What is God?

[Xerces]

Are you the Architect from The Matrix?

God could be many things, this does not limit to just one characteristic, we could say "God is ALL" and "ALL is GOD" as well as "GOD IS IN ALL", yet God couldn't be just "nothing" because its impossible for an infinite to be finite or become nothing at some point or conception. Thus 'nothing' is not within 'all'. We may see 'nothing' in many places, but certainly it isn't nothing. If it were nothing, It wouldn't exist.

[squidink]

if i were looking for a good answer, i'd ask joseph campbell. on the subject of religion and mythology, campbell's the shit.

i'm not really looking for a good answer, though. i've seen many good answers, and in the end, god is just a feeling. a friend once said that god is seratonin! i love that.

god's whatever you feel it to be based on your conditioning, and we'd all be better off without those concepts. remember, the native americans and many other native cultures had ways of existing that were in-tune with and in-sync with nature, and did not separate cooking and screwing and farming and hunting from some thing called religion, where you make an attempt to get to know some thing called god.

"mommy, am i pwaying right? am i holding my hands right?" no, no dear. you've got to hold your hands like this, or god won't hear you. and, if you're bad, he'll force you to be tortured forever and ever. "and ever?" and ever.

feel the strength of knowing you're not being watched by some ethereal authority figure. FEEL IT, BITCH! go on, be brave!

meanwhile, there are two factions of islam, the sunnis and the shiites, who are blowing each other up over which kind of cheese the moon is made of.
"but, all of us christians know that the moon is made of white american. we have the TRUTH."

remember, my friends, there are cruxifiction/ressurection mythologies that predate christianity. so any of you who are still stuck in that mind trap, please, hoist yourself out by doing some research outside of a family bookstore. love will see you through.

[shroom_seeker]

Originally Posted by squidink

remember, the native americans and many other native cultures had ways of existing that were in-tune with and in-sync with nature, and did not separate cooking and screwing and farming and hunting from some thing called religion, where you make an attempt to get to know some thing called god.

I like that, thanks for pointing that out.

[madkapper]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

i like this definition too-
God is a comedian
playing to an audience
too afraid to laugh.

I love that hippie that is a great concept. I was personally force fed religion for about 18 years of my life, my parents are huge bible thumpers. I find religion very strange because there's so many different one's out there and they look at the same thing in completely different ways I don't know how anyone of them could be right because as far as I know no one has ever personally talked to god. I just think as long as you're a good person that's all that really matters and when you die you die you're just fed back the earth to give life to something else.

[Xerces]

I also agree that religion is the opium of the masses. Religion is what separate men because of their conception of God. I also believe that the native american indians could find god in nature. That's why god is everywhere, not only in churches.

This is an extract of the Gospel of Thomas, one of the books that wasn't admitted in the Bible by Constantine, that kind of explains that God is everywhere.

"I am the light that is above them all.
I am the All.
The All comes forth from me,
and the All reaches towards me.
Cleave the wood, I am there;
lift up the stone,
and you shall find me there."

This part explains how the Kingdom of God really is

If your leaders say to you "Look! The Kingdom is in the sky!" then the birds will be there before you are. If they say that the Kingdom is in the sea, then the fish will be there before you are. Rather, the Kingdom is within you and it is outside of you.

Think about the following and let me know what do you interpret of it, let's see how good prophets you all are

They asked him: When is the Kingdom coming? He replied: It is not coming in an easily observable manner. People will not be saying, "Look, it's over here" or "Look, it's over there." Rather, The Kingdom of the Father is already spread out on the earth., and people aren't aware of it.

In short; Don't be fooled by fairy tales of an old man sitting on a throne, a St. Peter Gate where God will decide if you've been a bad boy etc. Split a piece of wood and you will find it there. The Kingdom of God is all around you, and within you.

[Hippie3]

remember, the native americans and many other native cultures had ways of existing that were in-tune with and in-sync with nature, and did not separate cooking and screwing and farming and hunting from some thing called religion, where you make an attempt to get to know some thing called god.

that's not exactly truth-
native americans did have religion,
they worshipped many 'gods'
even mountains, rivers.

primitive superstitions abounded,
including blood sacrifices,
just as much as in any other society,
it is a myth that the indians were spiritually advanced
like one sees in all the movies.

and of course they did not really 'live in sync' with nature,
to the extent that their technology allowed
they mastered and subdued their environment
again just like any other culture.

further
there were over 500 indian nations
scattered across
well over 3 million square miles
just inside the borders of the USA.
it is grossly inaccurate and simplistic in the extreme
to speak of them as if they were all alike.

