Clifford Mikkelson's Blog

Question 211: What do atheists who criticize religions get wrong about the Eternal God?

The prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Matt Dillahunty, Michael Schermer, and the late Christopher Hitchens have plenty of ammunition to attack the false beliefs and hypocritical actions of religious people. Certain verses in the Bible, the Quran, and other religious scriptures would seem to indicate that God is not a good God, a fair God, or even an intelligent God.

 Christians who try to defend the God of the Old Testament have to twist their arguments into an inedible, totally complicated pretzel. The Quran also has indefensible verses. An explanation such as “God’s ways are higher than man’s ways so we can’t understand,” falls flatter than a smashed pancake.

The God presented in the Abrahamic religions is a straw god, a tribal god who, at times, seems to rise to the status of a universal god because of the multiple authors of the Old Testament books. Still, in the overall view, he doesn’t measure up. He is a patriarchal god who favors certain tribes over others.

 In the Eastern religions of Hinduism and Taoism, God is a universal supreme Creator who loves everyone. Everything is part of the Creator’s consciousness. The Creator God can be shown as a female or male deity or have no gender at all. This God has given free will to all self-aware beings who have been individualized out of yet within the Creator’s consciousness.

The free will beings, all of us, have contributed to the creation. The first created beings laid the basic matrix of our universe. From the beginning of time, creation has been stepped down from the greatest of beings to the elemental beings who make up the physicality of the universe. Our Creator came out of the timeless Allness as did the Creators of all other universes.

 Atheists who want to know the truth of creation must go through a rigorous self-examination if they want to know the truth of a Spirit Consciousness that has created everything out of its own consciousness. The Indian sage Patanjali has outlined an eight-step method for the realization of truth. The first step is to learn how to behave–how to live with love, compassion, and forgiveness. After anchoring ourselves in the basic goodness and decency of right behavior, we master our bodies with mind power, right diet, exercise, and then we can sit to meditate on the deeper truths. Certain techniques are used to regulate the breath, interiorize the mind, and shut down the senses. This takes practice as people may meditate for years before they make a breakthrough into the realms of Spirit.

If an atheist or skeptic merely criticizes the false ideas of God presented in some religions, that is no great accomplishment. Anyone can do that. The unscientific claims of religionists can be easily debunked. Perhaps that needs to be done, but we all have to answer to our own higher consciousness. Do we know who we truly are? This is not just a materialistic universe. Active, loving Spirit creates and sustains this universe.

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“In the transcendental state, God spins out his dreams of ideational,(causal), astral, and physical universes. The physical cosmos, with its many “island universes” floating in the eternal void, is encircled by a nimbus of radiant energy that melts away into the larger astral world. The astral cosmos is a grander manifestation of creation than the physical and runs through and beyond the latter…the causal universe is the womb of creation. In the causal universe, God’s finest creative forces of consciousness, and highly evolved beings with their intuitive processes, objectify universes from subtle divine thought forces…”  –Paramahansa Yogananda (In the Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita.)

Question 210: How can the Gospel of Oneness bring peace to the world?

           Question 210: How can the Gospel of Oneness bring peace to the world?

 When we think of all the conflicts in the world, how many are based on religious conflicts? Quite a few, we would have to say. The main one at this time (2024) is the conflict between Islam and the Jews. It has riled up the world with protests in many places. There are also conflicts between Islam and Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism. There are lesser conflicts within the same religion, such as Sunni against Shia Muslims, Catholics against Protestants, and mainstream Christians against various sects. These conflicts have manifested in death and destruction many times over.

 The Gospel of Oneness is the original religion of knowing our oneness with our Creator, the Eternal, infinite Spirit. The Gospel of Oneness could supersede all the other religions. People don’t have to give up all their social and family contacts or even their religious rituals. All that people have to do is recognize that every individual person on the planet is an expression of our Creator, not a perfect expression but an expression that is ever evolving towards an infinite potential. To recognize the sacredness of human life and to respect everyone is the essence of the Gospel of Oneness. The golden rule is the main tenet. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. All the doctrines of heaven and hell and the ways of salvation are overridden by the Gospel of Oneness

The scriptures of the world have valuable advice on how to live, but they are not the absolute truth or word of God that people have been endlessly arguing about. It will take a review of all the man-made doctrines to see that it all comes down to the belief or faith in one universal Creator who has given us free will and unconditional love. That task is easier to do now with the worldwide internet of information.

