Before starting, should we first ask if God exists? Did man create God, or did God create man? Which one is more real: the God of monotheistic religions, or the many Gods of the polytheistic pantheons? Or did everything emerge by itself?
I’ll assume you are seeking the answer to the question of “Who is God?” Those seeking the answer to questions like “Does God exist?” need to look elsewhere, because these questions are irrelevant for the purposes of this article.
However, we can ask these questions instead:
– Do all believers of God believe in the same God?
– Is there a single description of God that is correct?
When the values, names, and feelings we have for God are so manifold, can we claim that all believers believe in the same God?
While preserving the presumptions of monotheistic religions and the belief in one supreme creator, can we claim that people who believe that God’s helpers and dedicated attendants also exist have vastly different beliefs?
The discrepancies between monotheistic religions is, of course, another issue, and these ambiguities are confusing for all of us.
Yet humanity’s notion of, and belief in, God lies deep. It resides within the smallest piece of a person, wherever that may be.
Humanity has quested for a willpower superior to its own when events evolved against its wishes, such as when confronted by nature, death, or stronger competition.
There is a well-known anecdote: A man swaggers into a coffee shop and challenges those inside, “Who dares take me on?” A man twice the size of the bully rises and yells, “I do!” The bully immediately adapts to the situation and shouts out, “Who dares take on me and my bro here?”
Many people unfortunately believe in God in a similar way. They believe there should be something stronger than themselves beside them, empowering their relationships with individuals and society. They think, “May He grant me what I do not have. May He love only me, but not my brothers. May He keep me safe from things I do not want. I want everything!”
Such people believe in God not because God exists, but because they have expectations of God and because it suits them. This is not a sincere, real, or love-filled faith. It is a hypocritical, fake, and fearful faith.
There are numerous discussions and writings on the subject: Should we fear or love God?

Fear or Love?

The real problem lies in our perception of God as a father or big-brother figure. This father figure is separated from us and different to us: powerful, respectable, and authoritative, yet loving. He has some requirements and demands from us. If we satisfy these, he will love us more. If we don’t, he will lovingly punish us.
Just like we struggle to gain our parents’ love, to express our gratitude for all they have given, and to be worthy of their love, we assume our relationship with God should be similar. We love God and hope He will love us back, but losing that love is a dreadful possibility, so we fear the possibility of being punished and being deprived of His love.
This is why we pitifully try to make it up to God. We are not sincere when obeying God’s commands. The fear of being punished by Him and losing his love forces us to fulfill his wishes, even when we may think the opposite. Sometimes we do not obey, but we have a guilty conscience and fear for our sin.
Does it have to be this way? Does God expect an insincere and irrational surrender from us? Why then are God’s commands not in our nature? Why does God always want us to think, inquire, and question? Why does God communicate stories to stimulate our minds and teach us lessons?
It is because God wants a sincere faith given with free will. God wants our minds not to object to our hearts. God does not want fraudulent or dishonest children. God wants children who have considered God’s wishes through their own mindset, who are mature, who take responsibility for their decisions, and who obey their father simply because they wish to do so.
The primary paradox regarding the common perception of God lies in our relationship with him. It is a relationship where we choose to be mean to our brothers while getting along well with our father. It is one that is based on fear rather than love, and unfortunately, it makes neither our father nor us content.
Another major issue is whether God is a distant center of excellence, detached from us, or not. Many spiritual teachings suggest this concept: “There is a distant God that belongs to us, even if we do not see it. It is the source of all good, the essence of all beauty, and the mind and existence. We are sure God exists at a specific location in the universe, although we do not know exactly where.”
So, if God is a center, how can God be everything and everywhere at the same time? If God has superior qualities and is protected from weaknesses, how can murderers, thieves, or others we deem bad be the children of God?
The current interpretations of monotheistic religions are not very clear on this issue. They have reduced God down to the level of Satan,  one of God’s assistants. God is good, and Satan is evil. There is no better example of “shirk,” which is regarded as the most unforgivable sin in all of Islam, and it is not tolerated in other religions either. Satan is paralleled to God, and it is presented as a polar opposite that can balance God. However, shouldn’t other angels be sharing Satan’s level? Even if he represents evil, can Satan ever be the equivalent of God?
If God is capable of everything and the owner of everything, does not Satan, and all the evil represented by him, belong to God as well? In that respect, is God both good and evil at the same time? Several names for God in Islam represent His rageful faces, whereas several others point at His graceful ones. If this is so, why does God always tell us to choose the good, the light, and love?
We arrive now at the first revolutionary point. Who knows how many times this has been questioned? From here starts a new theory about God developed solely by me.

