Beware, I’m going to use that three letter word that some people find more offensive than all of the four letter words, GOD! If you have read my FAQ then you would know that I add the “GOD” tag to all posts where I mention “God”, “The Creator”, “The Source”, “Source Energy”, “Shiva”, “Allah” “El Shaddai”, “Adanoi”, “YHWH”, “Yahweh”, “Jehovah”, or any other number of names given to the Creator by various religions. I read the Bible at least four times during those years and beyond and I learned new things each time I read it, and it helped me get through. Do I believe everything I read? Not exactly. The Bible is sometimes literal, sometimes, mythical, sometimes parable, and the same verses can be interpreted different ways, so this learning may not result in “knowing”. It may nearly result in “belief”. Either way it can be beneficial because what we believe shapes how we interpret our existence and everything in it and what we think my lie beyond.
If you believe in “a higher power” then that is your right and I respect that. I nor anyone else has the right to judge you. If you choose to not believe in “a higher power” then that is your right and I respect that, and again I nor anyone else has the right to judge you. So I would appreciate it if you would permit me to have my belief and write about how it has helped me because perhaps there is a chance it will help you. If you think, “no way” then there is no reason for you to read this page any further because it has the “GOD” tag.
I can tell you that from my experience, knowledge, and perception I KNOW that God exists. This business that people have saying “my God” and “your God” is a bunch of nonsense. Every religion likes to claim their own God and all of the monotheistic religions say there is only one God. And everyone seems to have different names for God so they all fight about it, go to war about it, and slaughter people about it. Not very Holy behavior. But all of these religions have a word that is common to all of them, and that word is “God”. So what’s the problem? Please don’t answer that. It is a rhetorical question. I will not argue.
AA and all 12 Step programs talk about the importance of admitting that you are not capable of beating your addiction alone and they therefor ask that you give this up to a “Higher Power” as you choose to define that. At the very least, a “higher power” refers to something greater than yourself, or in other words, Grace.
I can tell you that my belief in God helped my through six years of hell. I did not “walk through the valley of the shadow of death”, I lived there. For six miserable years non-stop I lived there. I cried out to God and nothing happened. And I cried out some more and nothing happened. And then I cried out to God some more and something did happen, and it was miraculous. It was Grace! But it didn’t last. But if I experienced it once, then I know I could experience it again somehow, someday.
In 2011 I found Sadhguru Jaggie Vasudev, a mystic guru from India who was not your average guru. The dude had a Hummer, a dirt bike, he flies a helicopter, and he does some crazy amazing energy stuff that I won’t get into right now, but I can tell you that millions of people pay attention to him because I is constantly and certainly in touch with Grace, and I found myself on a spiritual path. The difference between a religion and a spirituality is simply that through religion you learn sets of beliefs and ideologies and accept them as fact. On the spiritual path you keep your accept nothing as fact until you experience it. This requires an open mind. As I have said before, “To know is that I do not know”, and attitude leaves me open to everything. So I have had experiences that have led me to KNOW, not to believe, but KNOW that God exists. And that knowledge leaves me open to experience Grace. So what is Grace? I’ll let the guru explain it to you: