The World as God's Infinite Being

Notice that whatever we encounter or could ever encounter in the universe exists. Being is the common background of all existent things. The reality of the universe is not this dead inert substance called matter. It is infinite being, God's being. When it is said in the great religious and spiritual traditions that the universe is an illusion, it does not mean that the universe is not real. It means that the reality of the universe is not what it appears to be. The world is an illusion as a world, but it is absolutely real as God's infinite being. The progression from the content of experience and the names and forms to the background of infinite being, and from infinite being back to names and forms, constitutes the progressive and direct paths. But to start with the one, to remain there, to see only that, to be only that, is the Pathless Path.

Notice that whatever we encounter or could ever encounter in the universe exists. Being is the common background of all existent things. The reality of the universe is not this dead inert substance called matter. It is infinite being, God's being. When it is said in the great religious and spiritual traditions that the universe is an illusion, it does not mean that the universe is not real. It means that the reality of the universe is not what it appears to be. The world is an illusion as a world, but it is absolutely real as God's infinite being. The progression from the content of experience and the names and forms to the background of infinite being, and from infinite being back to names and forms, constitutes the progressive and direct paths. But to start with the one, to remain there, to see only that, to be only that, is the Pathless Path.