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Is it Possible to Experience God?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
Morse
To Extinguish
As per Hinduism, Brahman is knowable --- Neti-Neti. Not this, Not this ------.
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What is it to know brahman?
I do not know.
Jeremiah
Well-Known Member
Since humans invented gods, out of their own mind, then in whatever shape they come in, people experience them in their entirety.
It reminds me of scene in the show Godfellas an episode of Futurama. Where little people -- that had inhabited Bender as he drift through space-- believed Bender was God. Here is the transcript of the scene. Malachi would be like Bender's main prophet.
We are at the "the maximum level of being with" our own gods as well.
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paolops181
God rules!
The God of the bible:
"Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure." -Is.46:9-10
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." -Jms1:17
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." -1Jhn4:7-8
"And anyone who believes in Gods Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesnt obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under Gods angry judgment. -Jhn3:36(nlt)
"Gods promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it." -Heb.4:1(nlt)
"Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure." -Is.46:9-10
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." -Jms1:17
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." -1Jhn4:7-8
"And anyone who believes in Gods Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesnt obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under Gods angry judgment. -Jhn3:36(nlt)
"Gods promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it." -Heb.4:1(nlt)
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I thinks its true enough that a person can certainly experience their interpretation of God manifested from "I".
Don't the acts of worship and devotion drive a wedge between you and deity? Can you experience deity if there's a wedge between you? If so, is that the same deity as someone who knows of no wedge between himself and deity?
Ben Dhyan
Veteran Member
Though devotion to God implies a separation, it is a temporary illusionary one and a state of union which is beyond thought may be ultimately realized. At least according to my faith,..and the Soul who composed this....
Lord, I thought of you so often,
I finally became You.
Little by little You drew nearer,
Slowly but slowly I passed away.
- A Sufi saying
Lord, I thought of you so often,
I finally became You.
Little by little You drew nearer,
Slowly but slowly I passed away.
- A Sufi saying
Hi Ben
Just a thought.
I am slowly gravitating to the understanding that undivided devotion cannot be a cause for division. A worldly example may make the point more clear. A person 100% engrossed in a task does not remember himself. Similarly, a mind 100% engrossed in the fullness has no scope to separate himself.
It seems to me that it is altogether another matter with our claim of being fully devoted. I think that there cannot be a bigger challenge than gaining unbroken-undivided devotion.
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Ben Dhyan
Veteran Member
Hi atanu,
Yes, that is correct.
It seems that at the beginning, the illusion of duality is strong, but in time the conception of God gives way to actual ego self forgetfulness and temporary absorption in God. Later still, the frequency and duration of these temporary absorption 'events' increases until...finally...it is permanent.
There is this mystical saying that ultimately, God can only reveal the fullness of God to God through the medium of God.
Yes, that is correct.
It seems that at the beginning, the illusion of duality is strong, but in time the conception of God gives way to actual ego self forgetfulness and temporary absorption in God. Later still, the frequency and duration of these temporary absorption 'events' increases until...finally...it is permanent.
There is this mystical saying that ultimately, God can only reveal the fullness of God to God through the medium of God.
zenzero
Its only a Label
Friend ben,
Now if the label Brahman is used some individuals may state that God and Brahman are not the same or Tao and Brahman are not the same never will followers of Mohammad agree that what is labelled Allah is what some use the word *god* instead.
However what the mind of others still with *THINKING* minds think as TRUTH is that IT is reflecting at HERE-NOW eternally label it God or *Whole* or by any other label IT remains what It IS!
Love & rgds
You have used the word *reveal* and that would again need a someone to be revealed to; but is there someone else when its all of IT the revealer or the revealed??
Now if the label Brahman is used some individuals may state that God and Brahman are not the same or Tao and Brahman are not the same never will followers of Mohammad agree that what is labelled Allah is what some use the word *god* instead.
However what the mind of others still with *THINKING* minds think as TRUTH is that IT is reflecting at HERE-NOW eternally label it God or *Whole* or by any other label IT remains what It IS!
