What is God?

Many religions of the world are promising the experience of God, mental peace, and salvation to their followers, but are these promises being delivered?

We can only answer these questions when we examine our own experience.

Ministers preach that if their teachings are followed, believers will find salvation. Yet many people, after they return from their church or temple, are often more stressed, frustrated, and worried about their personal problems than are non-believers.

For those who are in search of Ultimate Truth and Enlightenment, being emotionally mature, peaceful and having tranquil mind is an important prerequisite.

Enlightenment is a state of freedom from ignorance that causes suffering.

Those who teach about God and salvation should make it clear, that the word GOD in itself is not God. God is Ultimate Truth. 

Unfortunately, it is through religious dogma that the human mind is often tempted with promises of the experience of God. This represents a weakness, since dogma simply represents an official system of belief or doctrine held by religious organizations and serves as basis of an ideology or belief system that cannot be changed without affecting the ideology itself. 

Dogma generally refers to religious believes that are accepted regardless of evidence.

In Christianity, religious beliefs are defined by the Church. It is usually based on scripture or communicated by church authority. It is believed that these dogmas will lead human beings towards redemption and thus on the paths which lead to God.

Often ministers or religious teachers just ask people to believe in God. They never explain the nature of God; this can lead to an obstruction to further spiritual inquiry and eventual enlightenment.

False promises are strongly discouraged when one reads the teachings of Vedanta, which warn one against simply believing in what others teach as truth, whether their teachings are based on books or on their own believes.

Vedanta suggests that to be wisdom guided, one has to realize the truth of one’s own being as an aspect of God.

To achieve this goal, Vedanta suggests a process of self inquiry. “Neti, neti—not this, not this, until one gets to the source of one’s being.

All knowledge of who and what we are, says Vedanta, lies within. This should inspire one first to the inquiry to know oneself and then to know the Self of all. This inquiry is supplemented through regular deep meditation practice.

We need to come to the understanding that the physical body is a moving shrine wherein the infinite light of knowledge, peace, and happiness shines.

Prayer is a major technique used in religions practice to seek satisfaction of desires and comfort when facing challenge.

Non Dualists like Vedanta use instead such invocations as:

"Lead me from the unreal to the Real; from darkness to Light; from mortality to Immortality".

This is an expression of spiritual desire that reminds one constantly of the goal of life, which is the awareness of the Supreme. It is not asking God or the supernatural being for help, but instead for guidance to know one's own real Self, one’s essential nature, which is the Self in all.

Many who practice traditional religion suffer because they are taught that they live in sin, that they are separate from God, separate from one another and from the Universe.

These concepts are illogical when they are analyzed with clarity of mind and pure reason. For that, which creates is present in all its creation including humanity.

In our guest for Ultimate Reality we first discover that we exist and that Supreme Consciousness or God also exists. Through further pondering we experience, "Thou art That." These two fields of experience appear to be different, but they are essentially one and the same. These are the mere progressive stages that follow one another.

But what is the meaning of 'Thou art That?' We should be very clear in our mind what the term 'Thou' implies. It is not referring to that which is seen as name or form, but to the unseen us, the hidden seer of all things, the knower of all things, that which alone prevails eternally, the Self.

The purpose of human life is to know God and as a result be free from pain and suffering; free from anxiety.

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”.

                                                Matthew 6:33

All philosophical, psychological and spiritual discussions should make one aware of one’s true nature, since for a realized person, there is perennial joy in God as darkness and ignorance are dispelled.

For the realized, the universe is like a great poem of joy, a beautiful song, and a unique work of art.

For them God is the Ultimate Truth hidden behind all forms and names.