Which one is true? Which one do you believe? How can they be
so contradictory in their depiction?
Or perhaps we should look beyond man made texts and look into
direct experience? What 'God' is... this is what the mystics at the
center of all religions have done.
Also, is God apart from Consciousness? Does anything exist
outside of consciousness? Does anything arise or manifest outside
of consciousness? Do we have any evidence of that?
to be continued...
(continuation)
From contemplative inquiry into the nature of reality (through
questions like 'Who am I?') we begin to discover that the
fundamental essence of what we truly are and the entire universe is
a ground of consciousness. This is a non-conceptual insight... but
think about it - if there is no evidence of an object apart from
consciousness, then the entire universe as we know it - mountains,
rivers, you, me, etc...all arise from and within consciousness.
This can all be realized from our own experience... unlike beliefs
of a personal god based on some ancient texts that often contradict
each other and can never be verified. They remain as some mere
vague concepts and are not helpful at all...
Even if we do meet up with the so called 'god', that meeting
with the person called 'god' would depend and arise within our
consciousness. That person you meet will also be alive by the power
of Consciousness. And the meeting will be sustained by the power of
consciousness. Our consciousness is thus the true source of the
entire animate and inanimate world. What is the only true
all-power, all-presence, all-knowing 'creating' agent of the entire
universe? Consciousness. Without which, nothing can manifest at
all...
Consciousness is thus discovered to be the subject of the
universe... for where is perceptions apart from the perceiving
awareness. This is the level where I mean 'your view of God will be
transformed from a personal God to an impersonal Ground of
Being'.
However, this is not the final realization... there is further
insights into the nature of awareness and the universe that
dissolves the view of 'duality' and 'inherency'.
There will come a time when it is realized that the 'perceiving
mind' is precisely just perceptions, sensations, sights, thoughts,
etc... the insight arises that 'manifestation is the source!'
because awareness precisely is the perception itself - the observer
is the observed. Further investigation removes the notion of an
ultimate agent behind experience... there is no perceiving agent or
awareness that 'causes' perception - it is not that there is no
consciousness but consciousness is simply and only the arising and
subsiding sensations according to conditions. There is no hearer
behind hearing, experiencer behind experiencing - there is simply
this process of experiencing without an agent... the experiencing
is precisely simply the flow of experience. These experiences are
self-luminous and arise dependent on supporting conditions.
Our views change as we progress in our contemplative practice.
In the spirit of true contemplatives in all religions, don't stick
to one belief but continue investigating and practicing and the
truth shall be revealed.
