One Supreme Spirit of God
"Pick one," we seem to hear when exploring various religions and beliefs systems, or paths to God, as if there is a multiplicity of divine spirits to follow. The truth is that the Divine Spirit of God is one in its essence, in the same way that every species of plant and animal all carry the same inner reality and phenomenon called "life." There may be a diversity of human experiences with the Spirit of God, its influence manifesting itself in many forms, including art and ethics, and be called by many names, but there is only one ultimate Spirit, one primary divine force sustaining reality. Appearances and expressions of the Divine Spirit are like tributaries branched out from a main river or branches stemming off of the Tree of Life (one of the names given to the Spirit of God). The Tree is one while its branches and leaves (the universe, expressions of life) appear infinite. Consider likewise the infinite ideas and interpretations about spirituality and religion, which, when made the centering point of one's identity lead to division and conflict.
In the same way that to encounter, recognize and unite with the force of life in nature requires seeing beyond the diversity of its expressions, so too must the diversity of religious and spiritual belief, tradition, history, culture and expression be uncovered until its inner guiding Source and energy is found consciously by the human soul. The one supreme and almighty Spirit of God lives in each of us and animates all creation. The Spirit of God is the Centering Point, the axis of the oneness of reality and the reason why all truth can be one in its essence, stemming as it does from one Point, the Primal Point (another title for God's Spirit).
The religions of the world are like branches stemming from one Tree of Life, the one Supreme Spirit of God. Picking a religion or a path to God, then, makes little sense after contemplation. What the human soul longs for, instead of picking a belief, is an encounter with the Living God by experiencing and intimately feeling and knowing the inner guiding light it reveals which we often call inspiration or divine guidance. Such inspiration appears within us from time to time as if by a magic force - God's inner force and presence in the human heart. We want to be present with the Centering Point, to have a relationship with God, to know God, to learn what God has to teach us beyond what human knowledge has found. We want the adventure of the magical power of God's Mystic Spirit, and all its accompanying wonders and gifts, animating our life. We want and need the peace it brings. We want and need the transformation it provides, propelling growth, avoiding stagnation. We want to know ourselves as divine, eternal beings with infinite joy and peace - achieving this requires conscious awareness, and the souls direct contact, with the force of Life itself - the Spirit of God. Luckily, God created the soul out of a breath of Its own Spirit, causing that Spirit to live within us forever - we don't have to search outwardly, in any direction, to find the compass of the soul that points to God. When we are fully present in oneness with the Spirit, we hear God's own voice, we feel God's own peace, we live in God's own joy and we are momentarily freed from the prison of ego and desire - the quest for more property or more relationships in the material world, when no amount of these things can provide the joy, peace and love that God's Spirit already provides once consciousness becomes attuned to it.
But if the Spirit is within, why do we need so many religions that appear "without," in culture and community? Each religion is itself born out of the one eternal Spirit of God with a purpose, which is to help us discovery Itself. Sometimes the Spirit comes out of its eternal realm and stands in front of us in the form of another Person - a divine Manifestation of God, known as true Prophets or Messengers of God. Their duty is to call our mind and hearts directly back to the Source, out of the ego, out of distraction, yet over time we identify ourselves with the name of the religion associated with their Teaching (e.g. I am Baha'i) and become unconscious of the living presence of God's Spirit within us, holding on instead to religious teachings and community life that becomes fully integrated into our culture and family beliefs. In short, one's culture and identity become intertwined with one's historical faith, putting the soul to sleep as if no further discovery, awakening or growth is needed. This is faith that is believed because it is comfortable - it's comfortable because one's culture and family have sustained it for one's entire life - reaffirming and approving participation in it.
Real faith develops when we step beyond what is known, the way the Buddha stepped outside the grounds of the King and into the countryside. Once outside the comfort of friends and family's reaffirming approval of prior spiritual beliefs, we find contradictions, we find rejection, and confusion as the mind is disoriented yet submits to the Guiding Light within its own soul that is guiding to a new encounter with a much greater manifestation the Divine Truth. If we persist in the new search for God's greater glory we will encounter the Primal Point and be led to the Tree of Life - fully awakened into the heaven that is the essence of Creation, a heaven found on earth once the mind, that is more often a place of confusion (hell), has been reborn and retrained.
Who provides the retraining to discover the Oneness of God and experience liberation? Each encounter and appearance of the Spirit of God in human history marks the ongoing path to oneness (true understanding), yet these Lights are like buried gems, they are shining but need perception and intentional focus to discover.
To allow everyone to experience real faith, God must send new Messengers unto Itself, new Manifestations of the Divine Spirit, inviting us out of the shell of inherited religious identities. These Messengers come into the world from age to age.
Definition
Location or Presence
Names
Appearances
Influence
Encountering the Spirit
Exploring the Heaven of the Living Spirit
The Living God
House of Justice / Home of God on Earth (Where the Active, Expressive and Pure Spirit is Indwelling)
Time
New Cycle of Time / Nature of
People are Looking For This
Trust