Does God have human qualities? Can God really get angry? Can God smile? Does God cry when things are going poorly on planet earth?

I suppose at one time I believed that God could in fact exhibit these emotions. Now, the concept of God displaying human traits doesn’t make sense to me.

I realize that the Bible contains numerous examples of God having human traits. There are references to God’s jealousy, anger or willingness to get revenge. If you take this to be proof of God’s human qualities, I respect your right to believe that.

Consider this: God created everything that appears in the universe. God is All-Knowing, All-Loving, All-Powerful. Thus, God knows everything that will happen before it unfolds. If life contains no surprises for God, what could cause God to be angry or happy?

Let’s assume you are the writer and director of a movie. You wrote the story and you know what each character will say and do as the plot unfolds. Can you possibly get angry or have a desire for revenge when one of the characters does something that is not nice? The person who writes and directs the movie does not have an emotional investment in the plot.

Yet the mind tries to convince us that God does have an emotional attachment to life as it presents itself.

Those who believe God has human emotions will point out that God gave us free will, and we are free to make choices. Yet all religions believe that God is omniscient, All-Knowing, so there are no surprises for God. We keep coming back to this conclusion: God knows exactly what choices we will make. How emotionally attached can you be if you know every outcome in advance?

If you watch a sporting event, you go through many ups and downs as you root for your favorite team. Your team is playing well and you’re happy. The next moment the other team scores and you’re disappointed. Of course, you don’t know how the game will turn out.

However, if you knew — before the game started — every play that would happen in the course of the game, how could you possibly get excited when your team scores and disappointed when the other team scores? What is happening is what you KNEW was going to happen. You wouldn’t experience a roller coaster of emotions in that situation.

Many spiritual traditions view God as the unchanging, still, loving background in which all life appears. In these traditions, God is not seen as laughing, crying or out for revenge. These are human qualities, but not qualities of God.

Believe as you wish. Just because my mind generates emotions such as happiness, fear, and anger doesn’t convince me that God is subject to these same qualities.

Finally, we have to consider the nature of God. If you take God to be an old, wise man in the sky, perhaps such a being could smile or cry. Yet most of us would consider God to be a non-physical Being. How can an entity that is not a “thing” smile, cry or get angry?

The mind can’t fathom an entity that is “no-thing” and that is infinite. That’s why your mind will never be able to figure out God and the attributes of God. The mind may entertain you for a while with its theories, but whatever answers you end up with will not be the truth.

Perhaps what the mind is doing here is creating God in the mind’s image.

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Vernon Howard once said: “The two shallow substitutes which people unconsciously take as happiness are activity and acquisition.”

Do you agree?

On some level, we do feel happy when we are active and engaged in life. In addition, we may feel happier because of certain acquisitions.

Yet I think there is much truth in what he is saying.

I’m not suggesting that you should agree with the statement. You may agree with part of it, or none of it. Just give it a little thought.

Are there any ways in which you are seeking happiness through activity and acquisition? In what ways is that serving you? In what ways is it making you unhappy, rather than happy?

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Every once in a while you hear of someone who experienced profound spiritual growth without having to go through any tough times. However, most of the time, spiritual growth is preceded by some type of struggle or suffering. There is some period of unhappiness, fear or even misery that opens the door for spiritual growth. Even after the door to something bigger is initially shown to us, we often find it difficult to push the door fully open and walk through.

Instead, we usually face another period of doubt, fear or the feeling of being lost or alone. If we stay the course, the door opens even wider and we find greater peace, an ability to get along better with others, and new possibilities entering our lives.

Something in us has to die before we can accept our divine connection. Virtually all religions speak of dying before we are reborn to the spirit. What we were must die for us to begin to live a new life. We need a new outlook, and for that to happen, we have to shed the old outlook.

For whatever reason, God seems to get our attention through struggle. We come to a point where we no longer want to live the same way. Enough is enough. We’re suffering and this leads us to invite something different into our lives.