[squidink]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

that's not exactly truth-
native americans did have religion,
they worshipped many 'gods'
even mountains, rivers.

so, what did "the native americans" (pick a nation) call their "religion"? that's my point. not that they were devoid of god concepts, but that, in general, there was not the same separation between living and worshipping that many of us are used to. worshipping the river as an entity by not over-fishing. dig? that's historically accurate. i could cite references, but i'm on a sofa and the books are way over there -->

where were the "church" huts of the Iroquois? or, pick a tribe/nation/brand 'o peoples. whether or not that's advanced is up to the individual.

Originally Posted by Hippie3

primitive superstitions abounded,
including blood sacrifices,
just as much as in any other society,
it is a myth that the indians were spiritually advanced
like one sees in all the movies.

the indians were/are predominanty hindu and buddhist. some jains and muslims. I don't know WTF the various native americans called their various belief systems, but whether or not you use every part of the buffalo constructively or leave the carcass to rot says a lot about your culture. whether or not you thank the buffalo for allowing itself to be killed or thank some mythological guy instead says much also. that's historically accurate, as well, for one tribe or another. not sure which one, off hand. i could find out for us, but the books are wayyyy over there.

Originally Posted by Hippie3

and of course they did not really 'live in sync' with nature,
to the extent that their technology allowed
they mastered and subdued their environment
again just like any other culture.

it is grossly inaccurate and simplistic in the extreme
to speak of them as if they were all alike.

of course. i'll try to be more detailed and specific in the future.
and god bless you

[squidink]

Originally Posted by Xerces

the Kingdom is within you and it is outside of you.

The Kingdom of God is all around you, and within you.

you're the absolute shit for quoting the book of thomas. those two statements are the most powerful and dangerous jesus quotes EVER (IMHO).

why? because who needs the priest, the church, or the state for that matter, when the kingdom is here and now, and within you. no need for an afterlife. no need to suckle some hierarchical holy teat. (that's what plants taught me.)

[Hippie3]

many inaccuracies so prevalent in myth
not enough time to demolish them all at the moment
but let's take a shot at this one-

whether or not you use every part of the buffalo constructively or leave the carcass to rot says a lot about your culture

while there were tribes that used various parts quite ingeniously
it simply is not true that they wasted nothing.
a great deal went to waste.
one common hunting tactic was to stampede entire herds of buffalo
over a cliff,
sometimes killing hundreds at a time.
they would take what they could carry away
and leave the rest to rot.
look it up in one of them thar books that you can't quite reach...

[TheJackal]

God is dog spelled backwards. But seriously, I don't know for sure if there is a God out there, but once a long time ago I asked three of what I thought were impossible things of God as proof of God's existence. At that time, I promised that if these things were granted that I would never question the existence of God. Since then, even though I create some doubt sometimes and think that they may have been coincidences, I have to believe that there is a God watching over me.

[squidink]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

one common hunting tactic was to stampede entire herds of buffalo over a cliff

that sounds familiar, i think i've seen that before... well, not in action, but in text. pretty wacky. imagine what that looked like from below!

Originally Posted by Hippie3

look it up in one of them thar books that you can't quite reach...

don't make me get up! besides, i only have the books that say "all native american societies were identical, and could do no wrong."

[Hippie3]

i noticed your distinction about the words
indian
and native american
but i daresay the term
native american is inaccurate too
as humans were not native to america
but immigrated here from eurasia ,
america itself had no native human species
as far as we know.

[rocketman]

yeah the nomads came across the bering strait, or thats what they taught us in grade school.

[TVCasualty]

The comments about just making up some random personal idea of God and acting according to "whatever feels good to you" is the kind of moral relativism that is one of the causes of the problems we grapple with in this world. It might work if everyone approached God solo, but people tend to gather and clump up into groups. Groups tend towards a group mind, a mind needs an intention, and the intention is supplied by a charismatic leader. Voila! We have recreated our current paradigm! Why? Because my charismatic guru is better than your charismatic guru, yet we both wish to occupy the same place in space-time so it's time for another war. The tiny minority of people who seek God on their own, outside the dominant group mind, (and who don't want to proselytize about what they find) will either be keeping a low profile or get bulldozed/burned at the stake/etc.

