No-Thing

[Starman]

No-Thing

That which many call “God” is not a thing, not a distinct entity or object, at least in my belief. Because things have boundaries
and borders, they are objects. I remember when I was first learning to meditate and after a brief meditation practice the instructor
asked people what did they experience and one student said “I experienced nothing” and the instruction, with a smile on his face,
said “exactly!”

Some students quit doing meditation because they experienced nothing. It is rather difficult for some people to exist as nothing.
It is hard for some to do nothing. Silence can really irritate some people, but it is in silence that we find nothing and everything
is contained in nothing.

When you have nothing you have the potential for everything; when you have something all you have is that thing but when you
have nothing the possibilities are endless. In truth there is no such thing as nothing. When that one divine presence is everywhere
there is no place where that presence is not; there is no place where nothing exists.

As we go through a spiritual unfolding nothing is added to what we already have; it is just a matter of being able to express what
was already within us. What is already in you, and has always been in you, comes out. We already have everything. In spiritual
development we acquire a finer sense of feeling that which we did not previously feel.

Nature conceals nothing from us; the veil hiding truth is but our own ignorance. Our being is one with everything, but to be here
and not even know that you are present everywhere is also a miracle; a unique specialized experience. Although the human senses
are coarse when compared to the very fine fabric of pure spirit; spirit can be so fine that it feels like nothing.

Spirit is soft and supple yet it is the strong force that overcomes all other forces. When we were born we were very fine but as
we grew we started defining things and lost our fine-ness; so we had to find ourselves again, that fine-ness that we are at our core,
and when we find ourselves once again we’re fine. To those who are enmeshed in worldly civilization the feel of spirit can be as nothing.

Silence has a very thick, rich and intoxicating presence, if we nurture it and allow ourselves to go deeper into it. Silence is not nothing.
It blankets the universe and is the backdrop to noise. Silence is always with us; another word for silence is “peace.”
To have inner silence all you have to do is remove the noise. To have everything all you have to do is let go to nothing.

[John32241]

Hi,

I agree. What we define as the one God is not an entity. It is that loving energy field present in all things.

Star Wars description of the Force is the closest explanation for God I can find.

John

Like reading sunshine...

Beautiful.

Thank you, Starman.

Namaste,

JL

Hello janiele,

Thank you for putting this thread in your signature so I could find it.

Hello Starman,

I deeply resonate from "experience" to what you wrote.

Enjoy!

[Anala]

Originally Posted by Starman

No-Thing

That which many call “God” is not a thing, not a distinct entity or object, at least in my belief. Because things have boundaries
and borders, they are objects. I remember when I was first learning to meditate and after a brief meditation practice the instructor
asked people what did they experience and one student said “I experienced nothing” and the instruction, with a smile on his face,
said “exactly!”

Some students quit doing meditation because they experienced nothing. It is rather difficult for some people to exist as nothing.
It is hard for some to do nothing. Silence can really irritate some people, but it is in silence that we find nothing and everything
is contained in nothing.

When you have nothing you have the potential for everything; when you have something all you have is that thing but when you
have nothing the possibilities are endless. In truth there is no such thing as nothing. When that one divine presence is everywhere
there is no place where that presence is not; there is no place where nothing exists.

As we go through a spiritual unfolding nothing is added to what we already have; it is just a matter of being able to express what
was already within us. What is already in you, and has always been in you, comes out. We already have everything. In spiritual
development we acquire a finer sense of feeling that which we did not previously feel.

Nature conceals nothing from us; the veil hiding truth is but our own ignorance. Our being is one with everything, but to be here
and not even know that you are present everywhere is also a miracle; a unique specialized experience. Although the human senses
are coarse when compared to the very fine fabric of pure spirit; spirit can be so fine that it feels like nothing.

Spirit is soft and supple yet it is the strong force that overcomes all other forces. When we were born we were very fine but as
we grew we started defining things and lost our fine-ness; so we had to find ourselves again, that fine-ness that we are at our core,
and when we find ourselves once again we’re fine. To those who are enmeshed in worldly civilization the feel of spirit can be as nothing.

Silence has a very thick, rich and intoxicating presence, if we nurture it and allow ourselves to go deeper into it. Silence is not nothing.
It blankets the universe and is the backdrop to noise. Silence is always with us; another word for silence is “peace.”
To have inner silence all you have to do is remove the noise. To have everything all you have to do is let go to nothing.

