God - Paragraph 2

In the last blog Robert’s said, “In experience, God is not our ideas and thoughts of God; indeed, thought and experience are two totally different dimensions. In this blog she goes on to say that the word “God” is just a designator.

“As far as names go, God has no name, thus the term “God” is not a name. “God” simply designates (points to) the ultimate mystery of existence - as far as man can go, or beyond which, he knows of nothing that exists. Actually the term “God” is one of the broadest, most un-exclusive terms man ever came up with. All other terms - like “light,” “energy,” “source,” “bliss,” “love,” you name it, - are all exclusive terms describing an individual’s experience of God, terms, however, that are not what God is. Nobody knows “what” God is, we only know “that” God is - and this by revelation alone. As it is, the term “God” is so universally open-ended it is unlikely any two people in history have ever had the same rapport, experience, notion or understanding of the term. At the same time, everyone knows it refers or points to the ultimate mystery of all that exists. Those who avoid the term invariably suffer a deep seated prejudice or anger against somebody of something, after all, they can’t be against a God they never encountered. Their problem is not with God, but with people, maybe some overbearing religious parent - who knows?”

“The ultimate mystery of existence.” I’m going to sit with that small phrase for just a moment, breathing it in and out. As I sit and breathe there is one thing that comes to mind, I did not exist myself into being upon waking this morning. In other words I did not choose my existence, rather it is a gift given moment by moment. This recognition causes a cascade of questions centered around the proper use of this existence. Better yet, and what feels more accurate, is to ask how do I dance with this existence? Since it is given freely the question is not really about using it, but more how to align with it. 

This idea of alignment is how I am understanding Robert’s text, which leads me to another question: how is that alignment going? Again, as I sit with the idea of alignment and, by extension, the Mystery that exists me, a wide field of exploration opens before me. These explorations usually take the form of other questions, one being how do I know I am aligned with this that exists me? The second question is related, what practices can strengthen openness to both follow and yield to the alignment? 

As to the question “how is that alignment going?,” I must honestly answer that some days are better than others. But even in answering that question I am immediately brought to the next question “how do I know that I am aligned with this that exists me?” The short answer is there is just a deep knowing when alignment is present, a connection to a felt sense or inextricable knowing that has taken years to cultivate. Children often inhabit this alignment space quite naturally and as adults we recognize this capacity in children and their innocent ability to just be with what is. 

I know I sense this childlike alignment in watching my two-year old granddaughter. There is no striving on her part, just an organic, innate capacity to be existence expressing itself in each moment, and doing it unapologetically. Knowing we are aligned is a process, one that must be (re)learned as an adult. One way I think of this learning process is my habitual, mechanical patterning, that I have armoured with over the years, must be softened and eventually released. This process involves psychological work as well as psycho-spiritual work to compassionately touch into the unknown broken places of myself. 

This leads to the last question, “what practices can strengthen openness to both follow and yield to alignment?” As I ponder this question there is a sense that this is one movement. Something like two sides to one coin. One side shows following as yielding, I would not follow if yielding hadn’t pointed towards where to go. The other side shows yielding as following, I would not yield if following hadn’t set a course. The two sides reveal the aligned movement of ebb and flow.

So what practice might help me follow and yield to the ebb and flow of alignment? A couple things come to mind. First, there is the idea of slowing down. I can not yield or follow if I am moving so fast as to blow by the signposts of this journey. This speaks to me of intentionality. Am I in actual contact with my breath, my feet on the ground, and the felt sense of my inner world and the world around me? Another question may be, am I holding any tension in my body and, if so, why? Another practice is to just observe and welcome all that arises in me, both the pleasant and unpleasant. Particularly with the unpleasant, to not push it away but to actually allow myself to feel it.

At the end of the day the “ultimate mystery of existence” seems to be found in the very ordinary aspects of life. I’m finding I don’t really need to go anywhere to practice alignment, there is enough in each day to challenge my sense of balance. Some part of me understands that Mystery exists everything and that I am the one who becomes misaligned with this truth. What this means is more practice and more compassion and more following and more yielding. The journey never ends.