Finding God in All The, uh, Right Places

[zoofence]

A few months ago, the item at TZF’s Here’s A Thought was an observation of Gandhi’s to the effect that if we can’t see God in the next person we meet, there’s no point in looking any further.

I posted that then because it seemed a nice point, but mostly because I love Gandhi, and I like posting something of his here and there on The Zoo Fence from time to time. However, truth to tell, it didn’t exactly bowl me over at the time.

But here’s the thing. That line has gotten stuck in my head, and it rings in my ears every so often without warning … when I’m in line at the supermarket, looking through the meager choices at Blockbuster, reading a newspaper, pumping gasoline, or whatever.

Seeing God in a prophet or a guru is easy; in Jesus or Saraswati or Rumi, it’s a snap; even in a photograph of Mother Teresa or yes, Gandhi. But what about an image of a rapist on the television news? Or how about Hitler or Stalin?

And, let's face it, surely Gandhi did not mean for us to limit his admonition to persons. What about the earthquake/tsunami that struck South India? What about the AIDS epidemic in Africa? What about the Iraq war? What about global warming?

If we can’t see God in each of those, he tells us (and there's no denying he's right again), we needn’t bother looking any further.

Oh, my.

[phyllis]

It looks like I’m the first one to post. Thank you for inviting me.

I agree with the Mahatma, and with your suggestion that he would want us to expand the idea beyond just persons. For me, sometimes the hardest is to include what I see in the mirror.

[NewMoonDaughter]

Thanks zoofence. And thanks for the invite.

I totally agree with what you've written here, and appreciate that you took that simple statement that seemed so benign to you, and then let it seep into you. And then to take it further and further to include absolutely everything… well… kinda reminds of some of the kind of pondering I tend to do. I guess there's a kind of fearless honesty in that kind of internal exploration that appeals to me. (Also reminds me as to why I like the zoofence crowd. And thanks for the forum. )

For me, sometimes the hardest is to include what I see in the mirror.

Hello Phyllis. And also for me. In fact, just a year ago I realized just how much I'd persistently and mindlessly and even violently rejected the person in the mirror. Very shocking to me how intensely the self-hatred had grown without my realizing it. Insidious.

But thinking now… it seems that so many of us are very determined to reject something.

Or is that one of those inherent human flaws?… i.e. go into form, become separated from Source and start imagining that all the remarkable vastness and expressions cannot possibly also be God? And we base that on the level of their unpleasantness and horror? And it's not like we could actually reject something anyway... not like we could really usurp Creation's creations just by our own limited thinking. Obviously we might do better to expand our perspectives… but oh what a challenge that is for most of us.

But it's interesting to consider that if you can observe or experience it in any way, then it's God… period… no exceptions… even the one in the mirror.

And if I go back to the original statement...

if we can’t see God in the next person we meet, there’s no point in looking any further.

.... when I continue to ponder it I actually find that I don't completely agree with that. For example... if I don't or can't see God in someone or something, then I surely don't stop looking... I don't get stuck right there. I might go elsewhere... find God in someone or something else, and then come back again to ponder the place where I rejected God. In fact, I'd saying going to confirm that God exists elsewhere is what eventually helps me to see God in even the worst horrors. Maybe I do things backwards? Or maybe I'm dyslexic? That sure would explain a lot .

[zoofence]

NewMoonDaughter (good name), Nicely put. I particularly like your observation that "if I don't or can't see God in someone or something, then I surely don't stop looking ... I'd say going to confirm that God exists elsewhere is what eventually helps me to see God in even the worst horrors".

That makes sense, and I can't image that Gandhi would not agree.

I suppose his point was (and as always with such quotations, we have to ask ourselves, what were the circumstances in which the remark was made, to whom was he speaking) that we need to be careful about picking and choosing where and when, in whom and in what, we will "see God". Human beings as a species tend to be "herd oriented", and to reject whoever and whatever is not "our kind", even sometimes to the point of labeling others evil and ungodly. That may be our animal nature, but as seekers, we clearly need to reach beyond it. After writing the following paragraph, I reread from the book "Vivekananda - The Yogas & Other Works" and came across this line, which seemed apropos: "India's doom was sealed the very day they invented the word mlechcha and stopped from communion with others". The book defines mlechcha as "the non-Hindu with whom all social intercourse is forbidden".

I remember reading that when Vivekananda first visited the US, he loved a great many things about the country (and the feeling was mutual, for he was extremely well received), but he was particularly disturbed by the fact that in the South (and elsewhere?) black Americans were not allowed to worship in "White Churches".

Good point, Phyllis (neat avatar you chose!) about seeing God in the image in the mirror. I guess the telling distinction here is, it's not that I am God (which is a symptom of insanity, I suppose) but that God is me.

