In one of the blogs this week, I said that there is no need to believe in the traditional religious idea of God. Instead, simply experience God, the real source of energy that exists throughout the universe.
We also suggested that heaven and hell are not physical places, but rather states of consciousness. This idea caused quite an uproar.
Some people asked, “What about Jesus?”
Jesus understood many of these truths, and so did other wise teachers throughout history.
Experiencing God Directly
What I mean is this: you can experience God directly. You do not need to believe in God through a system of rules that were created by religious institutions. Those rules often create too much pressure.
Heaven is life lived in connection with your soul. It is the experience of being alive, here and now, not a distant place somewhere in the sky.
Hell, on the other hand, occurs when you feel separated, when you believe the world is against you instead of with you. It is a state of division rather than unity.
It is not a physical place filled with evil people.
Ironically, people often feel closer to “hell” when they try to follow rigid religious rules, because those rules frequently create fear. Fear is a powerful way to control people.
Instead, simply experience the true presence of God.
The Sunrise as Living Proof
As I write this, I am looking out my front window and can see for miles. The sunrise is forming clouds filled with beautiful colors.
This is not belief, it is reality.
The sun will rise again tomorrow. The day will begin when the sun rises. This is knowledge. It is fact.
Then, as I watch the sky burst into different shades of color, I experience something incredible. The sky changes, the sun appears, and light spreads across the horizon.
This is experience.
There is no need to believe in God in an abstract way. The universe is constantly showing us something real.
It is much easier to live this way.
Your Body as an Expression of Divine Energy
Your body itself is an expression of God’s energy. It possesses qualities that only something extraordinary could create.
You do not need to believe in your body, it simply exists. But how it functions, heals, adapts, and grows is part of the experience of life.
You can learn about your body and improve how you use it. Sometimes false beliefs interfere with its natural balance, but the body itself was designed to function well on its own, until society began adding its own ideas and limitations.
One Love and the Energy of God
When you understand this concept, One Love begins to make sense.
One Love recognizes that God exists, but instead of focusing on belief systems, it focuses on energy. We call God energy, or the universal consciousness that connects everything.
This is not just a theory, it is something we experience every day through our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.
One of the beautiful things about the Star of Light philosophy is that there is nothing you need to join and no man-made rules you must follow.
In a sense, everyone is already a member, because everyone is already connected to God.
There is nothing you must believe.
You simply experience God through living, through eating, resting, thinking, feeling, and doing the things your body was naturally designed to do.
We Already Know How to Love
We already know how to love.
Your parents felt it when they chose to bring you into this world. Love exists naturally within us. We simply need to experience it more fully in our daily lives.
When the body is functioning the way it was originally designed, it recognizes peace when everything is in harmony.
Your Senses Are the Gateway
You already have everything you need. You see, You smell, You taste, You feel.
Through your senses, you know that life is real. Every day, your senses respond to different forms of energy around you.
When you walk through the woods and see life everywhere, especially after rain, you realize that you are not the only one experiencing God.
Animals, birds, insects, and all living creatures are experiencing the same life force.
The difference is that human beings are aware that we are having that experience.
It is uncertain whether animals recognize the experience in the same conscious way we do, but they are still living within God’s experience every moment.