There is a sense of right and wrong in most of us; that's how civilization could happen at all. If something of our awareness or consciousness survives death, then it may be that our awareness of the physical world, once we are across the veil, becomes perfect. In the same sense that we as 3-dimensional beings can see all facets/aspects/parts/whatever of a 2-dimensional object (you see the whole piece of paper at once- metaphorically speaking), maybe spirit is analagous to a 4th dimension wherein a container (mind) is a part of which it contains (Universe). Since that is a step 'above' this world, we cannot apprehend it under any circumstances (at best, we just poke some words at it). Like knowing someone very very well, a comprehensive knowledge of this world would lead to a deep empathy toward it. Perfect empathy toward the world combined with self-awareness of everything one has done while a physical being is what I believe leads to Heaven or Hell. To me, Judgement Day is simply awareness of all we have done within a context of perfect empathy toward all life. All judgements are made of us by us, like a desire to make amends when we realize we screwed someone over; an awarenesss of higher purposes compells us to rectify our mistakes and cruelties (intentionally inflicted or not) no matter how unpleasant the task.

But beyond all this word-poking, one way I think of God is as the "=" sign in E=mc^2, and the spirit world probably is that dark matter stuff.

I can definately say, without a doubt, that there is no god
no ultimate test, nothing to live up to, or any staple moral code.

I see this as people (who on one hand were being quite creative)
Imagineered-ing all this stuff (on the other, this creavity was often based on fear, or the ability or desire to completely reject and deny whats going on around you- i.e. science, nature- and make up something else entirely trying to explain its case, usually in their favor).

After realizing deception is the fortay of many a human being, past and present, i decided to break things down for myself..

Basically. now i believe in electricity and energy, seeing how these are the things that run my body and yours (human collectiveness) and refuse to use the word god for any practical reason, unless hypathetical, and usually with the then end intent to bring a laugh.
I would rather do almost anything else than something god related..
basically because if you are going to pretend to be doing something
at least have the inuitiveness to admit its not real, to yourself.
I think its just a personal thing tho, because i find religion so boring, that to think of some one else trapped in it, drives me a little mad.
And i dont like ideas and parables "picked up" by religion either..
those are all ideas, and shouldn't be brought down by any particular group to the level of "beliefs" (of course thats just my opinion, and a deadly one for that, im sure it would get me killed in one place or another)

I also dont like it when people who arent even really into religion anymore, but still speak of "god" in a lofty tone, refering the word to the universe, or mothernature.. i wish they'd pick something to use such a tone, such as a "giant squid" something you can really inflict emotion on, and not something so general as the new age (or not so new age) way to see it..
but im less inclined to be bothered by this, seeing how is these people are usually just feeling good about the world, and it doesnt involve me
except in a general "i accept you" way

I dunno i feel that i accept life at its basics and that kinda jades you and you look for excitment in tangable things..

I often wonder if i got amnesia, if i could relearn to believe, and if i would yet again unlearn it all

It seems like the only lesson to be learned from god is that s/he isnt their and anything youve accomlished in its name is really your own inner strength, and that can be learned without lying to yourself about some imaginary dude from the get go

/rant

I like it when people try to get me to reassure them on matters about religion like-
some insane saying that has to be right because god is involved: Lady: "Its just good to be outside because its all watched by god, and thats what matters, right?"
and i just make the "ENNNG!" wrong answer sound from game shows at them

[rocketman]

Originally Posted by DaGoon

I can definately say, without a doubt, that there is no god

You can say what you want as these are personal beliefs. Just because you say it with conviction doesnt mean its so.

[Xerces]

DaGoon:

You speak as someone who denies everything he can't prove, such as early 'scientist' who thought the earth was flat and held by 4 elephants and a turtle, or that the earth is the center of the universe.

Science and Nature;

Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of objective knowledge. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. (Wikipedia)

So, science is the body of knowledge known so far by humans, so it is safe to say that if you only believe in science, that means 20 years ago there were a lot of theories to be studied and discovered that you would never thought could be possible, yet here they are now. And IMO if the human race ever became aware of the existence of 'GOD' in any of it conceptions, either by a scientific way or just a mental evolution to awakening, many 'theories' in prophecies would become true at least in a metaphoric way.
And Nature.. well nature goes beyond your understanding, so if you believe in nature you might as well be believing in God itself, you just don't know it, or perhaps believe that 'nature' is just trees, grass and rivers.

