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How Do You Relate To God?
At the outset of our spiritual journey, our primary perception is of a huge chasm between ourselves and God. Into the state of the soul trapped in duality some light begins to shine. At the turning point a critical event shakes the soul. Everyday life is interrupted, either by a crisis or by a sudden epiphany, or by both, in what is described as “the dark night of the soul.”
For Christians this is the moment when a sinner sees the light, but the same imagery occurs in every spiritual tradition. To an outsider the whole experience sounds dubious, like some kind of hallucination. But Jesus doesn’t deny that this is the case; he just ascribes a different value to it. Salvation is a glimpse of reality; perception begins to detect illusion.
The astonishment of experiencing the turning point inevitably fades away. Descending back into mundane existence is very much like falling out of love. Your heightened perceptions return to their former state, which seems dull now.
When the divine presence is gone, only emptiness remains. Look for some way to re-create the departed blessing. The most powerful thing that anyone can do, however, is to fill the void directly: going inward to find peace and silence; following the trail of spiritual clues; paying attention to the guidance of your soul; seeking your own essence; finding the presence of God; removing obstacles and inner resistance; changing your allegiance to the soul.
I think nothing here is incompatible with Christian life. The aftermath is a precarious time, and some people don’t strike out on their own; they are attracted to the safety and comfort of organized religion. Perhaps the prospect of an inner path feels too mystical or abstract, though I am amazed at how many people do not choose going inward as their first response to the aftermath.
Adapted from The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).
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36 comments
add your comment »Kim, I am here with you one hundred percent. I feel it is man that has created the god image to suit his needs (and not all these needs have anything to do with "divinity") and since we are all different, there will be many versions of "god". I cannot
seperate "energy" which makes up EVERYTHING from what I feel is the "divine". Everything, whether we consider it "living" or "non-living" is a form of energy. I also feel this "energy" is really all one energy but is manifesting in infinite forms, physical, non-physical, multi-dimentional. I also feel that this "energy" is neutral and it is our human need to place meaning to it so we can understand it better. We humans have such a need to understand everything and anything that we will make up some of the most ridiculous ideas. Now I am not mocking others beliefs, we all have to find what works for us, and I too have beliefs that others would consider ridiculous, but your past examples are the kind of silliness I'm refering to. Those things do not work for me and I just can't imagine spending eternity in what Deepak calls "spiritual assisted living". How boring, no chance to ever experience anything else or grow as spiritual manifestations.
Thank you for your comment. I really understand your views and appreciate them.
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You know Lynn, I was going to say that I really wish there were more people like you, because I think the world would be better off, because you sound like a good person. I do respect your view. So much death and destruction on our wonderful Earth has been a result of people believing in conflicting religions. These are delusional people for the most part. Diabolical rulars have used religion to control the uneducated masses for their own ends for thousands of years.
As for "adult behavior," few adults believe in fairy tales beyond their childhood years. I believe we are all part of the same thing. That we all came from one thing and that we'll all end up as one again. And then mabye the cycle continues. The scientific basis for this is that we are all energy, which can not be created and can not be destroyed. In that sense, we always have been and we always will be. But Gods? Controlling everything? If so, they either don't care, aren't paying attention, or are totally incompetant.
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Lynn, well put. These non-spiritual folks are funnier than Robot Chicken. And they make as much sense too. :)
It is really rude and ignorant to come in here talking smack like that. But we can't expect adult behavior from them.
Hopefully we don't have to spend eternity anywhere near them. Oh wait, that is the definition of Hell right? :)
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Yes Kim, what you describe is silly. That is not what I believe. I believe in a power larger than myself. I do not believe in the christian version of "heaven" and "hell". I do however believe that I have a soul that will move on to another space after I leave this body. Where? I don't know, I'm not there yet. I do however believe in reincarnation and multiple dimensions, the physical dimension being just one of many. I do not claim to have all the answers. I have spent many years reading, meditating, and deep soul searching to come to my own person relationship and views about what I term "Divine", meaning something I hold to be sacred. I do not expect every one to agree with me but I do respect others views as I hope they will do mine. If you have absolutely no belief in a higher power, great, that is what works for you, but not me. Religion does not work for me but I do not make fun of religious people. We are ALL different!
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Okay Lynn, so you believe in the Divine, capital "D." So what does that mean? And where do you think you go when you die, physically, and how will you look, and how long will you be there? Doing what? For what, eternity? Billions of years? Who else is going to be there? And how will they look or be or exist or present themselves? Are there bowling alleys and bars? Do you eat? Is there chocolate? Isn't this all a bit silly?
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I do believe in the Divine and in myself. I just believe in a different way :)
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Without God I have no idea where I would be today because I was being raped by brother-in-law for nine (9) years starting at the age of twelve (12) through the age of twenty-one (21) and I knew he was there to give me the strength to go through what I had to survive or I would have surely try to take my life because it seemed not worth living.
To me he was and still is omni present because I am him and he is me we are made in his image so if you do not believe in him then you don't believe in yourself.
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Grace, I respect your opinion and heartfelt belief as I hope you do mine. There are many paths that lead us to the Divine and we must each choose what our hearts tell us is our own truth. Thank you for sharing and I hope you can also see the beauty in others opinions.
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The gospel of Christ is quite simple, yet quite profound. God created man to love, to care for, and to have relationship with. Because of disobedience, man's relationship with God was severed and sin has been the separator ever since. Because God is holy and no impure thing can approach Him, there needed to be a mediator between God and man in order to repair the relationship. God sent His begotton Son, Jesus, to be that mediator. Because the life of man is in the blood (no blood, no life),the blood of man was tainted. Since blood had to be shed for the forgiveness of sin, God, Himself became our sacrifice and suffered humiliation and agony on a cross. His death was gruesome because that's what sin is to God. Because God loves us so much He went to extraordinary lengths to reconcile us to Himself. Jesus was in the grave for 3 days, and His resurrection and ascension was witnessed by over 500 people. I do not need to see Jesus stand before me to know He exists. there have been many times that He's come to my rescue miraculously since I came to faith in Him. You can choose to accept or reject his love for you and promises of eternal care, or reject them. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Valraven N. that is so beautiful, thanks for this share!
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