How is it that God exists?

[Beginner Mind]

A lot is said here about the nature of God.  "God is infinitely intelligent", "God is love", etc.  But what I can't wrap my head around, and what I haven't really seen explained anywhere, is how is it that God exists in the first place?  I once asked a former contributor to this forum, Winterknight, about this topic and he said "the Self is beyond birth and death."  Is that the closest we can come to knowing how God exists?  Has Leo ever offered an answer to this question?

[SoonHei]

 

 

 

 

 

@Beginner Mind it's unknowable. It's a mystery. Always was, is, and will be. 

Simply is.

 

Also. Think of ur question. Ur asking for a "how" for God... Let's say I give you the answer, that God exists because of X. Then the question becomes, how does X exist to have caused God to come into being... And so on. There is no how. It just is. Causeless. And you can't ask for a cause for something which is causeless because DUH!!! cause-less

[silene]

God doesn't exist, as an entity in existence. God is existence itself. Or Being, Reality etc, if you're an atheist and prefer a different name. What is prior to existence? Not Nothingness, emptiness, because those need existence to exist as well (that's a riddle  ).

Edited December 27, 2019 by silene
Grammar.

[mandyjw]

How do you exist in the first place? That question is just as unanswerable as the God one. When you see that you don't, and yet, here THIS is, the God question gets answered in a beautifully non answerable way too. It's the same question being asked, by the same asker. 

[Jahmaine]

The way Leo described it in the context of how the universe even exists was:

”Imagine a magician tricking himself into thinking he exists”. 

The nonexistent pretending to exist. It’s the strange loop paradox.

[DoubleYou]

You can only experience the answer to this question by admitting that the one that's searching for an answer can't possibly ever know.

"I don't know."

That's the closest you'll get. And it's the most satisfying statement there is. It frees you up of any preconceived notions, and so now this exploration can truly begin. Not in search of any symbolic meaning, but to simply admire that which is. Deeply falling in love with the mystery. Over and over and over again.

The exploration of this question never ends. And so, neither do you. You are the questioner, you are the answer. Simultaneously. Like a cat chasing its tail.

[Inliytened1]

15 hours ago, Beginner Mind said:

A lot is said here about the nature of God.  "God is infinitely intelligent", "God is love", etc.  But what I can't wrap my head around, and what I haven't really seen explained anywhere, is how is it that God exists in the first place?  I once asked a former contributor to this forum, Winterknight, about this topic and he said "the Self is beyond birth and death."  Is that the closest we can come to knowing how God exists?  Has Leo ever offered an answer to this question?

For this it is feasible to know but you really need an awakening or a mystical experience into Infinity.  The realization that reality or God is infinity by becoming Infinity.

It can't be grasped with the mind really.  Thats because infinity is already nothing.  It has nowhere to go to escape itself.  It's unlimited.  We can't really grasp what it means for something to be unlimited because we ourselves (more accurately the characters that are being played) are limited form.  The finger can't point back at the finger.

But when you experience samadhi or the formless the realization will come but as Infinity itself.  Being 

[Inliytened1]

37 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

For this you really need an awakening or a mystical experience into Infinity.  The realization that reality or God is infinity by becoming Infinity.

It can't be grasped with the mind really.  Thats because infinity is already nothing.  It has nowhere to go to escape itself.  It's unlimited.  We can't really grasp what it means for something to be unlimited because we ourselves (more accurately the characters that are being played) are limited form.  The finger can't point back at the finger.

But when you experience samadhi or the formless the realization will come but as Infinity itself.  Your true nature.  God is your true nature.

God just is God because its God.

 

[Nahm]

@Beginner Mind 

You forgot who you are, and created an idea of God. Can’t justify an idea, it’s an idea.

You’re right, you can’t wrap your head around it. Instead, let perspectives and thinking go, & unwrap your heart. 

You are very much the present. 

Write your perspectives down, then write the opposite & contemplate that both are true, and both are false. 

[Beginner Mind]

Thanks for your responses, everyone.  I tend to agree that the origin of God is ultimately a mystery.  I guess I'll just have to be content with not knowing.

[Forestluv]

10 minutes ago, Beginner Mind said:

I tend to agree that the origin of God is ultimately a mystery. 

“Origin” assumes a timeline of past, present and future. There is an awakening of eternal Now in which there is no origin. As well, “origin” assumes subject-object separation in space. That a thing called god appeared and is separate from other things like you, me and a ham sandwich. There is also an awakening of Oneness in which there is no spatial separation.

It’s a mystery in terms of intellectual constructs. It can be directly experienced in what’s called a mystical experience. Yet the mind often tries to contextualize trans-personal direct experience into personal experience.

[ajasatya]

@Beginner Mind Who are you?

[Beginner Mind]

41 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

“Origin” assumes a timeline of past, present and future. There is an awakening of eternal Now in which there is no origin. As well, “origin” assumes subject-object separation in space. That a thing called god appeared and is separate from other things like you, me and a ham sandwich. There is also an awakening of Oneness in which there is no spatial separation.

It’s a mystery in terms of intellectual constructs. It can be directly experienced in what’s called a mystical experience. Yet the mind often tries to contextualize trans-personal direct experience into personal experience.

Yeah I'd love to have one of those mystical experiences where all questions simply dissolve.  That's probably the only true resolution to this question.

[Beginner Mind]

27 minutes ago, ajasatya said:

@Beginner Mind Who are you?

I don't know.

[Leo Gura]

15 hours ago, Beginner Mind said:

Is that the closest we can come to knowing how God exists?

No. There's a lot of muddled talk in this thread. The clear answer is this: you can become directly conscious of what God is, why it is, and where it came from.

Be careful with falling into the "I don't know" trap. People say "I don't know" thinking that's all there is. But there's actually something here that you haven't discovered yet which you can discover. You can discover precisely what God is. God is not an idea.

[Beginner Mind]

@Leo Gura I believe you when you say an answer is attainable, but for those of us who haven't or can't access it, can you enlighten us?

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, Beginner Mind said:

@Leo Gura I believe you when you say an answer is attainable, but for those of us who haven't or can't access it, can you enlighten us?

No I can't enlighten you.

[Adam M]

@Beginner Mind If you want to keep trying to cognize something that cannot be thought, then checkout Leo's videos:

 

What is Consciousness?

What is God pt 1 and 2

What is Truth?

Understanding Duality Series

 

I'm sure there's many others but these are important off the top of my head.

If you want a robust mental framework of nonduality then you have to do some serious research. There are many nuances and subtleties that are in the hours of video content that Leo has created.

Read some books about it too.

And of course all of this is pointless without spiritual practice and mystical experience.

[zeroISinfinity]

@Beginner Mind Leo can't. But your ❤️ can. So actual practises. 

[Beginner Mind]

@Leo Gura I don't mean bestow enlightenment upon me.  Enlighten me, as in, explain how God exists.  How is it possible for something to be unborn and eternal?  Is this something that can only be directly experienced?