"i am god" stuff

I characterize God as something that gives life (in this case, humanity) the ability to achieve wonderful goals. This is how I distinguish a God from a deity and a deity from a non-deity. The Earth does give humans potential but all the potential (and more) of Earth comes from the Sun. In this aspect I believe the Creator (the Sun) created the Creation (humans), and the Creation (humans) gave purpose to the Creator (the Sun). I believe divinity goes both ways; without life there could be no divinity but without the Omniverse there wouldn’t be anything at all.

When someone says, “I am God.” I immediately think of the left-handed path. Typically spiritual left-handedness is associated with believing that anyone can be God and develop a worship to and from thyself. See, religions can go in three different directions. One; they can worship a dualistic God, and believe that only spirit is validated. Two; they can worship a natural God, and believe in monism. Or three, they go can the left-handed path (be monist or dualist) and ultimately worship themselves. I believe in the second. One of my dearest Christian friends believes that I worship the Creation rather than the Creator, but I see many avenues to which anything can become a Creator. From becoming a parent to providing a service or product from your job, you are both a Creation and a Creator.

I don’t believe that one person by today’s standards could be considered a God. Not Trump, not Mark Cuban, not even Bill Gates. Nobody is God. I see things as deities and a God in part because of what potential they give life. What they really mean by saying, “I am God” is “I have control over my life”. They see right-handed religions as a scheme to control weak-minded individuals. I used to think we were all God, and even had a chant which only line is, “We are God”, but I’ve come to realize that if you deify everything it loses its luster.

As far as the difference between monist and dualist Satanists, I like to split them up to two camps. LaVeyan Satanists who don’t believe in Hell, Satan, or even a God and are typically monists. The second being Luciferians, who believe in Hell, Satan, God, and the duality of existence. Both have similar goals. They both want to achieve greater self-awareness and value things like science and progress very much, but their approach to almost any other subject is completely different. I was part of a forum that someone convinced me that I was a Luciferian because of my view on theosis. I wore that Luciferian title for maybe a few hours before someone else came to the chat room and set me straight about “true” Luciferianism.

See, I don’t view theosis as something that one person can achieve by himself. That’s glorifying a weakness; self-isolation. Only can a society achieve a greater good by together being examples of divine thought. This is why I prefer the saying “We are God” over “I am God”. It means so much more if our bloodlines become the ancestors to a divine essence that carries the fruit of our creations. Even the Omniverse couldn’t be divine without our compensation. Without the specks of wisdom and benevolence our species has shown, God wouldn’t have a reason to exist. It would just “be” and everything in it would just “be”. The physical mind (the brain) has given control to exert extropy in the mist of a decaying Universe. If we don’t fix this, soon everything will be too-far in entropy to be reconciled with.

… uuhh, what were we talking about again?

I recommend “A God That Could Be Real: Spirituality, Science and the Future of Our Planet.” (2015( By Nancy Ellen Abrams. Her view is of an emergent God, which is Man’s hope, aspirations and creativity. She believes Man created God, that this God evolved and is a part of every human being. Her God did not create the universe and is not the universe itself, but is Man’s evolving interactions with his natural environment.

IMHO each individual has a unique calling … the word “calling” in this context means “purpose”.

Like a Hollywood blockbuster … some individuals have high profile … visible … roles … the majority work ‘behind the curtain’ so to speak … nameless and invisible … at least to the viewers.

Bringing our unique purpose into our individual consciousness demands humility and patience.

Humility is the called one’s salute to the caller’s superiority.

Patience is the called one’s salute to the caller’s authority.

​Anything less is the called one’s attempt to usurp the caller’s superiority and authority … a path chosen by many despite the path being fraught with peril.

Tom,

How do you live a half-life (between humanity and Divinity)?

WD

For me … adherents to the suggestions in my previous post are not compelled to live a “half life” for their entire life … at a certain point in their lives they become “one” with the Divine.

The suggestions in my previous post are an echo of the Garden of Eden story … an echo of the NT Beatitudes story … an echo of the ancient Chinese philosophy … Wu Wei … so exquisitely explained in English by SuperChakra … “Rather than making things happen, you sit in the back seat and observe yourself doing things without motivation, effort or stress.”

tom,

What is God’s purpose for you ( other than helping me and this lot here)?

He’s been specific with me, but my skills and his timing are at odds thus far. Guess I’m not too pro on doing the traveling prophet old school thing either. I get the ‘she’s bonkers looks’ in person when I am not aligned with Him and it’s ever so much worse via long distance communication. He’s intimidating (and that’s putting it gently) and when I have aligned with Him, the way strangers reveal themselves to ‘Us’ makes me poop my pants a bit. His timing is freaky. It’s all overwhelmingly intricate and I have no idea what happens as I move on when He directs it. Right now, He has set me to the task of convincing atheistic philosophers who are all at odds with one another to join together on His behalf for only He knows what. This would make for a ridiculously funny screenplay.

First, let me acknowledge that I have received much more from ILP members than I have given … yourself included.

For example … I now know what to do when a person threatens to come after me with a pitch fork. Run like hell!