Evolution of God?

If I am a part of God, as I change and evolve, God will change as well. Within that infinity, I am so small, almost nothing, yet here I am. I am working hard to change myself and become “better.” Therefore, shouldn’t the whole, of which I am part, change as well? Even if the whole does not radically change, but rather a small aspect changes, is it not different now?
Will the decisions I make with my minuscule willpower not affect the absolute willpower of the whole? If they do, am I affecting God with my thoughts, decisions, and deeds? Am I altering God?
Conservatives from every religion will certainly dispute this, but it is real. Every part is a representative of the whole, just like in Hermetic teachings: “What is above is also below.” As long as the piece is a part of the whole, which in our case is likely, any change in the piece will affect the whole. It does not suit the concept of the punishing father figure, but it is logical.
Moderates from every religion will say “That might be true” or “It’s possible,” because we know very little about God. Most of our knowledge is based on information passed on from civilizations less advanced than our own, and neither the language nor content appeals to us.   Considering how the Bible was interfered with by religious authorities and how the Koran hides several layers of information within, what monotheistic religions tell us is not clear.
So, what exactly is God? Who, where, why, how, and when?
what is god?
The game of chess actually summarizes everything. There is a large board with an equal number of black and white squares on which different pieces can move in different ways.
On this board, we observe how duality and opposition are in balance in the universe and that sometimes all the pieces have to step on black or white squares, just like the floors of certain sanctuaries. White pieces and black pieces, like light and darkness, try to capture each other. Pieces move in different manners, and they are capable of special moves. While some are limited in their movement, others are capable of moving far and in multiple directions. The aim is to capture the opponent’s king and end the game. Any lowly pawn completing its journey and reaching the far side can be upgraded to a queen, but it can never become the king.
We are the pieces, and each of us starts life at a different position and with different abilities to use in the battle between black and white. The distances we can travel differ, but each of us has something to offer. In this life, in this existence, we are struggling for the white pieces to win.
However, God is not the king of the white pieces. God is the sum of the board and its pieces. He is even the place where the game is played and its surrounding infinity.
We make a mistake by positioning God only at the center of light and love. We assume that Satan is the king of the black pieces and God is the king of white pieces. How is this possible?
Could it be that God, who possesses everything, belongs to just our side only? When we perceive God in this manner, we feel angry at God’s injustice and complain about it. We question why God permits sins and wonder why God cannot defeat Satan. However, God is not simply a white piece. We are the white pieces, but God is the king of the black pieces as well. God possesses everyone and everything, and He is flawless and complete. Nothing is detached from God, but we are not told this.
Starting from birth, after the fontanel closes, we feel that we are separated from God according to some beliefs. We feel that God has abandoned us, and we need to try hard to reach Him again. We are told that to reach God we must choose between good and evil, right and wrong, and be on the side of love and light. We deem that God is far removed from us, but He is not.
God is inside, and He is an infinity encompassing everything outside, an entity including evil, war, sin, and Satan. He is not just good, light, and right.
God gave us the life mission of being “white,” so we try hard to become “whiter.” We travel toward becoming better humans. First, we will increase our potential to change ourselves, and then we will transform. This way we will increase the potential of the other pieces and transform them as well.
However, we should not forget that the black pieces are also pieces of God in this experimental game.
what is god?
The yin-yang symbol represents another fine approach. Here, white and black areas are also separated by distinct, if not straight, lines.
However, there are white and black spots within the larger black and white areas. This tells us there is no pure black or white. There is black within the white area, and there is white within the black area. It is a matter of infinite interrelation.
The white spot within the black is crucial, because it demonstrates there is a part of us within our opposite. However, the black spot within the white area is even more crucial. If we are the white pieces on the chessboard, we have to eliminate the black spots within us. We have to detox.
We have to purify our inner selves from dark, fear, and evil, using whatever path we choose to follow and whatever pace we proceed at, so long as we keep our eyes on the target.

Black or White, or?

