equal of god

Dare we feel ourselves

To be the equal of god?

It is early evening here in India and a full moon hangs low in the eastern sky, still yellow with a dusty atmosphere. Majestic bamboo rustle in the wind, and in the distance dogs are barking. Frogs, too, have come alive and are croaking. And in all of this there is a suchness, something intangible. And yet with sensitivity, this suchness can be felt, perceived mysteriously. 

God is all. Everything around us is god manifesting. And of course we are too. We are also this suchness, this godliness, and the spiritual journey is about remembering that – not just intellectually, but as a felt reality. But for that union to take place, that reunion, we must first feel ourself to be the equal of God. And that is perhaps the biggest challenge. A part of us doesn't even want to be the equal of God. We like to have something to look up to, something that is better than ourself, superior, greater.

But this, wanting to feel small, wanting to feel, inadequate, this is also causing the misery in our life. It is holding us back from meeting god. It is stopping us from dissolving back into that consciousness of existence, that vast ocean of being that is our birthplace and our home. And of course, there's a part of us that is aching to return there, that will not rest until we are once more at home, that will know no peace until such a time comes about. But for that to happen, for us to be reunited with god, we must first dare to feel ourself to be the equal of god. Whilst god is up there on a mighty pedestal, and we feel ourself to be lowly, we cannot meet, we cannot merge.

Of course we must undo thousands of years of religious conditioning. But we can do this, if we dare. Our mind, of course, will create thousands of reasons to prove that we are not equal to god. Our mind will tell us that we are confused, that we don't know who we are, that we are not omniscient. Our mind will tell us that we are making mistakes, that we are sinful, all sorts of nonsense. We have to put aside these thoughts for they too are merely obstacles to our yoga, our union. And somewhere, somewhere in us, we have to find that part that does dare, dare to believe that we are equal, the equal of god. And when that equality is felt, when that equality is believed, then only is it possible for us to melt into the rest of existence and become one once more.