Define god.

[Fallout55]

Define god as you see it. From and all knowing super being high in the sky, to the idea of collective conscious that we are all part of, there are so many ways to define god!

[Bongish]

definition God:

The most bullshit ever perpetrated on the human race.

[ssreetnulov]

a lie

[Archemetis]

anytime your define somthing or give somthing a name you are limiting it... giving it boundaries....the concept of god is supposed to be beyond limitations and boundaries.

but id say god is the flow....the life force....mystic moment....the whole of creation resonating purity in the present

[Archemetis]

...the savage garden...

[Boogabaah]

nature

[Varuna]

Being itself, the is-ness of all that is, the existence which transcends all existence.

Consciousness itself, the essential awareness that is within all awareness, the thought that transcends all thought.

Bliss itself, Love itself, an eternally expansive transcendence that transcends even itself.

Or . . .

You are one step closer to God when you know reality as a who instead of a what.

Peace and Love

[al-Hallaj Kabir Ali]

anti-Entropy

[Bongish]

the greatest hoax of all time.

[Peterness]

The Unknowable

[Maryslittlebrat]

Love

[themnax]

something unknown, unknowable, unimaginably powerful, and wishing us no harm.

also not a tangable or material force.

also, whatever you think it is, it probably isn't. at least no exactly and probably not even close.

=^^=
.../\...

[NightRose]

guy with long hair, likes apples and has an irrational fear of snakes.. :leaving:

[Pixieface]

the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions this is the definition of god!!!now wheather its true or not who can rule it out?????

[myself]

God is a metaphor for moral values.

[Fallout55]

natureMy thoughts.

All the replys were good keep them coming!

[Krsna Bhakti]

Being itself, the is-ness of all that is, the existence which transcends all existence.

Or . . .

You are one step closer to God when you know reality as a who instead of a what.

Peace and Love
Very beautiful! Exactly my thoughts on the matter, laid out just how I would have done so. The "who" of reality, the multiple realities, the eternal spiritual and the finite physical, inside us and outside of us :)

[Varuna]

Thank You

[Krsna Bhakti]

You are quite welcome Varuna, I really did find that beautiful, poetic. Very inspiring to say the least. The "who" of reality, hmmmm........really gets the mind jogging when you let that sink in haha ;)

[Fallout55]

there is no way to define god. athiests and faithful followers of organized religions are fools for the same exact reasons. there is no solid proof of god, and no proof against the existance of anything that is called "god".. whether it be a universal soul, a group of individual immortal beings, a single creater, or any other solid or abstract idea that you could possibly call "god". established religions are all based on the accepting of random ideas as facts, but with the same token science only answers "how" to the questions of existance and never "why". athiesm is denying ideas that based on science itself should still be concidered, and theism is based on believing those ideas above all else based on nothing. as with anything in this world, the extremes are both illogical. the only logical way to view the concept of god, which has been with humanity since the beginning of our existance and answers the only thing that the most intellegent humans haven't been able to answer, is agnosticism. there is no solid proof of any form of god, and yet there is no way to disprove it and it is still a possibilty even in the eyes of science. the highest forms of physics infact sounds more like religious beliefs than it does science.. and yet those ideas are all invented theories by people who deny the existance of god. there is no way to know and the only way to logically form a belief in this case is by exploring religion for your self and seeing how you feel. there is no right or wrong answer in the unknown and the unprovable and all beliefs are acceptable....

... that being said, i stated my opinion that both staunch theism and staunch atheism are foolish, but if believing either one of those answers feels right to you then they're just as good as any other... a message to athiests: if believing in an afterlife or a higher powers sets certain people's minds at ease whats wrong with that? and a message to theists: if people choose to disagree with your unproven beliefs and that sets their minds at ease, shouldnt they have every right to that, as you have the right to believe?Good post! I personaly belive science and the study of our universe will bring us closer to god as we learn more weither we belive it or not. Even if we were all created from some explosion of whriling gas and through billions of years of evoluat not antion is that not peacfull enough? Is th act of god no matter how faceless it seams? Whthere we belive in god or nto we are all bound to some things that cant be avoided, such as death wich is why I belive nature is god.

[sexylilunicornbutt]

I believe that God defines itself. I believe that God is everything, so anything I write defines God. To me, if God is to be accepted as the creator of everything, it logically follows that God must be everything. Otherwise in the beginning there must have been God and a stockpile of supplies . In which case he would be the architect of everything which is constructed rather than the creator of everything.

Or if God is omnipotent, omnipresent...likewise, God must be everything, because #1 All matter possesses power; #2 All matter occupies space. How can God be all powerful if he doesn't possess the power which matter possesses? How can God be everywhere if he doesn't occupy the space which matter possesses?

Otherwise there might be something vastly similar to God in that is it "very powerful" and "knows a lot" and is "practically everywhere". But then logically you could just say, "No, that's not God," call the universe (or everything) God, and then you would have a God that fits the standard definition. The universe knows everything that can be known; the universe possesses all the power that exists; the universe is everywhere; everything is responsible for the creation of everything.

So someone might say, "Why not just call God the universe, then?" In the case of natural pantheism, I don't know why...but classical pantheism goes further in asserting that God is also personal, which is something that isn't immediately evident to everyone where the universe is concerned.

Nature appears very random, but so do the neural processes in your brain. Imagine you'd lived inside a brain your entire life -- you wouldn't have any evidence to suggest that there was a higher order present, but we think we do things for reasons. Then it also becomes a question of whether chaos and order even exist. On various scales and dimensions what is believed to be orderly appears chaotic and vice versa.

For instance, say you're building a house. You think you're doing something very orderly. But if you really look at how this house came to be, the process will appear totally random. Wars, famine, births, butterflies flapping their wings, everything that happens, etc.: This is how your house came to be.

So basically I believe everything is God. Even if everything that exists originally comes from a dumb, dead source, which I doubt...there would be no way to prove this. And in a way, you and I are the source, and we think we're smart and alive. Everything is perpetually being born into what is. The source of everything is everything and everywhere.

Even our births are chaotic, though our parents appear orderly (?). Our parents and their coitus (lol) are the results of what we know as pure chaos. Even the "order" of their desires are the result of seemingly "random" influences. Maybe daddy got spanked too many times as a child and on this particular night mommy was wearing just the right socks or something, you know? We're just gummy bears coming out of the gummy factory. Still made of the same chaotic gummy. Which we "return" to, but actually remain forever.

[Fallout55]

So someone might say, "Why not just call God the universe, then?" In the case of natural pantheism, I don't know why...but classical pantheism goes further in asserting that God is also personal, which is something that isn't immediately evident to everyone where the universe is concerned.

Right, is god a conscious entity, does god know he/she/it is god?
Or is god just god?

If god is conscious does god have emotions, does god make descions is god bias?

[Any Color You Like]

that being said, i stated my opinion that both staunch theism and staunch atheism are foolish, but if believing either one of those answers feels right to you then they're just as good as any other... a message to athiests: if believing in an afterlife or a higher powers sets certain people's minds at ease whats wrong with that? and a message to theists: if people choose to disagree with your unproven beliefs and that sets their minds at ease, shouldnt they have every right to that, as you have the right to believe?
Very well said. However does atheism mean no religion or does it mean no god?

[Bongish]

Very well said. However does atheism mean no religion or does it mean no god?
atheism:
a=without
theism= the belief in the existence of one or more gods or deities

hence: atheism= without the belief in god.

[Varuna]

atheism:
a=without
theism= the belief in the existence of one or more gods or deities

hence: atheism= without the belief in god.
So, what DO you believe in?

Peace and Love

[Bongish]

So, what DO you believe in?