Our real and eternal identity is in Spirit. When we are born into physical bodies on Earth, we take on various earthly identities. We have gender, skin color, nationality, ethnic group, and a religion probably. All these outer identities can make us seem separate from one another. If we are born as a Muslim and taught to have enmity toward Jews, we may forget all about our identity as a universal soul. If we are born as a Christian, we may think we are in the only true religion. We need to see past our earthly identities and accept our soul identities.

 Even atheists and agnostics can follow the Gospel of Oneness because they can see the scientific evidence that shows we are all connected in the web of life. One doesn’t have to believe in a personal or impersonal Creator, just believe in the sanctity of all life. Believe that you are a unique individual in the web of life.

If you want to help bring peace to the world, give up all religious conflict. When that is widely done, political and economic conflicts will be easier to solve.

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            Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe. It is everywhere – Black Elk

            The boundary between ourselves and other people and between ourselves and Nature is an illusion – Charlene Spretnak

Question 209: What is this blog about?

Question 209: What is this blog about?

I started this blog over 12 years ago because I wanted to share thoughts about the oneness of all life. I am not an enlightened being or any kind of guru. I am nobody special. However, I firmly believe in the oneness of all life on this earth and throughout the universe. I believe there is one supreme Creator who is essentially formless, eternal, infinite, and endlessly creative. I believe everyone and everything is within the consciousness of the Creator. I believe there is no separation between the Creator and the creation. I believe the Creator’s nature is unconditional love, complete wisdom, and ever-new joy and bliss. I also believe the Creator is personal and impersonal.

Given these beliefs, I answer questions about the ramifications of believing and living as if the oneness of life matters in every way, in every situation and condition. I have answered 208 questions so far, and I have compiled them into two volumes. They are available on Amazon in paperback and in e-book formats. Here are the links: Amazon.com: Questions and Answers About the Gospel of Oneness eBook : Mikkelson, Clifford: Kindle Store and Questions and Answers About the Gospel of Oneness Volume Two – Kindle edition by Mikkelson, Clifford J. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. The third volume will come out after I answer another one hundred questions. You can keep up by subscribing to this blog if you haven’t already. Thank you for reading and may you become Self-realized in this lifetime.

Question 208: About Superstition and the Oneness of Life

Question 208: How does the Gospel of Oneness help get rid of superstitious beliefs?

By affirming the existence of the one universal Creative Spirit of unconditional love and joy as the only reality, the Gospel of Oneness puts an end to the notion of a dualistic god who, in turn, loves and punishes the co-creative agents of this world.

In the bad old days of outright superstitious beliefs, people thought they needed to make sacrifices to placate a judgmental god. Unfortunate animals were used as scapegoats to satisfy the wrath of dualistic gods. Goats were a favorite animal to sacrifice, but other animals were used such as lambs, pigs, cows, birds of different kinds, and even horses. The worst-case scenarios were the sacrifice of people, especially children and young virgin women.

Those were truly “the bad old days,” but superstitious beliefs in certain religious laws and rituals are still with us. Some people still believe it is possible to blaspheme or insult their god, so they have made laws against insulting or ridiculing their god as if it were possible to hurt God in any way. They even call for the death penalty for breaking this law which is based on superstition.

Superstition also shows up in various religious rites such as baptism. People argue about how water should be used in this rite as if it mattered to God. Real baptism is not an outer ritual, it is an inner realization of a person’s spiritual connection to the Universal Spirit of oneness.

A major superstition still prevalent is the belief in an everlasting hell where, apparently, most people are doomed to go there as they will never meet the requirements to enter heaven. There is no proof of an everlasting hell, yet people believe in it. (Very few people believe they will go there, but they seem sure many other people will.)

