From the beginning of recorded time humans have looked outward for a force greater than themselves. In the process of identifying or defining the Gods “out there” somewhere in “yonder heavens” these gods have taken on strangely human characteristics which, in most cases, have not only been extensions of the illusions of the time but are only unique in their size and quantity. In other words the characteristics assigned to God are just bigger and better versions of the nature of the humans who have created them. It is as if in our limited thinking or limited language we can only come up with enhancements of what we already know and what we know is what we (as humans) are.
Somehow the characteristics of gods are very human characteristics only amplified because we are limited by the illusions about life we have been brought up with and have adopted in a very strong way. The greatest illusion we accept, however, is that god is so big, wondrous and vast that we, as humans, have no possibility whatsoever, of becoming anything like him. It is from this illusion that humans have adopted a “less then” attitude about themselves. We hear often in the dogmatic teachings of many religious leaders of times past and present that we are all sinners and have need of repentance and mercy that a kind and loving God can exact upon us. It is blasphemous to accept any notion that we are somehow without sin.
What a sad state we have come to accept. Our illusions of reality have crippled us into believing that not only are we not divine, as our gods are, but that in our lowly states we will never be able to escape that lowliness. In the time of Jesus, he taught that He and His Father were one and the same. In other words he professed that his nature was that of God’s and in so stating he was accused of blasphemy. In fact, it was for this reason that he was eventually crucified. Through the years we have altered Jesus’ meaning to be that He and His Father were gods but that only He and His Father are and can be gods. Sadly this has become part of the great myth of our times and a significant part of the illusion of life we accept.
Jesus really meant that He and His Father were one and the same but what is lost from His description is that he was referring to his own god and that like him we all can be one with our god just as he was with his. He was not proclaiming a god out there in the heavens that he was uniquely qualified to know and be a part of. He was proclaiming that within each of us lies the Kingdom of Heaven and that God, our god, dwells there and nowhere else. In other words, “We Are Gods!” this was the message of Jesus, Buddha and so many other great spiritual leaders of the past. God does not dwell in “yonder heavens,” rather he or she dwells within us and is uniquely ours. Jesus, Buddha and so many others taught that the greatness of any god we place “out there” really exists within each of us and that our greatest opportunity should be in finding “that place” within where he or she dwells. Look no more to the heavens above but look to the “I AM” that dwells within and there you will find god, power and all that you need in this life or any other. I cannot emphasize it strongly enough that “We are the gods we seek” and that any roles we assign to them are the result of an errant illusion we have been taught to believe from the very beginning of our lives no matter where or when we were born.
Our reason, our illusion has created a God that must have the same roles we have as humans. Such roles consist of Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, Vengeful, Compassionate, Jealous, Powerful, Kind, Angry, etc., etc. The list goes on and on and if we look carefully all of these characteristics are human characteristics. Remove these human roles from God and what is left?? Nothing!! But that is how it should be. There is no god above us or below us. Our illusion has created a God that must be bigger and better than us so that we can never escape the idea that someone is above us, caring, judging and condemning us as an entity, whose role (Father, Mother, etc.) we have assigned, might deal with us. We have assigned these roles to a God who does not exist and have subjected ourselves to the judgments of that make believe God!!!!
Perhaps the most significant teaching of Jesus was to not judge others or anything. He stressed this over and over to those who listened to him. He noted that even He could not judge and that it was given to all of us to forgive our fellow man for whatever slight we felt they inflicted upon us. Jesus knew his own godliness and refused to judge anyone of anything. Gods do not judge…..EVER! Judging is part of the human condition, the illusion we accept and an act of ego hanging on to its illusion of the world and Jesus taught us to relinquish that part of us. In fact he taught us to relinquish egoic characteristics as the only way to reach the god who dwells within us. If God is non-judgmental then he cannot have a role in our lives.
Godlike power comes to us when we come to realize that outside things, events, or circumstances do not matter. Outside things are only a small part of our eternal existence and they only matter to the egoic nature we have spent a lifetime to construct. In fact, if you find yourself in any emotional state because of something that happened out there in the world it is a sure sign of egoic dominance in your life. Let go of it and like the Lilies of the field all will be taken care of. Those who have truly found God have found themselves and are no longer subjected to the voices of ego. Ego is a deceiver. Gods are not! You are god but you must find that part of you yourself. Life is an individual responsibility. Finding God belongs to you and you alone. Step outside any roles you have assigned to God and what you will find is uniquely your own inner heaven and we all know “Heaven is where god dwells.”
