Is your god concious?

I was talking with my dad earlier today about god being a concious being. He kept saying god was a person. but I can't look at god as a him or her. That just seems like silly anthropomorphism.

The way I see it for god to be concious he has to have a limit or body to hold his point of awarness. But god is supposed to be infinite aka without boundries.

The only way I see god being concious and infite at the same time is if it's true that the entire universe is a single conciousness. then maybe we're just thoughts in god's mind.

But then why would we human be able to conciously, or with intention, cause harm to other parts of the universe or ourselves. I really doubt god's a masochist.

Does anyone understand a single sylable i just said?

 

Yes, I understand exactly what you mean. I share that pantheist/panentheist view (that the universe and God are one in the same). It may come to pass that we find that the universe has a "consciousness." Or rather, not an absence of consciousness; that is, there is a "viewpoint" that pertains to the universe, and possibly an "awareness," but probably not a "functional awareness" in which the universe responds to stimuli the same way a human being does, but rather is only aware that it is changing, and how it is changing, but with no "volition" or "will" of its own, other than to exist as it currently does. I believe the Buddha saw the universe in a similar light (minus the "God is the universe" part of course), where attainment of Nirvana included your energies becoming identical to the universe's energies, and you lose all volition and desires, and literally become one throughout the universe, existing everywhere, in the exact manner that the universe does (because you are, in essence, the universe). This is all assuming, of course, that human volition and consciousness/awareness is separate from that of the universe, arising out of universal conditions whether by evolution or creation.

The way that "God" is supposed to be a conscious being according to Christianity, is that there is a divine realm and infernal realm (at the very least those two) in addition to our material realm, and "consciousness" is an aspect of the "soul" which transcends the material realm and may pass from the material realm into either of the other realms (as determined by God when you die) once your soul has left the harness of your body. That's how I understood it at least. I think it's a crock of -- well, you know. But hey, that's just me.

 

Well, you have nightmares, right? We're conscious of our dreams, at least partially (it's being experienced SOMEHOW, so there must be awareness), but are you a masochist because you have bad dreams? It's not a perfect analogy, but one might argue that this universal consciousness is having a sort of nightmare when it harms/is harmed. When a man kills another, in the pantheist view, the killer and the killed are both God; not only is god the oppressor, but also the victim, experiencing both roles simultaneously (along with every other event in the universe).

So, when god/the universe dreams these "nightmares" either he is along for the ride (unconscious), or he does it intentionally, maybe he's a thrill seeker, knowing that no real harm can come of it...he's god, after all. (not that the universe has a gender...)

Now, I said the "nightmare" analogy was imprefect. This is because god, as the universe, the supreme ground of all that is, presumably has nothing to fear, while we humans do and thus dream about it. But if you think this through, if there is a god and it is conscious, then god is all alone. If god is the one and only (before creation) then he would be supremely bored. Nothing to fear, nothing to love, nothing interesting going on, nothing going on at all. Thus maybe god turned himself into the universe, forgot who and what he was, so that he could experience multiplicity. That is to say, so that he could experience ANYTHING. His forgetting of himself is his breaking his viewpoint into multiplicity too, into individual consciousness. Mine, yours, my dog's, that tree's, etc.

Thus god creates the universe not like a potter, but like a dancer: with himself.

 

does it matter? all these words don't do anyone any good. Any real religion must have as its aim human happiness, not clever-clever metaphysical masturbation.

 

Hey! Masturbation DOES make people happy.

 

Actually, I'm quite happy seeking these answers, and I find peace of mind in doing so. A peace of mind that transcends the peace of mind I ever found in religion. Also, other people who philosophized (like the Buddha) did so to absolve all suffering, which he did for himself and taught his disciples how to do. I'd say that's a case of extreme human happiness right there.

 

Fair enough. I would have said exactly the same a few years ago, so I can't criticize. But you really shouldn't co-opt gotama for your argument; he laid great stress on not getting carried away with philosophizing for its own sake: see the parable of the arrow, or the raft bit.

 

Great analogy, TrippinBTM.

By the way, I am curious, what does "BTM" stand for in your name? By The Minute?

True that Buddha was engaged in finding the end of suffering, and engaged in ONLY that, and discouraged speculation about other topics, because they were "not important." However, if nothing else, philosophy is a leisurely pasttime for me, and I don't necessarily agree with the Buddha on the matter (though I respect his position).