THE NINE BILLION NAMES OF GOD
I sense you in each star and in every sunrise. I feel you in the grass and the cool breeze that flows through the trees. I feel your strength and power in your mountains and your ease which flows through each river and down every stream. I see you looking back at me in every living animal and every living being. I see you playing with us and hiding behind the infinity of the ten thousand things!
- Sharice Harris
While doing some research the other day, I came across
a fictional story by an Author named Arthur C. Clarke. The story entitled: “The
Nine Billion Names of God”, (published in 1953) was about a Tibetan monastery whose
monks sought to list every imaginable name of God. They believed that the universe was solely created in
order for us to name all of God’s names and they believed that once they had
completed discovering all of God’s names that the stars would flicker out like
lights being turned off and that universe as we know it would come to an end.
The monks set out to work using what was considered back
then modern technology. They created a machine that could precisely calculate
and encode every possible name of God imaginable. It was an arduous task which took some time but after
they had finished naming every possible name of God, the stars did indeed began
to flicker off and the world as they knew it, nostalgically began to come to an
end.
As I heard about that story, I couldn’t help but feel
that there was some truth in that fictional tale. I mean through the infinite
throws in life, each and every one of us experiences day in and day out, at the
end of it all, it’s all a cry or yearning to know even deeper depths of God or
Love.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we don’t have it
all figured out by a certain age because we don’t how God or Love is going to
use us to complete our story in this lifetime.
Sure, we can use our five senses with the help of our
heart, gut and soul to tell when something doesn’t feel right or if something is
missing in our lives but very few of us can actually tell where our personal
life story will lead us because we are all being used in a story that is for
the greater good of all of us. Some of us live our whole lives playing a game of cat
and mouse with our relationships and even with our lives, while some of us choose
to project our image of God’s Love onto others even in the midst of our own
searching.
We are all students in life, sharing what we know and
sizing up what we think someone else does or does not know because we know on a
deeper level that God comes in countless forms! God is often so undetectable to our five senses that
we barely notice that we are immersed in God right now.
Do you realize that most people don’t realize that God is not on the
outside but that we are actually inside of God right now?
We are living in God right now. What we consider as discovering
God, is only God’s unfolding and disseminating of information to us. Have you ever wondered why information that you really
needed at a particular point in your life wasn’t revealed to you when you felt like
you really needed it the most?
It’s because we are being created right now through
every experience we have.
A while back while rummaging through some of Marc
Allen’s videos on Youtube, I came across a newly published author and Buddhist monk
named Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche. Shyalpa, had just published his new book entitled:
‘Living Fully, Finding Joy in Every Breath’, with New World Library and he wanted
to share some of his ancient Eastern wisdom with Marc and us in that interview.
Out of everything Shyalpa said, and he said a lot of very
truthful and factual information which many of us overlook when looking for
guidance and wisdom. One thing in particular stood out to me.
Shyalpa said that Buddha was able to reach Nirvana because
he was a born to a king and unlike many of us didn’t need to strive for money,
since he was born into a wealthy family.
At that moment I was reminded of how even something as
seemingly superficial as running in the rat race after money, is also a cry for
God’s mercy and Grace. Tears came to my eyes as I reflected on how many of us
spend countless numbers of hours each week sacrificing precious time we will
never get back.
Not because we Love money and are uber materialistic beings but
because money if obtained in conjunction with our highest life expression, allows us
to live a life which glorifies the Isness of life.
When I
saw life through these lens, I realized instantly how incredibly and lovingly committed
most people really are to this journey called life. We will do everything we can to reach a means to spend
more time freely glorifying God.
-We are all Love at the core of our creation-
We know that in the attainment of our goals lyes our
ability to finally help ourselves and others!
At the end it’s all Love or God! No one person can ever claim that they and only they
hold the truth or the way exclusively to God. In doing so, we limit God’s
infinite intelligence and wreak havoc on our planet and it’s people by becoming
closed off in rigid belief systems.
Muslims have always believed that God has 99 names and
many of them, out of devotion and Love to a greater power that is, spend much
time reciting and affirming those 99
names of God.
Hindus’ believe in many God’s but at the only one at
the end. Why? Because at the central point of it all, God is present in
billions of forms and billions of ways! Is our search to label God and tie him/her down a true
search for God?
Doesn’t God come to us in countless forms?
And isn’t
everything we see in nature and within humanity living proof of that? Wouldn’t it be easier to just wake-up and realize that
we are living in a dream called creation?
What if we are not searching for God’s name but
instead searching for God’s Love within each other?
What if
we are the nine billion names of God?
So far we’ve got 7 billion answers inhabiting our
planet, looks like we’ve only got another 2 billion to go!
Thanks for stopping by! What personal life experiences has God used you to teach a lesson or lessons through? How have you discovered
that infinite inner peace and knowingness that simply is? I would Love to hear God's voice speak through your life!
More Great Sources to Reaffirm and Recharge Your Soul's Purpose!
To view Marc Allen's interview with Buddhist monk Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche please visit:
Or to Learn More About Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche and/or 'Living Fully, Finding Joy in Every Breath' visit him at:
