Expert: Robert Waxman - 12/9/2008

Question
Dear Rabbi Waxman,
I am a son of Baptist preacher. I was raised and educated in Christian schools even though my higher education is from public schools. However, I never heard any convincing description of who or what god is. I am constant reader of philosophy, theology, and spiritual books. All of the descriptions I have heard and read do not convincing me of what god is. Please help me understand what it, he or she is.
Thank you very much.
Sebastian

Answer
Sebastian,

Thank you for your question concerning 'the nature of The Godhead'. Your question relates to "what" is God, instead of "who"...so, from this standpoint, I will attempt to discuss this subject.

First, you are asking a profound question that only offers subjective and intuitive answers. Since there is no proof or scientific evidence that defines the God-concept, only theoretical explanations can be offered. The most brilliant theologians, philosophers, and mystics since time immemorial have been unable to describe or define 'what God is'. Therefore, I can only be of limited assistance to you while attempting to grapple with this timeless, intriguing, and unanswerable question.

While reviewing this topic from a Western perspective, we need to address the pertinent issues raised by Commandments 1 & 2. The First Commandment makes it clear that God exists, with "no other gods before Me". So, the question must be asked - who are these 'other gods'? and why would the One God (in Ex.) even refer to 'other gods'. Why not just say, "I Am the Lord Thy God and there are absolutely no other gods!" From a Kabbalistic (esoteric) perspective, there is a logical explanation to this reference. On 'The Tree of Life' there are ten emanations of The Godhead, and 'I Am' (Eheyeh) is the first name at the top of 'The Tree' ("I AM" the Lord Thy God...)- therefore, all other names of God's attributes come after IT (Yah, Elohim, EL, YHVH, etc.). So, in Kabbalah - there is only One God, whose ten attributes are symbolized on 'The Tree of Life' with ten names. However, these 'ten names of God' are simply emanations of the One God - so, this is still pure monotheism.

The Second Commandment is prohibiting any image of the Godhead for purposes of worship. From both the literal and esoteric standpoints, the meaning is clear: God is divine, invisible, and incomprehensible to the mortal mind. Thus, any image (in matter) cannot possibly represent what is purely spiritual and unknown. Consequently, there is no point in worshipping idols or images that come from the minds of mortals. So, these Commandments (1 & 2) must be taken into consideration when discussing the nature of the Godhead in Western Religion.

Now, I'd like to offer, one of countless suggestions going to the heart of your question. The following ideology is taught on the esoteric side of most major religions - Kabbalah, Gnosticism, Sufism, Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vedanta Hinduism, and Shinto. It is the concept of a universal, all-pervading, infinite, and eternal -One Divine Source. In Kabbalah, this concept is known as Ain-Soph, in Taoism - it's the unmanifest Tao, in Hinduism - Nirguna Brahman, and the Neo-Platonists called it, The Absolute. It is also, 'Being and Non-Being' of Hegel, and 'The Thing Within Itself' of Kant. From a Kabbalistic perspective, it is "The No-Thing Without End" that is subjectively aware of Itself - before the first Biblical phrase, "In the Beginning...".

So, here is an important point to be considered when trying to form a belief about "what is God?" - each person must ask themselves the following question: "What do I believe 'existed' before the physical universe (and all matter) came into Being (before the Big Bang)?" Of course, there is no answer - however, just by asking the question, a person is opening their mind to the possibility of a God-Source that is in a state of Non-Being before the universe exits. This 'theory' maintains that 'God' devolves into all things in the universe, by synthesizing ITSELF into matter. Subsequently, all things in the universe evolve back to 'God', as IT becomes - once again - the pure spirit of Non-Being. Now, this is a 'perennial theory' that is found in many wisdom traditions, and it leads to an explanation of the progressive unfoldment of Nature. The Perennial Philosophy (timeless wisdom) is asserting that each person has a 'divine spark' (the God-within) - spirit, soul, higher mind - emanating from the God-Source; and each individual spark returns to God-Source when the universe comes to an end (Einstein's Big Crunch). This is one hypothesis to the "what is God?" question, and it is summarized as, "The God-Source is within and without you".      

Here are a few books that elaborate on these ideas, and which you may find interesting:

1) "On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead" - Gershom Scholem.  

2) "Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World's Religions" -Huston Smith.

3) "Mysticism and Philosophy" - W.T. Stace.

4) "God Is A Verb" - David Cooper.

5) "The Perennial Philosophy" - Aldous Huxley.

6) "Mysticism: Christian & Buddhist" by D.T. Suzuki.  

Sebastian, I appreciate your stimulating and provocative question.  I sincerely hope you find an intuitive answer that resonates truthfully within yourself - because, ultimately, that is the only answer that really matters.

With best wishes for the holidays, Bob Waxman