear; it is the fulfillment of the law; it conquers multitudes of sins. Love is abundantly invisible and will conquer all. There is no disease that enough love will not heal today. No door that enough love will not open. No gulf that enough love will not bridge. No wall that enough love will not throw down. No sin that enough love will not redeem.”
While love is implicit in the workings of the universe, evolution is the process of making love explicit. It inclines the universe to a full awareness of its basic nature, which is love. Through awareness, God, which is love, makes itself known. Our evolutionary role is making love conscious and intentional; to actualise the love that we are. In other words, we have reached a time where Consciousness is now becoming conscious. This is to have the direct experience of God, which is our true purpose. It is the miracle of healing our troubled lives and blighted planet all through the power of love.
All the great spiritual traditions say that you are God - that the essence of your being is the one indivisible spirit. Be still and know the truth of who you are. In this awareness you are congruent with Universal intelligence, the universal I. There is no me and my story. There is only pure being. You are conscious of unity with all there is. You know your life as divine design, and see the design unfold divinely. Your knowing is complete and as such your insight, your intuition and your creativity is the wisdom of God itself, the universal I. Only as you identify yourself with universal intelligence can you find personal fulfilment for it is inseparable from social good.
If you cannot go beyond form, you cannot know God. To transform you have to know beyond form. This is alchemy, an ancient, mysterious shape shifting of energy. You are the transformer of energy and your purpose is to evolve energy to higher frequencies. Beyond the form of lead you must know gold. Beyond the form of atrocity, you must know God. Meister Eckhart said, “God and I are one in the act of knowing”. To know God is to love. Breathe into your heart. Breathing into your heart directs you to an awareness of love. Breathe in life as it is for you in this moment. Breathe it directly into your heart and let the feelings, whatever they may be, be fully present. In this act of breathing into the heart, we are breathing our thoughts and feelings into the heart of God. We are not trying to change them or resist them or grasp them in any way. Breathing them into the heart is simply a recognition of God. Quite naturally we find ourselves feeling light, clear and deeply at peace. With this recognition and acceptance, we breathe out love. Breathe in life and breathe out love. Life and love - one and the same thing. Life and love - the very make up of God. This is the transformative power of love, always here and now in your heart. The heart is the cauldron where the alchemy takes place.
A dear friend gave me a card with the words “I was an atheist until I realised I am God”. She laughed as I read it saying that I was the only person she knew who would appreciate the full irony. Rather than it being a dig at massive egocentricity, it was, indeed, the absolute truth. I kept that card and from time to time pull it out during the course. It always gets a laugh but with a depth of insight that takes it from humour to sublime joy.
