GOD

GOD

The ancient pagan Greek philosopher Plato said that the highest power was the Good Itself, that transcendent principle by whose light we could tell the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate. God is, (Truth Itself), which is why people can't get this notion until they get honest with themselves.

Some atheists and agnostics turn the word God into an acronym: G.O.D. is short for Good Orderly Direction. "Can you see the difference between putting a little bit of Good Orderly Direction into your life, instead of trying to live life in the totally chaotic, disorganized fashion you are attempting now? But they find that, little by little, G.O.D. turned into God, into an actual transcendent personal being that could not only give meaning to their lives, but also act in their life by just trying to live by their conscience.

Deep conscience -- our fundamental internal sense of whether we are acting with love, or instead acting with cruelty or the desire to control or get revenge or to show off what good people we are -- then this will put us on the right path. After all, what it mean that my conscience is telling me as the VOICE OF GOD, what I hear in meditation. “God talks to me through my conscience, and through the words of the Prophets."

Some theologians argued that all human beings had within them what they called a little spark of knowledge about who God was and the difference between right and wrong -- not enough in itself to save the person by itself, but if you could take that little spark and blow on it and feed it with the proper fuel, it could flare up into a glowing beacon clearly displaying God and his moral principles to us. “Spirituality defined as the self connected by consciousness to The Higher Power. We are all part of the One Spirit. When one experience the true meaning of spirituality, which is to know God, you will realize that It is your Self, and that It exists equally and impartially in all beings."
Throughout all ages, the most profound impulse of the human spirit has been the longing for perfect love, understanding, joy, and completeness – for Truth itself. It is considered to be the supreme reality and to have the ultimate meaning and value of existence. The study of Truth is part of philosophical and epistemology.

Then alone the man is known as true, if the truth were in his heart.

SELF:

At our innermost level of being, the real Self of us exists in wholesome purity. Here untouched by mundane conditions and transitory events, abides undisturbed peace, pure bliss, flawless knowledge, and limitless awareness of the absolute freedom. The Self is the knower, the observer, and the witness. It sees every thing and not seen by the seer. Our awareness of Being is consciousness. The body has no awareness of its own if it were not pervaded by consciousness; it would be just a lump of flesh. The mind has no awareness of its own and does not even have intelligence. The mind can only think and doubt. It has beliefs, opinions, likes, dislikes but is not aware of any thing. Awareness and true intelligence exist with in the SELF. The inner consciousness is aware of what mind thinks. The ego appropriates the thought to itself. The individual experiences the effects or consequences of what the mind thinks. The thought determines the experience.

The ego thinks circumstances or other people as cause of unhappiness. Unhappiness is due to the ignorance of our true nature, which is SELF. The SELF cannot be affected by death or by passage of time or by any other phenomenon. The reason we cannot see or perceive its radiance is because the veil of impurities, our thinking and ego covers it. When the five senses are stilled and thinking has ceased, when the intellect does not stir, in between two thoughts than one can enjoy the tranquility of mind and reaches the highest state of spirituality.

The mind has to be controlled. The more mastery you have over yourself, over the vagaries of your own mind, the better you are placed for enjoying even this normal world - even if you don't have any spiritual hankering. If all the time you pursue your desires, to bring the mind to a quiet position is difficult. That is why the mastery of the mind is necessary, for gaining enjoyable experiences from the world, and also the later spiritual experience, which is the ultimate goal of this life. Many of our problems arise because of a sense of boredom, monotony, pressure, and unfulfilled desires. These are some of the basic causes why the mind is often thrown off its balance, even if there is no major external situation. A change of attitude is necessary to get a grip over the mind. If the attitude is changed, you get better results.

NEUROTRANSMITTERS:

Pleasure is the result of release of chemical neurotransmitters by the brain cells as a result of stimulation caused by meditation, food, sex, drugs, and social esteem. Brain cells release Dopamine and or Endorphins/Opiates floods and bathe the neurons of right ventral tegmental area and prefrontal cortex involved in memory and emotion regarding the above-mentioned activities causing pleasurable feelings of joy or even bliss, while the amygdale, associated with fear, was temporarily inhibited.
Androgens and estrogens drive the craving for sexual gratification or lust. High dopamine and epinephrine and low serotonin levels drive attraction or passionate love with intense craving. Oxytocin and vasopressin hormones drive attachment.

When one feels negative feelings of anger or fear, brain activity localizes in the AMYGDALA, an emotional area and the right prefrontal cortex. Positive emotions of happiness and well being on the other hand affect the left prefrontal cortex. It is the ratio of right to left activity that determines your emotional set point. If ratio leans to right one tends to be unhappy and to the left, he will be upbeat, happy, and positive.

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

A conviction about the real nature of man, the attempt to find meaning in all experience, the development of certain attitudes, control of the moods, and giving direction to the moods are ways in which to face the problems of the mind. This way, in the earlier stage, if the spiritual awareness of the divine nature of man is there, he is a well-rounded, practical, efficient, spiritual man. The real spiritual experience is so profound that it wholly transforms the character of the individual.
Life is a process of growth that is spiritual as well as physical, from one stage to the next. These stages may be described in many ways, but fundamentally they include a foundation stage when the knowledge of truth or the gift of salvation is first acquired, a growth stage where the person practices that truth and develops virtue, self-control, insight, and self-confidence, and finally the stage of maturity (which is for saints not for AA) where the person realizes the fullness of perfection as oneness with God.