Zen koan: The God Koan
@innertalks (21697)
Australia
November 15, 2020 5:00pm CST
“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own soul.” “In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863 to 1902), an Indian Hindu monk, said this.
If he is right here, though, where does God fit in here?
The inside equals the outside only because of God creating it that way, and yet the inside is greater than the outside if you grow it to be so within you, but also though, the outside stretches you inwardly to grow, so really, we should never neglect either, the inside growth, nor the outside growth.
Our soul might be a good teacher, but God is the teacher of our soul, both inwardly and outwardly so.
The God koan:
The student asked the Zen master about God, and about whether he is real, and how can we know that he is real for ourselves.
The Master answered simply:
"God is only as real as you are not real too."
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
A statue can have soul if its creator gives it soul.
4 people like this
2 responses
@innertalks (21697)
• Australia
16 Nov 20
As long as we have a good heart, it is alright, I think.
God knows our hearts though, and he knows if they are full of love, or of cold stones.
We should also follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which might come to us in many different ways, in our hearts, our dreams, our minds, even in just a gut feeling too.
The sentiment of what he meant though, I think, is to not apply cold logic from our brain, but to go the compassionate loving way of our hearts instead first.
@Shiva49 (26514)
• Singapore
16 Nov 20
According to Hinduism "There is only one Soul in the Universe. There is no 'you' or 'me'; all variety is merged into the absolute unity, the one infinite existence - God."
That mean we are manifestations of our creator with a direct link too. We can feel this connection at times when we feel we are never alone especially when we are in a crisis
Whether we want to have our creator on board during our sojourn here is left to our choice. When we lead a spiritual life, the connection is felt all the time and becomes a habit, ingrained in us.
That we have an inner conscience reinforces the presence of our creator in us however much one might say life is just an accident.
Maybe, we will evolve over time or another species might step in to take creation and awareness to another level. We claim to have more awareness than other species anyway and why not others then succeed us however much that thought could burst our inflated egos.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21697)
• Australia
16 Nov 20
Perhaps, he is referring to the ultimate soul, God, then, but his wording makes one think that he meant something more personal, our very own soul.
They say that dogs love with the most love, so maybe they might exceed us humans one day too.
@innertalks (21697)
• Australia
16 Nov 20
@Shiva49 I think that the oneness of God is a bit of a misnomer, in the sense that God also has many parts of himself, his consciousness, his mind, his thoughts, his heart, his soul, his power, his spirit, his love.
All of these are God in their way too, even as God is love, he is soul, he is spirit, he is truth, he is all in all, but we call his infinite parts as one, working together seamlessly as him.
@Shiva49 (26514)
• Singapore
16 Nov 20
@innertalks I think his words took the interconnection of our soul with God for granted. If there is free flow in our connection with the one and only soul then our awareness and consciousness know no bounds. Of course, we have limitations.
Then again the Advaita philosophy highlights the oneness of creation and there is no duality.
We are manifestations of our creator and creation is one and we are part of the whole. That feeling and take soothes our being.
Yes, we are riven by highlighting the supposed differences while forgetting we are interconnected - the oneness of humanity enriched by uniqueness in each.
Creation can well pass us by when we fail to connect the dots with a positive take.
1 person likes this
