Presence of God

Experiencing the Absolute

“But there is another esoteric science, a very different set of spiritual teachings that have to do with the hidden face of God, the invisible substance of the Absolute that is both here and not here. Because just as the Absolute is, the Absolute is not.”

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (Not Knowing, Non-Being, and the Power of Nothingness, Parabola, Fall 2015)

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee compares the Absolute (that which we call God) to sunlight which is invisible while it streams through space towards us. Only after it enters our atmosphere is it visible to the eye, because it is refracted into the spectrum of colors we can see. Pure energy with ultimate potential, as real as anything manifested on this earth, but very, very different. All of creation, all that exists, all that we can see with our telescopes and our microscopes, all that we know only by perception and measurement is refracted light from this Absolute.

God as Absolute nothingness, as all powerful and ever present potential is a difficult concept for humans to understand. We want to see God as the father, the loving uncle, the deep feminine, adoring mother, belonging to us personally, fitting only our notion of divinity, our brand of theology. We shape God in our own image, because that is comfortable and familiar to us.

God, however, is beyond our ability to characterize. All the scriptures of all the religions on Earth are only hints and allegations, feeble attempts to describe and contain the Absolute. But, we can tap into that pure potential because we are part of the reflected light, made as indicated in Genesis, in “God's image.” We can close our eyes, and feel the power of God all around us, within us and without. We can relate to it, we can communicate with it, because God is always present. And when we do, the feeling of complete compassion is what resonates from it. We can be grounded in that compassion by allowing it to flow into and through us. Like the wind, it cannot be contained in one place, within the confines of one box, one set of principles. It can only be experienced. And, it can be experienced by one and all.

                                                                In the Spirit,

                                                                   Jane