God's Online
I finally made it online, with help, so now I can access from home for the first time ever. Nevertheless, I am still limited as to how often I can make entries on my blog because I'm taking two summer courses and teaching one. So don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while. God has not abandoned her little ones.
Depak Chopra in his enlightening book How to Know God writes the following:
[R]eligions vary wildly on how to know God. Each has marked out a separate path whose steps are fixed--often rigidly fixed--in dogma. I have steered clear of dogma, knowing full well that Christians do not automatically accept an Eastern belief such as karma, just as Hindus and Buddhists do not accept a Western belief like Judgment Day. If there is one God, there still cannot be one path.
More importantly even than this, or to expound on the above, Chopra goes on to say in the same book, this:
What is the mark of someone who moves very quickly on the path? It may seem to be a paradox, but the more turbulent you are inside, the faster you are moving. Ferment is good. Not buying into your own story is good. Krishnamurti used to say that discontent was the flame of the seeker. Meher Baba, an Indian master aligned with Sufism, taught that the only prerequisite for waking up was total disillusionment.
And here's the kicker:
Why? Because the whole notion that you are a fixed entity is a great illusion, and the sooner you see how varied and complex you are, the sooner you will drop the masks of your ego.
According to the above, being deluded might be the shortest path to God (if so, I'm well on my way). In addition, Anonymous wants me to define what I mean by God. The very question reveals its naivety. To imagine that I or anyone can define God is presumptuous and off. God cannot be defined in a word or in a thousand words. God is reavealed in everything around us including the Chihuahua shit my dog left on the lawn this morning, but to say the shit encompasses the definition of God is, of course, wrong. I say to Anonymous, if you want to do so, you define God. I prefer not to. As an artist, I want to dwell in the mystery and complexity of it all.
In addition, I will give Anonymous a kind warning that to believe in God is not to be a Christian as Forgiven will quickly atest in order to save your soul. To be a Christian one must "accept Christ as your personal savior"--as a God who came to earth and was crucified to save you from your basic sinful nature. In some sects you must not only be "saved," you must be baptized in order to make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. So be careful, Anonymous. It's for your own good. You're risking ending up in Hell for all eternity, but the good news is you'll recognize me there.
At least this is so according to Forgiven who has flattered me to no end by equating me with Satan. If I can't be God, I'll settle for Satan--what an honor. My point for both of you, if you are able to hear it, is this:
God is more vast than we could ever imagine, and religion tries to place God into a box that I will forever be uncomfortable with. I want to free God from such narrow definitions, and in doing so, free myself.
Depak Chopra in his enlightening book How to Know God writes the following:
[R]eligions vary wildly on how to know God. Each has marked out a separate path whose steps are fixed--often rigidly fixed--in dogma. I have steered clear of dogma, knowing full well that Christians do not automatically accept an Eastern belief such as karma, just as Hindus and Buddhists do not accept a Western belief like Judgment Day. If there is one God, there still cannot be one path.
More importantly even than this, or to expound on the above, Chopra goes on to say in the same book, this:
What is the mark of someone who moves very quickly on the path? It may seem to be a paradox, but the more turbulent you are inside, the faster you are moving. Ferment is good. Not buying into your own story is good. Krishnamurti used to say that discontent was the flame of the seeker. Meher Baba, an Indian master aligned with Sufism, taught that the only prerequisite for waking up was total disillusionment.
And here's the kicker:
Why? Because the whole notion that you are a fixed entity is a great illusion, and the sooner you see how varied and complex you are, the sooner you will drop the masks of your ego.
According to the above, being deluded might be the shortest path to God (if so, I'm well on my way). In addition, Anonymous wants me to define what I mean by God. The very question reveals its naivety. To imagine that I or anyone can define God is presumptuous and off. God cannot be defined in a word or in a thousand words. God is reavealed in everything around us including the Chihuahua shit my dog left on the lawn this morning, but to say the shit encompasses the definition of God is, of course, wrong. I say to Anonymous, if you want to do so, you define God. I prefer not to. As an artist, I want to dwell in the mystery and complexity of it all.
In addition, I will give Anonymous a kind warning that to believe in God is not to be a Christian as Forgiven will quickly atest in order to save your soul. To be a Christian one must "accept Christ as your personal savior"--as a God who came to earth and was crucified to save you from your basic sinful nature. In some sects you must not only be "saved," you must be baptized in order to make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. So be careful, Anonymous. It's for your own good. You're risking ending up in Hell for all eternity, but the good news is you'll recognize me there.
At least this is so according to Forgiven who has flattered me to no end by equating me with Satan. If I can't be God, I'll settle for Satan--what an honor. My point for both of you, if you are able to hear it, is this:
God is more vast than we could ever imagine, and religion tries to place God into a box that I will forever be uncomfortable with. I want to free God from such narrow definitions, and in doing so, free myself.
posted by H2O at
7:43 AM
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2 Comments
