"God and I are One, when God and I are not. "

There are so many words for the ultimate reality. We call it God, The Absolute, or, if in "action ",nirvana, moksha or enlightenment and awakening. But none of that says very much.

Many who have "lived " this out, call it Love. This is my term for the ultimate reality, as that is how it presents itself here. But Love can be just another object if we see only the "word ", and not the reality itself. We all know love as an "emotion " or as a "feeling ". Some have felt it toward "others ", and some have felt it toward themselves. And sadly, some have sought it without finding it. But here, we are talking about being it.

Many of us have felt love of a personal kind. Familial love, parental love, romantic love are all kinds of personal love. We may look at love of "God " or love of "spirit " as a "higher " kind of love, but when all is said and done, this too is personal love. We see love as something we give, or something we receive, but this too, is not the same a being it.

I was drawn back to Christianity because of the Love of Christ. Not so much mine for him, as his for me. How selfish is that? "God is Love ", we are told by the Apostle. What can that mean? God IS Love. If this is the case, then the opposite is also true: Love IS God. This may be a better understanding, as it removes an unknown, unseen "God ", and replaces it with what appears to be a known quantity;Love. But this is not the same as being it.

The Love about which we speak, and the Love you are being encouraged to "become " is not personal love. This "God" is not the "God " we have imagined either, no matter how "spiritual " we envision him/her to be. When we examine carefully the image of "God ", it, like the image of ourselves, vanishes. The Love however remains. No "real me ", no "real God ", just the expression of Love, expressing itself through the "me " and the "God " "expressions ".

When we personalize either "God " or ourselves, we reduce love back to an emotion or a feeling. Sure, it's a great "feeling " to love and be loved by "God ", but in this case the "love " stands between "God " and "I ", as it is something we are giving and receiving between two separate entities. I once wrote "God and I are One, when God and I are not. " This is the key to non-duality. When "God " and "I " are no longer believed in as separate entities, only the Love remains. When we see this clearly, then we realize that we ARE Love.

There is no "yoking " with "God ", as the Christian monk strives for. We do not "become " "God " We "become " what we have always been; the yoke! That "yoke ", this Love, is creating and unfolding as the universe. "Our " appearance in this universe is as an expression of this Love unfolding. All we see as life is simply this unfolding of "expressions ". We do not so much "experience " a tree, as Love "expresses " as both observer and tree in order for Love to express as experiencing. In the state of pure "experiencing " (awareness), there are no "objects " observing or observed. This is non-duality. This is being Love. This is the impersonal Love, the universal Love, we hear about.

"I " do not love a "tree ". "I " do not love "God ". There is no "I ", "tree " or "God " separate from the Love that creates them, expresses through them. When we love another; spouse, lover, friend, we are only One when we are Love itself. As was said of "God " above; "You and I are One, when you and I are not!" There is only Love in expression. We call it Life.

Peace