Another major superstition is that people need to meet some basic requirements to enter heaven. For Christians, they have to believe that Jesus is their savior and say they accept him into their hearts. For Muslims, they have to profess allegiance to Allah and his prophet Muhammed. These superstitious beliefs are still very important for many people in those religions. Yet, there is no scientific proof of their truth. There is not even a religious proof as scriptural statements are not proof.

The Gospel of Oneness says that everyone has a direct connection to the Universal Spirit and that Spirit can be realized by meditating with love and devotion on the beautiful qualities of the Supreme Spirit. No superstitious beliefs are needed. Do your best to love yourself and everyone else. When you have God-realization, you will see.

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My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth, and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. –  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Fear is the main source of superstition and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. – Bertrand Russell

Question 207: What role does atheism play in the Gospel of Oneness?

Question 207: What role does atheism have in the Gospel of Oneness?

It’s all right to be an atheist or an agnostic for a lifetime or even several lifetimes. Every soul has a unique path back to the realization of Spirit as the only reality. No one is sent to hell for not believing in God. Given the false dualistic gods of the man-made religions, it may be better to be a moral, clean-living atheist than a fanatical and self-righteous believer in a false god.

The Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship a dualistic god who plays favorites, chooses a special people, or chooses a special religion, or a special holy man to be superior to all others. Of course, some members of these religions see past the dualistic images of their God, but many of them see atheists as being destined for hell. A couple centuries ago, some Christian leaders advocated the death penalty for atheists. Today, some Muslim leaders still advocate the death penalty for atheists and blasphemers who insult their god or prophet.

The Creative Spirit of the universe has created everyone out of its own consciousness and does not play favorites with one part of itself. By the attractive magnet of unconditional love and the universal laws of karma that teach the consequences of free will, every soul finds its way back to Spirit sooner or later.

Whether we are an atheist, agnostic, or a firm and devout believer in God, we still have to deal with our own psychological makeup. Are we able to admit the flaws of our egos and move up to higher states of consciousness? Are we able to forgive ourselves and others? Are we able to give and receive unconditional love? These are some of the questions we need to answer regardless of our belief or disbelief in God.

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My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests. — George Santayana

One does not become an atheist out of a desire for hassle-free Sunday mornings. People come to atheism because they have a problem with organized religion – usually a problem they consider to be of moral urgency. — Lynn Coady

I don’t think atheism means one does not believe in a spiritual life. I think it means one does not follow the tenets of the established religions. — Amanda Donohoe

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God. — Francis Bacon

Question 206: How does living in oneness help the world?

All the people in the world contribute to the mass consciousness that largely determines the social and environmental conditions on Earth. Our Creator Spirit gave us a planet to live on and gave us free will to co-create the conditions on Earth. Over an unknown number of generations, we have made and shaped life on Earth. We can’t ask God to suddenly change our conditions because that would take away our free will. We have to influence the mass consciousness to change our conditions. But how do we do that? Sometimes one person can have enough influence to change the mass consciousness. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, Lao Tse, and Mohammed are examples of religious figures who have changed the masses. Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Charles Darwin are three scientists who have changed the masses. Sometimes it has been dictators and tyrants who have changed the world. Sometimes it has been philosophers, entertainers, philanthropists, inventors, and pioneers who have changed the world. So, even one individual can greatly affect the mass consciousness.

For most of us, however, we won’t make much of a difference in the mass consciousness. Nevertheless, everything we do as individuals contributes to the quality of the mass mind. By living with the realization of the oneness of all life and living by the golden rule we uplift life on earth. The golden rule has been recognized and preached long before Jesus came to reinforce the concept, but the world, in general, does not live consistently by this rule. We still have a long way to go to infuse the mass consciousness with the awareness of the oneness of all life. We are trending in that direction. We have the momentum. We can all contribute to this momentum by daily living by the golden rule.

