Are we God?

[The732]

I am reading a book right now that suggests that we are God. It says that God is in everything and is experiencing everything. We do not realize that we are God and that we are all connected in a way. The "BOOK" says that god is playing hide and seek with himself, in everything and everyone. "That is why it is so difficult for you and me to find out that we are God in disguise, pretending not to be himself. But when the game has gone on long enough, all of us will wake up, stop pretending, and remember that we are all one single Self- the God who is all that there is and who lives for ever and ever."

"God also likes to play hide-and-seek, but because there is nothing outside God, he has no one but himself to play with." "He pretends that he is you and I and all the people in the world, all the animals, all the plants, all the rocks, and all the stars. In this way he has strange and wonderful adventures, some of which are terrible and frightening. But these are just like bad dreams, for when he wakes up they will disappear."

There are many more great passages in this book. I would suggest to anyone that they start reading this. The book is "The Book" "on the taboo against knowing who you are" by Alan Watts.

[youngvr4]

5 %, thats how they think, an off breed of the muslim religion

[Ridenour]

That book you're talking about sounds kind of weird, but I figuired as long as we're talking about people thinking they're god - Satanists kind of do. They worship themselves. In Satanism, all beings are equal, no god or entity is greater then any man. So I guess you could say they think they're god considering they worship themselves. I'm not Satanic or anything, so if you really wanted to know how they think, you'd have to go do some research.

[-Davo]

Interesting...

Made me think, and I was just about to post a food for thought about a topic similar to this too...

[stoned_pimp420]

Man if I were god, the entire world would be nothing but a whole bunch of stoners and I wouldn't be in rehab. But that's just my thoughts!

[sivic02]

Originally Posted by stoned_pimp420

Man if I were god, the entire world would be nothing but a whole bunch of stoners and I wouldn't be in rehab. But that's just my thoughts!

Wow, ever read the first post? I do like to smoke every now and then, but damn I hope you never wind up being in charge of any group of people.

[dirtydx]

check this out http://www.whatthebleep.com/crystals/

[RickwithaTbird]

proof that even God plays with himself.

[R.S. Vlady]

Originally Posted by sivic02

Wow, ever read the first post? I do like to smoke every now and then, but damn I hope you never wind up being in charge of any group of people.

I think some of you guys are missing the point here. Alan Watts is a renowned Zen scholar. He doesn't use God in the elementary, monotheistic, kind of way. No one thing is God, especially not some bearded dude up in the sky judging people. This kind of conception of the external, judgemental God (as seen in Christianity, Islam, Judaism. ect.) is largely a product of the political uses (misuses) of faith. This linear programming that takes place in the minds of western children, especially in religious families may seem convenient for the purposes of structuring a belief system for the society to follow (i.e. God, sin, good, evil, etc.) but it teaches us nothing about Reality. Seeing religious furvor today, you may notice that the paradigm in the West has not changed since the middle ages.

Alan Watts is talking about enlightenment, enlightenment through meditation and learning; or if your mind is to rigid you may try LSD, but be careful. Spirituality, philosohy, and faith are one, as they should be, as everything should be. An astronomer at the University of Kentucky once said that life is the way for the universe to become aware of its own existence. If you read western philosohers like Nietzchce, followed by existencialists such as Jean Paul Sartre; if you read "Darma Bums"; if you read the "Elegant Universe" about super string theory, and then read Alan Watts, maybe some other books on Zen, you will find that these different contemplations about reality converge on beautiful unity and interconnectedness between thoughts and matter, between animate and inanimate, between us and the universe, etc. Then and only then can we begin the think about the meaning of God. God is you, but not just you, because it is also me. It is everyone and everything, for things in themselves are no mystery, it is their union that's mysterious to us. You, by virtue of being alive, make things alive. Otherwise the world does not exist. Etc, etc. I don't want to degrade the sanctity of this thought by my endless rambling. The very basic, and somewhat crude, exercise of mind that might bring us closer to god, closer to ourselves, closer to seeing beyond abstractions, words, and names such as "God," can be found in a rather interesting film called "What the 'bleep' do we know."

[TaNK_Em]

Originally Posted by RickwithaTbird

proof that even God plays with himself.

Hahahahaha damn right he does.

- Kevin

[dirtydx]

R.S. Vlady I like where you're going... but realize this, you're also saying that enlightenment is reserved for those with phd's and supreme intelligence. With every step forward we take, we also have to take one backwards. So ask yourself, what do all these words and LSD trips mean to the average idiot.

[R.S. Vlady]

Originally Posted by dirtydx

R.S. Vlady I like where you're going... but realize this, you're also saying that enlightenment is reserved for those with phd's and supreme intelligence. With every step forward we take, we also have to take one backwards. So ask yourself, what do all these words and LSD trips mean to the average idiot.

For the average idiot LSD trip = a dinosaur with Elvis on its back.

You bring up important point, impossiblity of communication. Political arguments are a good example, you can't convince someone of opposing political views to all of a sudden share your own. People seem to have to agree beforehand in order to reach agreement in an argument. Nothing I say about my point of view on reality, god, etc., will mean much to people who don't share a similar point or experience to begin with.

[RickwithaTbird]

Thats all a load of bullshit.

just kidding. Its a really neat concept, but the whole thing about hide and seek? I agree, someone had an LSD trip for sure.

An interesting idea was that just by existing, you make up the whole universe. I like toying with that idea, becuase theres a lot to imagine. If you didnt exist, you wouldn't know about that, and it would be like it didnt exist. But how can you not exist? If you don't exist, then there is no you to be non existant. We have to exist. I just proved it. We all exist because we have to. Damn, Im a genius. If I said that 200 years ago, I would be in history books today. Too bad I didnt exist then. damn.