Stillness as a Path to Perfection

I finished the Three Body Problem book series yesterday. It was written Chinese author Cixin Liu. I picked the series up after watching the TV adaptation on Netflix.

Without spoiling the plot, it basically tells the story of what would happen if humanity discovered there are other civilizations in the universe. Great sci-fi read.

I found it interesting to see how Chinese culture views existential questions. The concept of God is discussed, but more as a man-made thought, devoid of any real explanatory power.

It got me thinking about how/if one can know God is a real thing. Is there a place one can look?

The common idea of God is a being that can intervene in the universe. I don't really like this definition as it leads to a Zeus-like figure. A sky daddy where we have enact the right prayer or do the right ritual for anything to happen. I have not experienced this kind of God, a genie in a bottle that grants wishes. God will not appear magically. God must be searched for.

So where do we search? As far as I can tell, there are a few places we can look, split up into the categories of internal and external. Externally, we can further divide into the personal and the non-personal.

The external non-personal includes things like stars, rocks, plants and animals. What we can discover here are laws of nature, physics, biology, chemistry. Things where experiments can be conducted and patterns can be discovered. This is the era of the Enlightenment, where the universe is compared to a mechanical system. What is discovered here are impersonal facts. We can ask the question "how" but not the question "why".

This is the realm of control and creativity. We as conscious beings can harness these laws to make things. In a sense, we are gods at this level, shaping nature to how we see fit. If one stops here, one can conclude no god is needed. The laws of nature are sufficient without the transcendent. My problem here is that it feels cold and isolating. You can love the laws of physics, but they cannot love you back.

If we move on to the external personal, we find beings like us. Units of consciousness that we can converse with. Here, love can be found. You can desire relationship with a person and they can desire relationship back, if they choose. Here is where self-disclosure is needed. Mysteries can be locked up. It doesn't matter how smart you are or what kind of instruments you have, if a person does not choose to reveal themselves to you, you will never know that person. You are at the mercy of their will.

Here, we can ask the question, if God is a personal being, how can I get to know this entity? The rule applies. Only of this being wants to be known. Here lies the hidden nature of God. Some people appear to have relationship with this being, while others don't. Those that don't can ask those that do, but you'll always be left with the question of truthfulness. Does the person really know or are they deluded? You can ask all the questions you want, but you'll never really know without firsthand experience.

And now we come to the internal world. This is where I believe this entity can be experienced. What language does the entity use? The only things we have available: thoughts and feelings. When you have a random thought pop in your mind, have you ever sat with that thought and wondered where it comes from?

A material cause would be the interaction of neurons, but that feels incomplete. It's like having a computer. The neurons are the hardware, but the hardware runs programs. Where do the programs come from? Human minds. Sure, there are now AI systems that can intepret things without programmers, but where did those AI systems come from. Again, human minds. And where do human minds come from? And we're back to the original question.

I think a key to knowing God is knowing consciousness itself. Experiencing consciousness is akin to experiencing God. And how do we experience consciousness? This, I think, is a uniquely personal thing. Each mind is different, so there may not be one answer. For me, the path is stillness.

There's a Zen poem that says " You cannot catch hold of it, nor can you get rid of it. In not being able to get it you get it. When you speak its silent, when you are silent it speaks." To me, this comes down to simple observation. When I become still, I create distance between me and my thoughts. I start to experience experience itself. And that fills me with peace. This peace is what I would call God. The oneness and unity of all things. Everything is as it ought to be. I am exactly who I ought to be. Completeness. Wholeness. Perfection.