If the Godhead were a living being in the same way as one's next door neighbour or any other fellow living being in existence, and, like each one of these, were to be found in a certain specific place, one would just as easily be able to live without this Godhead as one can live independently of a particular fellow being in Africa, Australia, America, or Asia. God would mean no more to us than, let us say, a lion, a headhunter or a pygmy in the depths of Africa, who we had never ever seen or come into contact with. But that which lies hidden under the concept of "God" is something quite different from a being that is bound to a certain place in time and space that one can travel to or find on a certain globe or in a certain part of the heavens. God is not a being that can be found in a certain place out there; neither is God a being bound within certain limits, isolated and separated from other living beings. One cannot therefore see, weigh or measure God in the same way that one can see, weigh and measure a human being, an animal, a plant or any other material phenomenon. One cannot sense God directly with the material senses, that is to say with the sight, hearing, smell, taste or feeling. The Godhead is therefore something that cannot be sensed using the physical senses alone.

Because the aforementioned "something", which as we have seen cannot be sensed, does nevertheless gain a footing in the human consciousness, binding millions of human beings into a living, firm belief in its existence, it becomes apparent that God, in quite a different way than through the physical senses, does have an effect on the living being. In human beings in their primitive stages this effect can be felt as a deeply rooted tendency to believe that Nature, with all its outward signs of movement, is directed by something living. Like animals, they believe that absolutely every movement is an expression of life. From this tendency to believe that everything is living there gradually emerged the idea of a Providence or a Godhead. Nature influences the living beings so that they believe that a Providence exists behind the forces of Nature. This tendency is not a product of intelligence or intellectuality. Cultured, advanced, highly intelligent and scientifically minded human beings do not believe in a godhead. And it is this very fact that brings up the question under discussion in the first place.

As the belief in the godhead is not a product of intelligence, it must be an organic talent that is already dwelling within the being. Just as there is implanted within every seed the talent to become the very plant of which the seed is a product, there is also implanted within every living being the tendency to believe or perceive that everything is living, meaning that there is a living being behind any movement whatsoever. In other words, there is implanted within every living being a talent that initially causes the being to believe that everything is alive and that later causes it to believe that this aliveness is a providence or a godhead. That this talent is already present in an unconscious way in animals is made clear by virtue of the fact that animals cry out when they are about to die. What is this cry at the moment of death other than the manifestation of a talent, a tendency to cry for help to an unknown providence? But if beings without intellectuality can be equipped with a talent that causes them to have a strong sense of the existence of a providence, this providence must of necessity exist. It is not possible for something that does not exist to give rise to real, actual effects. Previous to the formation of the talent and the ability that is based on it, there has to exist that certain something of which the talent is a result. The fact that we have eyes with which we can see is due exclusively to the existence of light, just as without the existence of sound we would never have ears with which we can hear. All our abilities and talents are thus due to an outer cause that already exists. As all human beings without exception are in their primitive stages governed by a tendency to believe in the existence of a providence behind the phenomena of the physical world, this tendency is something organic just like sight and hearing. Sight and hearing are absolute proof of the existence of, respectively, light and sound, just as the tendency to believe in the existence of a providence is proof of its existence. The fact that the mental understanding of the existence of this providence is not perfect, but is, from a certain intellectual viewpoint, an expression of naivety, does not alter the existence of the principle as fact.

To understand what this providence looks like and the nature of its existence requires the development of a completely different talent, namely the faculty of intelligence. And humankind finds itself in an epoch in which it is this very talent that is under development. Whereas the first talent, the one that produces the ability to believe, is the result of instinct and feeling without the stability brought about by intelligence and logic, intelligence will eventually be the faculty through which the logical stability that is lacking or the absolute knowledge in the notion of God emerges. This faculty makes human beings seek explanations. As it initially works only in connection with the physical senses, it can produce only materialistic knowledge. For this reason it will increasingly bind human beings to matter or to that which can be weighed and measured. It therefore produces doubt, causing human beings to lose their faith and become atheists. It leads human beings away from all that is absolute in existence. They end up believing that everything is brought about by chance, just as they believe human beings to be the highest expression of life that exists.