[NewMoonDaughter]

Thanks zoofence. That "name" popped up spontaneously. A mystery to me… But now it makes perfect sense, eh?… empty, blank, yet somehow still (t)here.

And since I've taken this somewhat off track, I should probably say that I did and do understand Gandhi's original point. I'm not pretending or intending to take away from that powerful statement with these further explorations here. What he said was obviously meant to make a person stop to consider his/her own limited perspective in a new way, and the original statement is still very useful in that way.

...we need to be careful about picking and choosing where and when, in whom and in what, we will "see God". Human beings as a species tend to be "herd oriented", and to reject whoever and whatever is not "our kind", even sometimes to the point of labeling others evil and ungodly. That may be our animal nature, but as seekers, we clearly need to reach beyond it.

Yes, agreed. As a "herd" we're typically very threatened by what looks different, suffering quite a lot of anxiety and fear whenever we encounter what doesn’t reflect us directly.

I remember reading that when Vivekananda first visited the US, he loved a great many things about the country ... he was particularly disturbed by the fact that in the South (and elsewhere?) black Americans were not allowed to worship in "White Churches".

The very prejudiced white Christians continue to be one of the most perplexing groups for me. But I've also had enough of my own particular kind of confusion in that way to understand how it can prevail. I also happen to be black and have been on the receiving end of racial prejudice from whites. But I look "mixed" even though technically I'm not, so blacks have always persistently rejected me for the same reason… I just don’t look like the rest of the crowd. It's especially ironic to receive that kind of prejudice from people who have had to also endure it. Another mystery… but also it's understandable in many ways. We seem to have the tendency to typically mistreat others in the same way we've been mistreated. And that tendency to reject anything that looks different is very intense and persistent.


Otherwise… In regard to seeing God in everything…. I think what's been most prevalent with me in the last couple of years is that even when I didn't see God, I just took that to be MY error. Certainly different than before. Of course I had evolved painfully to that point through a lot of resistance. I had been in a prolonged period of not believing anything I couldn't perceive directly… then finally got to a point where I accepted that IT's there whether I could detect IT or not. Now I'm at the point where I see God absolutely everywhere, even in tragedy, and that's truly amazing.

But during that period when I couldn't see God, but still accepted IT to be (t)here, (I guess that's called faith?), that's when I'd leave the "decision" in suspension, and circle around again later to reconsider. And yes, surprisingly, circling around again to reconsider can reveal new perspectives, but the heart does have to be open and willing to receive the "news".

So now, writing about all of this at this point gives yet another perspective. Looking back at it all, the previous perspectives now seem very arrogant. Seeing now that nothing I would try to establish from a limited and clouded perspective actually had any effect whatsoever on whether God or IT or the Absolute really IS or not. How absurd now to think that I might have tried to determine the actuality and reality of God's existence based on my puny little perspective. After all it's not like I was actually being consulted to cast a vote on the matter, even though it certainly felt that way at the time. Kinda funny now.

But thinking again now of how nothing I perceive changes the Reality of IT. And thinking again about how much trouble I'm still having with that image in the mirror… well, if I follow my own logic here, then by not seeing God in the mirror, it still seems I'm holding out… still trying to usurp what IS. But really, I can no more invalidate the Reality of the God-image in the mirror than I can anything else. So in regard to the mirror image, until my perspective becomes aligned to Reality, maybe I can at least try to suspend judgment… that "faith" thing again.

Thanks guys.

[arthur]

What a coincidence that zoofence quoted from the Swami Vivekananda book. It is one of my favorites. And sort of on this subject, one of the lessons from the book I have had to learn is ...

It is easy to strike a blow, but tremendously hard to stay the hand, stand still, and say, "In Thee, O Lord, I take refuge," and then wait for Him to act. (It's on page 528 of the hardback copy.)

Learning to "wait for Him to act" in many parts of my life has been and still is a struggle.

[spiritsong]

Ghandi's words and all these thoughts can be summed up in one word - Namaskar (or Namaste). A Hindu word (I think) that means "the divinity in me honors, recognizes, salutes the divinity in you". It is a good habit to silently say this to the guy who cuts you off, the sales clerk who is too slow, the boss who is arrogant, the family member who just doesn't understand you, etc. One simple word, one simple thought that brings it all back to the truth of what is. And I also struggle to remember to say Namaskar to my self! It's not only a very spiritual and grounding thought, it can become your signature on letters instead of "sincerely". It certainly prompts discussion!!! Someone once asked me if I changed my name to Namaskar. No, I just changed my consciousness...
To all...Namaskar!