Searching for God

Searching for God

By John Robinson

Searching for God on a dry and dusty dirt road high in the Los Gatos hills one stifling hot summer day, I was intensely frustrated. The spiritual retreat that brought me here was good, but I was not getting what I wanted. I kept walking, climbing higher and higher, and repeating, “God, where are you? Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU?” Suddenly I sensed something and stopped in my tracks. A consciousness now surrounded me. Space was alive, awake and aware of me. I knew then that consciousness was not just in me, I was in it, and it was God’s consciousness. Put simply, my consciousness was God’s consciousness. This stunning realization heralds the heart of the mystical experience – divine consciousness permeating existence, calling us to awaken to our own divinity.

I have been writing and teaching about the mystical experience for over 25 years – 12 books on the nature and power of this universal experience along with numerous articles and workshops. Upon turning 75, I felt the compelling need to disappear into solitude, to live more fully in the mystical consciousness I was writing about. So, I did. For three years! As the experience deepened, I started spontaneously writing mystical poetry in the tradition of Hafez, Rumi, Kabir, and Gibran. Hundreds of poems poured forth, and they still keep coming from the deep place of God’s residence in my soul.  

I believe anyone can have an experience God’s presence and that mystical poetry has the power to awaken its insights and revelations. Sourced from mystical consciousness, the words and ideas from this genre of poetry are alive with Spirit. They are living things that will act in you if you let them. You transition from receiver to participant to mystic, for when you enter the poem, the poem enters you, and your whole orientation toward the divine cosmos is progressively transformed.

Here are three poems to awaken your consciousness. Before reading them, find a quiet, uninterrupted, meditative moment and use a word, prayer, intention or lit candle to create sacred space to receive the poetry. When you’re focused, centered and ready, read the words slowly. Whisper them aloud if you like. Stay present. Fully experience each line and take a moment between readings to let them sink in. Begin…

One Consciousness

God’s consciousness fills the universe. 

Everything contains and expresses it. 

 The world is alive, awake, aware, 

loving, and breathtakingly intelligent. 

We each share this consciousness 

though we wrap it in personal identity and

assume everyone’s version is uniquely theirs. 

What does this mean? 

It means you have direct access to

 the consciousness of God.

This realization alone can 

begin your awakening.

 

Find Your Sacred Path

If you want the divine life, 

be conscious of consciousness, 

for the Other looks out your eyes, 

feels with your body,

loves through your love.

Your consciousness is already enlightened.

Experiencing this

sanctifies your life,

every detail transfigured in beauty,

for the divine is the holy essence 

of your neighbor, lover, child, friend,

pet, plant, moon, sun, 

the entire blessed Earth.

This is the divine world.

Spread peace and love,

find your life’s sacred path.

It begins right where you’re standing.

 

Stepping into the Mystery

Stop thinking. 

Be very still.

Breathe slowly.

Become intensely awake and 

aware of your surroundings,

especially the way light and shadow constantly

transform the surfaces of the world.

Examine every little thing as if you’ve

never seen it so clearly before.

Now focus consciousness back on itself and 

feel God breathing you, 

becoming you,

 becoming Creation.

Whisper your secret name for God,

and love rushes up from within,

 ending all confusion about why you’re here. 

Enter Heaven here on Earth. 

Stay awhile.

Sit in the silence of mystical consciousness for another minute or two. Feel, sense and attune to its continued presence. Then write a little about your experience. You might even be inspired to begin your own mystical poem. When you’re ready, return to everyday consciousness and resume the day’s events.

Conclusions

The great Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart, said, “The only thing God asks of you is to let God be God in you.” Realizing that God is your consciousness, dissolve the self-idea into the One, and step into the divine mystery. Life in the world looks so different from here.

John Robinson is the author of Divinity Rising: Beyond Illusion, Suffering and Death. It joins his first book of mystical poetry, I Am God: Insight and Revelation from Mystical Consciousness. Both are now available. Learn more about John at www.johnrobinson.org and join him for live reading of his mystical poetry at this link: https://conta.cc/3Ef7egj