When people say, “Where is God in all these tragedies that happen on earth?” we can remember that it is up to us to be the expressions of God’s love and compassion on earth. We can all do our part. Some of us may even have a major influence on the mass consciousness.

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“There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe.” ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“The key to growth is the production of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.” ~ Lao Tzu

“Today, it is more important than ever to raise human consciousness, so that technology becomes a means of empowerment, not destruction.” ~ Sadhguru

“You are not limited to this body, to this mind, or to this reality — you are a limitless ocean of Consciousness, imbued with infinite potential. You are existence itself.” ~ Joseph P. Kauffman

Question 205: Graduation advice from the Gospel of Oneness

Question 205: What advice does the Gospel of Oneness have for the high school and college graduating classes?

You are naturally concerned about your future careers and spouses. You are becoming more responsible for yourself. You have to pay your bills, take care of your health, and consider if you want to get married sooner or later. Whatever you choose for yourself, the gospel of oneness would advise you to build up your consciousness of the oneness of all life. Think of it as your bank account that can only grow to unlimited proportions.

If you keep this in mind by meditating every day on your connection to the universal spirit of love, joy, and wisdom, by the time you reach your senior years you will be ready to graduate to the ascended realms and be free forever in your eternal spiritual identity.

You can build up your spiritual bank account not only by meditating upon it, but also by spreading joy and love in hearts everywhere you go. At the same time, you will need to overcome your ego problems and psychological wounds and traumas. We all have flaws to work out. Nobody has their life perfectly together, yet we don’t have to be perfect, we only have to care enough to keep on evolving.

Your life path is before you. This advice upon graduating from an institutional school is to remind you that you can get through the “School of hard knocks” by deliberately choosing to remember everyday who you are. You are not a separate or lonely person in the sea of life. You are an expression of the universal, eternal Spirit of life and love. No matter what lessons you still have to learn, stay faithful to your true Self.

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”—Eleanor Roosevelt

“Decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.”—Barack Obama

“It is time to chase every dream, accept every challenge, strive for greatness, honor every promise, and recommit to your community.”—Lebron James

“You can’t do it alone. Be open to collaboration. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life.”—Amy Poehler

“You succeeded because of the aid and the love of others, bettering your lives without a doubt, but you have succeeded mostly because you and you alone chose to do so.”—Tom Hanks

Question 204: About Materialism

Question 204: What is the Gospel of Oneness view on Materialism?

Materialism is the view of atheism in that it doesn’t allow for the unprovable or unfalsifiable existence of Spirit beyond the forms and energies that we can measure in some way. Because we can’t measure Spirit, it is open to speculation, opinion, and subjective analysis, Nobody can replicate an experience in Spirit. Nobody can say this is what Spirit is. It would be like saying, “This is God.” No linear description will be enough.

If one of the early European explorers landed in what is now New York and another landed in Florida, they would return with quite different ideas of what the new world was like. The Spirit realm is infinitely larger than the North American continent. The Europeans eventually explored and mapped the North and South American continents, but the spiritual realm has hardly been explored at all. However, we have had reports from the explorers of Spirit who have experienced existence beyond forms and energies. You can be a strict materialist and reject those claims, or you can be open to finding a way to experience those claims.

The Gospel of Oneness says that Spirit, though undefinable in a scientific way, is the reality behind all forms and energies in the universe. Spirit produces consciousness and creative mind power. Every form has an intelligent pattern and has a coherent organization and a niche within its environment.

The building blocks of matter are the atoms and sub-atomic particles and waves of energy. They do not act without intelligence influencing them. The Gospel of Oneness says that an intelligence of Spirit creates the idea for every form in existence. In the Christian world, this intelligence is called Christ Consciousness. In India, it is called Kutastha Chaitanya. In China, it is called the Tao. Nobody can prove it, so it remains hidden, yet we can experience it one by one.

God is the mind that imagines physical reality. We are each like a cell in that mind.” —Peter Shepherd

“Only in quiet waters, things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is the adequate perception of the world.” — Hans Margolius

Question 202: About forcing oneness on people

Question 202: What is the false sense of oneness that dictators try to impose upon people?