As a result of this ability to control millions upon millions of horse power of the energy found in matter - an ability that finds expression in material science - and at the same time as a result of the lack of ability to see a providence or a logical world plan in Nature, the human being is, of all beings, the one that kills the most. War and mutilation, hatred and persecution follow in its footsteps. The otherwise highly developed living being is wading in a mental quagmire, clinging to completely dead matter, money, property and gold. The ability to acquire wealth is gathering momentum. And it ought to be quite obvious that this ability will not be of a particularly high level of morality, that is to say the being will not have developed any particular considerateness for its neighbour. It is precisely because it is protecting itself against this neighbour that it does not dare to abandon its fight to acquire gold and materials. Whereas previously human beings, as a result of their faith, sought help by praying to Providence or the Godhead, they now seek to safeguard themselves by acquiring riches and by not in any way letting go of them, except in situations where by doing so they can acquire even greater riches. They therefore do not willingly let go of things of value in order to help their neighbour; as a rule they let go of them only in order to make themselves richer. It is this attitude to life that has led to our present existence, which was heralded long ago, namely "the war of all against all".

In this war all material means of protection: the murder weapons, money, property and gold, which have taken the place of the lost belief in a providence and which are the idols of modern times, will be put to the test. Not even the atom or hydrogen bomb will prove to be sufficient to replace the concept of Providence or the Godhead. It will become apparent that no peace on Earth will ever be possible other than through a concept of God or an acknowledgment of a true Godhead. Idols in the form of murder weapons, money, property, gold, social position etc. must be brought back to a position of secondary importance in life, and the acknowledgment of the true living Godhead, the acknowledgment of a logical governing of the world, the acknowledgment of the fact that everything constitutes life and that everything is the expression of the very finest functioning of consciousness and intelligent creation must all become absolute fact or verifiable science. This science is the only thing that can free human beings from the heathendom of basing life on material phenomena.

So what is this God like? Is there anything tangible in our everyday life that we can point to as incontrovertible proof or an expression of the existence of a godhead? Because the Godhead, as previously mentioned, neither exists as a being that is isolated and separate from all other living beings and things, nor is therefore bound to a particular time, space or place, this being, unlike other living beings in existence, cannot be perceived in a form that fits into the dimensions of time and space. Because, as beings, we manifest ourselves in a form or an organism that is separate in relation to the other existing organisms, and this organism is commonly perceived as being identical to our I or self, our appearance in this form can be sensed as belonging to a certain place or as constituting a certain colour, a certain size, a certain weight or as having a certain age and so on. In reality these expressions describe merely the temporary relationship of our I to all other phenomena and beings in existence. Our eternal I, which is behind the organism or the form, experiences only passing situations. What we experience and acknowledge is the contrast or divergence that exists between ourselves and other living beings. This experience or acknowledgment is the same as our experience of life. But regarding the Godhead as a living being, we cannot in the same way see or experience him as a form that is separate from all other forms, as he actually constitutes all forms. All forms, organisms or living beings are parts of his organism. The forces of Nature or everything that, when taken as a whole, constitutes what for us is the universe, is thus his entire organism, his entire form, the sum total of his manifestations, creations and life experiences. The universe is therefore God's body, God's organism. The universe is a living being. And this is what lies behind the ancient words: In him we live, and move, and have our being.

