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GOD WISHES
TO BECOME HUMAN
For
God can only love in a human heart
God needs me as much as I need Him.
Eckhart
Humans are often characterized as a species
perpetually striving to transcend boundaries. Particularly in Western cultures,
this endeavor is outward-facing, marked by a relentless drive to overcome
external challenges through technology and science. In contrast, Eastern
traditions, notably in India, have historically focused this quest inward,
seeking to overcome internal barriers.
To become God
Both approaches, whether outward or inward, can arguably be seen as a
deep-seated yearning to connect with what might be considered humanity's most
profound projective creation: GOD.
God is perfect. We humans are not.
Creature comforts are inherently flawed and
incomplete,
but God's comfort is whole, without any shortcomings.
Eckhart
Among all boundaries, death remains the most
formidable challenge. In India, numerous tales of Yogis who, through specific
meditation techniques, have extended their lifespans to almost mythic
proportions are well-known. Another path pursued by Indian yogis to attain
godliness involves the annihilation of both the ego and the body through
self-control. In extreme cases, like in the Jain culture, it is viewed as an
honor for the whole family if a young memember decides in the name of
spirituality, to starve himself to death in a ritual called Sallekhana. This subtly yet potently implies that in transcending death,
either by anihilating the body or prolonging its life, humans
edge closer to a divine state of being.
In the Western world, this aspiration is evident in the escalating interest in
life extension and the enhancement of life quality. A notable figure in this
movement is Bryan Johnson,
who is at the forefront of this trend, striving valiantly to surpass the
constraints of the human condition. I offer him my best wishes in these
ambitious pursuits.
To become Human
What you seek is seeking you.
Rumi
However, in this discussion, we will shift our focus to explore an entirely
different approach: envisioning a scenario where God wishes to become human.
This is in my view encapsulated in the narrative of the Son of God.
Jesus is God becomming man.
The question then is:
What does God 'desire'? What interest could the Limitless have in the small,
limited human? The Meister puts it this way:
God is foolishly in love with us,
it seems he has forgotten heaven and earth
and his happiness and deity,
his entire business seems with me alone...
Meister
Eckhart
The Meister provocatively even states:
I never give God thanks for
loving me,
because he cannot help it.
The Trial of Job in the Book
of Job
As C.G. Jung articulates in 'Answer to
Job,' the character of Job, subjected to trials by Yahweh, is portrayed as more
sympathetic than the divine tester. Job, in his human fragility, 'triumphs' over
God in the sense that he withstands all of God’s harrowing and seemingly cruel
tests.
This scenario is
particularly illustrative of Jung’s concept of
individuation,
the journey towards self-actualization and the integration of
different facets of the self into a coherent whole. Job's ordeal
represents an extreme form of this process. Through facing
extraordinary suffering and moral challenges, Job refines his
identity, achieving a level of self-awareness and holistic
consciousness that surpasses even God’s vast and ubiquitous
light, thereby contributing a unique element to the divine
narrative.
Jung concludes that God, 'impressed' and perhaps 'enlightened' by
Job's resilience and the depth of his individuation, then
'decides' to incarnate as a 'Human.' This pivotal episode offers
a symbolic foreshadowing of the coming of the
Son of Man,
embodying the divine aspiration for individuation and wholeness
within the human experience.
Therefore, the arrival of the Son
of Man is prophesied through Job's ordeal. This story emphasizes
the remarkable resilience and unyielding spirit of humankind.
Faced with daunting adversities and suffering, Job upholds his
faith and moral integrity, displaying a strength of character
that commands divine respect and admiration.
Jung's interpretation suggests a
moment of transformation for the divine: an acknowledgement of
the value and complexity of human existence. Through Job's
trials, God seems to gain a newfound 'understanding' of human
resilience and spirit. The trials serve not merely as a test of
faith, but as a profound exchange between human anguish and
divine power. This reshapes the divine perspective, culminating
in God's incarnation as a man in the figure of Jesus.
This
narrative signifies a bridge between the boundless divine and
the finite human condition, fostering a deeper and more
empathetic connection between God and humanity, a theme perhaps
more pronounced here than in other religious texts.
God 'longs' to become human, to experience life through our
perspectives, to rejoice in existence alongside and within us.
What do I mean by 'God'?
Let me elucidate my understanding of 'God' by referencing the wisdom of
Meister Eckhart:
"Heaven is pure and undisturbed clarity;
unaffected by time and space;
nothing bodily resides there, and it exists completely outside of time.
Its revolutions occur with incredible speed; its course itself is timeless,
yet from it, time emerges. Nothing hinders the soul from recognizing God
as much as time and space do, for time and space are always fragmented, but God
is one. Thus, if the soul is to recognize God, it must do so
outside of time and beyond space, for God is neither this
nor that like the many things that exist there, but God is one."
Meister Eckhart
God is the incomprehensible, primordial foundation
transcending space-time. Consciousness acts as a conduit between this
unfathomable, locationless primordial ground and space-time beings. When this
higher-dimensional enigma manifests in our lower dimension, it transforms into
the collective infinity of unlimited infinities. Here, a singular timeless 'now'
metamorphoses into 'infinity.'
"God is creating the whole
world now this instant."
Meister Eckhart
In the realm of God, there is no infinity.
Infinity is space-time's impossible attempt to reach the in this sense divine
zero through numbers.
"The happenings of a thousand years ago, days spent millenniums since,
are
in eternity no further
off than is this moment I am passing now;
the day to come a thousand years
ahead or in as many
years as you can
count, is no more distant in eternity than this very
instant I am in."
Meister
Ekchart
Consequently, consciousness manifests in time and
space as a lattice of points, each point serving as a portal to a new fractal
dimension within an immense cosmic hologram. From this perspective, God is
perceived as an omnipresent, all-encompassing singularity, a unity that
surpasses the fragmented reality of time and space. This reality, shaped by the
same primordial foundation, continually unfolds into our existence in the very
'now' of its emergence. In essence, the divine presence is not separate from our
reality but intimately woven into its very fabric, constantly revealing itself
in the timeless 'now'.
The Primordial Pan-Consciousness versus the Concentrated Light
of Man
Before Job's arrival, what was the nature of God? A
primordial, non-self-aware pan-consciousness that both created
and suffused time and space. This all-pervading consciousness is
what I identify as God, who, at that 'time,' lacked
self-awareness.
This omnipresent
pan-consciousness, though everywhere, did not possess
self-awareness. The true journey began with the emergence of
humans, endowed with the rare capacity for meta-awareness – the
awareness of being aware. Inspired by Meister Eckhart, I
interpret this as the first instance of consciousness reflecting
back upon itself. To be blessed is to be cognizant of God:
"I am certain
as I live that nothing is so close to me as God.
God is nearer to me than I am to my own self;
my life depends upon God's
being near me,
present in me.
So is he also in a stone, a log of wood,
only they do not
know it.
If the wood knew of God and realized his nearness
like the highest of the
angels does,
then the log would be as blessed as the chief of all angels."
Meister Eckhart
In this context, the Son of God symbolizes the
omnipresent light of God, focused and intensified within the narrow confines of
the human brain. According to Meister Eckhart, the highest part of the soul and
God’s essence are unified in this aspect:
"To gauge the soul we must gauge it with God,
for the Ground of God and the Ground of the soul
are one and the same...The highest part
of the soul stands above time
and know nothing of time."
Meister Eckhart
In this vein, a human being can be seen as a
copied reflection of God, yet,
paradoxically, this reflection surpasses the original in a specific sense: God
achieves a higher level of Himself through His Son.
Hence, a human being can be viewed as a reflection
of God, yet, paradoxically, this reflection surpasses the original in a certain
respect: through His Son, God attains a higher level of Himself.
The phenomenon I refer to here is Ouroboros consciousness.
Only human consciousness can become aware of itself, and it is precisely in this
self-reflection that God 'desires' to see Himself.
In this narrative, the copy transcends the original. Just as Job was greater
than God, so is Christ greater, and so too can we be, when we come to enter the
spiralling realm of self-awareness within a human brain. So there is no need to
escape the simulation. The 'matrix' is a much more evolved place to be.
God is in Itself Cold and Vast
Even when the primordial ground has manifested itself into a numerical
infinity of infinities, it remains in essence 'cold' and mathematically
impersonal. From this viewpoint, God's pan-consciousness regards us similarly to
how we might observe an ant. This divine presence operates under a 'will' that
is indifferent to individual predicaments: If one were to leap from a
skyscraper, they would be destroyed by the laws of gravity, and this occurrence
would transpire without any semblance of divine remorse or intervention.
In this interpretation, God, as an overarching, all-encompassing entity, is not
invested in the minutiae of individual lives. Instead, God's essence is woven
into the fabric of the universe's fundamental laws and principles. Thus, the
'coldness' of God refers to an absence of personal engagement with the
individual aspects of the universe, adhering strictly to the unyielding laws
that govern all existence.
I have encountered individuals who have claimed that if I truly understood what
enlightenment entailed, I would flee in terror. I am fairly certain that I would
refuse the state they describe. From my perspective, this so-called
enlightenment appears less human and more akin to a dissociative state, akin to
losing one's identity in the same manner a cosmic black hole engulfs a star.
When an unprepared individual encounters the fractal, infinite consciousness
within themselves, their delicate and precious human essence, akin to a
flickering flame, can be easily snuffed out.
The aftermath of such an encounter is not enlightenment but an empty,
depersonalized form of infinity. This state lacks the warmth and richness of
human experience, leaving behind only a void where the vibrant tapestry of
individual identity and consciousness once resided.
A person came to me and shared that in a profound state of depression, they had
delved into their sorrow, becoming completely engulfed by it. On the other side
of this sorrow was an infinite space filled with rainbows. However, being there
felt cold. He couldn't find himsef anywhere and experienced an unsettling
loss of identity. (Happily, this story ends with the person returning and
becoming more whole.)
Another individual recounted how, during a two-day drinking binge, he was
offered an LSD trip. For the following 14 days, he lay in bed, unable to do
anything but exist in a vast void.
After a month, he could echo the great sage Nisargadatta: 'There is joy, but
there is no one who is joyful.' More often, anxiety and depression clouded the
infinite sky within him. He could speak like a sage but were in a distressing
state, devoid of his core personality. Two months later, those who knew him
superficially noticed nothing unusual, but internally, his core essence had
vanished. (This case story also has a happy ending.)
One of my friends, a psychiatrist, once told me: 'You have no idea how many
Jesuses and Buddhas I have treated.' (Personally, I believe that quite a few
people who currently give satsangs or teach meditation belong to this category.)
One might argue that these versions of enlightenment, characterized by their
impersonal nature, are precisely what is revered in Eastern traditions, where
man achieves godliness in a state of utmost detachment. In my own experiences, I
have met masters from this school of thought who hail dissociation and
depersonalization as the epitome of true enlightenment.
Yet, the narrative shifts entirely when God becomes human. In this
transformation, the essence of humanness—embodied in Love, Humility, and
Humor—takes center stage. This shift emphasizes a different aspect of divinity,
one that is deeply entwined with the human experience and values the richness of
our human emotions and connections. In this perspective, enlightenment is not
about transcending humanity but embracing and refining the qualities that make
us fundamentally human.
Mr. Love, Humility, and Humor.
Bhaharadwaj bid us farewell at his
doorstep. We had a wonderful meeting with him. He extended his hands in blessing
towards us and said several times with great love: 'May God bless you!'
Then, with a mischievous glance towards the sky, he added: 'May He bless me
too!'
This small episode stands for me as the perfect
embodiment of love, humility, and humor. The wise man's humor even had a
delightful extra gift: humor in the form of self-irony!
The Small, Fragile, Imperfect, and Valuable Human
The reason God desires to be Human, to be 'born' as the Son of Man, is that
we, in all our fragility, self-importance, and imperfection, carry something
incredibly valuable within us. Each one of us bears a small spark of love. Our
concentrated little light is in reality the Prometheus torch that can ignite
God's infinite lattice. Our small light of life can actually illuminate the
entire infinity, much like a single matchstick can ignite an entire forest.
God unexpectedly and uninvitedly knocks on an unknown door hidden somewhere in
our heart. But we are often too busy with our meditative practices or external
tasks to take this subtle knocking seriously.
