God
- Written by David Hall
- Category: God
If God is an Infinite Being, how can there be any other? An Infinite Being has no beginning, end or division. Nothing can be outside the Infinite. Even 'inside' wouldn't be strictly correct, because there are no limits that enclose, and ultimately there is no 'thing' that is truly separate from the Infinite Being to be said to be inside it. There would only be the Infinite Being.
An Infinite Being can't be divided up into other beings. Not really. Conceptually it's possible, just as how we can label different parts of the body, although they're not really separate parts. The right hand isn't really separate from the left hand, for instance, although we label them as such.
It's useful to contemplate the infinite to challenge the mind's limited perspective. The mind thinks in terms of limitation. The mind uses names and labels for things and assumes that they are separate things. But really, if you look closely, you find that there are no real divides between a thing and the environment. The human body, for example, flows with the environment, breathing, drinking, eating, developing. It's not truly a separate discrete form.
Even if we consider a tin can, it seems to be separate from the environment, but that's only a temporary appearance of separation. The tin was formed from the environment (the planet) and its form is held in relative stability due to the conditions of the environment. If the temperature or pressure of the environment were to change then the stability of the tin can would change. Even now, a tin can is extremely slowly decaying, or losing its form to the environment. Its relatively stable condition is not permanent. It's just that its rate of decay or change is extremely slow, giving the appearance of fixed stability.
So when the mind thinks that there are many objects, or people, or animals, and so on, that's really just the mind conceptualising limits and labels on the world. This is helpful, but the error arises when labels and limitations are believed to be real. That's the important point. We can call a mountain a mountain and a valley a valley, but if we believe that these are separate objects then we are mistaken. They are useful words to describe the world, but they are not accurate.
Even the term 'world' isn't accurate. The 'world' has no real limits or edges, beginnings or ends. It is the Infinite Being. There is only the Infinite Being.
- Written by David Hall
- Category: God
Okay, this is probably a contentious issue, but let's explore the reality and existence of God. Firstly, there are many different perspectives of what or who God is, and some would say there is no God. The problem is there isn't really a fixed consensus on a definition of God. The most common concept of God is that 'He' is the creator of the universe, He lives in a heavenly realm and He is benevolent and intimate to all creation, bringing comfort and answering prayers. This concept of God usually has Him pictured as a bearded man. Some religions, current and ancient, have numerous gods, but there is often a single God figure that is the chief of these. He also is often depicted as a man.
In Non-Duality there or not many beings, so there isn't really a God that is chief of others. There isn't a God that creates a world separate from Himself, where there are lesser beings. In the Advaita Vedanta tradition there is only God, or Brahman. The true nature of all apparently separate beings is Brahman. The Self of all selves is Brahman. Your true nature is Brahman. My true nature is Brahman. There is no truly separate me and you. There is just Brahman, and this appearance of separate beings and what seems to separate them is wholly Brahman. Brahman, or God, is the Infinite Indivisible One Being.
So it's not a God that is a man with a beard, although it is respected that some humans or beings may reach that point of Self Realisation in which they do not identify as a separate being, and so they can be considered God in human form. It's not strictly correct, but essentially the God nature shines through the human form that is not attached to limitation and separate identity. In this sense we could say that Buddha was a God Man, although Buddhists wouldn't traditionally believe in God.
This is where the subtle understanding of the nature of God comes in. Some have turned against the idea of a benevolent creator God, because there can seem to be little evidence of this in a harsh dangerous world. But if God is understood as a Singular Being in whom the universe appears as if it is a multiplicity of separate forms, then who can deny the existence of God? To put it another way, if God is understood to be an Infinite Being, then there is nothing other than God. God has no boundaries. God isn't really a man or a humanoid type figure.
In Non-Duality God is the Infinite Indivisible One Being in whom the universe appears. The universe is like the broken body of God, split into pieces and scattered. The parts of the universe are inevitably less than the One Being, or so they seem. But truly the One Being remains eternally unchanged, being beyond space and time, yet encompassing all apparent space and time. God is Omnipresent, because in truth there is nowhere other than Here. God is Eternal, as there is truly no time other than Now.
Is this Infinite One God benevolent? Does this God help humans? Well, yes and no. This Infinite God does nothing, goes nowhere, as there is nowhere and nothing other than God. This Infinite God is the Whole, Complete, Love, Life, Peace, Harmony, Permanence, Oneness. All the best qualities that we know of are so because of the nature of the Infinite One God, who is Reality. The world appears by contrast to God, in that it seems to be a World of Opposites. God's Oneness is contrasted by the illusory appearance of separation and many. All that relates to separation is the opposite of God and Reality. God (or Reality) is Infinite Oneness.
God doesn't really step in and help humans directly, because God is the universe itself, including all appearances of forms apparently past and future. God takes no sides. Yet the true nature of the Oneness of God can come through into the human world. We know this as love, human warmth and kindness, equality, fairness, peace, safety, belonging, help, togetherness, selflessness and wisdom. Each human can choose to follow this way or turn from it. Following it is the Way of Oneness, turning from it is a way of selfishness and separation that leads to the opposite of God. Or so it seems.
Truly there is no opposite of God. God is the Whole, a complete Singularity. There is no other. There are no limits that divide. There are no opposites. There only appears to be a World of Opposites. This World of Opposites is none other than God, the Infinite One Being, expressed by contrast. So the way of selfishness and separation leads to ignorance, darkness, and confusion. Selfishness and separation is a mistake. It is the mistaken belief that there is anything other than God. There is only the Infinite One Being.