God, The Ultimate Parent?

God, The Ultimate Parent?
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

When it comes to the topic of relationships, most of the questions people present me with can be rendered down to two inquiries: Is it possible to be free in relationship? Is it possible to be sane in relationship?

When we look at the particular topic of parents and children, this is where it all begins. Even though many of us have not had children, we all have parents, and we have all been children.

Most of us, once we reach a certain age, recognize the huge impact our parents have had on us. If we can approach the topic of relationship by allowing this primal relationship of parent/child to be the focus of our inquiry, we can easily see how it begins to inform all our relationships in the world.

When we are young, we perceive our parents as a kind of God. Eventually we learn that they actually came from someplace too, and that there is something bigger even than our parents.

As we grow into adulthood, often we replace the parental authority with a belief in God as authority. We see ourselves as children of God, and we begin to engage in a relationship with God as the ultimate parent.

In any kind of relationship, including one’s so-called relationship with God, it’s useful to recall the three primary movements of mind that define how we relate: moving away from, moving toward, and moving against. These movements are relevant in any relationship, because relationship is invariably about power – the need for power or the assumption of power – which is nearly always rooted in some notion of survival. When the drive to survive is engaged, the awareness of our true nature tends to get pushed into the background, and we begin to identify with the movements of our minds rather than the truth of who we are.

These movements play out in the objectification of God as parent, just as they do with any other kind of relationship. The movement toward God can be motivated by a notion of serving God. This can lead to a beautiful life of true service, or it can be an excuse for righteousness, such as the religious zealot who believes that God is directing him or her to take particular actions. There can be a certainty that since one is serving God, one can then assume the authority of the parent, the one who knows what God wants for everyone else.

Of course tied to these notions is some sense of reward, just as it was with our parents. If we serve God as the parent, we will be fed, sheltered, and taken care of. If we serve God, we will be rewarded in this life and hereafter.

On the other hand, just as in our relationship with our parents, there can be the fear of punishment. In this case the fear of hell, the fear of disease, the fear of suffering of all kinds, and this can lead to a movement away from God that is driven by fear. And when life is not how we want it to be or think it should be, we might rail against God, just as we railed against our parents.

When we are willing to look at our so-called relationship with God, we can begin to recognize how this might be playing itself out in all our relationships, as parent, as child, as lover, as student, as teacher, and so on.

Are you willing to stop all movements toward God, away from God, or against God? Are you willing in this moment to simply stop all identification with being a parent or a child? Is it possible to actually be so still that there is no source, no ONE who gave you birth or you gave birth to, so that there is just oneself as both the source and the result of source?

This is the point of peace. This is where freedom and sanity can be found. There is something that is free of all belief systems, all relationships, all emotions, all language, all conditioning, and it is already at peace.

© Gangaji, 2017

Gangaji’s Monthly Webcast series is currently explorating Who Are You In Relationship? Whether as a partner, a parent, a child, a teacher, a student, an employee or a boss relationships can provide us with some of the most fundamental challenges of being a human seeking a life of fulfillment. We often suffer in our relationships, and the real reasons for that often go unnoticed and unrealized. Gangaji will lead a rigorous investigation into who we are in relationship. Learn More and Sign Up

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot