What do you 'do' to understand God?

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

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Yes; yes; no; no; yes.....
I look to History to verify the Truth of being a Jew.
Without G-d; there would be no Jews. (No Christians; Muslims; or Hindus - and all of the religions that stem from the Vedic Age - either but, that's another story)
I look to the miracles of my life and of This World to verify to Whom it is that I try and Serve as a Jew.
Or, in Jewish terminology, I try and "Listen to my messages."

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

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As an agnostic, I don't pretend to know that there is a god.. I don't have a clue if one exists, and I certainly wont pretend to know any of it's characteristics. I don't KNOW. Period.

As an atheist, I have to ask my theist friends what they mean by the term. Often that never really gets anywhere. They don't seem to know either. They have perhaps strong belief., but knowledge?... That's why I'm an agnostic. I don't think they KNOW anything at all.. except what they were led to believe. They know their religious beliefs. By heart.

I don't spend any time trying to get close to something that I don't know exists, and don't have a clue about. If it exists, and wants to get in touch with me, I think it might know where I live. It can gimme a call.

I don't feel "heard"... I don't think there is really anyone out there who "listens". If there were a god, it could just go right ahead and read my mind. I don't need to feel heard at all.

No, I don't feel connected to something for which I have no evidence. That would be quite absurd.

I don't think there is anything out there trying to understand me. I don't have these religiously motivated feelings. IF this god wants to communicate something to me.. how could I stop it?

I can't be igored by something that behaves as if it doesn't exist. I'd have to believe that it existed first to ever feel ignored or anything else about this hypothesis.

I don't strive to make a connection to what I don't have any evidence is really there. I don't try to make connections with fairies, either. I have better things to do


Hope that helps

The problem with the Sun is, live too close to it and it will burn you, too far from it and you will freeze.

Nothing much these days, it really didn't take too long to figure God out when I actually gave it some thought. Not really a whole lot there, what is far more important to understand are people.

I have had a few experiences where I felt I was hearing from or in direct communication with God. I feel that in many other ways I learn about God including...

• Through His/Her creation
• Through the sincere differences of other people
• Through literature, music, art and motion pictures

Whenever there is a seemingly unsolvable problem that gets solved, whenever an unbearable situation becomes bearable and when I see the beauty in the moment out of all expectation, then I think that God reaching me and teaching me.

I feel that God has selected me for a specific purpose and that this purpose is what brings to me my strongest sense of meaning. Transcendence and renewal are two words which describe this experience for me.

In another forum I did an impromptu study of people's dreams about God. I found that with God (and Jesus) the dream experience had typical motifs and even those motifs existed for some of the atheists who offered dreams they felt were about God (as fictional character or cultural icon). To me this demonstrates the psychological reality of God as an objective factor in all human psyches.

I believe in a God whom one can relate to personally. I don't dismiss other forms of God however. To me to be able to relate to the creator of the Universe on a personal level provides me with an essential means for experiencing personal meaning in response to the events which the Universe seems to have provided for me to experience.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

A finite creature can only partially know understand an infinite and divine mind.

However I did what he said to do. Christ said if you diligently seek him, you will find him. That is what I did and that is who I found. However I then spent decades applying every tool at my disposal to better understand the God that I met when I was born again.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

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First you think about this word people use which is God,
Where did it come from ?
For myself God is a title of the Arcadian goddess Venus known by many names. She is Ishtar, Diana, Isis and the Romans called her Lucifer.
God is a foul mouthed, extremely violent murderous whore who wants only to be everything to every person.
People are just about to celebrate again her immaculate conception when she impregnated herself with the seed of her dead boyfriend Baal who was a murderous blood sipping fiend who deserved to die.
Christmas is the celebration of her delivery of this Horus the reincarnated Baal who people know as the Christ.

The true God invites us to "Draw close to God", and promises that "he will draw close to you." (James 4:8) I find that reading and study of the Bible helps me understand God's personality, his thinking, his qualities, and his standards. This effort helps me draw close to him, and to trust him. God has given us the privilege of talking to him in prayer. Again, he invites us; "but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6,7)
Meeting with fellow worshipping and sharing spiritual knowledge is greatly encouraging and draws us close to God as a group.
So to me, taking in accurate knowledge of God, heartfelt prayer, and Christian meetings help me draw close to Jehovah, the true God.

What Do You Do To Understand God?

