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Some people believe that God is in everything. How could this be true and yet not be obvious? How could a common rock contain the Creator? Let's look into this question by considering the following.

Suppose you have arrived on Earth from far away and are exploring it for the first time. And suppose you have found a block of frozen ice. As you examine the ice closely, you take note of its properties. It is so cold that it almost hurts to touch it. It is very hard and will not flow around your hand but if you hit it with a rock, you can break off a few pieces.

Then image that you discover a natural hot springs big enough to jump into. The hot water feels fantastic and you delight in how it flows all around your body. The water can be splashed about but it does not break into pieces.

Surely you have discovered two very different things, two things that have nothing in common at all. Their properties are exactly opposite. One is cold and solid; the other is hot and fluid. One is breakable; the other is not.

And then it happens. The block of ice falls into the hot pool of water and right before your very eyes it melts in a matter of minutes. Now you clearly see that it is made out of the same thing that the hot water is made out of! There's no denying this now. But a few minutes ago it was very different! It was in a different form, a different state, which gave it a completely different set of properties, a completely different set of qualities.

Could this be similar to God and creation? Let's expand the water analogy to include water vapor, which is an invisible gas. That might be like God the Source. We cannot see God the Source since the Source has no form.

And yet, if the Source wanted to create a spiritual world, a world of angels, for example, the Source could choose to lower the temperature, the vibration, of the H2O that is the divine essence of all things and part of the Source would change from an invisible gas into liquid water that now has some form to it.

This spiritual world could include beings with a sense of self and freewill. They would not appear to be the same as the Creator and yet they would be made out of the same divine essence. Beings in this world would have their senses tuned to that realm, that dimension, so they would be able to perceive and experience everything in it.

And if the Source wanted to create a physical world, to create our universe, the Source could choose to lower the temperature even more and part of the Source would then take on many magnificent new forms.

Similar to before, this physical realm could also include beings with a sense of self and freewill. And again, they would not appear to be the same as the Creator and yet they would be made out of the same divine essence. These beings would, of course, have their senses tuned to the physical world allowing them to perceive and experience everything in it but they would generally be blind to everything in the spiritual world.

In this view, it is very important to note that while we are all made out of the same thing, we are not all the same. From the point of view of our common daily life, we each have our own unique “personal self,” precious and special but not in an egotistical sense. We are each a unique expression of the eternal divine essence. We each have our own body, we each have our own personality and we each have our own thoughts and feelings. Yet while we are all different, we are all connected to each other, to everything, through this wondrous divine essence.

Now imagine for a moment that the eternal divine essence was wood. You can make a chair out of wood, you can make a house out of wood and you can make a boat out of wood. While all these things are made out of the same thing, they are each very different. If you are out on the ocean, the boat will serve you best and if a storm is coming, the shelter of the house will benefit you the most.

So don't make the mistake of saying, “Well, since everything is divine in its essence, everything is the same in its form and I will not make any distinctions between people or things.” Some people and things may mix with you in a more harmonious way so choose wisely and enrich your life!

And still, with this mystical understanding, you will perceive every act as a divine act, every thought as a divine thought, every emotion as a divine emotion and every thing as the divine in physical form.

You are not simply connected to God; every aspect of your being is divine!

God is not just deep within you at a special place; you are divine at every level!

In the formlessness of the eternal divine essence as Source, there is only oneness, wholeness, and yet, as such, nothing is manifest. It is here where we all dissolve into oneness. Yet in our physical world, the wholeness of this mystery is presented to us in a way that makes it appear as separate non-divine pieces. This is the illusion of the world. But just because the world is an illusion does not make it not real for it is certainly real as an experience. Indeed, that is the only way in which it is real.

Paradoxically, when the formless divine mystery becomes manifest, it presents itself with form, with an appearance. It is this physical appearance that our scientists focus on and in many ways they do an excellent job. Yet few of them have any interest in the awareness that actually sees the world. Of course, some of them study the personality or the physiology of perception but that is not the awareness. They also study what they call “states of consciousness” but all they are really studying are different states of the body and brain; they are not studying the invisible awareness. This wondrous and divine awareness is what you actually are.

Your Divine Awareness is the buried treasure hidden within the “personal self;” it is the kingdom of heaven within you.

Your “personal self” may be your body, your mind, your personality and even your soul, but your true self - your fundamental, unconstructed self - is the divine awareness that perceives everything that you experience. This is why I like to say, “Know yourself and you shall know God.”

Most analogies fall short in some respect and the water analogy is no exception, yet I like it in many ways. But is it true? Is everything we see actually the eternal divine essence in physical form? Does God intentionally hide from us in order to invigorate the play we are all in and charge it with emotion? Can we see God hiding in the world just like we might see a secret assistant to the magician? Is this divine essence the core of the wonder and awe that we feel when we admire the beauty of nature and each other?

Mainstream science holds that the material qualities and chemical processes of the body and the brain give rise to our consciousness. In other words, the material world is the foundation of reality, and consciousness is an aspect that comes forth from it in order for all sentient beings to be alive and aware. In this view, our consciousness depends on the body, and different states of the body and brain - sleep, for example - lead to different states of consciousness. But what if it is the other way around? What if consciousness is fundamental? What if consciousness is unconstructed and everything else is created within consciousness?

Honest scientific research into subjects such as out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, spirit communication and past lives all point to a nature of reality that is profoundly different from what is commonly believed. This research shows us that while there is a relationship between our consciousness and our body, the body is not the source of our consciousness. The true nature of the self is beyond the body. Of course we all see that our bodies were born into the world, but is it not also true that both our bodies and the entire world are born into our awareness?

Our amazing awareness itself is not even visible to us and yet we know it exists because we experience the world through it. Our awareness holds everything that we experience. Our awareness hosts our entire personal reality. Everything that you experience, physical or spiritual, arises out of your awareness and is witnessed by your unchanging awareness.

And the mystic carries this even further. A mystic understands that the awareness that looks out of your eyes is the same awareness that looks out of his or her eyes. What is seen is different but the awareness is the same. There is only one awareness, that of the eternal divine essence. And this formless, unseen, Divine Awareness is what animates all of life!

It's like there are billions of hand puppets on earth, all apparently different people, animals and plants. But when we see beyond the illusion of separateness and correctly perceive the full picture of what is really taking place, we see that there is only one puppet master with billions of hands animating it all. What a miracle! What a mystery!

Once the mystic sees the whole world as the eternal divine essence in physical form, everything becomes precious and sacred. Deep compassion for all people, animals and even plants springs forth automatically.

Yet before we realize the mystic's view, while we are still tricked by the illusion of separateness, we really can see that we all share fundamental human experiences and we are all connected to one another like a big family. If we turn that connection into a genuine embrace, we will create lasting peace.

The End

Thanks for reading my essay! Have a magical and mystical day!

Thomas Razzeto

Written May 8, 2007.