Whether it is in a communist nation such as North Korea or China or an Islamic theocratic dictatorship as in Iran, the leaders want to have unity in their countries. They want everyone to think and believe their system is the best for everyone. This is the false sense of oneness.

To them, to allow dissent and opposing viewpoints threatens their Power. So they try to enforce an artificial oneness among the people. If they allow voting, which they often do, the people can only vote for the dictator. Or, in some cases, the ruling elite will allow several candidates that they approve of.  There is no real choice.

Artificial oneness can never satisfy the inner needs of the people for freedom of expression. Look at what is happening in Iran now (Nov 2022). We can see the results of over forty years of the repression of people, especially of the women. The theocratic leaders have tried to force their views on everyone in their country. They have been able to enforce their viewpoint for so long because they have enough people in the police and military who are willing to kill fellow citizens in order to keep the people trembling in fear for their lives and livelihoods.

What is the way to true oneness? It starts with the education that we are all spiritual beings, immortal souls who have come to earth to express our soul qualities. The education and development of every person’s vast potential needs to be taught in every home and school.

The collective will of the people toward this end would bring about governments that would work for peace and harmony and prosperity for every citizen. How will we ever get to this point? If everyone who believes in the true oneness of life keeps on living and promoting it to others by words and examples, then the societies and cultures of the earth will change. It is the organic, natural way to grow. Any attempt to force oneness upon people, whether it is with a religious or economic system, will always fail

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Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too. VoltaireIf you’ll not raise your voice now, then they will seal your mouth forever. Fahim KhanPeople don’t often say what they think but rather what they think is permissible. Michael RectenwaldPeople don’t often say what they think but rather what they think is permissible. Michael RectenwaldThe Freedom of Speech will always be mightier than any small-minded censor no matter the flavor of their ignorance. A.A. SavastanIf you can’t write freely and if you can’t speak freely, then yu can be sure you are living in a primitive country. —Mehmet Mural Ilda

Question 201: About the virgin birth of Jesus.

Question 201: Is it important to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus?

No, it isn’t important at all. There is no way to prove a virgin birth. The story may have been added later to reinforce the view that Jesus was the actual son of God. However, to think that Jesus was a special person who came straight from God and was not an ordinary person like everyone else detracts from the example he set. How can we expect to follow in his footsteps if he is God and we are not?

Jesus came to show us the importance of raising our consciousness and finding our inner connection to the Infinite Spirit. That is something we can all do whether or not we were born unto a virgin mother.

The Gospel of Oneness says that we all have an immaculate conception from the very beginning of our existence, whenever that was. Every soul is a unique identity in Spirit. This is what needs to be emphasized, rather than idolizing one person as being the only son of God.

Besides Jesus, other religious figures have also been given origin stories that are rather fantastic, such as Padma Sambhava, the Tibetan yogi was said to be born in a lotus flower. Krishna and Buddha also have stories about them being born in miraculous ways. Even some famous secular persons, such as Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar have background stories about being born of virgin mothers that were impregnated by divine beings.

If you go back to the last Golden Age, the people may have developed ways to bring forth new life either in or outside the womb of a woman. Cloning is a real process and has to be taken into consideration in producing new life, in animals and human beings. Since Spirit is the only reality, all physical forms will pass away. We are in the process of increasing our realization of Spirit.

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  When I read of the vain discussions of the present day about the Virgin Birth and other old dogmas which belong to the past, I feel how great the need is still of a real interest in the religion which builds up character, teaches brotherly love, and opens up to the seeker such a world of usefulness and the beauty of holiness.

Olympia Brown

The real important function of the church is to present the symbol, to perform the rite, to let you behold this divine message in such a way that you are capable of experiencing it. What the relationship of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost to each other might be, in technical terms, is not half important as you, the celebrant, feeling the Virgin Birth within you, the birth of the mystic, mythic being that is your own spiritual life. –Joseph Campbell