Now let us return to the beginning of this article. If I succeed in becoming “whiter,” if my piece becomes whiter, will the team of white pieces remain the same? Will the whites be whiter overall and become a stronger team?  Even if the chessboard remains the same, will the combination of the black and white pieces remain the same? Will the chessboard, the board’s location, and infinity not change as well?
Change in the smallest piece changes the whole, and if I can change, so can the whole. This is actually a huge responsibility. The change of the whole depends on the whiteness of my tiny piece. Now, let’s analyze this physically.
High school graduates will remember this. There is a subject studied in physics and advanced mathematics: vectors.
A vector is a line segment that has a certain dimension and direction. Visualize an arrow. An arrow can vary in length; it can be turned to point in various directions, but most importantly, we can position arrows one after another.
Everyone has a vector, and each of our vectors has a different magnitude.  Some are very long, which in physical terms means their strength is greater. Some are shorter. Each vector can point in any direction, but some vectors point in the same direction. Let us assume that the magnitude of our vectors symbolizes our potential to transform and deny ourselves. In other words, my vector is longer if I can deny my needs and control myself.
Let’s begin with my vector.  Say the magnitude of my vector is 6, and it points east, representing my choice. In fact, the vectors have three dimensions, but it is easier to demonstrate on paper in two dimensions.
what is god?
My potential to transform myself is 6, but Ali’s is 8. His vector points north, representing his choice.
what is god?
Let’s now combine our two vectors representing our choices. Korkut’s vector pointing east with a power of 6 will be added to the head of Ali’s vector choosing north with a power of 8.  This is the rule for combining vectors. When we add one after the other, their powers and directions are combined.
what is god?
When the vectors of Korkut and Ali are combined, a new vector emerges. It is longer than either of the original vectors, having a power of 10, but its direction is also different to both that of Korkut’s or Ali’s. It doesn’t point exactly northeast, because Ali’s power is greater than Korkut’s. When these choices are combined, the result is closer to what Ali wants.
Now, there is also Idris. Idris’s vector has a power of 8, but its direction (his choice) is south.
what is god?
When we combine their three vectors, we see an interesting picture.
what is god?
Although both Ali and Idris have longer (i.e., more powerful) vectors than Korkut, when their two vectors are combined, their impacts are completely neutralized. The total of the three vectors becomes the same as Korkut’s. It points east with a power of 6.
Of course, when the choices of three different people are combined, a brand new choice, resembling none of the original choices, may come up.
Let’s look at an even more interesting picture with six vectors. These represent the different choices and potential of six different people.
what is god?
Now, let’s combine them.
what is god?
If we combine A, B, C, D, E, and F in sequence, we return to the origin. In other words, nothing changes when these six different people, with different powers and choices, combine their potential and choices. Nothing changes at all in this case.
Let’s now imagine that seven billion different people are combining their potential and choices. This is how the absolute willpower of God is formed.
Just as God comprises all of us and everything else, God’s willpower and decisions comprise all of ours. The decisions and choices we make do not just affect us and those close to us, but the whole as well.
The side we will take, how “white” we are, and our efforts to change ourselves all certainly impact our own lives, but they are important for the whole as well.
If we return to the origin when seven billion vectors are combined, your vector, which is the next one, will be the one that determines the final decision. Are we aware of this responsibility?
Dear friends, The magnitudes of our vectors are determined by our potential to change ourselves. Each step we take towards transforming ourselves increases the magnitudes of our vectors and our influence on the whole. However, every stage does not strengthen us at the same rate as the previous stage—it strengthens us more.

Arithmetics of Evolution

Fibonacci numbers, which are highly valued by esoteric disciplines and those involved in sacred geometry, can be applied here as well. The sequence of Fibonacci numbers is very interesting, because every number in the sequence equals the sum of the previous two. It starts with 1 followed by another 1. Adding the 1s together gives 2, and adding 1+2 gives 3, and so on. The exact sequence is given below:
what is god? The most interesting thing about this sequence is that when you divide one number by the preceding one, you get a result of approximately 1,618,034. Although the numbers at the start are not very accurate, as they get larger the result becomes almost constant. This ratio is called number Phi or the golden ratio.
Many people believe this ratio is the code of nature, because it is commonly observed in natural phenomena such as flower petals, faces and body proportions deemed aesthetically pleasing, and sequences in pinecones, sunflower seeds, and pineapples.
This ratio has been used in many of humanity’s great works as well, such as the Great Pyramid whose builder is still a mystery. We encounter this ratio in many places including the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, major architectural monuments, ideal geometric ratios, and the five-pointed star.
Our interest in this series lies in this: Every step we take toward changing ourselves strengthens us by the sum of the previous two steps we took, just like in the sequence of Fibonacci numbers.
This is why we progress faster as we proceed and why people who have spent years changing themselves seem to progress faster than novices. In reality, everyone rises by one step, but the distances they cover and powers they gain increase.
Those with the greatest potential to change themselves are the ones with longer vectors,  giving them the power to affect the divine willpower more than others. Therefore, their prayers are more welcome. Their healing breath is more powerful, because a vector as long as theirs influences the combined vector to its own direction, effecting the desired result. This is why those who fail to change themselves and deny their needs believe God does not hear them.
In order to create the reality we desire, we need to increase the magnitude of our vectors. To successfully do this, we need to get a grip on our power to transform and control ourselves and our desires.
Every step we take strengthens us not by one step, but by our previous steps as well, so let’s not stop. Let‘s increase our potential to change ourselves and our societies to become more God like and grow closer to God.
By the way, no one should feel bad about having a short or weak vector. I have a beloved friend, Solara. She sums it up with an example: a puzzle. Humanity on Earth is a puzzle with seven billion pieces. There are bigger pieces and smaller pieces. Some are gold in color, some are the color of the ground or sky. A large golden piece in the middle is as important as a blue or brown one  at the top or the bottom. If one piece is missing, the puzzle is incomplete.
When seven billion vectors are combined, sometimes the shortest vector determines the direction of the whole, so let’s be aware of this responsibility.

