Many Lamps

The lamps are different,
but the light is the same.¹

— Rumi

On these pages you’ll find light shining from many lamps, and as such you’ll find a variety of terms that refer to God, G-d, Gd. For example:

Totality

the One

the Eternal

the Eternal One

One without a Second

the Divine

Hashem

Adonai

Zot

Allah

I AM

Being

Mind

Spirit

Soul

Principle

Life

Truth

Love

Consciousness

pure consciousness

The God-idea

to name a few!

In her book, The Path of Blessing, Rabbi Macia Prager tells of “A noble thinker [who] once challenged Martin Buber” regarding the use of the word ‘God’: 

What you mean by the name of God
is something beyond
all human grasp and comprehension,
but in speaking about it you have
lowered it to human conceptualization.

What word in human speech
is so misused, so defiled,
so desecrated as this!

All the innocent blood
that has been shed for it
has robbed it of its radiance.
All the injustice that it has been used
to cover has effaced its features.

When I hear the highest called ‘God,’
it sometimes seems almost blasphemous.²

For many of us, the word God conjures up an image of an old man with a beard, seated on a throne in the sky. Although this image may have served well in Biblical times, it more than hints at time, space, separation, journey, and gender. These objections are resolved when we know God as divine consciousness,

‘Consciousness’ is a [non-religious]
scientific way
of referring to Totality,
One without a Second,
which from a religious point of view
we refer to as Gd.³

— Steve Sufian

Even better, is when we acknowledge only one God, one consciousness, one essence, one Being. As a world renowned Zohar scholar says,

God is not somewhere else
hidden from us,
God is right here, hidden from us.⁴

— Daniel Matt

Isness

The ‘emanation of divinity’ cognized by the ancients may be described today as the ‘manifestation of pure consciousness.’ In either case, it is ‘isness,’ defined as ‘the state of things as they are.’

Practical spirituality requires that
we acknowledge what really is.

This is because divine emanation (or manifestation)
is never separate from its Source.

Emanation or manifestation is also never ‘in,’ but rather its divine qualities appear ‘as!’ The concept of divinity being “in” something is a holdover from the old matter-based paradigm. Today’s knowledge and experience of pure consciousness demand that we drill down further.

God is not in you
in the same sense
that a raisin is in a bun.
That is not unity.
God is in you
as the ocean is in a wave.

The wave is nothing
more nor less than the ocean
expressing as a wave.⁵

— Eric Butterworth

In a very similar regard,

[there is an important distinction]
between saying
that ‘everything has consciousness’
and saying that ‘everything is Consciousness.’⁶

— Dr. Tony Nader

You cannot escape the responsibility
of establishing for yourself that
that which is, is all there is.⁷

— Herbert Eustace

Beyond Labels

This is the secret
of the unity of God,
no matter where I take hold
of a shred of it,
I hold the whole of it.⁸

— Martin Buber

Martin Buber, one of the greatest and most influential Jewish thinkers of the Twentieth Century, says of Jesus (‘Yeshua’ in Hebrew),

From my youth onwards
I have found in Yeshua my great brother…
my own fraternally open relationship to him
has grown ever stronger and clearer,
and today I see him
more strongly and clearly
than ever before.⁹

— Martin Buber

Politically Incorrect

On these pages you’ll find references from Vedanta, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and other great spiritual traditions. If you feel that the credibility of a spiritual reference depends on the author’s tradition, religion, denomination, membership status, gender, or rank, this website may not be for you! On the other hand, if you find yourself inspired by Truth expressing Itself wherever it may be found, please enjoy your visit with us!

What's beautiful
about mystical study
and mystical exploration
is that it almost doesn't matter
which tradition you're in.

Each tradition expresses Truth
in a unique way,
but the underlying message
is really the same,
that God animates all of existence.¹⁰

— Daniel Matt

If our faith can be shaken
from merely learning
about a different tradition,
then that faith
is not worth keeping.¹¹

— Reverend Dr. Kang Won Yong

There is no rung of Being
on which we cannot find
the holiness of God
everywhere and at all times.¹²

— Martin Buber

Present Tense

This is the time 
for you to deeply compute
the impossibility 
that there is anything 
but Grace.¹³

— Hafiz

Expressions of Joy writings use present tense even when quoting ancient words.

This custom is a nod to the eternal Now, and a recognition that Truth is always true and Now is the only time. It further reminds us that,

Life, like Truth, is eternal. 

Gender Neutral

As a little girl, I often demanded that my mother explain why books consistently refer to he/him. Sadly, her answer was always the same: “That’s just the way it is.”  

Well that’s not the way it has to be! Whenever possible, twenty-first century Expressions of Joy writings replace male and female words and pronouns with inclusive gender neutral words and pronouns. Don’t worry. The original word is identified in the references.

