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Seeing God, meeting God, being God

When I talk of God, meeting God, knowing God, I am not talking about the rituals of organized religions. Or the abstract esoteric concepts about God written in holy books. Or reading poems by god-love-intoxicated mystics. 

I am talking about a very quiet and intimate inner experience, a movement of my inner being towards the unknowable.

It can be a kind-of-awe feeling that I get when I look into the night sky, the multitude of stars or into a child’s eyes or into the multitudes of manifestations of this world.  
Or it can be a dialog that arises inside in very quiet moments or in very desperate ones.
Or it is the utter disappearing of my personal identity when dissolving into the full emptiness of meditation.

Ken Wilber puts it pretty well for me when he speaks of the three perspectives of knowing God. His concept of “God in Three Perspectives” is an integral approach to understanding and experiencing God, based on three narrative perspectives: first-person, second-person, and third-person. 

These perspectives offer a multifaceted way to relate to the Divine:

Third-Person “It”:

This perspective views God in an objective sense, often seen in the beauty and order of the universe. It recognizes the divine in the intricate connections of the cosmos, the natural world, and the laws that govern them. This approach can be seen in the scientific appreciation of the universe’s complexity and harmony, as well as in certain shamanistic traditions that emphasize God’s immanence in creation.

Second-Person “You”:

This relational perspective sees God as an “Other” with whom one can have a personal relationship. It involves the “I-Thou” interaction, where God is seen as a loving presence with whom individuals can communicate, worship, and form a personal connection. This is the dominant mode in many Abrahamic traditions, where God is approached through prayer and worship.

First-Person “I”:

This perspective involves the direct experience of God, often described through mystical states such as satori or kensho / enlightenment. It is the “I-Am-Thou” state of Onenness. It emphasizes a non-dual awareness where the boundaries between the self and the divine blur, leading to experiences of unity and transcendence through practices like meditation or contemplative prayer.

Wilber’s integral approach suggests that these three perspectives are not hierarchical but complement each other, providing a holistic view of spirituality that includes mystical, relational, and objective experiences of the divine. 

In my own experience I can relate to all three perspectives, all three states. They certainly don’t contradict each other but rather transcend and include one another.

The fist one – “third person perspective” – is easy:
Although I know about the evolution of the species, it is easy for me to feel the “Hand of God” when I look at the beauty of flowers or the abundance of the underwater flora and fauna. Or the vastness of the ocean’s horizon.

I don’t need any rationalization  or logical explanation to feel awe and a breathless reverence whenever I see documentaries about the galaxies, the cosmos, the universe. Way beyond any rationalization or sentimentality I feel the touch of something greater than all that. A presence.

There is nothing I would want to explain or need to proof to somebody who does not feel a similar experience.

Now about the “second-person” relation to God:
I must say that I am not a particularly worshipful or even religious person. I actually shy away from rituals and such. Pre-formulated prayers have never been my thing.

But it is very common for me to walk along the beach and something in me (well, actually that’s me 😉 ) starts talking to God. Talking quietly in my mind in a very everyday-kind-of-manner. About things that concern me. Things that puzzle me. Things that interest me in some way.  

Not that I expect God speaking back to me in a thunderous voice or something 😆 Actually, it is great that God does not talk back at all, he/she/it just lets me contemplate. No correction, no smart advice, no judgement about my ignorance.

But I know that I am heard. I am not a looney talking to himself. All of that is happening in the quiet of my mind.

And often answers come in form of inspirations. Whole paragraphs, whole essays sometimes “fall into my mind” fully formed. I don’t need to think at all in a conventual way of thinking things over. Related to my contemplation. But I have to write it down as quick as possible, since those intuitive “channelings” disappear quickly, like dreams do.

Honestly, this is so natural to me and integrated that I hardly find it extraordinary. But I know that it is. Extraordinary. It is my way to converse with God, with the Divine.

And then my favorite one, the “first person experience” of God.
I-am-Thou.
I-am-That.

There is nothing much to say about that.
Every mystic talked about that kind of Oneness that is the only reality.
And the dissolving of ego separation in That what can only be hinted at.
That, what we actually are – beyond our self-identification.

Who could explain that to somebody?

Not me ;  ) 

Ohm-Tat-Sat