“God”

god

I asked
my Master

do I have to believe
in God?
or in a concept of God
as a separate consciousness
with his own will?

daily sitting
deep meditation
every morning
most evenings
for many years

becoming
a natural person
what does it mean?

language is a metaphor
we fuel words
with our own connotations

our own structure of
interpretation
filtering all events
informing all our actions
aligning them
with
my story of “me”

is this the illusion?
the Indian maya
that we don’t touch reality
but only our interpretation
of reality

I’ve been a seeker of truth
my whole life
a collector of theories
a collator of understandings

making truth
what I strive for
holding philosophies lightly
as their validity
tends to shift
over time

some mornings
I get lucky
and touch my inner being
in the quiet
rousing from the sit
with heart expanded
delight embodied

I don’t need to know why
or have labels for
that repeated
experience

just watch my life
unfold
way way better
than I could ever
dream up myself

solid trust
in the real transformation
palpable for anyone to witness

no faith
in words or concepts
that we could argue over
be right about
wage war over

God is high
on the list
so intimately important
to our own identity
to our belonging
to our ways of being

that we
fight our brothers
hate our neighbors
endow our lives
legalize killing
in his name

for centuries
send missionaries
to conquer minds
and peoples

just to prove
our point

there are principles
I have come to embrace
that have stuck around
over time

that all life is one

that love is the
organizing force
of the universe

that there is
intrinsic
goodness
at the core
of every human

but do I need
to have faith?
do I have to believe
in man made philosophies
or ancient religion?

do I have to love
the word “God”?

or can I just accept
the role of Jahve
the chant to Krishna
the bows to Allah
the prayers to Creator
the reverence to God?

May I love
the praying
the bowing
the honoring
the chanting
the meditating

rather than
an ever so divine
object
of all such devotion?