What is God?

 

Let's first get something out of the way and say what God is not.

God is not an old guy sitting on a cloud or some far away heaven.

God is not an elephant-headed deity.

God is not an extraterrestrial being.

And no, God is not a flying teapot or spaghetti monster either. 

What is God then?
We can not really know God unless we become one with him/her/it and experience it directly. But even if we don't ever reach that point, we can still learn about God by looking at ourselves and ask ourselves a simple question: Who am ?

Maybe you are tempted to say that you are the body. In that case we have to make an important distinction between the subject (the observer) and the object (that which is observed). We say "I have a body" or "My leg hurts". So, the body is the object and the I is the subject. This already proves that the object is not the subject, therefore the I can not be the body.

Then you will probably say that the I is in the brain...in the mind. Again, we can say "I have this memory" or "I am tired/upset/happy". And again, we can distinguish the I (subject) from the memory (object)....and the I having the experience of being tired, upset etc. 

So, the real I (you) is not the body nor the mind. It is not the ego (insert your name here). It is the observer of the body-mind. 

Here is were it gets tricky.

Spiritual wisdom says that the real "I", your true identity is beyond the body-mind. This identity, is in direct connection with God and if you are able to really know yourself, you will automatically know God. "Know thyself and you will know God".

The how-to can be discussed if you're interested. 

To summarise: God is not someone or something out there, far away in the distance, nor far away somewhere in the future. It is here, right now, and you, me, everyone and everything are perfect expressions of it. The only thing that keeps us from realising this fact is our own limitation. But this limitation is not insurmountable. Sooner or later the tree will bear fruits, the flower will blossom. We can not force it, but we can provide the best circumstances and help the process by giving nutritious soil and clean water. In the same way, we can do a number of things to support the process of awakening.

The next question: What is it supposed to do?

Exactly what it is doing now. Writing these words, reading these words and everything in between, performing this cosmic dance.