When I first heard of this I was captivated as an alternative form of religion. I never stopped to think about what it would cost me to achieve this goal. I, like most others thought that this was a way to reach my ultimate potential and enjoy it at the same time. I dedicated my life to this pursuit in hopes that one day I could obtain this treasured state of being.
That was many years ago after I had achieved a state of very high spiritual status. I never achieved this merger with the Godhead, in fact I assumed that this was a result of my not being dedicated enough. I have since come to an entirely different conclusion and I am very thankful for this near miss, I have gained much in wisdom and understanding.
The lure of God Realization is that you can become a god; the reality is that you must loose your entire self in the infinity of the god hood to do it. This path is one that transforms you; the drop of water into the ocean the problem is that you are not the only drop not to mention that you have only the capacity of the drop and you will loose even that in the process.
This path is the route taken by trillions of other drops and in the merging you are no longer yourself any more but a lost miniscule part of the collective and on the lowest level. You can no longer be an individual or experience individual thoughts and still be one with all the others that have also merged.
While there are many that mindlessly peruse this path with reckless abandon nearly all never stop to evaluate the consequences or compare alternatives, so let us do that for a moment. First lets us look at this logically. Sacrificing one’s defining parameters or the very thing that makes you you means that you can no longer be you.
Only when you give up being you can you merge with the Almighty. But what do you gain? Nothing! You can not possibly gain because gaining means that you retain the you in order to realize that you have gained! So what does God gain? Nothing! The Almighty already is a part of you (has to be in order to be infinite) and you only bring your unresolved underdeveloped soul back to its beginning circumventing the process of evolving which means that you have cheated the creator by invalidating the creation by taking a shortcut and thus cheating yourself.
This is what Jesus meant when He told the parable of the servant which had one talent that buried his talent in the ground. So while God Realization is a reality and a possibility it is not the best course of action. Only by pursuing a life of diligence will you evolve sufficiently to reach the higher levels of spirituality and than not without the assistance from the almighty which is why one should stay on God’s good side.
Why is there a need to sacrifice your individuality? Because it is this individuality that makes you not God and keeps you separate from God. This separation is important because if every could acknowledge their connection with the almighty there would not be any need to develop or grow. And what is it that is developed and/or grown? It is your individuality.
If God is infinite than nothing else can exist that is not God. How we can exist in a reality in which an infinite God exists and we not see ourselves as that god. If God is infinite than nothing else can exist except that it be God. So how can we exist apart from an infinite God yet know only ourselves?
It has to do with our structure. First we are fashioned from the inside out so that we see things relative to our core or soul. The soul is a piece of God that was set apart for the purpose of developing it’s own individual consciousness apart from The Godhead.
God has gone to some great extent to make this happen which involves the creation of a complete universe to the binding of an individual piece of God with a layered material/energy in a separated physical presence.
This implies that our purpose is to simply evolve and to appreciate a generous God. Somehow this simple perspective has become lost and confusing. Many are so driven by their separation that they look for ways to make amends and wind up brutalizing others in the process. While it is true the same God that created flowers also created uranium so that we are able to express ourselves and develop our creativity also had the foresight to create a means for our errant selves to diminish the separation.
This has given rise to religions. I must caution those here to not confuse religion with philosophy or the following of philosophy religiously and calling it religion. Worshiping God is the basis of religion genocide is not. Helping someone find his or her place in the scheme of things is a function of religion brutalization them for their lack of discernment is not.
Another function of religion is to provide recourse for someone to regain their dignity and self-respect so they can renew their connection to a benevolent creator and continue on with their development as The Almighty intended, many philosophies turn religion fail to take this into consideration.
Also it is not the purpose of religions to criticize one another on insignificant points but they should band together to help one another for the common good of humanity.