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LIGHTHOUSE

By: Starbhen

God, the Supreme Soul (Continued)

Nature and Identity of God

2. His Name:  Anything that has a form has a name. So, too God has a name. There are more names for God than there are languages and each name highlights one of His specialities. When a soul takes a body, it is the body that bears the name, not the soul. God’s name is eternal and is based on attributes and functions. When God appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He gave the name God Almighty, but to Moses, He gave His name as Jehovah. The word Jehovah is closely related to the Sanskrit word “Shiva” which describes His eternal attributes and functions. It means benefactor, the seed of creation and point-source and implies that there can be no other creator superior to that one. It describes the form as a point and the function as benefactor and seed of humanity.   

The word Shiva is the introduction to God, but in meditation Indians add another word  “Baba” (literally Father or Elder One) which conveys the sweetness and closeness of relationship one can have with God. So the name Shiva Baba conveys God’s role and our relationship with Him.

Other popular names of God are: Allah and El Shaddai. To us Filipinos, He is known as Diyos, Bathala, Panginoon, etc.

3. His Residence: When we turn our minds to God, wherever we may be and from whichever culture, the first thing we normally do is to close our eyes in order to go beyond people and objects. Intuitively, we know that God exists beyond matter.  Knowing where He lives we can send our minds to Him, wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

The “home” of the soul and the Supreme Soul is a region of subtle, golden-red light which can be visualized during meditation. It does not mean that He is millions of light years away. We can reach Him in one thought just as a correctly dialed telephone number connects us. He is only one thought away from us. In this region of absolute stillness, silence and purity, God, the Supreme Soul, is able to remain perfectly stable, constant and unchanging while the rest of the universe and the souls go through constant change. Many people think that God dwells in the heart of human beings. In a figurative way, He does, through love. What we think to be God within us is really eternal and unforgettable impression of Him. His real home is the soul world, also our home.          

4. Attributes of God: On the basis of our similarities of form and abode, we learn from God of our own original attributes of peace, purity, love, truth, power, happiness and balance. By tuning our thoughts to Him, the influence begins to activate these qualities in us. He is the perfect and infinite fountain, the ocean of these qualities. His superiority lies in the depth, clarity and continuity of His attributes. While human souls fluctuate between peace and turmoil; love and conflict; knowledge and ignorance; agony and ecstasy, God is ever constant. He remains beyond the field of change and relativity and is beyond certain concepts held by human beings. 

Relationships with God

                To the extent we are able to make our own personal link with God, we develop in our personality aspects which are missing. Through relationships with other human beings, we try to fill the empty gaps in our emotional make-up. Now, we can complete what is missing through loving contact with the Supreme Soul of all attributes.

1.                    Mother and Father: We have always looked up to God as a male figure. But, just as the soul is neither masculine nor feminine, God has no gender. Therefore, as souls, we can come close to God without any awe or difficulty caused by the gender of the body we are now occupying. In absolute terms, God is the Supreme Mother whose love is totally accommodating. No matter what has happened, how we are, good or bad, we experience unconditional acceptance. It is a love that empowers and cleanses. God is also the Supreme Father who offers protection and provides the inheritance of divine qualities. It is a question of just being an innocent child and claiming that inheritance – letting go of all the sorrow and pain  which have been burdening the soul.

    These are the first relationships that have to be experimented with: God as the mother and father. In the perfect personality of the Supreme, there is the feminine principle of loving, giving and accepting. This perfectly balanced with the masculine principle of power, authority and strength.

     These parental relationships with God as Mother and Father are the foundation of our spiritual development. The concept of taking a new spiritual birth – of letting go of the past and developing a new consciousness- is a familiar one. It refers to becoming an innocent child again in the sense of purity, openness and wonderment.

    The awareness of the self as a soul already changes our perspective enormously, but the consciousness of being a child of God and seeing others with that vision brings self-esteem, dignity, love and respect. Then all these things spill out in our connections with others. If I respect and value myself, I’ll do the same for others.

    Because God is a soul, neither old nor young, neither male nor female, and has the most perfect personality, there are so many different ways I can entertain myself in this highest and purest of all relationships.

2.                    Benefits of Other Relationships with God: Teacher-Discovery of wisdom and truth; Supreme Guide- Directions for each step on the spiritual path; Friend- Conversation, support at any moment; Beloved- Sharing intimacies, long term support; Child- Giving of all I have; Healer- Correct diagnosis and cure of weaknesses; Broker- Wise investment of my future.

Purpose of my Relationship With God

Raja Yoga means having a relationship with God. It is the only relationship that can transcend the span of a lifetime, which is the limit of human relationships Being beyond time and distance, it is the only relationship which is continual. Even though I forget, it doesn’t finish. 

The essence of Yoga or union is embodied in an idea that occurs in both Eastern and Western traditions – that God creates human beings in His own image and likeness. Being created in God’s image is a process which does not have anything to do with the creation of the body but with the re-energizing of my original qualities through yoga or union with God. It is the change from humanity to divinity. (Source: Teachings of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University)

Vol. XVI No.3 (May - July 2004)

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