God – A Mystic’s Manifesto
A recent question caught my attention: “Do people actually believe in God, or is it just a meme?”
Who or What is God?
By William Bezanson
Here is my answer. It depends on what you mean by God.
The standard, orthodox view of God, at least from a Christian point of view, is of an old, wizened, male, bearded, robed, spiritual being sitting on a throne “above” the clouds, dispensing favors and punishments on a whim.
The above view of God is wrong. My conception of God is that It (not He nor She, but It) is the totality of all of the laws of Nature, both physical laws and spiritual laws. Let us call that totality (capital-N) Nature. So, to my mind, God equals Nature. God is the impersonal, impartial, uncaring energy called “Nature.” God does not respond to prayer but keeps being Nature.
This conception of mine aligns well with the writings of Baruch Spinoza, the 17th-century Dutch philosopher. Further, Albert Einstein, the honored 20th-century physicist, famously stated, “My God is the God of Spinoza.”
Here is a brief proof of just two of the above characteristics of God: uncaring and non-responsive to prayer. Consider three recent tragedies that have happened in Ukraine, Turkey, and Syria. Surely if God really did care about the people in those countries, then It would have prevented those tragedies from happening, especially because a large percentage of those populations pray to and worship their versions of God. The fact that those tragedies were not avoided strongly suggests that God is uncaring and not responsive to prayer. Now, if we extrapolate forward to all the countries in the world and their various tragedies, it would seem obvious that we have virtually proven that God is uncaring and non-responsive to prayer. The more such instances that we can cite enable us to converge ever closer to full proof. QED.
My conception of God is drastically different than the Christian one. The Christian one is wrong. It was developed some 2000 years ago when people were far less evolved, critical, and intelligent than currently, and when the “Church” deviously fooled them with stories, fables, and parables into being subservient sheep, following its teachings, donating money, and confessing sins, all in order to avoid burning in Hell. The Christian dogma evolved over the centuries, being tweaked here and there and even introducing some non-Biblical modern concepts, such as the Roman Catholic (RC) proclamation of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, declared “infallibly” by the Pope as recently as 1950! Also, denominational differences were added, resulting in, for example, the RC teaching that the Eucharistic bread and wine turn literally into the body and blood of Christ, whereas for the protestant churches, that change is a symbolic one. Thus, to my mind, the RC sheep are behaving like cannibals. (Nobody ever tells them that!)
So, finally, to answer the original question, Yes, I do believe that (some) people actually do believe in (their conception of) God. The problem is that the vast majority of people have the wrong conception of God.
If you are sincerely interested in researching and learning about the proper conception of God, then please apply to join one of the reputable mystical orders for lifelong study, practice, and living of mystical life. Religion enables indirect union with God through scriptures and clerical teachings; Mysticism enables direct union with God through initiations and individual practice of spiritual laws. The latter is far preferable. In my own case, I have been a long-standing member of one of the reputable Rosicrucian orders, the Confraternity of the Rose Cross (www.crcsite.org).
My life has been blessed with the teachings not only of religions but, more importantly, of mystical orders. In acknowledgment of that blessing, I want to broadcast my conception of God to a wide readership in order to share my good fortune.
Let us hope that all of us here on Earth will develop a correct conception of God and eventually regain our upward trajectory towards fully prosperous and blessed lives for the benefit of not only ourselves and our children and grandchildren but also for us when we return here for our next incarnations.
I still consider myself a Christian in the sense of studying and trying to internalize the profound teachings of Jesus, who became Christ, although it is unlikely that any church would welcome my membership. What I do follow now is what is called “Esoteric Christianity” (see the Wikipedia article of that title), a non-denominational philosophy that aligns well with Rosicrucianism and which, to my mind, offers a correct path to follow.
Incidentally, Jesus was not a religious Christian but a mystical Jew. He did not want to find a new religion but to make Jews better.
A world of wonders awaits those who seriously follow the mystical life.
Click HERE to Connect with your Daily Horoscope on OMTimes!
Visit Our Astrology Store for Personalized Reports
About the Author
William Bezanson is a regular contributor to OMTimes. In his retirement from a career in electrical engineering, he writes books on spirituality and world stewardship. His next book will be Your Lives And How to Live Them, likely to be published in 2024, and it will include this article, perhaps slightly expanded. He lives with his wife in Ottawa, Canada.His website is www3.sympatico.ca/bezanson1
OMTimes is the premier Spiritually Conscious Magazine. Follow Us On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, and Youtube