Peace and Love
does one HAVE TO believe in something?
methinks not. surely not the god as diety who concerns itself with the everyday goings on and fate of human kind. that, my friend, is purely a hoax perpetrated on human kind everywhere. To even imagine a deity who created you and then allowed you to be a sinner by his own definition is purely ludicrus.

you have been punked by thousands of years of mind control and superstition. wake up.

[Varuna]

does one HAVE TO believe in something?
methinks not. surely not the god as diety who concerns itself with the everyday goings on and fate of human kind. that, my friend, is purely a hoax perpetrated on human kind everywhere. To even imagine a deity who created you and then allowed you to be a sinner by his own definition is purely ludicrus.

you have been punked by thousands of years of mind control and superstition. wake up. See? You DO have beliefs. You can doubt their accuracy or reject them or even deny their existence. But they are only your beliefs that you doubt, deny or reject. Regardless of whether they are absolutely true representations of reality, or uninspired by-products of your imagination, they are your beliefs.

Until you actually know the inspired realization of the Mystics, the Tzaddiks, the Saints, the Prophets and Boddhisattvas, until you know what it is they are actually talking about, all you are really doing is expressing your dissatisfaction with your own ideas.

The inexplicable paradox is that transcending "God" (whatever YOU think that means) may actually be the holiest act you are capable of performing. If you are as awakened as you would like to believe yourself to be, or at least as honest, then you may be surprised at what exists in place of your beliefs.

Peace and Love

[Bongish]

lol, that's some funny shite

[Bongish]

See? You DO have beliefs.
See? what the fuck did that mean/prove?

punked. there is no proof of god's existence.

[Strange Days]

I don't believe in any kind of god. I just believe in myself and in other people. I don't have to believe in something that you cannot see. And, if there is a god who controls everything, then he is a fucking jerk for having so much poverty, cruelty, war, and racism in this world.

[Bongish]

I don't believe in any kind of god. I just believe in myself and in other people. I don't have to believe in something that you cannot see. And, if there is a god who controls everything, then he is a fucking jerk for having so much poverty, cruelty, war, and racism in this world.
so young, yet so wise.

[Varuna]

See? what the fuck did that mean/prove? Good Question.

punked. "Here's your Kazoo, Mr. Hendrix."

there is no proof of god's existence. There is no proof that this idea is anything but a cheap, oversimplified conclusion.

This discussion, about belief or disbelief in the existence or non-existence of God, whatever the name means, has been going on for the past two or three or five or ten thousand years, a lot longer than anyone or anything you or I personally know of.

I mean no disrespect, but Atheists seem to want everyone to simply stop the conversation. Why?

I just want to know what everyone has been talking about. Maybe there is something I don't know, maybe there is something I can learn, maybe everything is meant to be better than it appears to be. Who knows?

Whether or not you find a good reason to participate, however, I am quite sure the conversation will continue for thousands of years into the future.

Peace and Love

[yyyesiam2]

is.

[Varuna]

You could think of it this way.

With polytheist religions - like Hinduism or the Ancient Greek Pantheon- each deity is a personification, or a name, if you will, of some ideal, abstract, eternal reality like Love (Aphrodite, Krishna), Wisdom (Saraswati, Sophia), Creativity (Gaea, Brahma) and so on. There are many of these entities.

I don't know that any sane Hindu ever really expects to see a Blue-Skinned, Multi-Armed Deity walking down the streets of Delhi or Varanasi, but it is just so much easier to learn about and remind oneself about these abstract spiritual realities when they are personified. A wise Hindu (and there are many of them) will tell you that there is a single divine reality expressed through all of these personifications.

The Non-Theistic religions - Buddhism, Taoism, etc. - acknowledge these eternal patterns of reality, but do not necessarily assign any personal identity to them. They do not deny their existence but they teach it is much more important for the individual to recognize and respect these "things" onesself instead of taking someone else's word for it. Someone else's word is inadequate to fully communicate what "It" is.

The Monotheist religions - Judaism, Christianity, Islam - also acknowledge the existence of the eternal realities like Love, Wisdom, Creativity, Truth, Compassion, Consciousness, Joy, Unity, Transcendence and so on. It is believed that these are, however, not individual deities themselves but conscious expressions of an unfathomable, absolutely transcendent reality that IS the primal being of all that is. "I will be what I will be," as it says in the story.

Now, of course, it may be possible to live a life without looking at the world and seeing reality in any of these ways, but even the most immovable Atheist will recognize the ideals these entities personify.

Love, Wisdom, Creativity, Truth, Compassion, Consciousness, Joy, Unity, Transcendence, and the list goes on and on and on . . .

[Axis: Bold As Love]

Read Bertrand Russell, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris etc.

Then you will laugh at anything remotely religious.

[Varuna]

Read Mohandas K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Joshua Heschel, William Sloane Coffin, The Dalai Lama, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Baba Ram Dass, Stephen Gaskin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodran, etc.

Then you will realize that Bertrand Russell, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris are not really even taking part in the same conversation.

Then you will smile at anything remotely religious.

Peace and Love

[Bongish]

Then you will smile at anything remotely religious.

Peace and LoveI always smile at religious things. They are, by definition, great comedy.

[smokindude]

Religion doesnt exist. God does. Religion is a form of faith and a path to God. God is love. We ARE created in Gods image because we are beings of energy, and God is energy itself, in a way. God is everywhere and everything. I love God.

[themnax]

if you could define god, it wouldn't BE god. baha'u'llah, lao tsu, even mohamed and moses seem to aggree on this. certainly what i've experienced personaly bears no resemblence to anything described in any organized belief.

lao tsu said it best of course, with basicly the tao you can name, describe, et c., not being the whatever you want to call it that is.

i think all imposed deffinicians are the antithisis of any kind of real spirituality.
and that no one would be any worse off if no one had ever tried to come up with any.

=^^=
.../\...

[Trix_Bunny]

God: A coping system developed by human beings who have difficulty excepting thier mortality and/or the percieved unfairnesses in the world around them.

[Patchworkshorts]

God=Good Orderly Direction

[Share the Warmth]

The personification of the universe and all it's mysteries. He was created by us and has had many forms, but I think he was originally created out of a human desire to feel connected to the universe, to have a personal relationship with it.

[SILVERWOLF_87]

A magical unicorn who shits rainbows and parades the cosmos in a purple and green flying lawnchair while eating an endless supply of grilled cheese sandwiches.

What? It's just as absurd as any of the other definitions :P

[nirmalamaya]

God is:
The Self

God Is:
The collective or mass consciousness that has always existed.

God Is:
A cosmic intelligence
(If God is a cosmic intelligence, and we are but just a thought in the supernatural "mind" of this intelligence, would physics then be the physical manifestations of Gods thoughts?)

God Is:
Mainly whatever you want it to be. If you DONT want it to be, then it isnt. If you DO, then it is.

For those who dont believe God is a very simple concept, and for those that do, God is an extremely infinite and complex concept. :)

By the way..im so glad I found these forums, theyre awesome!
I am a Hindu.

[earthmother]

Define god as you see it. From and all knowing super being high in the sky, to the idea of collective conscious that we are all part of, there are so many ways to define god!

"God" is a couple things. There is the superstition. The idea that a supreme being is somehow watching over us from some "sky" or "everywhere", and has ultimate power to do ANYTHING, but DOESN'T. A good excuse to use at appropriate times.

Then there is the physical "god" which is simply a story handed down thru generations, of some most likely totally misunderstood beings who were labled as "gods" by the people at the time who did not have a real clue who these beings were.

[plastic bagism]

God is what everyone subconsciously thinks they are until they realize that there are other things, and then the realization that they too might think they're God.

I'm tripping.

[broony]

If god can create a rock that is to heavy to lift, can he lift it?