If we were to just hold to the things we can understand scientifically or feel and touch with our physical senses and just throw everything else away, we would never advance or evolve in any way, scientifically, technologically, philosophically, mentally, as a society or even towards a better understanding of what GOD really is.

Whether you believe that God exists in any form in any plane of existence or not, you have to consider the Deux Ex Machina as well. The involvement of a force or presence outside of our egos, whether its only mental or real, it functions as it was real, in many senses.

I've seen with my own eyes people I know being healed instantly by the power of God. I've seen people with their lives completely fucked up, being able to believe in love again and getting back on their feet, on track.
I've also seen people who narrowed their minds so much following blindly stupid rules given to jews thousands and thousands of years ago in a different society, with different problems and different moral issues. So yes, religion narrows the mind, and also keeps a leash on the masses.
Yet today, some of this moral rules serve as good guidelines in general, as they apply to the human condition itself, including its herein flaws socially and personally.

So God exists, whether you want it or not, in some existential plane.

p.d.: You should research more about newly discovered particles, such as the neutrino, which is an elementary particle -considered massless until recently- that comes from the sun and goes through all matter, which was very hard to detect until recent experiments. What tells you what we could find in the physical universe in the future?

[TVCasualty]

Let's also not get religion and God confused. They often have no relation to each other. Seeing the insanity and cruelty of religion through history leads many to reject God by extension- throwing out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. That, and church being as boring a way to spend a morning as I can think of helps drive people away.

Church is only so boring because it lacks direct experience. The quote that saved my life was "The white man goes into his church and talks to God. The indian goes into his tipi, eats peyote, and talks with God" I forgot who exactly said it but it made me seek that direct experience before answering the "What happens after death?" question for myself with a .357 mag to the head at age 17. What I found one night, with mushrooms, was an answer that kept me here for the duration of my allotted time. Direct experience. Puzzling evidence. Unanswerable questions.

[Hippie3]

some folks lack the intellectual capacity to comprehend a divine principle,
seeing nothing greater than their self.
i let such folks be.
they need more time to evolve
and no one can be forced to sensibleness.

Theres no need to make fun of me
(just assuming you are calling me senseless)
But even if i were to believe
Id believe in meso-american gods, and ancient greek mythology
since we are playing make believe here.
"So God exists, whether you want it or not, in some existential plane."

By no means am i saying anyone is wrong,
So, right if you believe that their is a god POW its true
And of course i need to do more research, as opposed to the fact that i think i know everything?

I always think about how "imagination is limitless" and how that imaginiation has fueled many religions (or in the case of christianity the inginuity)

What i really throw my cast in with is humanism, i believe that humans are "god" but i dont like to talk about, unless you like to talk about the same thing so i should probably stop being a nancy naysayer on this thread

thanks for the info about neutrino

And hippie: that statement can work with the word "lack" or "dont lack" depending upon how you feel about yourself:
"

1. We are all One.
2. There's Enough.
3. There's Nothing We Have [an obligation] to Do.
4. Ours Is Not A Better Way, Ours Is Merely Another Way."
   
   Now if you felt like there isnt enough, then you could stick with your original statement, but if you like the idea of there is enough, you might try looking at it as there is nothing greater than "self".
   Maybe those people that feel like there isn't enough don't like themselves enough to see that they are great enough to be divine!
   
   that list of 4 ideas is from "Friendship with God"
   its really a self help and self empowering book

[Feral23]

From the Sufis and the Discordians, a parable... The blind men and the elephant-- http://discordia.loveshade.org/apocrypha/elephant.html The elephant, God, is you, I, and everything else in the uni-verse. all is one, andsoforth. for those of a more traditional mindset, consider 1 John 4:8. It\\\'ll tell ya more than the whole rest of the Bible, imho.http://bible.cc/1_john/4-8.htm

[Hippie3]

DaGoon-
i find that 4 points philosophy to be
self-centric, just as i thought above.
we do have things to do
such as caring for each other
and there are indeed
'wrong ways'-
that kind of self-centered amoral philosophy
gives self-centered amoral people an excuse
to treat others like trash and justify themselves.
i don't buy it
i hope damn few do.

