Abhishiktananda Chapter 7 "God" Notes

This short chapter takes a very apophatic approach. At times, A sounds like a Pantheist but he isn't because he always notes that God is beyond all things as well as the source of all things. The paradoxes abound in this chapter. It starts off well with

"God is beyond all notions. They are only the spring-boards to be used for
diving -- and the spring-board is not the lake" (169).

A makes the claim that God is more self evident than our selves. In fact, we flee God because His reality makes us aware of our own unreality.

"The absoluteness of being is as terrifying to him [our selves/souls] as
non-being, since it as surely destroys all that he wants himself to be, or
rather, wants to feel that he is" (170).

This fundamental reality of God is infinitely mysterious and transcendent, yet it is revealed through all created things. This reality of God is difficult to discover because

"God is too close to us. That is why we constantly fail to find him"
(175).

We fear this intimacy that strips us and threatens to destroy us. I am reminded of John of the Cross' description of the dark nights of the soul and spirit where we are blinded by God's presence and experience this presence as an absence. Again,

"We can only be distant from our conception of God, never from him" (173).

I wonder what this says about sin. From at least one perspective, sin does separate us from God. In fact, that is part of the definition of sin. And yet, to the degree that we continue to exist we are in relationship with God. All that exists is good, even us when we sin, although we are less "real" beings due to our sin.
A also writes about the contemplative call.

"A contemplative is not one who shuts himself away with the idea that he has
formed of God and takes pleasure in it. The real contemplative is the man
who has allowed the spirit of God to carry him off and to deprive him of every
kind of prop, even in what he calls his contemplation" (174).

The chapter ends with two very powerful prose poems: "Everywhere He Is, And Only He" and "Seek God." These would be great sources for contemplation and reflection and even discussion on the nature of our relationship with God.