Who is God to you?

I hope saying this doesn't reserve me a deep, dark, very, very hot place in hell ...

At least you wont be alone ... nor stuck in a room with encyclopedia editors for the rest of eternity.

I have to agree. And whether there is a God or not, it is immaterial. It is the journey in front of you that counts. Each next step as it happens ought to be your God, or your offering to humanity.

You can be a smart BK or a dumb BK, you can be a smart non-BK or a dumb non-BK. What matters? Whether you are smart or dumb, and for "smart or dumb" substitute 'kind or callous', 'sensitive or arrogant', 'moral or corrupt' what ever you want.

This references the topic What's wrong with Bhakti?. On some Bhakti Margs, devotees call one another Prahbu, short for Lord, God or Master in order to change their behavior. Its not true in my case but it is a nice concept, seeing the God in everyone.

It's quite possible that it's the 'God' in humans which separates us from all the other lifeforms on this planet and its this 'God' part of us from which the whole idea of God has come from.

Great Answer Neo.

Do you feel that animals are also separate though? I'd be interested to hear your viewpoint as I feel that we are co-creators with Divinity and so I am wondering what role animals can play in that ... Ta much ...

Hello guys, I agree with both of you especially

we are co-creators with Divinity

it's the 'God' in humans which separates us from all the other lifeforms on this planet and its this 'God' part of us from which the whole idea of God has come from

I guess it's the word separates which may be the essence of paulkershaw's question? Personally, I'd have used e.g. distinguishes, in the sense that we have a God-like/God-given consciousness which I feel makes us different from animals.

On the other hand, our lives and indeed our destiny are interwoven/interconnected with the whole of creation whether animate or inanimate. I was reading just yesterday that St Francis of Assisi identified very much with this last point - see e.g. his famous "creation canticle".

Best wishes to you both ...

Thanks paulkershaw and hi pilatus.

Humans being different from other life forms is a common theme in spirituality, and as with all abstract things I don’t know for sure. What I believe is that they are going through the same evolutionary process as us but we are by far the most complex and advanced. What seems to separate us from other mammals is the cerebral cortex. This seems to give us superior organizational abilities over information and observation. It also seems to give us unique defects such as denial.

In regards to the spirit of us and other life forms my best guess is if there is a spirit, and I think there is some aspect of consciousness that survives death, then it also goes through some form of change, probably evolution and that probably all intelligent life forms have some form of spirit. I won’t be surprised to find out, when I finally cross over, to find inanimate matter to also have some form of spirit.

Ever ask a SS if animals have souls?

Hello again bro neo - I'd agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Regarding human consciousness, I've heard Bob Proctor (of Born Rich fame) repeatedly typify the extra level of human awareness/knowledge with the phrase "You know that you know".

On the subject of animals and souls, I am also more inclined towards the Buddhist view and did discuss your question with my favourite head of centre. I am not sure that animals have souls in the way that we do (and maybe I'll never know that, at least not until I reincarnate as a llama) but they certainly have animate spirit which is an expression of divine energy/vibration/shabd/Holy Spirit ...

By the way - cool avatar, might have chosen it myself if it wasn't already taken ...

Just in case there is any doubt about pilatus's future re-incarnation, this is a picture of the wholly enlightened Dalai LLama

Thanks ex-I - loved it lots.

Funnily enough, llamas and alpacas are a bit of a theme here at the moment. This weekend we saw some near Shaftesbury and my boss took a good picture of some near here in Wiltshire. God's obviously got something cool lined up for me whether in this life or the next - always fancied the High Andes, but never even been to the southern hemisphere ... :D.

Hi,

My recent experiences would suggest that there is indeed a God. That one will not come to you and perform tricks for the benefit of your doubts. We have to work for such attention, respect even.

You will be touched, contacted, communicated with directly, leaving you in no doubt as to the message, if that one wants to communicate with you, or something to you. We are all given the same ingredients to work with, this has been made clear. What we do with them is up to the individual.

Some may even be frustrated at the rate of progress, but it may be so that others who have still to take can take and be given a chance. We are all entitled to a chance. What we do with it depends on the individual.

One thing is for sure. The most "elevated" souls are currently subdued and lack self-respect as a result of their past. I wonder how long "GOD" will let this remain so.

Things will happen fast.
Love *

Hi sparkal, welcome back to the Forum! You said;

Things will happen fast.

Probably, being an environmentalist not because of catastrophism, I always thought that the day the Planet really stars to shake with natural calamities, plus wars and economic crisis, many Kumbakarnas will awaken. So, I appreciate the point Baba makes about getting ready NOW, as one cannot expect to win a race without training !!

So, powers, virtues, capacity to face, to leave the body, to remain peaceful, have to developed gradually, whilst in this "permanent students condition". When the flag with "the end" is up, it will be too late, sorry! I find this preparation time, exciting.