In our ritualized and purposeful search for spiritual experiences, we might
actually make it harder for God's wish to be fulfilled.
When two people are searching for each other in a
big city, it's best if one of them stands still.
The Humanized Infinity
The genuine meeting between God and Man is a union where infinity is
humanized. From being a mathematically cold infinity, it now becomes a warm and
living entity.
God's exit is his entrance.
He broke in to let us out.
Eckhart
In this way, it is not so much God who enlightens
man. Rather, it is Man who enlightens God. God's lattice, the universe's
holographic and fractal infinity, is illuminated with human warmth in this
encounter.
The Son of Man
Although I don't hold much regard for the institutions of the Church, I
must, somewhat against my will, conclude that no religious scripture comes
closer to this truth than the New Testament. However, I interpret the Christ
myth through the lens that led the great mystic Meister Eckhart to be condemned
by the Inquisition. He said:
'What is true about Jesus Christ is true about
every good and God-devoted person.'
This means that YOU, dear reader, possess in your heart the way, the truth, and
the life.
The dynamic yet fragile love of the Son and Daughter of Man is the fruit of an
encounter between God and Man, where the love that each individual felt for
everything dear to them has now fertilized the entire infinity. So now, the same
individual feels a deep and living empathy for EVERYTHING. In this state,
Infinity loves itself and with itself through Man.
'If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.'
William Blake
When God lives as the Son or Daughter
of Man, everything remains as before, except for one thing.
Everything is experienced and sensed from a Boundless, Infinite,
and Magical perspective. The everyday life, which was once
sleepily wrapped in eternal repetitions, is now experienced in
its connectedness with the infinity of infinities with such awe,
joy, and gratitude that it makes the hairs stand up all over the
body of the fortunate winner in God’s lottery.
'The joy and satisfaction of it
are ineffable.
It is like a horse turned loose in a lush meadow, giving vent to
his
horse-nature by galloping full-tilt about the field:
he enjoys it, and it is his nature.'
Eckhart
THE GRAND TRANSLATOR
It is a very simple psychological mechanism that determines whether
something seems real or not. For those who love following the British royal
wedding on TV, the royal world is real. For others who are not interested in the
regal spectacle, it is mere fantasy. It is our heart that determines what is
real. Where our heart is, there is 'reality.' What our heart loves becomes real.
If the Heart forms a bond with the body, the senses, and the physical world,
then the world in time and space is real.
The Heart Grants Reality
The Heart gives reality to what it loves. Thus, seeing the world as an illusion
is the same as saying one is not attached to it.
The crucial question now is: What does the heart love? I personally love the story of the
Son of Man.
How I discovered the Grand Translator
Let me share a story with you. About ten years ago, I found myself in an
unexpected situation one morning in a hotel in a foreign country, just before
checking out and catching a train to the capital city. By a series of highly
improbable coincidences, which is a story in itself, I mistakenly ingested 10
doses of LSD with my morning coffee.
Merely minutes after hastily drinking my coffee, as I was rushing to check out,
I realized that an extraordinary experience was imminent. It felt as though a
freight train from another dimension had collided with me, and my window of
opportunity to act rationally in this world was rapidly narrowing. I managed to
get to the hotel reception in the nick of time and extended my stay for another
day. During this process, I felt like I was entering my Visa card PIN in several
parallel universes simultaneously.
Nature is ruthless, brutal, unforgiving, and beautiful
in ways incompatible with our tidy human minds.
Statement made by AI GPT-3
In the elevator to my room, my body seemed unoccupied by what I had known as
'myself' just moments earlier. Yet, this entity, whatever it was, knew my room
number. The next thing I remember is lying on my bed, gazing into infinity with
countless eyes.
In that state, there was no room for fear, for there was no 'one' there to feel
it. The ego had dissolved under the potent influence of the LSD, without even a
moment to muster any resistance. It was like death had swung its scythe so
swiftly and unexpectedly that there was no time left for any negotiation.
The subsequent five hours are both difficult to remember and to describe. When
there is no distinct observer, only the observed folding into itself, how can
one articulate or recall anything meaningful? What I experienced was akin to an
immense clockwork, governed solely by an infinite interplay of mathematical
algorithms and geometry. This clockwork constantly transformed, taking on
ever-new shapes marked by colorful fractals and kaleidoscopic visions. These
patterns were felt in every cell of a body as vast as the algorithms coursing
through it.
