My Definition of G-d

Who is G-d? Where is He? What is He made out of? Energy maybe? How do I even start to think about such a concept?

We all grow up with a biased view of the concept of G-d, often heavily influenced by where we were born and the community and culture we grew up in.

Particularly for me - as I approached my 20's - this topic was central to my life, to the extent that it was sometimes robbing me from peace of mind. I couldn't help but think about these hard questions. So I either went out and searched for (what could be) the answers or my mind was going to keep racing at full speed.

So I did some seeking.

It was mostly reading at first, and then I started to incorporate meditation more and more into my search.

I certainly don't have all of the answers. I've barely just started. But at least the exploration of the topic and its inherent paradoxes have helped me regain some peace of mind, and that has naturally made me more calm.

I can say that after all these years of learning I've constructed for myself a place where to stand for when I start to think about this simple yet complex concept.

My approach to thinking about G-d is the following:

Close your eyes and think of a red apple. Maybe as you're conjuring up the image take a few deep breaths to settle into your mind, and once you can (vaguely) see the image of the red apple, try to locate the place from which you are seeing it from.

Where exactly in the vastness of your mind are you?

...

Typically, the first instinct is to look for yourself up in your head and behind your face. But is that true?

...

After many, many times of attempting this simple exercise, you'll notice that you can't seem locate "your self" within your mind. Or, said another way:

There is no center to your awareness.

Ok - so what?

The subject-object lens you're so accustomed to viewing your daily life from is an illusion. That is to say that, for example, when you hear something, the hearing and the hearer are one and the same.

You might ask: am I not the hearer? Well, you couldn't find him/her just a few moments ago!

You are identical to your experience.

It's an illusion that you are out there separate from what happens to you in your life. You are your life! The more you start to slowly accept this paradigm-shift, the more peace and space you'll feel internally. You'll start to feel more alive. Your senses will become more acute. And if you're truly calm and let yourself be one with experience, you might sense moments of bliss.

Ok sure. So what does G-d have to do with all of this?

G-d is the awareness of your awareness. G-d permeates this all.

That is, if you are your experience - how come you can even be aware of that? How do you know that all of this which you call life is unfolding moment by moment?

It's critical to caveat that any definition of G-d that I lay out here is limited because of the form in which I'm communicating this in.

Let me explain:

When I point to a tree and say "that is a tree", I'm equivalently saying "all of that which surrounds that tree is not a tree".

"You are angry" = "You are not peaceful"

There are 2 ways to say almost anything: what it is and its negative form.

Words and language are an incredible tool to define, which is why we can communicate precisely. But it's because they slice-and-dice reality so accurately that they fail to communicate non-dualistic concepts.

G-d is a non-dualistic concept, so the word is merely just a pointer to what the concept actually is. It's beyond speech, so it's also beyond thought.

In this infinite, non-dualistic realm is where intuition and a higher intelligence reside. It's what connects it all. The good news is that this realm is accessible to each and every one human being! It's a birthright to us all. It's given to you as you come into existence. You are because you're aware and you're aware because you are.

As humans, we embody of this heavenly realm. We carry it with us and can be the vessel and expression of its creative intelligence. "Reaching your potential" has a lot to do with this.

Your purpose - ultimately - is to manifest its heavenly infinity into the earthly finite.