What is "God"?

Recently, I had an insight on the nature of “God” or “god essence.” I like the phrase “god essence” a little better, because when we refer to the concept of “God,” we use that word as if it were a name and then quite naturally associate with it a human image. Personally, I don’t believe that “God” is remotely similar to human beings--or at all like the “old man with a long white beard” that you see in Michelangelo’s and other classic artists’ work.

Perhaps my insight came from the beliefs of Buddhism and maybe even Hinduism, although I am not studied enough in their teachings to know. Regardless of the origin, I have this strong sense that first, “God” is less of a “being” and more of a concept or force. I see this force, or “god essence” to be in the form of energy or consciousness that is, in fact, the purest form of divine love. It is not necessarily something to be seen, touched or even smelled, although it may sometimes show itself that way. Most importantly, this “god essence,” this “pure divine love consciousness,” is found at the very core of every living being on earth. That means that at the deepest, most sacred inner place, the very “essence” of one’s being--to include plants, animals and everything in between--there is god essence. The “seed,” if you will, of our “isness” is, in fact, our “god essence” and is pure consciousness that is truth and love. This seed is part of all other seeds of life all rolled into one (the many are one), as well as a connective “tissue” of consciousness that expands across the entire planet and perhaps the whole universe and all other universes. Like a single drop of water in an ocean, so is our “god essence” within this single, infinite consciousness. This also suggests that we ourselves--as well as each plant, animal and other living creature--ARE GOD. That as we get to know ourselves on a deeper, more innate level, we are actually getting to know our “god essence” and getting closer to the truth of our being. And if we embody god within ourselves, then the old mantra “your body is a temple,” has an entirely new and profound meaning. Our physical bodies truly become temples for the protection and honoring of our god essence that is the core of our being, and thus we must care for them so.

Additionally, this theory suggests that we never need to leave ourselves to connect with source energy or the being that is known as “God.” We have access at any time, anywhere, because it is within ourselves. We also have access to this collective consciousness, or universal god essence/source energy, and can enter it through our own god essence no matter our circumstance or location. I believe that this theory allows for each person to own their connection to such source energy, so that they don’t feel obligated to go through cumbersome rituals or connect to “God” through priests or other highly trained spiritual individuals. This will, however, cause a challenge to those spiritual teachings that rely heavily on a human-like God figure who makes decisions and experiences emotions similar to human beings, as this may counter some thoughts on sin, heaven, hell and the concept of redemption. It also renders spiritual leaders less powerful, which will, most likely, be the most challenging part to accept on a wide scale.

However, for the individual soul--particularly those who may not have access to great spiritual guides or traditional forms of education--the assertion that they have direct access to all the wisdom they could ever want innately within themselves and need no other being to connect with it, will hopefully mean freedom. I see this message as one that is truly “democratic” but also communal. Each being is part of a much greater whole and the power of our god essence has an impact on that whole, which means that each action we take impacts the entire world...and maybe even the universe. Thus, we must treat ourselves, each other and all living beings, like god. Because we truly are--at our core--made of god essence.

Thou Art God.