I ask Zohar, “What, if anything, is a principle the Universe operates on in relation to us?”

Zohar answers, “That is simple to express, but very hard to do. It is that you create your own reality. That is the principle that like attracts like, and that the Universe reflects back to you what you put out to it. This means that what you think about, what you truly believe in your heart of hearts is what comes to you in life. It becomes your reality.

You have a spark of divinity within you. You are God expressed in human form. It may not seem so for people who do bad things, but, yes, everybody has God within. This is what gives them their self-awareness or self-consciousness, the ability to step back cognitively and observe your own behavior and ask yourself questions about it and change. It is what gives you free will. Without divinity, you have no free will, and it is precisely this that plays the primary role in creating your own reality.

If you obsess on bad things, then bad things will happen to you. For example, a woman who was abused by her father as a child will end up getting into relationships with abusive men. She will perpetuate the pattern because she is unconsciously focusing on her father and does not feel worthy to have anything better. Likewise, someone who focuses of wanting a loving and respectful relationship will get one. They will attract the right person into their lives and be happy. This principle applies to everything from spiritual enlightenment to money and material products.”

I asked Zohar a question concerning Christianity specifically, and other religions more generally. Oddly enough, he did not give me a written answer. Instead, he gave me this link. It is an interview with a professor at Duke Divinity School, attached to Duke University, and is an expert in prosperity preaching and mega-churches. It is a long interview, but and is well worth watching (if you are Christian). Here is the link: https://www.c-span.org/video/?440756-1/qa-kate-bowler I will enjoy reading your comments.

I ask, "What is Truth?"

Zohar answers, “There is truth (lower case “t”) and Truth (upper case “T”). Truth is not the same as truth for whereas Truth is absolute and unchanging, truth is relative. You can only know things in relation to other things. You are restricted in our knowledge by our own beliefs which are paradigms that serve to reinforce and perpetuate a limited perspective.

“When you believed in a flat earth in western civilization, God resided in the “heavens” above, quite literally looking down on Earth. Creation was a literal, historical event that occurred 6,000 years ago.

“Then, when you believed in a heliocentric universe, God was “outside” the solar system looking in. Creation was still a literal, historical event, but the date was debatable.

“When you believed that the universe consisted of the Milky Way galaxy, God was somehow outside this special bubble looking in. Nobody had a good date for creation, but it was estimated using the age of known stars.

“Then, as more galaxies were observed, it was discovered that the universe is expanding. Space, itself, is expanding. Estimates for a date of creation were based on the big bang. God is outside the universe looking in and initiated the big bang in a singular and fiery act of creation.

“Now, you are beginning to understand that your universe is just one of an uncountable number of universes existing in a form of multiverse. God sits outside the multiverse in sublime contemplation of reality.

“This is the present limits of your understanding. None of these is wrong. They are each a progressive refinement of understanding and belief and knowledge, but as you are still as far away from the Truth now as your ancient ancestor who believed in a flat earth.

“Consider that in all these levels of understanding Truth in the west, God is somehow separate from His creation. These are theories of emanation where God somehow emanates reality from Himself. There is another way to look at things. This is thinking of creation as a theory where God and creation are not separate, but all things have their being in God, and God in them. In everything divinity exists. It exists within everything.

“Divinity then is the indwelling “within” of things that give rise to their reality. This is equally true for rocks as it is for people. Absolutely everything arises from an indwelling divinity that expresses itself as a real thing. In this view, all things have some more or less degree of consciousness. Note, I say “consciousness” not “awareness” or “intellect.” An insect has a relatively smaller consciousness than a person, and a rock has less consciousness still, but in a grand scheme everything is conscious and in a perpetual state of becoming.

“You live in a sea of innumerable universes, each an entire reality encapsulated within itself with its own laws of physics and forms of life. You look toward the source of this vast multiverse in which a single universe is like a bubble in the ocean surf upon the sand and say, ‘That is God!’ It is not.”

I ask, "Who and what was Jesus?"

Zohar answers, “You may believe that Jesus is the one and only living son of God. You may believe that Jesus was just a moral teacher. I am not going to say which is right and which is wrong. That is for you to decide. I am here to say that whatever you believe Jesus to be, he was and still is, a Master. He is not alone in this. Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohamed, Lau-Tzu, Krishna, and Moses are also Masters, though you may not hold these persons with as high a regard as you do Jesus. That is your personal choice.

“There are those who hold one of these others in higher regard than Jesus. Be aware that there are differences of belief. I do not mean to equate these persons, but whatever your belief is, all the Masters possessed a precious humanity that is the same core root of our own, individual humanity.

“Their original words are lost in the midst of history, and the whole meaning of those words even more so, so do not confuse the present-day actions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus as being indicative of what those Masters taught. Without exception, the Masters taught love in all its various forms and manifestations.

“There is a rift in your religions. It cuts the west from the east. In the west you have Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the east you have Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. There are others, but these are the big ones. The east, God is the imminent self. God exists as the creation. As such, the individual person is divine. Reality is unity.

“The west, with its emphasis on loving your neighbor and yourself is, at its core quite compelling. But in the west God is seen as entirely separate and apart from the self. The creator and the creation are two very different things and not to be confused with one another. Reality is duality.

“The west’s doctrine of sin and redemption is nonsensical to someone from the east. Likewise, the east’s doctrine of karma and multiple lives is nonsensical to the west. These two have great difficulty reconciling with one another, but there is some common ground.

“There is a more fundamental Truth which encompasses and transcends all of these major religions, both east and west. This consists of the foundational principles that undergird your spiritual knowledge, and fundamental or universal truth. This is what Jesus preached. He was a reformer, and a rebel at the same time, bringing Truth to Jews and gentiles alike.

“Entirely aside from whatever Jesus was and did on this mortal plane, he came to speak the truth to people and that is precisely what he did. The Universal truth of love, both God’s love and human love forms the core of his teachings.

“The Masters are not gone. They will come again. You will yet have Masters walk among you in the New Age.”

I ask, "What is God's love like?"

Zohar answers, “God’s love is unique, because all true love originates from God. To understand God’s love, one must have an understanding of God. God is not powerful. God IS Power. God is not all knowing. God IS Knowledge. God is not good. God IS Goodness. In like fashion, God does not love. God IS Love.

“To us, God’s love is like the rays of the sun. You cannot see the rays that warm you. They exist in the infrared part of the spectrum, but even though they are invisible they warm you still. Even if you turn your back to the sun and can no longer see it, it warms you. God’s love is like that. You may have times in your life where you could not see God’s love, but it was and is always there, keeping you warm. It is unconditional. There is nothing you can do, say, or think that will stop God from loving you. It is strong, stronger than all other forms of love as all forms of true love have their roots in God’s love.

“Like other love, however, you must accept God’s love to truly benefit from it. You must allow it into your heart and your head, both, to experience it in its fullness. When you accept God’s love and begin to revel in it, then you will radiate light and love from yourself. You cannot keep God’s love contained. It just wants to bust out all over. That is what happens to you. You show light and that light dispels darkness. Keep in tune with God’s love.

“If you do not know how to tune into that particular frequency, then sit a while in silence, count those things you are truly grateful for, and think of at least 3 good things that have happened to you in the past 24 hours. Do this daily and feel the love touch your heart.  Meditate on that and Gods love will begin to seep in.

“To channel that love, practice random acts of kindness. Send a friendly email, make positive comments on someone’s Facebook page, make friendly conversation with a store clerk, buy lunch for a homeless person… the possibilities are endless. As you channel this love you will find it being magnified within yourself.

“Remember the miracles in your life. Everybody has miracles from the birth of a child, to finding a perfect mate, to having a close friendship, and so on. These are all little miracles and they are evidence of God’s love. Take them to heart. Feel them. Own God’s love greedily for yourself because God’s love is an inexhaustible supply. There is enough for everyone, and much, much more.”

I ask, “What is forgiveness?”

Zohar answers, “Forgiveness is a white dove. It brings peace to the forgiver as much as the forgiven. It is for the forgiven as they can now begin to process their guilt (should they so choose), but it is mostly for the forgiver, for they can process their anger, disappointment, and grief. Forgiveness is not forgetting, it is not accepting, it is certainly not condoning. It may not even be reconciliation, as reconciliation may not be desirable given the circumstances. The grievance which has been forgiven allows the forgiver to move on with their life. It is closing one chapter in a relationship and opening another.

“The pain is much for those who do not forgive. They grow old, and bitter, and cynical, and angry. These eat away at the soul of the individual and puts them into a hell on earth, a hell in this life. This opens them to the darkness. The unforgiven deeds of others follow them into their karma until one day they finally learn to forgive. So, forgive freely and often. It is liberating for the soul and it spreads the Light.”

I ask, "What is love?"

Zohar answers, “Love is a conundrum. It appears here, and then there, as though it was a flittering sparrow hopping from tree to tree. It settles in and nests when there is food and shelter enough to secure its future and the future of its offspring. It is that which it calls home. The tree it settles upon neither lures or repels it by its own mind. It merely provides a place that by happenstance is also habitable.

“Likewise, love settles in where the growth of the individual has made a hospitable place for it to take up residence in the soul. But as for what it is, to describe it as I would a bird, it’s feathers, plumage, and song, would require you to be a little more specific. There are many different aspects of love. There is romantic love, brotherly love, divine love, paternal love… and there is much that people mistake for love.”