What is God? Is God a giant man who once incarnated as his own son 2,000 years ago through the womb of a woman in the Middle East? Certainly not. Is God a man who created everything we see? Wrong again. These stories are just perceptions filtered through the limited human mind. They are not ultimate truths. Is God male? No way. This is an erroneous interpretation by the male ego.
One can think of God as the life force or sentience that permeates the cosmos, gravity or levity, it matters not. As an example of such an energy, one can take a plug and stick it into an electrical outlet - this is what becoming spiritual is all about. One becomes plugged into "God." But think about that electrical life force: It has no form. In other words, it's not a human being. It has no gender; it's not a male. It has no color; it's not white. It has no size and no container. That life force, or "God," is not a giant white man, as we have been told, who can mysteriously incarnate himself through the womb of a virgin of any particular ethnicity. Rather than being historical, these are myths that are merely symbolic for the creation of matter out of spirit.
In the Far East, this life force has been discerned as and termed "the Tao." The Tao is the "thing" that makes birds chirp, cats purr and the sap of the trees run. We can also call it cosmic consciousness. It is simply an energy, sentience or spirit that pervades all things. Far from having gender, as we have been led to believe, it is the magnetic principle between the male and female potencies. It is also the male and female polarities themselves. This Great Spirit, Tao, or God, encompasses all things. If it is not all-encompassing, it is not God. Anything less than the total is not God. The definition of "God" is omnipresence itself. Nothing is outside of "God."
The creative/destructive mechanism of this all-encompassing life force can be called the "cosmic mind" or the "universal mind." This cosmic mind projects its thoughts into form; hence, reality could be called "God's Dream." But this dream includes the fragmentation of the Divine into seemingly dense objects and entities that have a will and independence of their own. As separate entities, we are nonetheless connected atomically to this life force, but the individual ego separates itself into a deluded state. This delusion, or maya, can become so strong that the creative life force is limited and the entity in which this spark exists no longer knows that it is "God." This delusion, which can be called "Satan" if personified, is how existence creates, by separating itself out of the whole and presenting the illusion of the many. But this delusion/ego/Satan is not anything bad until it is so separate and dense that it no longer sees itself all around but sees "other," which it is then free to harm if need be or desire arises.
True spirituality is defined not by separation but by union, union with the whole, union with the life force, Great Spirit, Tao, or God, that lies behind creation and binds it together. Of course, the separation itself could also be thought of as a spiritual experience, in that it provides an opportunity for an individual soul to truly develop itself. Yet in that development, we come back to the omnidimensionality of being one with the cosmos. It is a paradox, yet one we like to live with, one that we ourselves created, as directors of our own drama. To be separate yet infinite - now, this is "God." This is ecstasy.
Anything that imposes limits on an infinite divinity is not a complete spiritual system or experience. Anything that projects form upon this genderless, raceless, formless and nonhierarchical godliness is not the ultimate truth. The ultimate truth, which is "God," cannot have any form whatsoever, no gender, no race and no hierarchy.
In the gnostic or esoteric systems of any religion, the Ultimate is always perceived as utterly formless. The realization of such formless Ultimate is considered within these systems to be the flowering of consciousness, the maturation of the soul and psyche. Thus, the definition of "God" as a father-figure in the sky is a lower understanding upon which lies man's puerility and immaturity. Creation has no gender, nor does the creator. "God" is not only father but mother, and grandfather and aunt and grandmother and uncle and cousin and sister and brother, etc. If the "Mother of God" can give birth to "God," She must also be God. Can an imperfect, unholy being give birth to a perfect, divine one? She must also be divine, which makes her God.
In reality, behind the fables, the truth is that the "Mother of God" also has no form but is simply the female aspect of creation, when the neutral Spirit-Atom begins to divide itself. The first elements out of the formless creator/destroyer/ balancer are male and female, in equal proportions. The perfect yin/yang balance is the basis of creation. There is no hierarchy in spirit; hence, the female is never in reality lower than the male, as certain "religious" traditions teach. In humans, the density grows so strong, the ego so potent and intoxicating, that the gender aspect becomes all-consuming. One is nearly completely defined by the gender of the material vessel in which the genderless consciousness is carried. While this illusion is remedied spiritually, in this earthly dimension these differences remain between male and female. The remedy is that the consciousness of the individual, through enlightenment or "God-realization," recognizes that it is both male and female and neither. It is an impartial observer or "witness." Yet, we need not be so hasty in maintaining a genderless state for ourselves, as we are rather fond of the play between polarities, which is in large part why we take birth.
The ego will perceive itself as having a gendered experience, but the witness behind the ego is a clean slate of pure sentience. In this dualistic creation, both experiences will happen simultaneously, where one can know the union of existence, the genderlessness and egolessness, and one can enjoy the separation. The difference is one of consciousness. The conscious, awakened individual will know in her/his inner being that she/he is "one with creation," but will also know that as the creator of her/his own drama she/he has chosen to incarnate into the denser, more deluded realms, for the sake of the experience itself. He or she has no other reason for incarnating, just as "God," or the universal mind, has no reason for creating except for its own amusement. Once an illuminated soul knows this, then he or she is free to create his or her own experience and purpose for incarnating. This is liberation. This is enlightenment.
Enlightenment, which seems to many to be so nebulous, awesome and scary, is very easy. It is not miracles or magic tricks, although those can be developed if desired strongly enough. Enlightenment is simply the realization of who is pulling the strings of one's puppet. It is the revelation of autonomy to the individual. It is the bestowal of the ultimate god-authority over one's own being. It is when the cosmic creative mind and the individual consciousness merge, when one's mind becomes united with the Cosmos. This mental merger goes beyond the mind and penetrates the very cells of the being. This penetration is possible because the god-force resides within the soul-cells of every entity.
There are many practices that can lead to union or reunion with this life force, Great Spirit, Tao, God. We can use yoga or prayer, meditation, chanting or sex. We can play basketball in the Zone. We can eat good food or engage in intelligent, funny or meaningless conversation. We can run up hills, climb mountains and swim seas. Or we can sleep. Ultimately, no practice is needed, when one becomes united with this "godhead," when one has returned to the natural state, from which the human ego has created separation. Reunion with this life force is the mark of true religious experience and system. A true religious system is not one that demands slobbering at the feet of a separate god-ego - however large and frightening, whatever race or gender - but one that leads to communion and union with the quality of divinity itself.