My purpose? I don’t know and at my age it doesn’t much matter … if I’m not going in the right direction I’ll soon be out
of time … too late to change horses now.

OTH … that might explain my recent affection for the ancient Chinese sage Zhuang Zi … he said … paraphrasing … “I don’t know … with any degree of certainty … that I don’t know.” … a subtle profundity?

I’ll share the image(message) that came to me after reading the above paragraph … share … no claim that the image is correct.

An image of a toddler … at the crawling stage of life. The toddler knows … through observation and intuition … that life is more interesting for those who can walk. With courage and determination one day the toddler manages to stand erect … without support … the toddler wabbles a bit and falls down. With a refill of courage and determination one day the toddler manages two consecutive steps … wabbles and falls down again. Eventually the toddler learns to manage the art of walking.

When you get to this stage in your spiritual journey … manage the art of walking … be careful not to develop a swagger!

Cont’d

Thoughts on “align with the Divine”

Greek Orthodoxy labels it theosis … keep in mind the initiators of this theory are careful to add … the human person does not merge with some sort of impersonal divine force, losing individual identity or consciousness.

Let me share a personal experience that helped me to understand this notion of “align with the Divine” … from a Buddhist perspective … I think.

About 20 years ago a gentleman who i was told had considerable experience with spiritual matters asked me a question:
What did the Guru do after achieving Nirvana?

Since at the time I was a neophyte on spiritual matters … I had no inkling of his motivation for posing the question nor any idea how to respond.
After what seemed to be a long pregnant pause … silence during a conversation always seems longer … he said … “He chops wood”
Internally, I accepted his answer at face value and decided after becoming a mystic I would find a large wood pile and start chopping wood.

After long reflection it seems to me there are 3 stages to "alignment with the Divine:

1. A long and difficult ascent to the Divine. Countless people start this ascent … very very few people reach the summit. For me completion is by invitation only.
2. A very brief communion with the Divine … very very brief.
3. A rapid descent back to humanity … the mundane/profane life as a human.

Life is never the same though … no wood pile … simply a return to your then existing station in life.
The only difference being you are now an instrument of the Divine. Like a member of a large symphony orchestra … no solo performance … yet … the music would not be the same without one of the members.

No more need for discernment … detachment … surrender. You simply know what to do in all circumstances.

You are such a romantic tom.

“No discernment”??

I’m pretty sure that you have to keep thinking until you die.

Read Abrams’ short book for a down to Earth view of God that can resolve the science vs religion controversy. Getting immersed in Eastern religious philosophy will not do it. There is a god within, which each person can know.

tom wrote

tom, you are not terribly old physically and your soul is eternal. Change horses?

I absolutely agree Phyllo

OTH … exercising ingrained habits don’t seem to require any thought(s)

Hi tom.

Irrellus … are you of the opinion Eastern people(s) don’t believe there is a god within which each person can know?

Let me share a personal experience.

Several years ago I learned the Chinese expression “Dao De” … an expression known perhaps by 1 billion+ Chinese people. I never really understood why the notion underpinning this expression was taught to virtually all young Chinese people?

I associated the words “Dao” and “De” with Lao Tzu’s philosophy yet the Chinese people I met seem to know very little about Lao Tzu or his philosophy. For me … quite an enigma.

One day my wife Huang Hui uttered the expression in conversation … for the first time in about 8 years of marriage. I suppose this utterance prompted me to raise the issue with a young Chinese girl (16 years old) who I was helping to improve her English. This young girl was on her way to a Christian high school in America and she gave me the impression she knew almost nothing about Christianity.

I asked her the meaning of the Chinese expression “Dao De” … she looked at me kind of puzzled and replied … I can’t explain.

I understood her response to mean her English language skills were insufficient to explain such a complex notion. I can’t remember if I mentioned my interpretation of her response … in any event she started to address the question again.

She put her hand over her heart and said … it is written on my heart. I was blown away! Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible … I will write my laws on their hearts?

Technically it is the conscious soul(body/mind) rather than the heart which is an Earthly romantic notion. Sorry tom, continue, you will reach more of these folks than Ecmandu and I for you speak to goodness in a way they can understand.

Good morning WD

My birth circumstances made me a member of the RC church … I am OK with wearing the “robe” to my funeral.

RC church? _______Catholic?

… one instance involving one individual is obviously not very convincing … my intention is not to convince … only to suggest a direction to look in. Telling people … who decide to look in a direction proposed … what to see … Buddhists call “unskilled”.

On with my proposed direction.

About 400 years ago a Jesuit Missionary who spent his adult life in China … at some point during his life in China he went out on a limb and suggested to his superiors in the Vatican in Rome that the Chinese people already know the Christian God. Needless to say this likely went over like a shit sandwich! Such heresy!!

Matteo Ricci en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Ricci

Again … about 400 years ago his application for Sainthood was blocked by the Vatican … likely in no small part for his heretic thoughts.

A few years ago his application for Sainthood was put back on the table. Recently Pope Francis applauded his “intuition” … whatever that means.

One person’s heretic is another person’s savior. Merlin told me the RC, Roman, ah! Gotcha.