The Divine "Essence"
I believe that most people think that there is some "force" or "power" linked with the occurrence of events in life. The exact nature of this force and how it is actually linked with those events is the stuff of which "religious" belief systems are made of. I prefer to refer to this "force" as the "pure essence" of what there actually is. One can sense this "essence" directly without the need of any scriptures or religious teachings. Meditation may be a means towards sensing or realizing this "essence". It can also be sensed directly through a closeness with Nature,(or meditation on Nature), as demonstrated by Thoreau.Thoreau believes that Nature, humans, and God are united and that God is found in everything in Nature and in people. He believed that in order for humans to experience God within themselves, they needed to go and spend time in Nature.
According to Spinoza, God IS Nature. He asserted that for a concept of God to make any sense at all, it must simply be Nature. That is, God cannot be something outside Nature that controls it, but must necessarily be part of it.
Scriptures or religious teachings attempt to put a form to this "essence". As a consequence, this often leads to the creation of some dogma, which may detract from the "essence" itself. Unfortunately, some people grasp and hold on to the form tenaciously, instead of focusing on the "essence". They accept the dogma or form, simply because "it is stated or written", and not because they have actually "realized" its "essence".
I wish to suggest that those who are able to sense this "essence" directly without the need of any scriptures or religious teachings are those who may consider themselves to be spiritual but not religious. Those who rely on scriptures or dogma may be classified as religious(even though they may not view themselves as such), perhaps even religious and spiritual, since they insist on relating, or seeking to relate, to this "essence" which they may call "God", through some religious teaching or belief system.
If you accept that there is such a force or "essence", do you relate to this "essence" through some religious teaching or dogma, or do you relate directly through Nature, meditation or some other means?
Or do you disagree that there is any such "essence" at all? What do you think?
If you consider yourself to be spiritual but not religious, could you please share with us how you think the term applies to you?
I am very interested to know how others view the term.
Comments (13)
Good blog socrates
As far as divine essense being Mother Nature; yeah, I can somewhat agree that to know God within one's self, one would want to place themself in Mother Nature"s settings. For example, you listen to the water, you feel the element's vibrations within you. Explain this idealism and you come up with Divine Essense -- God. The sensation becomes a received message, God has touched your heart and soul and has allowed you to know his beautiful Mother Nature, His creation, His running water. For a moment in time nothing else exists except that feeling the water created within; you have experienced God, Our Creator, Mother Nature's Creator.
Definitely Powerful!
Thank You for posting your thoughts and allowing me to view and comment.
Sincerely,
I think Echart Tolle's teachings really help to explain and show how to become in touch with the "essence." Once we attach a label or word to something, we are either distorting or losing the underlying essence of that thing.
Before studying Tolle, I probably wouldn't have cared if there was an essence or not to anything. Now, I do believe that essence does exist and it is very peaceful.
Being close to nature can evoke emotions or thoughts of who we are in the scheme of things...if this is the "essence" that you speak of then I guess spirituality can be derived from nature...
Thanks for your input.
I think that most people almost automatically refer to this "force" as God. I tried to avoid such an approach since there are so many confounding ideas associated with the word "God".
The true essence of the term appears to be lost in some dogma that focuses on "form" instead. It seems that different religions seek to portray this essence(of God) in a different form.
In the Bible, John 4:24 states:
"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
According to this verse, the true nature of God is spiritual. It appears that religion has come to focus on form with respect to God, and has moved away from focusing on the essence which is the true nature of God. They are two different things.
Why else would some people claim that they are spiritual(focus on essence) but not religious(focus on form)?
You must have a very strong bond with your mother to maintain that connection with her even after she has passed away. From what I have read, communicating with, or relating to their deceased ancestors, was a common practice among several so-called "primitive" cultures.
Thanks for your comment. You are very welcome.
I hesitated to use the term "Divine" in the title since the word is usually associated with God as "form", in some dogma, rather than "essence". I used it mainly as a pointer to the substance of the blog.
Your words:
"I believe Divinity has to do with things we are not able to explain, and Essense is the stuff the divinity is made up of. I believe scripture does not determine divine essence, however, the concept of "God" sums up the term quite nicely."
indicate that you have grasped the message of this blog very well.
I have always been very close to Nature, even from childhood. As a young boy growing up on a tropical island, I used to get carried away by the brilliant sunshine streaming down from a clear blue and white sky, and the sound of the tropical breezes rustling the leaves of the sugar cane plants, and trees, which sounded like the waves of the sea. I used to feel that Nature was speaking to me. It was a spiritual experience. In a sense, I experience God in Nature, as Thoreau says.
Your beautiful piece:
"The sensation becomes a received message, God has touched your heart and soul and has allowed you to know his beautiful Mother Nature, His creation, His running water. For a moment in time nothing else exists except that feeling the water created within; you have experienced God, Our Creator, Mother Nature's Creator."
tells me that you have a similar relationship with Nature.
Thanks for your comment.
Your statement:
"Once we attach a label or word to something, we are either distorting or losing the underlying essence of that thing."
pinpoints the difficulty experienced in trying to point to the "essence" of a thing.
Unfortunately, in order to communicate something to others, we have attach labels or words to that thing.
I experienced that difficulty in trying to put this blog together. I tried to stress the distinction between the essence and the form, and to maintain the focus on the essence.
I hope that I have been able to convey a message of this "Divine Essence" to others, at least partly so.
Thanks for your comment.
Its nice to know that you appreciate the blog.
I tried to highlight the distinction between the form(religious) and the essence(spiritual).
Thanks for your comment.
The essence is more of a feeling than a thought. We feel or experience a phenomenon "directly" first, and then we may think of it after. Spirituality is linked with a direct immediate awareness, evoked by a closeness to nature, which can point to "who we are in the scheme of things" as you have stated.
One of the reason why I feel First Nations people are generally a good people...they only take what is needed...understand that a life taken is precious in order to feed their tribe...and give thanks...all people are considered needed...nature is respected in their daily lives...they have many gods sort to speak to pay homage to...their spirituality and/or reasoning extends to people who do not fit in with others' views which is a topic here for debate...we could all learn from the people who first enhabited The North Americas...
A very touching poem...Cheers!!
I am happy you appreciated "Guardian Of The Environment".
Have a nice day!
John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
and
Acts 4:12 (NKJV)
"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
which Christians use to justify their claim that belief in Jesus is the true and only way to God, I have always wondered about the fate of people who lived and died thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. There is absolutely no way they could have heard of Jesus.
The same applies to any other religion with a similar claim that its teachings provide the true and only way to God.
If those claims are true, then God would not be fair, as he is supposed to be, and those people would be denied an equal opportunity to have access to him.
The only solution to this problem is that there must be available to all, a direct awareness of the "divine essence" that does not depend on any religious teachings or scriptures whatsoever.
I am convinced that this is the case and that is what I have tried to highlight in this blog.