Mana and God

[China Cat Sunflower]

I've been pondering the problem of defining God. Specifically, I've been thinking about the somewhat ambiguous definitions that my friends here have offered to explain their personal take on what "God" might be. Also, I've been trying to come up with a definition that would allow me to combine my own conception of "IT" with what others have said.

I like the idea of Mana. Here, read this:Mana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mana isn't a being. Mana isn't a force. Mana is a sort of "extraordinariness" which occasionally manifests in just about anything physical. It's a sort of occasional extra-grooviness that shows up in those odd moments when one least expects it. Like...the thing that makes a magical occasion magical and memorable. Or that extraordinarily perfect blossom that stands out from a garland of flowers. "Momentary gods" might be a good way to describe it. From that evolved the idea of one God who is responsible for all the groovy little things, but I like the primitive concept before everything is collated into a monotheistic being.

Chris

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by China Cat Sunflower

"Momentary gods" might be a good way to describe it.

Interesting post, just could you help me understand your thoughts a bit more so? The blossom within the garland of flowers... That's a god?

[Dondi]

Is this the kind of thing espoused by proponents of "The Secret"?

On another note, I find this quote from your article interesting:

"In Māori, a tribe that has mana whenua is considered to have demonstrated their authority over a given piece of land or territory."

I'm wondering if the same type of phenomena has occurred with the Jews and the State of Israel over its sorted history. Along with a general economical success that Jews have been favored with.

[China Cat Sunflower]

Originally Posted by Alex P

Interesting post, just could you help me understand your thoughts a bit more so? The blossom within the garland of flowers... That's a god?

I've been having computer problems. Sorry.

How did people first discover God? Let's go back in time... OK, this is before, or right when language starts. Somebody sees something just a little bit extraordinary. A sparkly thing. Some sort of extraordinary seeming natural occurrence. They ponder this cool thing, but they don't have any language driven inner dialog yet. Things have to have names in order to be remembered. So they give it a name. It's a God thing. It's got a quality of extra ordinariness that demands notice, and a name. That's how language starts: naming these momentary "gods" in order to collect them in one's book of names.

There was a time when all the words having to do with the idea of "water" connected directly to a word that was invented to name the water process "God." Once upon a time all those names diverged from the one name. But later, all the names of all the derived gods were condensed into one God-process that became monotheism. So there are two kinds of "oneness": the undifferentiated unity that existed before language started to name things, and the conglomerate unity of monotheism.

Chris