Seeing God / Seeing the World Seeing God and seeing the world are two very different things. From a purely scientific and health oriented thinking, when we see the world what we are really seeing is our conditioned thoughts and beliefs about what the world is. We are not really seeing the world, we are seeing our conditioned mind. This has the advantage of making the world seem under our control. Since we created this world through our conditioned thoughts and beliefs, reinforced through the conditioned thoughts and beliefs of others, it appears to have some predictability, structure and order. Plus we can talk with those who agree with us and continue reinforcing these beliefs. Yes, this is the way the world is. And, in a world where we feel limited, vulnerable, and separate from everything, this seems very important and reassuring. The problem arises when the real world interferes with our conditioned perception of the world. A loved one dies, a hurricane destroys our home, we lose our job, we get cancer, etc. Then we experience stress, grief, anger, despair because the real world is not in agreement with our perception of it. This happens frequently in large and small ways so stress becomes our regular companion. And this is not healthy. Sometimes our perceptions of the world take on a sense of danger, unfairness, cruelty, stupidity or threat and stress becomes continuous. When we speak of seeing the world, what we really mean is seeing our perceptions of the world. This cannot be helped because our minds have been conditioned since birth and are continually being conditioned to see the world in a certain way. Most of this conditioning is reinforcing previous conditioning so when we think we are seeing the present moment we are actually seeing the past. One remedy for this is seeing God instead of seeing the world. If you have an idea or concept of what God is, substitute a word that you have no idea or concept for. Supreme Self, the Infinite, the Divine, Emptiness, Suchness, Nirvana, Pure Consciousness, you choose. I experience God, but have no concept of God so that word works for me. I know it doesnt for everyone. When you choose to see God (or whatever word suites you better), you cleanse and purify and nullify all those conditioned thoughts that previously formed your perception of the world. So you are seeing the present, unencumbered by any conditioned thoughts from the past. It is pure and fresh and new in every moment. And this is the real world. It feels wonderful to see the world in this fresh and pure way. There is a feeling of connection with everything, great peace, love and happiness. Why this is so I dont know. I guess this is the way the world really is when stripped of all our conditioned thoughts and beliefs about it. Because you no longer rely on the past to tell you what is happening in the present, you have no idea what will happen or how you should judge what is happening now. It simply is. If a loved one were to suddenly die, you have no idea how you would react or respond. Since it is no longer based on the past, your response may be new and different each time depending on what the moment brings. You are no longer programmed and conditioned to respond in a certain way. You and everything else are new in each moment. This may sound frightening, but instead it is liberating and there is a great sense of peace and security, love and joy. Not for any specific reason. It is just here. Its not like your memory has been erased. You still have all your memories and in fact have better access to them. But they no longer control you or influence you. You ride with the moment as it is, not as you imagine it will be or wish it would be. There are other techniques for truly being present. Because of our conditioning this is not such an easy thing to accomplish. To be present, we must first stop the conditioning from influencing our perceptions. Seeing God is one way of doing this. We also sometimes call this leaving the world behind. But it is not the world we are leaving behind, it is our conditioned perceptions of the world. Our conditioned perceptions actually prevent us from seeing the world as it is. Substituting God for the world is one way of actually seeing the world as it is.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 20:00:53 +0000
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