[TVCasualty]

Why was paradise lost?
Why does a date-palm lose its leaves in autumn?
Why does every beautiful face grow in old age
wrinkled like the back of a Libyan lizard?
Why does a full head of hair get bald?
Why is the tall, straight figure
that divided the ranks like a spear
now bent almost double?

The bright-red anemone grows saffron.
Lion strength weakens to nothing.
The wrestler who could hold anyone down
is led out with two people supporting him,
their shoulders under his arms.

Those are messages from the Fall.
What fault was committed?

God answers,
"The crime is
that they put on borrowed robes
and pretended they were theirs.

I take the beautiful clothes back,
so that you will learn the robe
of appearance is only a loan."

The sheaf-stack belongs to God.
Human beings are gleaners.
Rays from the sun.

The earth-colored glass
makes everything seem diverse,
but that glass eventually shatters.

Your lamp was lit from another lamp.
All God wants is your gratitude for that.

Lend is the divine command.
Make God a loan from your existence,
and see what fortunes accumulate!

Diminish a little, for your own sake,
all this eating and drinking, and watch
a new basin fill in front of you.

Sufis throw away their desires and their objects.
They abandon pieces of clothing in the dance,
and those articles are never returned.

They are given to the singer,
or divided among the dancers.

They rise from a briny, annihilating
ocean into pure clarity.

They confront the world openly with its arrogance
and its hypocrisy. They are warriors
for non-existence.

The planter works with most joy
whose barn is completely empty,
the planter works for that
which has not appeared.

Second by second I know you're expecting
some sure understanding, some spiritual perception,
some peace, but I am not allowed to say
more about this mystery,

or else I would create a Baghdad
in the wilds of the Georgia mountains,
and there would be no more doubting!

-Rumi

[dr.gonzo]

I belive in god, just not the middle man. why do I suposedly have to talk to jesus to talk to god? Dont get me wrong, I like the bible as far as its moral and how to live a good life, I dont belive in "you have to go to a 7 hour mass and be forgivin" and "our religon is right and yours is wrong, your going to hell if you dont convert." REPENT REPENT! the black death is near! But somewhere along the way we have people taking there religon way to seriously and using it to start wars and if you dont belive me see how long it take before a hard core beliver and a guy mutters "blasphomy" to start fighting. the roman empier. I still see images of the catholic worrior shield and sword. this disturbs me. did this kid choose this religon on his own? I dont think so.

[Doctor D]

I don't know.

Let me expand upon that. I don't know what God is, but I have a feeling that even if I did have an idea about what God is, if I tried to describe God in a few clever sentences or paragraphs, I would immediately be wrong. So instead of trying to describe something that is indescribable, I merely observe God in all its glory. I do not think you can separate creator from creation. It is one and the same.

I think you could accurately say that "God is love". And "love" is acting for the benefit of someone other than yourself. But God is so much more than love, as well, since "love" is just an abstract concept we humans have created. Which brings me back to my original thought. Whatever I think God is, I'm wrong because I am just one small speck trying to conceive the inconceivable. Which is why I think the only REAL answer to the question, "What is God?" is:

I don't know. Just look around you.

[dr.gonzo]

And when you die you go to a wonderful place called heaven. * kids smile* haha nah im just yankin ya, you rot in the ground"
-Peter Griffin at sunday school

[omnibot]

In these kinds of discussions it can sometimes become very difficult to separate out questions of semantics from the underlying questions...

My god, if there was ever a loaded word it's god.

Like Doctor D says, the deepest truths of existence don't seem to lend themselves to being wrapped up prettily in words. Not only that, but our direct experiences (filtered versions of reality though they are) are essentially beyond the ability of words to describe. So where the hell do we go from there? Well, like most great mystics, mycotopiates seem happy to spend plenty of time discussing the ineffible.

As far as I can see we're all pushing and prodding at the same thing: whatever it is that is actually at the "bottom" of this whole existence thing. That's what I call God, and then I see how well I can get to know God. Like in the elephant analogy mentioned above it's easy to fall into the trap of emphasizing seeming contradictions rather than harmonies. I've got a hunch that we've all got a piece of it, though IMHO I've got the biggest piece.

