In a sense, we really can't, since God is by definition infinite, but we sort of have to try. Over the years, I have observed that people mean vastly different things when they speak of God. Here is my take.
God is not an entity, an invisible friend in the sky, an old man with a long beard, a sort of super Santa Claus who judges and rewards and punishes. God does not judge or punish--just loves, creates and sustains.
God is the Divine Ground that underlies visible reality, visible reality being the physical manifestation of God. God is Atman, Buddha, the Universe, the Source, Spirit (as distinct from discrete spirits, devas and such), the Force (as in Stuart Wilde, not Star Wars), the Void.
God--according to Eknath Easwaran-- is that spark of divinity that resides within our own hearts. I think this is what Jesus meant when he said that the kingdom of God is within you.
But finally and ultimately, God is Love.
Love is all there is. John Lennon got it right.
All that said, it should be remembered that anything we say about God is metaphorical, as Rami Shapiro pointed out in his excellent new book.
Comments
I and I are God.
In other words, is God something that we are not? Did God cause us? God as the cause, we as the effect?
I don't think so. I don't believe in causality like that. God is everything, in union, and is also spontaneous.
What made you ask that?
There is no actual reason for you to be here. Any reason is for you decide.
:rolleyes: If you think that God is one and all and just a consciousness then you think God wouldn't exist if I didn't.
And no, it's not to be decided because I am already here and not choosing to be here for a purpose. The purpose is inherent.
This is one of the classic theological questions--but it is, I think, only relevant in the context of a Biblical sort of deity.
But here is my best shot--if I were God, I would prefer NOT to be all-knowing, simply because it would get boring otherwise.
"You" is just an elaborate illusion. Only God exists.
No, purpose is imposed. If purpose was inherent, then people wouldn't ask what the purpose was.
I don't ask what the purpose is.
And I'm not an elaborate illusion either. God is the origin point of life, if you need it put simply. The origin does not make up the whole, this should be made known.
And yes, you, your sense of individuality or separation from God is just an elaborate illusion. We are God, Baby. I am the alpha and I am the omega.
Origin? What makes you think there was a beginning? There's only now, there's only ever been now, now is eternal.