Thank you so much for this beautiful concept!

[BigJohn]

God created man in his image or was it mankind created God/god/Gods/gods in their image?

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Starman

No-Thing

That which many call “God” is not a thing, not a distinct entity or object, at least in my belief. Because things have boundaries
and borders, they are objects. I remember when I was first learning to meditate and after a brief meditation practice the instructor
asked people what did they experience and one student said “I experienced nothing” and the instruction, with a smile on his face,
said “exactly!”

Some students quit doing meditation because they experienced nothing. It is rather difficult for some people to exist as nothing.
It is hard for some to do nothing. Silence can really irritate some people, but it is in silence that we find nothing and everything
is contained in nothing.

When you have nothing you have the potential for everything; when you have something all you have is that thing but when you
have nothing the possibilities are endless. In truth there is no such thing as nothing. When that one divine presence is everywhere
there is no place where that presence is not; there is no place where nothing exists.

As we go through a spiritual unfolding nothing is added to what we already have; it is just a matter of being able to express what
was already within us. What is already in you, and has always been in you, comes out. We already have everything. In spiritual
development we acquire a finer sense of feeling that which we did not previously feel.

Nature conceals nothing from us; the veil hiding truth is but our own ignorance. Our being is one with everything, but to be here
and not even know that you are present everywhere is also a miracle; a unique specialized experience. Although the human senses
are coarse when compared to the very fine fabric of pure spirit; spirit can be so fine that it feels like nothing.

Spirit is soft and supple yet it is the strong force that overcomes all other forces. When we were born we were very fine but as
we grew we started defining things and lost our fine-ness; so we had to find ourselves again, that fine-ness that we are at our core,
and when we find ourselves once again we’re fine. To those who are enmeshed in worldly civilization the feel of spirit can be as nothing.

Silence has a very thick, rich and intoxicating presence, if we nurture it and allow ourselves to go deeper into it. Silence is not nothing.
It blankets the universe and is the backdrop to noise. Silence is always with us; another word for silence is “peace.”
To have inner silence all you have to do is remove the noise. To have everything all you have to do is let go to nothing.

I just e-mailed this to a spiritual buddy because it is such a beautiful, clear expression of the Reality.

Thank you for sharing !

[Shivani Devi]

In my belief, God can be an entity or an object, but is in no way confined to or defined by that concept!

Whatever representation of the Divine Consciousness resonates with me personally (Mahadeva), is the conduit through which transcendence can be actualised. I understand that saying "God is not a thing/being" also places human limitations, restrictions and conditions upon an omnipotent presence...in that God can be a thing IF God wanted to appear as such. In Hinduism, this is called Ishwara (Easwara) or the Ishta Dewata.

As for "nothingness"...I prefer the term "everything-ness" or even the Buddhist term Tathātā or Such-ness, where everything just is because it is and for no other reason. The terms "nothingness" and "void" just sound too cold, impersonal and off-putting for me personally and would not be conducive with a motive for starting a spiritual practice....especially for a newbie or anybody who has problems doing something just for the sake of doing it..because that usually comes as the result of meditation, rather than being a necessary prerequisite for it.

However, there are many ways of approaching the crux of the Eternal...from Vedanta, to Bhakti Yoga to the Sāṃkhya schools of thought (which I personally subscribe to):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya

The Sāṃkhya school is a strongly dualist one and the main proponent of it was Patanjali who codified Yoga into His Yoga Sutras/Aphorisms which propounded the concept of "Ishwara Pranidhana" or "Surrender to God" - having the ability to bypass/subdue the ego through surrender to something beyond or greater than what the ego is and "nothing" seems to nullify the whole point of doing that.

These are just my own thoughts and experiences based upon my chosen path..others will have different ones and in no way am I saying this is conclusive ...it is just what I have chosen to believe and follow..

[running]

god is not a person, place, or thing. experienced as bliss and silence.

but i agree with shivani devi that it can manifest as a being and being in contact with that, her or him depending upon the manifestation can bring us to it.

for me its been mostly about bliss and silence and diving deeper into that. although i have expereinces with beings at times that bring me deeper into that. and their presence is simply amazing.

[running]

Originally Posted by John32241

Hi,

I agree. What we define as the one God is not an entity. It is that loving energy field present in all things.

Star Wars description of the Force is the closest explanation for God I can find.

John

agreed. but equally good example. The schwartz is in you! mell brooks space balls.