At this point one may initially be of the opinion that such a view is complete nonsense. How can it possibly be that the universe is a living being? One can quite easily be inclined towards the view that all the things that appear as forces, movements, and creative processes are lifeless processes that are the result of pure chance, but if that were the case the living beings in the universe would be entombed within a corpse. The universe would be a dead or lifeless colossus. But does such a view comply with the facts of everyday life? If the universe really were a lifeless colossus, everything within its area would have to be in total stillness. But quite the opposite is the case; everything is in total movement. Absolute stillness is nowhere to be found within the bounds of the manifest universe. As these forces express logical creation to the very highest degree, owing to the fact that there is no fully developed process in Nature whatsoever that does not reveal itself to be of use to living beings, the processes reveal that they have a purpose. And as there is a plan or a purpose behind the processes of creation, there must be something that has this purpose. A purpose is a wish, and a wish cannot possibly exist as anything other than as something that is released by a living being. So as this living being has Nature or the universe as its living organism or body, such a thought, acknowledgment or view will inevitably at first sight seem to the terrestrial human being - who, compared to such a gigantic living being or expression of life, is a microscopic being, the size of a mere speck of dust - so unbelievably fantastic that it is downright naive and therefore unacceptable to this being.

If the universe really does constitute a living, gigantic being such as this, what would that mean to the terrestrial human being, who is, despite all his gifts, when compared to such a being, the size of a mere speck of dust, if not smaller? Would it be logical to assume that he could through prayer turn to and be understood by this gigantic being? Surely this immense being does not sit listening to every being's prayers in order to attend to them. And even if it did, how would it be able to discern the millions of prayers that in any one hour rise up towards it from all the religious believers the world over? Once again I must point out that this gigantic being is not isolated or separated from the beings that are praying or from any other beings; it is not to be found in a particular place. Quite the opposite, together all these living beings constitute a certain part of this being. And this gives us a picture that corresponds precisely to the structure that we are able to witness in such a multitude of ways, namely, that living beings are made up of living beings. (See the symbol "The principle of the unity of life")

There is no getting away from the fact that our organism is built up of myriads of tiny, microscopic living beings and that these experience their everyday sense of life and existence in our blood, our musculature and our glands, in fact in all the material that goes to make up our organism. It is precisely the combined lives of all these myriads of tiny microbeings that make our organism living, making it possible for us to feel in it pain or wellbeing, or to be able to sense illness or good health. All the various kinds of movements in our organism, such as the circulation of the blood, the breathing, the digestion, the functioning of the glands etc. are therefore "forces of Nature" to these tiny beings. They make up their world with its climate, temperature, nourishment and necessities of life. In accepting that what we call the forces of Nature, that is to say, the oceans, the climactic conditions, calm and stormy weather, rain and shine, day and night, summer and winter and so on, are, by the same token, the functions of the body or organism of a being that compared to us is gigantic, meaning is given to all the manifestations of power and creation that we see around us, and that without which it would be totally impossible for us to experience life in the physical world. Nature would not then be an enormous combination of haphazard dead forces and our universe a colossal corpse. Our view of life would not involve worshipping this dead colossus, it would acknowledge a living being that is not to be found in a particular place, neither up nor down, ahead nor behind, but that exists exclusively so that in this living being we live, and move, and have our being, no matter where we may be on the globe or in the universe.

If we take a look at our own organism, we can see, as has already been mentioned, that it is made up of living microbeings. These microbeings live within what is for them an appropriately small macro-organism, through which they are able to experience what is for them an appropriate life. Each of these ultramicroscopic beings has in turn a small organism, which in turn is made up of living beings, and so on continuing down into infinity. The belief that human beings constitute the final stage in this structure or in the principle of living beings within living beings, so that we do not exist as living beings within a greater being, will never ever be able to be confirmed as a fact. On the contrary, the view that we exist within a greater being just as our microbeings exist within us is substantiated and confirmed as a fact everywhere in Nature or life. One can therefore understand how the creation that takes place outside us in Nature demonstrates the same logic and the same purpose as the creation that takes place within our organism. And in this way it also becomes a fact that everything is living.