An equation for me has no meaning
unless it expresses a thought of God
Ramanujan
In this vast ocean of endlessly morphing interactions of infinite, nameless
forms, there was synesthetic sensing, observing, and self-awareness without
doubt, will, second thoughts, reflections, or hesitation. A thousand-stringed
orchestra of sound-color-feelings played with an inhuman certainty, even though
every note from this psychedelic ensemble—from the deepest sub-sonic bass pipes
controlled by foot to the highest frequencies—was entirely new and never before
played. It was simultaneously extraordinarily beautiful and inhuman. This
concert was me yet not for me, simultaneously being a part of me but indifferent
to my existence or any other living entity, treating everything as an
insignificant byproduct of clashing mathematical algorithms interacting with
each other like soldiers indifferent to their own survival.
If I had been present as myself, the relentless grinding of the space-time
wheels would have been a source of terror. But I wasn't there, and the machine
itself was certainly indifferent to its own acts of creation and destruction.
Around 5 to 8 hours later, as judged by the fact that it wasn't yet dark, a call
from my bladder brought just enough of 'me' back to life to navigate to the
bathroom, much like the rest of the divine machinery was functioning
automatically.
Returning to the bed after this small physical action, a faint sense of self
re-emerged, just enough for me to decide to listen to some beautifully modulated
music. This task proved challenging, but eventually, I managed to play one of my
playlists. It was my extensive collection of Rachmaninoff's works. (Was this a
mere coincidence? Today, I think not.)
Rachmaninoff's complex and late-romantic compositions awakened within me a
little 2-year-old child, a child that 'innerstood' every note in the music. This
little child felt defenseless, frightened, and insecure, as if it had fallen
into a river of sounds, teetering on the brink of annihilation with each new
twist of Rachmaninoff's incredible finger-magic.
As I sit here now, a mature adult sipping morning coffee on my sofa, I write to
articulate what the child within experienced but could not verbalize at the
time. Rachmaninoff’s compositions, standing on a razor's edge, pushed rhythms,
harmonies, and melodies to the brink of self-destruction, a characteristic often
heard in classical music of and following his era. Yet, Rachmaninoff, still an
old romantic at heart, adhered to the ideals of Kalos, Kai, Agathos—truth,
beauty, and goodness. Thus, his wild musical escapades always found salvation at
the last second in beautiful cadenzas, leading to new exhilarating orchestral
journeys.
The child within was just trying to keep its head above water in this tumultuous
river of Rachmaninoff's creation. Slowly, it began to realize that it was being
saved again and again. A budding sense of trust emerged, gradually transforming
into tears of gratitude. This feeling of safety amidst the storm grew stronger
and more profound. I believe the child wept for hours. And then, suddenly, it
happened. The heart opened up.
The Heart is the Grand Translator
By 'the heart,' I refer to something within the entire chest area that
encompasses the lungs as well. The previously mentioned impersonal, algorithmic
infinity of infinities was still operating at full capacity, but now a
fundamental shift had occurred.
This force entered my body through the chest area, and there, the same cold
clockwork was transformed into a fireworks display of human emotions. There were
cascades of the most exquisite feelings in every color of the rainbow and
beyond—fragile yet immensely powerful. During this transformation, the child
aged and gained wisdom, understanding why God loves humanity and desires to
live, translated into human form, within a living, vulnerable heart.
The heart, then, is the Grand Translator. It functions like a stargate, a portal
where every fragment of the frozen god of algorithms can find warmth at the
fireplace.
Through the human heart, God translates Himself into human form.
Here the infinite becomes intimate.
Therefore, the fragmented and fragile human heart is the greatest entity in the
universe. The greater the suffering this heart has endured, the greater its
mature capacity to experience extreme states of love in as many ways as there
are particles in the universe. The more we have suffered, the more God longs to
enter our chest, to sing and dance in the cracks and scars we have all, more or
less, accumulated in His honor. This is why Meister Eckhart posits that next to
God, there is nothing more noble than human suffering.
Gunnar Mühlmann
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