We all know of countless people who turned their lives around and grew spiritually after suffering or going through adversity. The drug addict or alcoholic that has to hit “bottom” before making a spiritual breakthrough. The person sentenced to a long prison term who sees life in a new way after years in solitude. The individual who gets fired from a job or goes through a difficult divorce before finding happiness years later.

Of course, there are many who go through these same adversities and who grow more miserable and become more angry. They never experience the spiritual opening. Thus it is not guaranteed that suffering or setbacks will lead a person to a stronger spiritual connection.

If you are feeling fear or are suffering in some way, realize that this is part of the unfolding of your spiritual development. Nothing is going “wrong.” You may need to feel these emotions and to have certain experiences as your spirit reveals itself to you. I invite you to trust the divine plan.

The thought patterns and behaviors that brought you to your current level of awareness must be diminished or eliminated to allow you to experience another dimension of spiritual awareness.

What will make you change those thought patterns and behaviors? If things in your life are going relatively well, you have no incentive to change. Success and well-being often breed complacency. Complacent people tend to stick to the status quo.

However, when you experience turbulence in your life, you then become open to a new way of living. You recognize that something in the way you think and behave must change before you can experience peace and improved conditions in your life.

Suffering gets your attention. Fear gets your attention. Initially, you’re afraid to surrender to a new way of living, but you may reach the point where you overcome the fear of change because it is just too painful to let things stay as they are.

This principle is not limited to catastrophes. There are many who experience fear and suffering from lingering feelings throughout their lives that they aren’t good enough, or that they don’t fit in. There are those who always seek approval and have repressed anger from not speaking up and letting their true feelings be known. It doesn’t matter what causes your pain or struggle.

So, if you’re struggling, perhaps spiritual growth is unfolding for you. The soil is being prepared for the harvest. If you are earnest about wanting spiritual growth, you will experience that growth. There is no way to predict the timetable. That is God’s domain.

If you are not earnest and want to cling to your existing life in most respects, you are stifling your growth. You can’t demand that suffering end, or that conditions change, unless you are willing to embrace the unknown and allow your life to take a new direction. This can be very frightening.

Some people can travel this road on their own. For others, the struggle and pain are too much to sort out on their own. If you are unable to cope or feel overwhelmed, you should seek professional counseling. This is not a sign of weakness. You may need assistance to get to the next level of your development.

Fear, pain and struggle are not pleasant. We never ask for them. Yet they pave the way for our most significant spiritual advances.

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Most of us are captivated when we hear the story of someone who claims to have had a mystical spiritual experience. We want to know all the details, and there is a part of us that wants to have this kind of experience for ourselves.

There are many definitions that can be given for “mystical.” This term is sometimes defined as having a direct communion with ultimate reality or God — or entering a divine realm. The experience is often described as “supernatural.”

For instance, some people will report that Jesus physically appeared to them at a time when they are certain they were awake and not dreaming. Others will report a direct experience with God or a bright light. Yet others will describe an experience of Oneness, in which they no longer saw themselves as a separate human body, but rather felt connected to the One energy that encompasses everything in the universe.

I’ve never had one of these mystical experiences myself, but I’ve met many people who have – and I’ve read dozens of stories written by people who claim to have had them. I must confess that I am fascinated as I listen to someone describing their experience, or when I read their story. I want to know all the vivid details of how it unfolded.

The mind says: “How we can I have a cool experience like that?” We think that perhaps there is some method to learn to access that spiritual realm.

And yet, in virtually every account I have heard, the same advice is given: Don’t try to create, or re-create mystical experiences. You won’t be able to do it, and you’ll be frustrated. By pursuing these supernatural experiences, you are actually hindering your spiritual growth.

These mystical events are mysteries, pure and simple. The person who has such an experience didn’t ask for it and doesn’t know why it “came” when it did.

Humans tend to be stimulation addicts, and when we experience something that involves acute activation of the senses, we want to enter that zone again. We want those bright lights again. We want to see Jesus again. We want that feeling of energy shooting up and down our spine that we once felt in meditation or while practicing yoga.

There is no doubt that many people are brought closer to God as a result of their mystical experiences. But they didn’t achieve that spiritual growth by demanding that the awe-inspiring event and feelings recur. They got a glimpse of some divine force beyond themselves and then settled into that.