Gradually as we understand that all living beings are microbeings in a gigantic organism belonging to a living being, which in turn when viewed from the highest perspective constitutes the universe, it will be easier for us to arrive at an understanding or an acknowledgment of a true concept of God. We know from our own organism that we exist within it as an I, giving orders, governing and directing it. That there also has to be an I in the organisms of the microbeings, governing and directing them is quite obvious, because the presence of an I in an organism is the main requirement for it to be a living being. It has long been common knowledge that all the reactions of the organism are, under normal circumstances, perceived by this I. Our I notices, in the form of pain and as quick as lightening, if our organism is injured or damaged somewhere within its area, just as the same I also perceives a sense of wellbeing when something healthy or pleasant happens in its organism. On sensing pain, the I seeks to remedy this, just as it naturally also seeks to bring the organism into those conditions that offer it wellbeing. Pain and wellbeing in the organism are the combined reactions of the microbeings to the general state prevailing in the organism, which of course constitutes their living space or universe. These reactions transfer to the organism's I, which normally reacts to them in a way that benefits the organism. In this way there exists an interaction or a correspondence between the microbeings in the organism and its I.

As any normal being's I will seek to remedy the suffering or pain of its microbeings, since it is also the I's pain, the I will therefore act as a "providence" to the microbeings in its organism. This therefore enables us to see that what lies hidden behind the concept of "providence" is no idle fantasy but a living, actual fact. All living beings are microbeings in a macro-organism. And the I of every such organism therefore acts as a protecting providence for these microbeings. No living being whatsoever can therefore exist without being under such a protecting I or providence. This is given expression in the well-known words: If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

So how can the acknowledgment of a godhead become a personal relationship between every single individual and the Godhead? What good does it do a single individual to pray or to turn to the macro-I - the being whose organism constitutes the universe in which it lives - with its sorrows and concerns, which to that being must appear incomprehensibly or imperceptibly small? How can this gigantic being possibly attend to the individual areas of interest of every single little microbeing? We ourselves are not personally able to hold a conversation with any one of our own microbeings or with a cell in our own organism. No, of course not. Conversations or conscious exchanges between a macrobeing and one of its microbeings, which is the same as a conversation between the Godhead and a son of God, cannot take place in quite the same way as when two human beings talk to one another. These two human beings would in themselves be two beings of the same kind. They have the same sensory organs, they experience time and space in a perspective in which they have the possibility of understanding each other's desires and wishes, each other's lives and behaviour, and they can therefore in the most favourable circumstances, in perfect harmony, experience life on the same wavelength. Such a mutual experience of the same perspective on life or view of existence, when it happens to several beings, and when it is in its very highest state of purity, forms the foundation for what we call "love". But the relationship between a living being and the Godhead is in its outward structure quite different. In this case it is, as already mentioned, a microbeing and a macrobeing that are interacting. As each of these two kinds of beings has its own individual set of senses, which are as different as two sets of senses can possibly be, the perspective of time and space that these two beings experience will be to a corresponding degree different. From the microbeing's perspective, the macrobeing is so gigantic that it is impossible to take it in as a whole. And from the macrobeing's perspective, the microbeing is so infinitesimally small that it seems impossible to sense it either.

According to everyday, physical, human observation, a conscious correspondence or an exchange of thoughts that are mutually understandable to both parties, would seem totally impossible. But this is entirely due, in the immature human being, to a lack of ability to see into the depths of its everyday sensory horizon or experience of life. The immature human being sees absolutely only the surface of this experience. In fact, it cannot see at all that it is itself living in a macrobeing and that the creative processes in its natural surroundings are the inner functions of this being's organs. Equally, its view of all the other beings in Nature and life, including human beings, is colossally inadequate and imperfect. They see all these beings, including themselves, wandering around and living their lives in something they call "Nature". The imperfect element in this view is the fact that they have no understanding of this Nature. They believe that it is a world without consciousness, a cosmic corpse, that is entirely in the hands of pure chance, even though the whole demonstrates that it is governed in an immensely logical way, a way that is so perfect that not even the slightest thing goes to waste in this creative process. Everything adds up to form a cycle, and within this cycle everything is of use, everything has its place, so that every creation or natural process that is merely allowed to run its course in the cycle becomes a blessing, a joy and of use to the living beings. That there is a thinking, governing and protecting I behind these natural forces, which are organ functions in an organism just like our own inner body functions, and which just like these are governed, led and felt by a protecting I, is still a complete mystery to the majority of people, if indeed the thought has ever occurred to them at all.