It’s interesting to me that ancient scripture acknowledges this void I felt in my heart:

Any place where the masculine and the feminine
are not both present, God is not fully present [in our conscious awareness].¹⁴

— The Zohar

Ironically, we learn from Jeff Miller of The Priscilla Papers that,

The King James Version
and the pre-2011 New International Versions
of the Bible
each include more than 1,000 occurrences
of the words “man” and “men”
which are not found
in the Greek New Testament.¹⁵

Accuracy, Documentation and Retranslation

We take great care to document the source of quotations. 

This often requires a good amount of digging. While the internet can be a huge help, it’s also frequently a detriment. A quotation may be repeatedly credited online to someone, but with no documentation of the source. Take this quote as an example:

An ounce of action
is worth more than
a ton of theory.

It has been attributed countless times online to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Engels, Lenin and Gandhi. Who knows? Some would say, “who cares?” As the author of Dialaropia says,

We should care, indeed.
Not only because of the possibility of plagiarism,
but mainly because a misattribution
leads us to misunderstand ideas,
theories, writers, thinkers, religions, etc.¹⁶

It also can happen that two people or their translators, centuries and/or continents apart may use essentially the same, or even identical, words. Is this plagiarism? Probably not.

It is difficult to communicate a sense of infinity with finite words. Documentation gets even more complex when students quote their teacher(s), who quote their teacher(s), etc. It also happens that the ‘still small voice’ of divinity reveals Itself in similar, or different, ways at different times as world consciousness requires. Yes, sometimes even with the same words!

When we feel comfortable with a source, but can't document it, we indicate ‘attributed to.’ We would be delighted if you can confirm the authenticity of any quote that is simply ‘attributed to’ someone. Shiviti reward offered.

Likewise, if you find that an attribution is in error, please kindly contact us with documentation so we may make a correction. A notice of errors of any kind—yes, even a typo—is also most welcome and warmly rewarded!

When appropriate for metaphysical clarity, we retranslate words as is common in religious texts.¹⁵ We hope you enjoy the references at the end of each post. The references use brackets to identify any retranslated words and amended quotations. You’ll also often find links so you can explore further.

Ceaseless Unfoldment

From time to time, text and quotations may be edited or added to previously existing Expressions. This is a natural outcome of the expanded experience of individual and collective consciousness.

What was cognized centuries ago, or even just years ago, may be expressed differently today. It has ‘ripened,’ so to speak. As our experience of consciousness expands to include more and more of true reality, our spiritual vision becomes increasingly practical.

As you explore, you may find both retranslations¹⁷ and amended quotations. These are identified by brackets in the references.

Waves of the Ocean

[1] Rumi, One One One, http://notdarkyet-commentary.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-lamps-are-different-but-light-is.html • 08.23.21

[2] Marcia Prager, The Path of Blessing, (Jewish Lights Pubiishing, 1998), p. 79-80

[3] Steve Sufian, Torah and Vedic Scholar, Commentary on Parashat Devarim, Congregation Beth Shalom Newsletter, Fairfield, IA • 07.23.20

[4] Daniel C. Matt, God and the Big Bang, (Jewish Lights Publishing, 1996), p. 171

[5] Eric Butterworth, Discover the Power Within You: A Guide to the Unexplored Depths Within, (HarperSanFrancisco, 1989), p. 34

[6] Dr. Tony Nader, Consciousness: A New Paradigm — Making Life Work for Everyone: A Master Class, based on Dr. Nader’s book One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness: Simple Answers to Big Questions in Life, (Aguilar Press, 2021, Kindle)

[7] Herbert Eustace, Christian Science, It’s Clear, Correct Teaching, (Lederer, Street and Zeus Co.) p. 121

[8] Martin Buber, Ten Rungs, (Citadel Press, 1947, 1995), p. 54

[9] Martin Buber, Two Types of Faith, (Syracuse University Press, 2003), p. 12

[10] Daniel C Matt, Exploring the Kabbalah, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRX7OEcj1MY • 09.20.2019

[11] https://www.interfaithccc.org/prayers-from-many-faiths-in-an-age-of-fear-and-pandemic/ • The Reverend Dr. Kang Won established the Yong Kyoung Dong Presbyterian Church in Seoul, Korea.

[12] Martin Buber, Ten Rungs, (Citadel Press, 1947, 1995), p. 15

[13] Hafiz, Everything You Do is Sacred, Emerging Wisdom, http://www.emergingwisdom.net/everything-you-do-is-sacred-hafiz/ • 08.22.21

[14] Zohar, B’reishit 55b: “‘Male and female [God] created them.’ • [consciously] replaces “fully”

[15] Jeff Miller, Editor, Priscilla Papers, 7 Places Where Gender-Inclusive Bible Translation Really Matters: Part 1, https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/article/mutuality-blog-magazine/7-places-where-gender-inclusive-bible-translation-really-0 • 04.24.2016 • https://www.cbeinternational.org/persons/jeffrey-d-miller • 11.24.2021 • https://www.cbeinternational.org/content/pursuing-gender-accurate-bible-translations • 11.24.2021

[16] Dialorapia, “The highest form of wisdom is kindness”… or isn’t http://dialorapia.com/archives/365 • 12.29.2021

[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retranslation • 12.29.2021

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