The mind assumes that enlightenment or having an experience with God involves some form of sensory explosion and feelings of nirvana.

From every account I have read, what we might call enlightenment can only be found by living in the present moment. Peace in the present moment. Love in the present moment. Compassion in the present moment. It’s not about getting somewhere, or sustaining certain kinds of stimulation. It’s about BEING.

We’ll always ooh and aah when we listen to stories of mystical experiences. That’s our human nature and there is nothing wrong with that.

However, mystical events tend to show up in someone’s life without warning, and in a way the person could never have predicted. The mind is of no use in trying to figure this stuff out. Don’t be fooled by the mind’s fascination with these events and how you might create them.

If such an event happens, it will happen without your interference. And there are many contented, peaceful, enlightened individuals who never had such an experience, and never will. Apparently, it is not essential to have such an encounter to gain a close connection with God.

I’ve found it helpful to pay attention to the insights gained by a person who had such an experience. Sometimes these insights resonate with me. Sometimes they don’t. But the particular details of each story will not help you. Enjoy them as you would a good book or a movie.

Ironically, every moment is a mystical experience, an opportunity to have direct communion with God. Yet we fail to see it or feel it. Every beat of the heart. Every breath we take. Every bird that takes flight. One miracle after another.

So simple, yet so elusive.

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Note: For those in the New York City/Long Island area, I will be presenting an interactive workshop entitled “Your Spiritual Journey” at the Eyes of Learning in Hicksville, New York on Friday evening July 25 beginning at 8:00 pm. For more information, go to: www.eyesoflearning.org/html/workshops.htm  

I want to thank all of the subscribers who sent comments in response to my July 11 newsletter, “Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself.” I learned a lot from your insights. I regret that I don’t have room to include all of the comments, but here are excerpts from some of them.

– Jeff Keller

* * * *
Whenever I am truly annoyed/hateful/judgmental of someone – I imagine them crying. I imagine they have suffered some horrific loss that would make anyone cry. And my heart goes out to them. Is that the love that Jesus wants us to have for everyone? Maybe just a touch…

* * * *
After reading this I wonder what your definition of love is. Quite a few people I know mistake loving someone for liking them. If that is the issue then it will indeed be impossible to love everyone. From my perspective, loving someone does not mean that I have to like them or what they do. To me loving someone is wanting the best for them.

When my children were small I felt it necessary to punish them when they did something that would ultimately harm them. I had no joy in punishing them but I did it out of love for them. I found a new meaning to the phrase “this hurts me more than it does you” because I was the source of pain for my children. Yet I knew that what I was doing would benefit my children in the long run. In that sense I was showing love toward my children.

Taking the concept of love as wanting what is best for someone, it becomes much easier to love those that you see.

* * * *
Christian Perspective:
Loving one’s neighbor as one’s self is only possible with God’s help.
Likewise, Loving God with our whole mind, heart, strength is only accomplished with His help.
Love of God and Love of neighbor are intrinsically linked. Love of neighbor is the fruit from love of God.

You are right when you say Love of neighbor as oneself is a very high standard.
It’s almost impossible to achieve considering human nature is prone to selfishness.
Trying to achieve this standard makes us better humans, better communities, a better world.
It’s amazing how this transformation takes place. Look at the stages of a flower unfolding.
Growth takes time. Look at the transformation of one who exercises regularly.

When a person adopts this way of life, his capacity to love grows. He tries to avoid reacting in a negative way in unpleasant circumstances and thus his eyes are opened and he sees more, both sides. It then occurs to him “there but for the grace of God, go I”.

* * * *
Jesus is talking about love as taking an action towards someone that is the right thing to do in every situation that may help, motivate and bless all involved. It’s not a feeling of “I want to be with you” or “I like you and I don’t care what you did, I love you anyway”– or oohing and aahing for someone, although sometimes feelings can be involved in loving your neighbor as yourself.

Love doesn’t have to like the person that you’re treating well. You can hate what they did and feel pain and hurt and animosity inside and still do the right thing towards that person who committed the sin.