As all creation in our natural surroundings is taken care of by visible as well as invisible living beings, these beings are thus the organs that the macrobeing uses for this creation. The macrobeing's I can view as a whole these organs that are creating in its own organism and has contact with them. This great I, or the Godhead, is thus behind the lives and tendencies of all its microbeings. Behind each and every human being there will also be a macro-I, because, as already mentioned, we, along with our organism, also find ourselves in a macro-organism, in the same way that our microbeings find themselves in our organism. Immediately something unpleasant takes place somewhere in our organism we react, that is to say our self or I reacts to it by seeking to remedy the unpleasantness. If necessary we seek the help of doctors and hospitals to restore it to health. Whatever we register as unpleasant, a pain for example, is the same as the states of physical and mental wretchedness of the microbeings in the area that is ill. It is the energies in their pain, sorrow and suffering that we register as a single combined sensation of pain.

When we pray to God, the Godhead hears our prayer through psychic or discarnate beings, that in this situation are like "guardian angels". Through them the Godhead then sends a reply back to us. This comes about through these psychic beings influencing, from their spiritual plane, physical human beings, who in turn end up offering help to the being that made the prayer. This help may not always be what the being that made the prayer wants, but this does not prevent it absolutely always, without exception, eventually being of help to the son of God who made the prayer. If it is not possible in this particular situation for this person to be freed from their suffering, he will nevertheless always receive through his prayer the energy and strength he needs to come through the suffering. (Here I would like to refer my readers to my book: "The Mystery of Prayer")

In actual fact, every macrobeing corresponds directly with its microbeings. Because the macrobeing, as we have mentioned, is in principle the Godhead, and the microbeings similarly the living beings, the Godhead therefore corresponds directly with the living beings. And because the living beings constitute his organs of sensing and manifestation, his communication, creation and releasing of power will take place exclusively through these living beings. And because all living beings are his sensory organs, and these in turn constitute the complete range of all existing forms of consciousness, from the primitive to the very highest, cosmically intellectual beings, the Godhead can in reality transfer consciousness and thereby thought directly from itself to absolutely any living being through a corresponding being. If God wishes to transfer impulses of consciousness to lions, it will take place through lions. Were he to transfer mental energy to tigers or other animals, it would take place in each case through the corresponding species. If God wishes to transfer particular thoughts to a human being, it will take place through human beings who are able to come onto the same wavelength as that particular human being. So we can see that a mutual exchange of words and actions between living beings is not merely something to do with their own sphere of interest, it is also a matter between the beings and the Godhead. Our relationship to our fellow beings and their relationship to us is therefore our relationship to God, whether we are aware of it or not. Whatever we do to our neighbour, we do towards God's instruments of sensing and manifesting, and therefore towards God. Whatever our neighbour might do to us is similarly God's response to our own actions and behaviour.

As our entire day-to-day behaviour and the way we relate to our surroundings and fellow beings constitutes our relationship to God, the most essential thing for unfinished human beings will obviously be to become expert, as quickly as possible, in making one's behaviour one hundred percent a fulfilment of God's will, which one can only do by loving one's neighbour as oneself. Whatever we do towards this neighbour, we do towards God. But being in contact with God is precisely the fulfilment of all the laws. The words of the Bible: Whatever action you commit against these little ones, you commit against me, therefore become a reality. As we have seen, God is both within and around us, he is our neighbour, he is everywhere and in everything. The quickest way to cosmic consciousness or eternal light is through getting to know him in our enemies.