Not only that, but I've got a strong hunch that all this looking we do as humans is part of what God is too. I've also got a hunch that this moment right NOW, is a big part of it. Oh and I've also got a hunch that EVERYTHING is love. But like someone said above, love is just a word. Or is it?

Haha I love it when these threads come up. A chance for everyone to put in their two cents about what's really going on. In the end it inevitably slips through all our our fingers, but it sure is fun.

Ever read Four Quartets? Excellent poem. Who knew that an entire poem could be dedicated to silence?

"Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern,
Can words or music reach
The stillness"

- T.S. Eliot

IMO poetry is our most powerful tool when it comes to touching the ineffible with words.

[dr.gonzo]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...y+python&hl=en

[laughingsamsdice]

I haven't read what anyone has written on this topic and i'm sure no one's gonna read this one so i might as well say it...: God is everything that is good in an innocent child and an innocent animal. He is absolutely nothing but LOVE and LOVE and then some more. You must realize that He sees all evil and you don't...Put yourself in his shoes...Can you even begin to imagine the pain that he has to suffer.. .? And then you say : Oh well.. he's the one who has the power to stop it.. no he gave that power to you and you're the one who sold it to the devil who now is in charge...

[Lefty]

I'm dyin' to say "EAT ME" but I shan't.
Prove your accusations, sir.

[InsidiousDecrepancy]

I believe in Karam, but only by association. If your an ass hole and hang out with ass holes, your bound to piss someone off and get what you give out back. God is useless in my mind. I'm going to live my life the best I can and worry about death once I get there.

[Lefty]

Originally Posted by InsidiousDecrepancy

I believe in Karam, but only by association. If your an ass hole and hang out with ass holes, your bound to piss someone off and get what you give out back. God is useless in my mind. I'm going to live my life the best I can and worry about death once I get there.

Is karam like Shazaam? I like him, too! Oh, that Gomer Pyle, he's the shit.

[InsidiousDecrepancy]

Originally Posted by Lefty

Is karam like Shazaam? I like him, too! Oh, that Gomer Pyle, he's the shit.

lol No, that was a typo, what I meant to say was Karma.

Ohoromoxtoti, Creator the sun, made the world in habitable by destroying the jaguars who once infested it.

jaguars are no joke!

[Mycorama]

<img src=http://forums.mycotopia.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=47396&d=1174284263>

[cannafornia]

God, Is. all there is too it. It just Is.

we can never see God in entirety because our consciousness is one of the "cells" in the body of God and so just like you can't see the big picture with your nose pressed on the TV screen, we must remove ourselves in order to see the whole plan.

Every time I have asked to see what God is, I recieve images of a constantly changing, morphing figure that incorporates every trait of human, animal and beyond.

I think it's like quantum theory, once you try and put God in a box to worship God, God proves how ignorant you are. That's why religions always miss the point.

[Sunstar]

I belive,
God is everything you see, feel, hear, think ,hear and smell.
Not to be a downer or anything be we all are still very primitive
but not as primitive as our ancestors. We (as a race ) have been created and are evolving as every year goes by not always noticably tho.Evolving towards what ever the grand purpose is. We still have constant tension amoung races and genders and cannot live in peace.
So for us to understand God is really beyond our comprehension as of now. For those of you who dont belive we were created anwser this.
If a chicken comes from an egg ,what came first the egg or the chicken. We live in God as God lives in us. No one thing can be God, cause we all are part off it, each with its own purpose. When the Riddler said "God is" I belive he was right. But I wish to add anouther word onto it . GOD IS EVERYTHING.

[InsidiousDecrepancy]

To all these people who say God is everything. From matter and cells, to smells and feelings. Ever think that those are just what they are and nothing more?? Why does God have to be those things. If god is everything, then we are nothing.

To all these people who say God is everything. From matter and cells, to smells and feelings. Ever think that those are just what they are and nothing more?? Why does God have to be those things.

checkmate!

If god is everything, then we are nothing.

if god is nothing, we are everything?

it seems all those deep definative phrases are interchangeable
and can be read in a variety of different ways
and wisdom can be pulled from each one
i just try to keep in mind that none of it is set in stone

[strangegem23]

"Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha! And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a sadist! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? Never!"