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I study God's Word in the Tanach and try to live accordingly.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

I think the best thing to do is to learn how you are made, the human body is wired up for higher consciousness, the pineal gland is the junction box that controls all of the other glands that get the chakras whiring, this system enables us to experience who we are and who God is. Kriya yoga is one of the techniques to achieve this end.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

I feel understood. Loved. Safe. Not in a physical sense, but in mind? In spirit? Hard to put into words. Very important for me, was first to discard all the "religious" trappings of dogma, rule books culture, tradition, and with all of that ...All ugly cruel threats of sin/hell and promises of 'paradise'. Dismissed as rubbish. I felt, and still feel instinctively, very wary of religious organisations. I don't like to use the word "god" because it has no clear definition. I have a very strong sense of personal identity, of being myself, and no one else and I find myself ..Not "close" but a "part of" the immense power? I experience as "love", each time I choose to be there. Prayer? It is another word with too much distortion of meaning. I have an understanding of and with "love", I stop thinking about every worldly stress, I ask for nothing, I usually kneel somewhere alone and very quiet, I describe deepest feelings......., of despair, sadness, to hope and joy.......A self appraisal, within the safe keeping of the force of the universe, from which I am inseparable. The "answer" is always reliable. Unfailing. Each time I approach 'god' in this way, I have a very strong sense of renewal, of safety. Not of physical safety, but "spiritual?" Safety. When overwhelmed by seeming disasters, the effect is even more noticeable, because it seems to trigger responses from different sources. Quite astonishing. Did Jung call it 'synchronicity'? Curious coincidences, that follow, that give me strength.

usually a cup of coffee and cigarettes does the trick for me.

By truly knowing my self, for I am One with the Source, as we and everything else is, to know this from within is to know what we call God.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

Excellent question Tenzin and thanks for posing it on this forum!

So what do I do?

Well I offer daily prayers and submit myself to the Almighty..

I attempt to follow the teachings of the Faith in my professional and personal life... there are a multiple of ways to do this. I attend meetings and support programs iin my community that stand for principles of peace and reconciliation of peoples, religions etc. through inter-faith gatherings.

I raised my children in the Faith and saw to it that they were exposed to the same Divine principles that guide me in my life.

Do I feel heard?

I feel heard through the blessings my family has received in life...so my children received education and chose professions that call for serving others.. They in tuirn have been blessed with a stable and meaningful existence.

Do I feel connected?

I feel connected through participating in the community of belief with the regular processes made available in my Faith to consult with those representing my community.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

Brahma Kumaris consider God to be The Supreme Soul , with whom we can have various relationships , that of a Father , a Friend , a guide , beloved or even that of a child, different relationships would convey different meanings.
When we consider Him to be our parent , we feel carefree in that we are assured that He will take care of our concerns , and we also receive a right to what belongs to Him . It would also require that we acquire those qualities of the parent to become the rightful heir .
The Father is 1. Constant world Benefactor 2.The Merciful one who uplifts and 3.The Bestower of blessings.
The Father is Ocean of Peace , love , purity , power , knowledge and bliss.

Yes , we feel heard and connected to God through 'The Murlis' which we believe are the world transforming versions of God .
We make connection with God through Rajyog meditation , where the soul connects with the Supreme Souls and draws from His powers for self transformation or self actualization.

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

That is the ultimate 'religious' question. That it remains without a universally, satisfactory answer is an indictment of the theological project of tradition in what I would call a failed attempt to secure such understanding! Luckily there are others thinking outside the box in the search for that answer. You might try this link. The Final Freedoms

rusra02 said:

The true God invites us to "Draw close to God", and promises that "he will draw close to you." (James 4:8) I find that reading and study of the Bible helps me understand God's personality, his thinking, his qualities, and his standards. This effort helps me draw close to him, and to trust him. God has given us the privilege of talking to him in prayer. Again, he invites us; "but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6,7) Meeting with fellow worshipping and sharing spiritual knowledge is greatly encouraging and draws us close to God as a group.
So to me, taking in accurate knowledge of God, heartfelt prayer, and Christian meetings help me draw close to Jehovah, the true God.

Click to expand...

In my case, I take it that we have been granted the attribute of Freewill which is respected even by the Lord Himself except where "Pikuach Nephesh" was necessary as in the case of Pharaoh in Egypt when Moses needed to effect the Exodus of Israel.

rusra02 said:

The true God invites us to "Draw close to God", and promises that "he will draw close to you." (James 4:8) I find that reading and study of the Bible helps me understand God's personality, his thinking, his qualities, and his standards. This effort helps me draw close to him, and to trust him. God has given us the privilege of talking to him in prayer. Again, he invites us; "but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6,7) Meeting with fellow worshipping and sharing spiritual knowledge is greatly encouraging and draws us close to God as a group.
So to me, taking in accurate knowledge of God, heartfelt prayer, and Christian meetings help me draw close to Jehovah, the true God.

Click to expand...

However, we must be well aware that all God's promises are conditional to our obedience to His Laws. (Psalms 119)

Tenzin Javid said:

What do you, as an individual do, to understand or become closer to 'God, in the sense that you understand that term to mean? Do you feel heard? Do you feel connected? Do you feel misunderstood? Do you feel ignored? Do you strive to make a connection?

Click to expand...

I read Quran to have knowledge about God, pray to God to get close to him , and try to follow Sunnah- the acts of Muhammad- the most closest man to God ever. Please
Regards

Ben Avraham said:

However, we must be well aware that all God's promises are conditional to our obedience to His Laws. (Psalms 119)

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- and as given in Quran. Please
Regards