Attaining the God experience

The existence of God.

I had hoped to give you in my ebook some conclusive logical proof regarding the existence of of the Absolute and of the soul (or Atman or Self). But there are none.

Immanuel Kant - the German Philosopher - proved conclusively in the 19th century that we cannot hope to prove of disprove or know God through logic or the intellect. The arguments in his book - The Critique of Pure Reason - have not been countered till date. Osho Rajneesh describes the world into 3 categories: The known, the unknown and the unknowable. The known is our present state of knowledge about the world through the scientific method and through logic and reasoning. The unknown is that which we do not know now but will find out in time. However there is also the unknowable. This is something that can be experienced but can never be made into an object of knowledge. Language, reasoning, logic and concepts are useless to either experience the unknowable or to communicate that experience to others. The unknowable can be termed as God.

God - or the unknowable - cannot be made into the object of knowledge. But It can be experienced.

So what is the implication of all this for us. We can give up hopes of spiritual life and become completely materialistic, living for the moment and for this life only. We can refuse to believe or trust in any knowledge that is not conclusively proved by the science of the moment, or we can explore the mystical, experiential methods of Eastern Philosophy and meditation to come to an understanding based on our own experience of God.

The Buddha had a stock response to the many philosophical questions went to him. He would refuse to discuss them and would invite the questioners to find out for themselves. Come and see for yourself was his answer. Walk the path that I have trodden, have that much trust in me, and then all your questions about the nature of the Universe, the existence of God and soul and the life will be answered.

Swami Vivekananda also speaks of the need to walk the path and do the meditation practices before dismissing the claims and the worldview of Eastern Philosophy. He urges you to not reject Eastern philosophy out of hand. Do the meditation practices, follow the techniques and then if you do not get the experiences that the sages and mystics have been talking about, then and then only are you entitled to reject these claims. The experience of God will remove all doubts.

There is a simple comparison that will make this clear to you. Albert Einstein discovered the Theory of Relativity. This knowledge now belongs to the world. Einstein has now made it unnecessary for anyone else to discover the Theory of Relativity because he has already done so and has communicated the knowledge through language, logic and reasoning. But the state of mind attained by the Buddha cannot be transferred to you through words, or reasoning or logic. The Buddha’s state of mind is based on an experience of the unknowable. It cannot be transferred or communicated. We need to walk on the same path as the Buddha did in order to gain his understanding and his realization of God.

The Buddha’s understanding is based on a sense of being. It is based on his personal experience. It is not conceptual knowledge that may or may not make a difference in our lives. It is an experience that transforms us from the inside out. That is what the God experience will do for us.

And following the path of Eastern philosophy can help us to not just gain an understanding of ourselves and of the world. It also helps us in our day to day life, in each moment of our lives. It helps us to deal with our day to day frustrations, the demands of our jobs our businesses, in dealing with stress or with addictions. It can help us in our relationships - both at the workplace and in our family life and social circle. It enables us to gain a better understanding of ourselves and to be more accepting of ourselves. It will free us from the tyranny of our wants and desires; we will no longer be mindlessly caught up in caring for ourselves and our needs. It helps us to deal with our negative feelings – we will no large be subject to our passions such as fear, anger, hatred, depression, a sense of inferiority and much else. In short we will be free of ourselves and the fretful ego. We will be able to look at the world – as the Chinese say – with eyes unclouded by longing. Again this is what the God experience will do for us. Even if we do not attain it the benefits are there at every step of the path and we will be more and more free of the fretful ego as we continue the journey.

If you think of it, what good have your philosophical and religious beliefs done us? You may attend church or go to a temple regularly. We may revere such religious figures like Jesus Christ or the Buddha as messengers of God. But has that really made a difference in the way we live. Does our worldview or our philosophy help us to deal with our day to day frustrations? Does this philosophy come to mind and guide us in our moments of crisis? Does it influence us and our actions when we are in the grip of strong feelings like fear, rage, greed or hatred? If not we need to be making some changes in our lives.

Does your worldview or philosophy give you the self-mastery to live according to what we know to be good and ethical. If not then our beliefs are just creating a division within us. We believe one thing in theory and act in another way in practice. This leaves us feeling guilty and bad about ourselves and also we find that we need to suffer the results of our impulsive actions.

At present we find that we are completely in the grip of our duties, our wants, needs and desires and our feelings. We cannot even take a holiday without carrying our troubles with us. The practical affairs of day to day life no longer serve humanity but tyrannize over them.

Taking up a meditation practice will free us from this tyranny. It will result in a gradual dawning of wisdom and understanding – of ourselves, of the world we live in, of our place in this world and our duties. The key word is gradual. This is not a multiplication table that we can memorize and master in a few minutes. This is a state of being and it takes time for us to grow. Making this journey to the God experience or the mystical experience is the most worthwhile thing in life.

If you think of such mundane day to day skills, like learning the Japanese language for example, we do not expect to master the language in a few days or a few weeks why then should an understanding of ourselves and our relationship with the world be different. We need to make time for our reading and thinking and our meditation practice and give ourselves time to grow and mature. It will take patience to grow to the God experience.

But the understanding will arise. Think of a cyclone or hurricane. There are tremendous wind speeds when a cyclone occurs but there is also the eye of the cyclone where all is calm. Such will be your position in dealing with practical matters when you grow in your meditation practice. You will have great strength and effectiveness in dealing with your affairs but at the center you will be calm and unmoved.

We do not need to renounce life or become monks in a monastery. We can live out our work a day life, enjoy our social activities and other comforts and pleasures. But the difference will be that we will be that we will be the masters of our lives and our activities and not an unwilling steed.

It is right to consider our material needs but do not make them the only thing that you care about. Give yourselves to the practice of meditation and philosophy also. Give God also His rightful place in your life.

Look at it this way all our wants and needs and hopes and activities are for the moment only. Now they occupy all our attention but in a few days or moments or years we will be thinking about something else entirely. And we ourselves are on this planet for a few short years only. What will we do when death comes and all we have to show for our lives is a lifetime of empty activity to fulfill needs and desires that were only for the moment. Instead of that make the journey now to God or the mystical experience.

A close reading of this ebook and following the instructions will lead you to something for more valuable, and lasting – an growing understanding of our own selves and our relationship with the universe. In this ebook I will explain:

1) Quantum physics and its discoveries and its impact on the way we look at the world. The whole Universe is a manifestation of God.

2) The Buddhist concepts of impermanence and how it changes our perceptions.

3) The Hindu concepts of Brahman (God) and Atman (self). Hindus philosophy assures us that we are not the Body or the Mind or the Intellect. We are something more than that. I will explain the practical guidance we can gain from this in leading our lives.

This will impact all areas of our lives – our relationship, our jobs and businesses, dealing with stress and addictions, our relationship with ourselves. We will gain poise and self-confidence, deal with anger in a better way, deal with death and loss of loved ones. It will change the entire way that we look at and perceive the world.

I have referred to God many times on this page. If you do not like the word because it has uncomfortable associations for you please substitute the word with the term - mystical experience. It means the same as Union with God.

On to the next chapter on Using the material:

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