-Al Pachino, Devil's Advocate 1997

[chimp]

http://bluehoney.org/bluehoney/index...Document_id=51

Check this link out....A great read IMO....It made a TON of sense to me

[strangegem23]

For me, there are three possibilities:

A) There is no god, this is it.
B) There is a "god" but it is vastly beyond human comprehension, and thus unknowable, or
C) God is evil and exists to torment us unmercilessly for his own pleasure (read your bible!)

Mostly I'm somewhere between A and B, but on a bad day sometimes C seems like it could be the case...

Just my personal point of view.

[TVCasualty]

God is a projectionist.

Absolute, objective Reality is the screen, we are the lights dancing on it, and God is the light in/of the projector. The fleeting images of actors in a movie can't look back through their own light to see its source. They are that light, so the very concept is undefinable. They likewise have no means for perceiving the screen that their light is shimmering on. It's kind of like the trippy thought that an eye can never directly see itself. So there's this stark immutable reality here, and a source of light there, and we are the thin line or membrane between these two worlds, yet existing within neither- an iridescence of the objective. Even God must exist somewhere, and even if somewhere is everywhere, everywhere has to be somewhere, right?

Right. Good. In my mind, Absolute reality (some call it the Void) is probably much bigger than God (infinitely so), and God is constantly expanding into it through the ongoing process of creation. I also notice that the one constant in the Universe is evolution, so as part of it we must be evolving too. We may well solidify to a culminating point of our own evolution where we learn to become projectonists ourselves, and open our own theaters and play our own sick and twisted movies (We be as Gods then). Add more evolution and everyone in your movies eventually become Gods too. Thereby is the Void permeated with Light, and this is gonna take awhile. I'll bet anyone $1000 that what we call "galaxies" are the physical manifestations of other Gods doing the projection thing in another part of the Void, and The One True God we here in the Milky Way yap about is just that- One True God, but only one.

This model of universe expansion strikes me as the luminous version of how mycelium expands into new areas and ultimately casts the beginnings of new colonies into the Great Big Unknown (probably why I like mushrooms!).

Good News: That makes you a Proto-Diety! Now sit up straight and start acting like one, unless your evolutionary state dictates something else.

Glad I could help clear this up.

[Beastmaster]

what about option q? :maybe?

I'm in the middle of reading a book by aw cuck I can't remember his name at themoment, nor the title of hte book. dam this beerz. ok, I'll go find it I thinik its in the other room , and mayhbe my beerz are too, and hten I'll be back with all of my dyslixia and drunken typosisms.

I know. h3 said never post drunk. but where s the fun in that?

[mushit]

[ANON]

Personally, I believe the modern conception of a "God" is flawed, but I would say that I'm a Christian

Neither Man or woman. A collection of everyone and everything. The supreme creative force of the universe witch binds all. Karma, CHI, Light and consciousness are manifestations of God. That means YOU are a god, or God like.

[Sunstar]

I would have to say if something claims to be God the question I would ask is who created you. And to respond to ID's claim that we meant we are nothing. It would be like saying the atoms in my body aren't anything, when in fact without them I would be nothing. So when I said we exist in it as it exists in us and together we are everything, I guess is what I meant

[mindovermycelia]

I pretty much agree with what tv says in this thread, though I have a different take on it. I guess I can find evidence of what I perceive to be the truth in the writings of most religions as well.

edit: sally d has shown me that the truth can be experienced in many ways, sometimes experiencing from more that one perspective at a time which is really weird, someone on another site described it as reality stacking. Even though I believe that all matter including God can be experienced as a spinning sphere of energy in a void it is still everything we have imagined it to be and much more.

I used to think God was a mere force without intent or will or a personality that could be known and that we were his consciousness, his dream, I now think we are really existing within the mind, the dream world, of God's first creation to have freewill separate from his, his only son, man. Though every thing is created in essence, from God, he has finally created another God, and that is us, but still we share the same essence. This goes right along with the idea that the universe is an illusion, that life is a dream, the idea of the holy trinity, Genesis, and the basics of Hinduism, Buddhism and Hasidic Judaism, as far as my research has gotten. Brahman (hindu), Buddha, Adam, Jesus all represent the same entity to me, which is our collective higher consciousness, the one and only son of God.

If we are in the third dimension and you are reading this in the 2nd then maybe God is in a dimension we cant see. People can Astral project to other dimensions and claim to speak to God. Maybe he holds all the dimensions in his hand like a marble and can see through all of them while he is being wached by his own god. Maybe this is the best weed ive had in a while........