No matter how we feel about a murderer or child molester we have laws that govern our actions towards them so we are still acting in love towards them with human treatment and fair trials and so on.

In cases where someone has done something terrible to us or a loved one the only way we could act in love towards that person is with God’s help.

We would need God’s grace to come upon us to be able to do what’s right for that person and not do to them how we feel at the moment, even if they did deserve it. That’s the difference between acting from the flesh and acting from our spirit. That’s why we all need to believe on Jesus and confess Him as our Lord, The Bible says when we do that we are new creatures inside and that gives us His ability to do things that we couldn’t do otherwise. And it also says that those that believe on Jesus and confess Him as Lord have the love of God in their hearts. Without God’s love in us there is no way to fulfill that command that Jesus gave us.

* * * *
We can never love ourselves perfectly in this world, but we can decide to do our best, which cannot fail to make us better.
Now as for loving our enemies we can start by realizing that we can never love others perfectly, but that is okay. Just as we can never love ourselves perfectly, but decide to do our best, we make the intention of loving others, and work at it to the best of our ability.
After all, if you look at that commandment, it just says: love your neighbor as yourself. It does NOT say to love him perfectly, because we don’t love ourselves perfectly.
When I have a problem with someone I try to imagine that I am their mother and the other person is my three-year-old child acting up. We can usually love our children through thick or through thin. This helps me to put things into a different perspective. Whatever the case, I find prayer is a major ingredient. I ask God to help me, and when it is really difficult, I ask God to love for me.
* * * *
I do think it’s possible to love my neighbor as I love myself. I think we need to ask, “do I love myself?” Until we can embrace our own shadow as well as our divinity we will miss the mark. When we can embrace our own pain, when we can express empathy, compassion, and love to ourselves in the truest sense, it is then and only then, that we can have empathy, compassion, and love to give our neighbor. Through the years I have asked many of my clients “do you love yourself?” The answer has always been “No,” followed by enormous weeping. As I see it, this is an inside job. What I’m finding is that the body holds a negative “feeling belief” which has resulted from a prior experience which is not within our awareness but is none the less active.
As a species we are not loving ourselves and others unconditionally yet, but we’re heading in the direction of spiritual freedom. It’s a process for sure. Personally, I am extremely grateful for forgiveness and God’s grace. When I reach the place of unconditional love for myself, my neighbor is going to be delighted and overwhelmed. But it’s starts with me. Can’t give away what I don’t have!
* * * *
I am not a Christian but do try to live with the idea of loving everyone on earth. It is very hard but I believe that if every one on earth would TRY then we would have a more peaceful world.
I am a mother with small children. When I do find someone who I am not loving, a reminder for me is to try to look at them they way I look at my children. There is something indescribable about a mother’s love for her children, and I find that if I try to give the unconditional love and patient understanding to others it is helpful.
I believe in the interconnected web of life. I believe that all our actions have a ripple effect to everyone on earth. So the more we can love, the more we help the earth.
* * * *
“As thyself” is half of the admonition, and people tend to loathe in others the things they most loathe in themselves. Loving someone else implies acceptance of their flaws and forgiveness of their past misdeeds. Unless there is that form of self-love, there is little (or no) ability to love others equally.
* * * *
The sins and atrocities that we see happening in the world today do not come from the original creation. They come from the illusion of fear and separation. How do we hate or even judge madness? It is a lost individual acting out a scene in a demented play. Really all we are doing is feeding their insanity when we hate. I don’t know that an enlightened one would feel pity but love, yes. The creation of life in its truest sense is what we love. The wrong doings are illusions of a Godless reality.
I believe the lesson is not to love in spite of, but to just love. We can’t know why. We can’t see what led to so much separation from source. Surely we have all felt our own separation. Most eventually are blessed with a reconnection. However we still have to love ourselves both when connected and not. As Jesus said “they know not what they do.” I think the question could just as aptly be, how do we not love a soul so lost?
* * * *
Here are some insights on this topic from the perspective of non-duality (Oneness), offered by Nisargadatta Maharaj, in the book, I AM THAT:
“Do not pretend that you love others as yourself. Unless you have realized them as one with yourself, you cannot love them.”
“When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously.”
“But when you look at anything as separate from you, you cannot love it for you are afraid of it. Alienation causes fear, and fear deepens alienation. It is a vicious circle. Only self-realization can break it.”
* * * *

When Jesus was asked to identify the most important commandment, he clearly stated two of them (Mark, Chapter 12):

1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

2. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Let’s consider the second commandment, loving your neighbor as yourself. If we accept the clear meaning of these words, the following would flow from this principle:

You must love a murderer as much as you love yourself.

You must love a child molester as much as you love yourself.

You must love every terrorist as much as you love yourself.

You must love that annoying person at work as much as you love yourself.

If we follow what Jesus said, we must love everyone equally. No ifs, ands, or buts.

At some level, this principle makes sense to most of us. We can feel its truth in our hearts. Yet I have never met anyone who I would say has lived according to this standard – who has truly loved EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, as much as himself.

Have you ever met someone who you could state, with certainty, has loved every human being equally? Don’t answer too quickly. Make sure the person you are about to identify has loved everyone in the world equally. This is an extraordinarily high standard.

It seems that humans don’t have the capacity to carry out this commandment. Is the commandment meant as a standard to aim at, but one which we can never actually attain?

I don’t know the answer.

Many religions endorse the concept of loving everyone equally. This is not something that is found only in Christianity.

In today’s world, it seems that we are not even close to following the commandment to love everyone equally.

I have heard some Christian clergy explain that we can “hate the sin while loving the sinner.” Therefore, we can love everyone. This explanation does not seem genuine to me. In every instance where I’ve heard these words uttered, I have noticed that the body language and voice of the person making the statement is inconsistent with the claim that he or she truly loves the sinner. What I hear and feel in these cases is condemnation – not love.

That being said, I am not arguing with the standard expressed my Jesus. My heart tells me that we should indeed love our neighbors as ourselves.

How do we embrace this standard and follow it consistently? Is it even possible?

I welcome Christian and non-Christian comments and perspectives on this issue. Perhaps I can include some of those comments and continue the discussion in upcoming editions of this newsletter.

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Over the course of my lifetime, many wars have been fought around the world. Being an American, I have personally experienced the differing views people in the United States hold on whether or not this country should have been engaged in any of these wars.

Although my experiences are limited to public opinion in America, I have little doubt that people in all warring nations have conflicting views on whether their nation should engage in war.

This message doesn’t address any particular nation or war. It is meant as an examination of the way we can view all wars.

Let’s get back to my own experience for a moment. During my life, I have participated in discussions about whether the U.S. should have engaged in wars. At times, my position was that this country should engage in war. At other times, I felt strongly that the U.S. should not go to war.

I have now come to realize that my arguments in favor of any war were based on the fact that I would never have to personally witness the devastation caused by that war. I was in favor of war because I could consider the war from a distance.

When viewed from a distance, even something as cruel and insane as war can be justified. It is relatively easy to offer mental arguments about the need for war, when the war is not in your neighborhood — and you and your family will not immediately suffer the violence flowing from that conflict.

I look at war very differently now.

I wonder how many people would be in favor of a war if they had to live in the country where the war was being fought – and watch the day-to-day violence being carried out. That means they would hear the bombs and gunfire constantly. There would be constant fear. Long periods without electricity or clean water.

They would see people, including innocent children, being maimed and killed. Friends and family members might die. Many of those who fought – and survived – would experience life-long psychological trauma. It isn’t a pretty picture.

It’s easy to be in favor of war when you sit at home safe from all the violence. It’s easy to be in favor of war when your loved ones are not the ones who risk their lives or lose limbs.

How many among us would still advocate war if we had to live in the middle of it, up close and personal? How many of us would be in favor of war if our children and closest friends had to fight in that war?

I’m not a pacifist who is against all wars, although I respect those who take that position. In my view, if a nation is attacked, that nation has the right to respond and protect itself. But that is the kind of situation when we ARE willing to fight and to send our family members into the conflict. In these instances, we ARE willing to face the day-to-day devastation and long-term consequences.

