Man, Woman, and God

Alan Anderson Christopher

Description

There is a great misunderstanding today concerning the natures of man and of woman, and of the essence of God. This may be the cause of our human relations problem. The purpose of this writing is to clarify this misunderstanding thereby allowing us to know and experience man, woman, and God. "I sought the center of all life yet could not find it until the day I said to myself, 'I shall not seek.' And this is what I saw--a mother with a babe at her breast, a man plowing a field, children playing on a swing, a father taking his last breath, a man and a woman walking down the aisle together--I saw life. And in that moment, I knew that there existed God the Father and God the Mother giving their lives to each other, over and over again, to create one more moment of life." Man, Woman, and God

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Informations

• Publié par: First Edition Design Publishing
• Date de parution: 02 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781622871919
• Langue: English

Extrait

Man, Woman, and God
Christopher Alan Anderson


First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
Man, Woman, and God



Christopher Alan Anderson
Man, Woman, and God
Copyright 2012 Christopher Alan Anderson
ISBN 978-1622871-91-9

Published and Distributed by
First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
September 2012
www.firsteditiondesignpublishing.com



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means ─ electronic, mechanical, photo-copy, recording, or any other ─ except brief quotation in reviews, without the prior permission of the author or publisher.
Foundation of Man and Woman Balance
www.manandwomanbalance.com
Note to the Reader:
Man, Woman, and God was written in 1993. At that time is was combined with three other writings into the larger book of the same title and was published in 1994. The writing is a bit rough in places. I was only in my early forties at the time. But there are some real jewels to be found throughout as is often the case with original work. Also, the use of the masculine and feminine could be smoother. Sometimes I use man, mankind, him, his, etc., to mean both the man and woman. In any embodiment of text, that takes time to work out.
There is a great misunderstanding today concerning the natures of man and of woman, and of the essence of God. This may be the cause of our human relations problem. The purpose of this writing is to clarify this misunderstanding thereby allowing us to know and experience man, woman, and God.
This writing is being presented in two parts: Understanding Man and Woman and Experiencing God. In the first part, Understanding Man and Woman , I present a brief outline of the essential ideas necessary to understand this relationship. In Part 2, Experiencing God , I expand on those essential ideas to capture the scope of that which is called the universal or God.
It is my sincere hope that, after reading this work, you will understand for yourself the essential natures of man, woman, and God and thereby know how important this understanding can be to your own life.

C.A.A.— December 11, 2009
Santa Rosa, California
Table of Contents
Part 1—Understanding Man and Woman
The Tragedy of Life
The Great Discovery
A Metaphysical Distinction
Male and Female
Procreation
The Perpetual Myth
Advice to Men
Advice to Women
The Spiritual Connection
Freedom
Romance
Beauty
Purpose
Coming Home to Life
Part 2—Experiencing God
Why God?
Where to Begin?
Man’s Initial Misconception
The Primary Origin
The Great Abstraction
Life and Death
Man and Woman
Knowing God
Where to Find God?
The One Law of God
The Twelve Qualities of God
Talking with God:
Prayer
Meditation
Inspiration
Revelation
Illumination
Love
Roadblocks to God:
Creationalism
Humanism
Homosexuality
Who Was Jesus?
The Inner Life
A New Theology for Mankind
“I” Shall Not Seek
Appendix 1: The Beauty Within
Appendix 2: The Freedom to Be
Part 1 Understanding Man and Woman

The Tragedy of Life
The tragedy of life is that we do not know life. We are, as of yet, unable to answer the basic questions of life, of God, of man, and of woman. Questions such as What is?, Who am ‘I’?, and Why am ‘I' here? continue to elude us. We just do not know and that is a tragedy.
The tragedy is compounded—most of us actually pretend that we do know. We may not admit it but each of us has our own ideas about “how things are.” We all carry around our core beliefs about “reality.” We then imprint our own conception of things on reality as if that conception actually represented reality. This is what is called living an illusion . But what is the choice when we do not know— life ?
Perhaps we might nevertheless “experience” life. What if we could actually experience life free from our knowing about it? Unfortunately, experience is not free from our own interpretation of it. (Another way to say this is that experience is not value free. At best, it is one’s own experience.) Our experiences are funneled into our own conceptions about reality which then give “meaning” to our experience. The tragedy of life is that we don’t fully experience it either. Knowing and experience go hand-in-hand. Either know and experience life or we do not .
Wouldn’t it be truly grand if we could really know and experience life? I find it very peculiar that, although we are alive, we do not know life. Something is missing in our understanding of things that prevents us from having the root experience of life. That is the purpose of this writing, to uncover this missing aspect which, when revealed, will take us right into the heart of it.
The Great Discovery
A great discovery occurred many thousands of years ago, a discovery so large that its significance has not, even to this day, been fully appreciated. The discovery was quite simple—we discovered we are not the same.
Yes, that is correct. We , you and I , are not the same. We are different. Not just different but metaphysically different. This discovery occurred thousands of years ago in the “Garden of Eden.” Whether or not there was a Garden of Eden, some actual physical place, I do not know. But its symbolic message is that man and woman came to the dramatic realization that we are not the same . As it says in the Bible, Genesis 3:7: And the eyes of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. The “they” were, of course, Adam and Eve, designated as the first man and first woman. And they, in a “moment’s notice,” came to the jolting realization that we are not the same. The discovery was the great discovery by man and woman of their sexual difference.
This discovery of sexual difference was a metaphysical discovery—which is why it is so significant. It means that we (male and female) are actually fundamentally and primordially different. It does not mean that, although we appear to be different (on the outside), somewhere deep within us we are really the same. No, it means that in the nature of things, in purpose and function, in body, mind, and spirit, we are different. Imagine coming to that discovery. Very significant, yet, as I have said, not fully appreciated.
If you are with me thus far, let’s take another step and imagine that there are these two different creatures in life. One we call male and the other we call female. Their names are not so important; it is their difference that counts. They have different—what? How are they different? Are they different through and through? Do they actually have different basic natures, purposes, and functions in life? This is a startling thought to ponder. Yet, in a way, we take these differences for granted. Perhaps that is because we ourselves have not seen the full significance of male and of female. This, I think, we will need to do. We will need to capture the gist of this sexual difference so we can truly, and finally, understand male and understand female, as these understandings are very basic to life.
It is my contention that the basic discovery--“I” am not “You”—signifies the beginning of consciousness . Consciousness itself arises through distinction (there is me and there is you). To discover that we are not the same is to discover self and other. And isn’t that what being conscious is? There is you and there is me and “I” am conscious of you and me, as are “You.” But we are not yet fully conscious for we, as of now, have not really answered the question— What is this difference? Perhaps understanding the difference between male and female is the next (and only) progression in consciousness available to man (men and women).
A Metaphysical Distinction
Before I attempt to answer the question of sexual difference, let’s lay some groundwork. There is something very primary that arises with the idea that “I” am not “You.” What arises is the reality of relationship . If we are not the same, and yet if we both are here, we must exist together in some type of relationship. Won’t we always find ourselves in a relationship at that one instance of consciousness when we awaken to the realization, “I” am not “You”? Yes, we will. Our relationship together, whatever it is, will always exist just as we exist.
But even more is implied. Since “I” am always in relationship to “You,” both of us will exist at each moment of consciousness. You see, we do not exist alone/singularly. We only exist together. Think about it. Male cannot exist without female. Female cannot exist without male. Try conceiving of one without also conceiving of the other. You cannot do it. Either both male and female exist or they do not. As I am fond of saying: One is not without the other; both are needed for either to be. The metaphysical distinction is that we both exist. Relationship is a given; it is primordial. Wherever we find ourselves to be, it will be in a relationship of self and other.
From this idea of relationship, we can draw some conclusions which will assist us in understanding our difference. One conclusion is that we are both equal to the relationship. We are equal in necessity to it for, if you take either one away, the whole relationship will be lost. Remember, one is not without the other. I call this aspect of a relationship metaphysical equality.
Another aspect of relationship is, as mentioned, difference. The two are not the same. If they were, again, there would not be any relationship. I call this aspect of relationship creative opposition, opposition standing for the difference of the two. A simple way to refer to these two aspects of a relationship is equal and opposite.
Now imagine yourself existing in a relationship where you are equal to but opposite from another. And isn’t that the case? Isn’t each of us in a relationship with our equal but opposite other? Maybe not physically at t