And how can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of n electric typewriter.    --Woody Allen

The Perennial Philosophy

While the ultimate image of God has varied from culture to culture, it's undeniable that man has always sensed something, which might be called divine. And this sense is so pervasive and in many ways so consistent that there has come to be a common acceptance of some eternal truths. At the center of these truths is always the idea that man is more than his physical body, that he is in some way himself eternal. He senses a divine essence within him--that he is part of everything else that exists. As part of these feelings, there is also the impetus to contribute to the common good and help his fellow man. There is a natural impulse toward compassion, to feel one with all of humanity.

This concept of universal eternal truths has been referred to as the Perennial Philosophy. The German philosopher Liebniz brought the term into common usage (though he does not take credit for being the first to use it). Such perceptions and feelings, though not always at the surface of awareness and also not always evident in our thoughts and behaviors, persist through the centuries and transcend geographic boundaries. The ideas are the source of all of the wisdom of the ages, appear in many forms in the sacred texts of most religions and seem to be the content of the teachings of all the great enlightened masters and sages since the beginning of time. The writer Aldous Huxley devoted a book to the subject of comparative religions (titled The Perennial Philosophy) in which he described this universal experience of a divine reality of which he states, "may be found among the traditionary lore of primitive peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms, it has a place in every one of the higher religions".

Man may experience in his quiet moments, that he is part of the Divine, but that feeling is elusive enough for most of us that it is usually supplanted by the conclusion that there is a superior intelligence, separate from us. Feeling so small, inadequate and powerless in comparison, man allows his rational thinking to override his intuitive knowing.

Resurrecting The Truth About God

I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research. -Albert Einstein

What we can perceive is related to the density of matter. We can't, merely with our five senses, directly observe a particular being that we would identify as God. For that which is referred to as God, is principle. Discoveries in quantum physics suggest that energy is conscious and that the distinctions between matter and energy are not as clearly defined as we tend to think. Matter, in fact, is energy appearing as material form. We may not be able to perceive a particular being as I said, when looking for God, but since everything is energy and energy is conscious, are we not seeing god in everything, everywhere? Thus, our preferred term for that called God, All That Is.

We can begin to perceive energy as it manifests within the sensitivity range of our physical senses. We can think of it as energy clumping together, becoming dense enough to be seen, heard, felt, smelled, tasted. We can also experience energy in its non-physical state through our connection to Infinite Mind. Here we use our so-called sixth sense. This sixth sense is our facility to receive divine guidance; it includes intuition, clairvoyance, feelings, etc. Because it goes beyond our ordinary five senses, we often refer to it as extrasensory. We tend to limit our perception of reality to that which is tangible and what we can observe with our five sense mechanism. But what we can observe is constantly changing as we develop new technologies to observe beyond the limitations of our unaided senses. Clearly, by that measure, reality is far from fixed.

Since everything is energy, it could be said that God is only energy, a vibration. But when we talk about God, we are referring to that aspect of All that is creative Intelligence. It is Infinite Intelligence, Infinite Consciousness, Universal Subconscious Mind, Infinite Power, Infinite Love. It is us (as well as everything else). All of these are one thing, the same thing. When we say infinite love, it also means infinite power. (It is this idea that is behind the alternative words for God that we presented in the list in Part 1 and use interchangeably throughout.) Infinite Consciousness taking on form--the intangible becoming tangible. Energy, of course, takes on any form which thought provides, from the tiniest dew drop to galaxies with a million suns.

We observe much predictable behavior in nature and the universe. Where this is the case, we describe these phenomena in terms of physical laws. Physical laws govern what we think of as the material world. But there is a component to these laws that relate to our inner world, our spiritual realm. We refer to these as spiritual laws. This is where the insights from quantum physics, that energy is conscious and becomes form, begins to take on real significance. We are coming to understand that these laws have dramatic significance for us in the way in which we live our lives. Energy operates according to the law of attraction, which can be stated as follows: That which is like, unto itself is drawn. Obviously, this law of attraction is evident in the physical world as demonstrated by the attracting and repelling properties of electromagnetic polarity. But thought is also energy, attracting to it similar thoughts. The phenomenon of intuition and clairvoyance are manifestations of the law of attraction, just as is physical magnetism.

Unbiased But With Good Intent

So we have this power operating in a predictable way. It doesn't matter whether or not you recognize this power as God or call it God. It doesn't matter whether you are reverent or an atheist. It doesn't even matter whether or not the individual consciously recognizes the working of the law. It still remains the power that it is. Its purpose remains undeterred; its ways of operating remain consistent.

Spiritual laws are often described as being neutral. In other words, they work just like gravity or electricity in that they play no favorites, have no opinion or judgment. They are not laws of morality and are unconcerned about good or evil (these concepts are simply subjective judgments we make). There is no punishment. The laws work exactly the same for everyone without bias or preference. The thing that really matters is whether or not you are going to work in harmony with the laws. For even when they are providing you experiences that you don't like, they are still working consistently. Those who don't believe in a higher power are utilizing the same powers as the "believer" does (regardless of whether they recognize it or not). If you're not happy with your experience, then you must correct your errors with regard to the laws. If the individual understands the principles by which He / She / It / Infinite Intelligence works, then he has the power of control over his/her own life.

Some may find it strange to hear that one need not believe in God. Actually, what do we really mean by the phrase, "believing in God"? Usually, when the phrase is used, it means that the person believes in the Creator, the Supreme Being referred to by religions, i.e., that he's not an atheist or an agnostic. Within particular religious doctrine, the meaning can include more specific ideas as well--such as the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, heaven, hell, grace, salvation, etc. Implicit in this understanding is the idea that non-believers (atheists) are pitiable because they do not have God in their life and thus no access to God's grace. By that accounting, they are totally lost souls with no possibility of salvation.

We mean something quite different than that when we speak of belief in God here. What we mean is knowing that you are worthy of and capable of receiving and attaining everything you desire. Without really thinking about God at all, this belief will, by the simple law of attraction, likely be enough for a person to live a fairly fulfilled life. Such a person is in harmony with the spiritual laws of the universe. To get a better understanding of this, consider people who might be raised in an environment where they haven't been filled with thoughts of limitation and also may not have been exposed to religious training. One result is that they may be very connected to One Source (without even understanding what that means) and probably never think about God one way or another. They may consider themselves agnostic or even atheist. But to the extent that they believe in themselves and their power to create the conditions in their lives that they desire, to the extent that they feel that all is well, they are in harmony with spiritual laws. You see, connection to Infinite Mind through "right thinking" attracts conditions of ease and wellness. Contrary to this view, traditional religion might assert that for the atheist, God is not at work in that individual's life at all, and feel that it is unjust that such a person should prosper.