Sooner or later, every advanced student of spirituality comes across the “I and God” dilemma. Understandably so, as great majority of spiritual pursuits is either in search of God, or under His (acknowledged) guidance.
For the master-teacher of Advaita that Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj was, the “place” of God was well defined: God equates the consciousness; to be more exact, the universal consciousness. Said Maharaj: “Your consciousness alone is taking care of everything; look at your consciousness as God.”
Further, he said: “This universal consciousness is known as God, which is the Almighty, the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, all the attributes.”
This is the God that humanity at large accepts as their originator, protector and ultimately, a judge. All clear? Not really… Fair bit has changed in my “understanding” of the subject, since my last post about God and I.

For the advanced student of spirituality, particularly one that follows the Advaita way, there’s one step above God. The Absolute is all and everything, providing a background on which the consciousness with its gods appears. As if this was not enough to shake the beliefs of somebody, who like me has strong religious roots, Maharaj names you and I as the identities (specks of consciousness) that God originates from. He said: “This speck of consciousness creates Gods of mud and earth which, having been accepted, give us whatever we pray for. Having understood this fraud, also understand that there is nothing that can be done about it, therefore all that can happen is for the understanding to take place.”
Strong words; but, we all agree that spirituality is not for the meek…

As if what has been said so far was not enough, Maharaj drops possibly the heaviest “bomb” of the God and I argument. He argues that you must be first, for God to be. In Maharaj’s words: “It is only because I am that I see the world and think of God; therefore God is because I am.
If I am not, God is not.
I will give you a formula which will do everything for you: think continuously in terms of ‘I am God, there is no God without me.’
When you are firmly established in this, whatever is unimportant will gradually fade away.
A step further: I have told you to say ‘I am God,’ but now what I am getting at is not the words ‘I am God,’ but that which was prior to the understanding of the words. That is God and that is you, not the words.”

Now, pay attention to the last part of his statement, where he says “… that which was prior to the understanding…”
Yes, he is describing the Absolute. Further, he said: “That is God and that is you…” In other words, when you realize that the Absolute is your natural state, then and only then you are one with God.
The way I see it: could there be God without me? Impossible, as God is Allness and absolutely complete, lacking nothing; not even the smallest particle of nothingness that I call Me. Therefore, I – prior to words, although being the least important component of God’s Allness/completeness/totality, have to be. This permanent need for my beingness is what makes me co-existent with God – through the eternity and beyond. This quietens my “spiritual nerves” and together with Maharaj’s words: “The one who understands the meaning of the word God is himself God” makes for an unshakeable foundation of my spirituality.
Finally, from time to time listen to “The Interview with God”; it’ll bring you down from the lofty heights of wonderment and closer to Reality.