I am a pantheist. You can look it up on Wikipedia, but in a nutshell, as simply as possible, I believe every atom and molecule in the entire known and unknown universe is one entity, one consciousness and one awareness. If it makes it easier to comprehend, use the word “god.” We are all “god.” I do not believe “god” is separate, disconnected from the universe and watching over it. Every one of us is “god.” Every thing we touch and see is “god.” All of it is connected, even if we do not see the connections.
A friend of mine was bemused by this concept when I discussed it with him. With raised eyebrows, he held up the pen from his desk and said “You mean if I throw this pen into the wastebasket, I’m throwing “god” into “god?”
Uh… yeah.
Let’s use the human body as an example. You are one person. You go where you want to go, think the thoughts you want to think. And yet you are made up of millions of cells, and each cell is born, eats, reproduces, has a brain, communicates with other cells and eventually dies. This happens billions and billions of times in your life, yet still you continue to exist as yourself. So, are we all cells in the body of “god?”
But ditch the word “god.” Too much baggage. Let’s use the term All That Is to represent this belief of one consciousness inhabiting everything.
For me, the concept that we are all separate and yet connected helps me make sense out of certain things, like telepathy and intuition. If we are all wired together, why shouldn’t we be able to tune in to each other? If someone steps on my foot, my mind knows it instantaneously, even though none of my mind’s cells were injured like my foot’s cells were. So of course we should take care of each other, because I am you as you are me and we are all together (as The Beatles once sang).
In astrology, your birth chart is essentially a picture of the sky the moment you were born. Some people question how that possibly helps delineate who you are, but if all of us are a part of All That Is, how could it not be a reflection of who you are? And this is why, when I am talking to clients, I tell them they are carrying the qualities of the time they were born with them all their lives. Those born in the mid-1960s are carrying the energy that created the social upheaval of the 60s inside them. We are children of the universe. We are all connected to each other, and connected to all that surrounds us, i.e.: All That Is.
I am clarifying my spiritual & intellectual beliefs here so there might be a general understanding of “where I’m coming from” as I examine life, love, the past, future, and whatever, in the upcoming weeks and months.
So, where are you coming from?
I get it….
I think, therefore I Am
The secret is in the in between. The part you can’t see or conceptualize.
The energy that holds everything together is God.
If it is true faith, wouldn’t it require absolute trust and surrender? or it wouldn’t be true, would it? I’m not asking this sarcastically, but out of pure interest into what you said you are. Do you find purpose in living with pantheism?
I endeavor to maintain absolute trust & faith… like most, I sometime waver… but as a pantheist all my faith and trust are in me and everyone else, and not in an outside figure, not a caretaker god. For me. my “purpose” is to be the best possible part of All That Is that I can be… and as a part of All That Is, I have a vested interest in making sure all my fellow men and women are doing as well as they can. After all, as much as I do anything to my fellow humans, I am also doing it to me.
It sounds like you are accepting your philosophy of pantheism with the same amount of faith and surrender, as is required for me to accept my faith in God and Jesus.
sure… all true faith requires some trust & surrender…
pagan polytheist pantheist
triple threat?
. . . Everything is ‘god’ – and as in a hologram each piece contains the reflection of the whole – and ‘the whole’ is evolving too.
You ask – So, where are you coming from?
Well it seems I am coming from exactly the place you are – I share your view and I totally agree with all you say in this post!
Well said Sir. 🙂
I am coming from the same point of view. Spinoza says it well, for me. I have recently found evolutionary discoveries to be very interesting as far as connecting us all. This connects past and future in a continuous chain of cause and effect as well as the connection we have to everything here and now. To me everything today is a product of all that has gone before and that includes my thoughts, my physical body, disease, inventions.
I will say though that if you take this philosophy further you may come to some interesting conclusions about what God really is. Perhaps not a benevolent tester of human good and bad deeds. Perhaps an all inclusive depends on how you look at it kind of an entity. I mean where the heck did the praying mantis come from, apparently she eats the head of her mate while he’s still doing his business, what kind of a God creates that?
Very interesting post. I find your theory of inter-connectivity very interesting though very confusing. If we are “separate but connected” where did it all go wrong?
Why are you assuming it went wrong?
Lovely post.