Love & rgds
ellenjanuary
Well-Known Member
Ya know, that is the ideal of the Holy Spirit? And I tried to explain thus to the followers of the god of Abraham? And now I'm all evolutionary deist?There is this mystical saying that ultimately, God can only reveal the fullness of God to God through the medium of God.
I'm not quite still, but I'm still-er than I was. But I gotta say, I fall into my Gwynnies. There ain't no Gwynnie no me no nuffink. Just saying, one need more than single focus, lest one be crazy like ellen.
Ben Dhyan
Veteran Member
Hi zenzero,
That's fine, understand. Btw, it also important IMO that seekers understand that nothing separate from 'God' can ever enter into 'God' for the simple reason that there is nothing separate.
Yet as a humble seeker, confused and bewildered by the trials and tribulations of mortal life, it seems that our experiences falls far short of the idea of a peace that passes understanding, and hence seek and hope to enter into the Divine Kingdom through our religious practice.
Each will eventually realize that while it is not possible to experience the fullness of God as a separate entity, something more wonderful awaits those whose faith endures through the 'slowly but slowly I passed away' phase of discipleship,...but nothing can be said of this divine union for it is beyond conceptualization. :namaste
That's fine, understand. Btw, it also important IMO that seekers understand that nothing separate from 'God' can ever enter into 'God' for the simple reason that there is nothing separate.
Yet as a humble seeker, confused and bewildered by the trials and tribulations of mortal life, it seems that our experiences falls far short of the idea of a peace that passes understanding, and hence seek and hope to enter into the Divine Kingdom through our religious practice.
Each will eventually realize that while it is not possible to experience the fullness of God as a separate entity, something more wonderful awaits those whose faith endures through the 'slowly but slowly I passed away' phase of discipleship,...but nothing can be said of this divine union for it is beyond conceptualization. :namaste
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Respectfully Ben, if something is beyond conceptualization then how, exactly, has anyone ever heard of it? If your (and others) assertion is correct that it is "beyond conceptualization" it would not be possible for us to know that the state actually existed. We would then, necessarily, have to take whatever we are told with a grain of salt.
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YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
I would tend to agree that without direct, personal experience, ones viewpoints on the topic are somewhat meaningless. From the standpoint of one who have plumbed the depths of his psyche and had the good fortune to encounter many remarkable things, I can tell you that I no longer know for sure. The thing is, my experience has remained consistent and continues to deepen. From my perspective when I met my personal version of god, it was on a fairly superficial "level" of awareness. I should point out that that "superficial" mode of awareness is still pretty radical when viewed from our normal perspective, however, nonetheless, now it seems more the dreams of a child who wanted reality to conform in a certain way -- and so it did. After a "rinse and repeat" of this scenario on several occasions eventually I became less interested in experiencing "god" as it was more about experiencing aspects of my own consciousness that have no earthly connection, aside from me, of course.
So, in short, I will not say, that one can experience "god" as if "god" is a certain, tangible reality. I will say that the individual can indeed discover hitherto unknown aspects of personality that will shake their concepts of god to their very foundations - so much so - that eventually god concepts themselves will become relatively meaningless and very much a thing of past perpectives. Eventually one will perceive reality from a singular perspective. You can call that "god" if you like, but at that point, the concept means very little.
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It is a Vedic statement that the Truth is one but sages call it by different names. From the perspective of the Vedic statement, I understand that Brahman is one and all and nothing else is a second to it. But, I am not sure whether the essence of the 'Whole' comes to mind of a Christ follower or Allah follower so naturally or not?
That the concepts of Brahman itself are not same in all minds is a given reality -- what to talk of concepts of Tao and Brahman? Minds are not equal. Moreover, while I know perceptually that an apple has appleness and a mango has mangoness, I find it a moot point to refute that an apple and a mango are same.
Thus the need to know the Thinker and Seer of the differences.
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