Is there a God?

Oh yeah. Nothing but, in fact: The whole manifested universe and everything in it including you and me, all of it is an expression of the creative principle of God.

But before we go any farther we should get our nomenclature straight. You need to know what I'm talking about when I use the somewhat loaded term "God".

As far as the idea of some Cosmic Creator who is going to get wrathful or hand out blessings, that, as the British say, is "right out". See, the idea of a creator is erroneous because that implies separation (i.e. between creator and creation), and there is none. This is Eternal Verity #1, namely:

There is no separation (in the whole manifested universe); there is only differentiation.*

*(This applies to you and me, too--but more on that later.)

In other words, all is one. The creation and the creator are one and the same. So you get this kind of paradox where you can't see God and at the same time you can't see anything but God.

The real "Godhead", as they say, is absolute, omniscient, eternal, infinite, and, well, totally incomprehensible so it's not really worth my while talking about it. (This is your basic Buddhist approach.)

But between that end of the spectrum and us (the finite, temporary, dumb-as-a-post variety of God-manifestation) there is a whole elaborate hierarchy of beings who coordinate the universal processes conceived by the creative principle (or Brahma in Hindu phraseology) and set in motion by the active principle (Vishnu). These are the beings which dictate karma, direct evolution, manage cosmogenesis, etc.

When I use the expression "God", I am referring to this Brahma/Vishnu principle responsible for the manifestation and design of the universe, as well as the laws by which it works.


 

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