The next time you are in favor of a war, I invite you to take another look – but not with your mind…from a distance.

Are your eyes willing to observe this war as it unfolds? Is your heart willing to feel the reality of the violence, as you watch people (from both sides of the conflict) grieving for friends and family members who have been killed or maimed?

Are you still in favor of going to war – or is it only acceptable from a distance?

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

Note: This message is not an invitation to discuss particular wars or political policies. I have no interest in debating the merits of specific wars. While you are free to voice any opinion you have, please understand that I will not engage in any such debate.

How would you feel about sitting at home, all by yourself, for 10 or 15 minutes? Just you, sitting in a chair or on a couch. No TV or radio playing. No books or newspapers to read. During this period of solitude, you won’t be engaging in any activities, other than sitting and looking at whatever you choose to look at.

Does this sound like something you might enjoy? Or would you feel bored or restless after a few minutes?

Let’s assume we increased the time period to 30 minutes. Would it still be pleasurable, or would you be squirming and uncomfortable to sit for that long doing “nothing.”

Finally, consider sitting there for one hour. How would your body, mind and spirit handle a full hour of just sitting in a room alone?

Believe it or not, the way you feel about this exercise provides some insight into your spiritual growth. If you are content spending 30 or more minutes alone without engaging in any activity, you are growing in spiritual awareness. It shows you can be happy just BEING, without the need to DO anything.

If you are uneasy after spending 5 or 10 minutes doing nothing, your spiritual awareness is somewhat limited. Your mind feels the need to engage in activities, to keep you away from resting in your natural state.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid activities. However, as you tune into your divine nature, you enjoy activities, but you can also delight in sitting alone, doing nothing. Your spirit doesn’t need to be entertained before it can be happy.

The need to pursue some type of activity or distraction tells you that you are not comfortable resting in pure BEING. The mind loves to pull you into activity, even mindless activity such as excessive TV watching, because this solidifies the mind’s position. It keeps you out of the present moment, where spirit surfaces and the mind is quieted.

Think about this for a moment. All religions and spiritual traditions speak of the peace, love and glory of our true nature. If that is the case, why do we have trouble spending time alone? Who wouldn’t want to abide in peace and love?

The “entity” that doesn’t want to rest in the beauty of your true nature is the mind. It tells you that you need to be DOING something to be valuable, and that you need to get somewhere else in order to be happy. It is always striving to get to some place, or achieve some status. As you are learning, even when you are successful in acquiring more or achieving status, the mind sets new demands and drags you forward to pursue these new objectives!

As Blaise Pascal said, “all men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.”

Make friends with solitude. If all you can manage today is to sit still for two minutes, so be it. Perhaps you can sit for three minutes tomorrow. I’m not suggesting that you have to close your eyes or start some formal meditation practice. Just sit still with your eyes open.

Your mind will put up a fuss at the beginning but it will eventually quiet down. You will then start to appreciate what the present moment offers as your spirit reveals itself to you.

– Jeff Keller
© 2008

I’ve been reading Guy Finley’s newest book, The Essentials of Fearless Living. It contains so many wonderful insights and practical guidelines to help us grow spiritually. For 30 years, Guy has been speaking and writing about spiritual development and letting go of fear.

Here are a few gems from his latest book:

“Not wanting our negative states actually nourishes them!”

“The only thing making us fearful and discontented is our belief in the altogether wrong idea that our value in life depends upon others agreeing to it.”

“Don’t try to resolve the presence of a fear with the same mind that creates it.”

“The size of the discouragement you feel is directly proportional to the size of your insistence that life conform to your demands.”

You can learn more about Guy Finley and his teachings by visiting his web site: www.guyfinley.com .

At the web site, you can read some excerpts from his book, and you’ll find many valuable resources.

I also recommend that you listen to some of his audio messages, which can be accessed at: www.guyfinley.com/Wisdom_Tree/Audio_Clips/Home.php4

No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, I think you will benefit from the wisdom of Guy Finley.

– Jeff Keller