The Source of Creative Power

A major confusion about God is his role as the creative power. Did God create himself as well? Having created everything, is God interested in managing it and making all the decisions? Or did God create everything then leave it alone? If so, do we have to obey the rules? If God created everything and is managing it, is the act of creation not over? So, how could God be the absolute power? How is God managing all of our daily lives?
There are many theories about the creation of life. For those who believe God is eternal, with no beginning or end, is it that, at some point, God decided to create everything.
According to the explanation put forward by Maharishi, it all begins with God’s recognition that he knows everything. When in nullity, or in a conceptually different state of nothingness, a conscience becomes aware that it knows certain things. The knowing one then knows that he knows. The knowing one then knows that he knows what he knows, and so he begins the creation.
Someone I know personally—Steve Rother, who has published books in Turkish as well—proposes a different picture:  In his view, there is one complete infinity.
what is god?
This infinity is symbolized by an endless circle, or the area inside that circle, or a sphere. That is why in mathematics and history, a zero, circle, or wedding ring has always symbolized an everlasting rotation and eternity. In esotericism, there is the serpent that swallows its own tail. Planets, stars, galaxies, and the whirling dervishes of Rumi are all turning, because like God, they symbolize an endless turn, but they are closed. Is not the area in which we are searching a circle too?
Infinity, which is a complete singularity, wishes to know itself, but it cannot do this when it is closed. How can it get to know itself when it comprises everything? Whom should it ask? How can it see? Hence, it takes a finite shape to get to know itself and gain the power to change itself.
what is god?
While in a continuous turn, this time it begins to meet with itself in the middle, just at the center of the circle. In every meeting, it gets to know itself more. Through us, it comes face to face with its own finite pieces. That is why, it is said that God created man from himself and gifted his soul from his own.
We are pieces that God created to know himself, but God is not a separate center of perfection, isolated and independent from us. God is everything and the sum of all opposites that exist in the universe. Similarly, we are infinite beings experiencing a finite existence in order to know ourselves. Like him, we are here to explore ourselves and our power to transform.
This is why dualities exist in the universe, because God wanted to know himself. This is called duality, and the school of thought based on dualities is dualism. Duality and opposites always exist in our lives. We are both woman and man, optimistic and pessimistic. We are kind yet unkind, and happy yet unhappy. We are joyful and miserable, aggressive and peaceful.

Integration of Duality

Just as in the symbol of yin and yang, there is man in woman, and woman in man. We have our reasons to be happy when miserable, and we have hope for peace while fighting. They are all inside us, as well as inside God. We are images of God together with all our dualities.
We are getting to know ourselves through ourselves and through God. God, of course, knows much more than us, since he observes the experiences of his infinite number of pieces. We only get to know ourselves and a few others, whereas God knows all, and all of our experiences are essential to God. God needs you and I because our experiences are God’s as well. God’s eye, which sees all, is on us. It is no coincidence that we refer to God’s protective attributes, because we are describing God as the “eye” symbol that is looking at us. It not only warns us to watch our step, but assists us when we are receiving our lessons as well.
God’s vector has infinite power because it carries the sum power of all the vectors. When it points in a certain direction, it makes something happen without dispute. But each of us has a share in that vector, so if we gain the power to transform ourselves and get to know ourselves, and if we manage to become our own gods, we will have provided a huge service to God. Even more pleasantly, since we will have increased our share in that infinite vector, we will be realizing our desires more easily.
We need to curb our dualities and achieve balance. Rather than being on one side, we need to be on all sides like God. We need to be choiceless, like God.

Choose Your Destiny

In the east, correctly maturing and evolving toward perfection is recognized as nihility. They argue, “If we are reflections of God in the mirror of nihility, then we should wipe off the reflection in the mirror.” They suggest that we need to be choiceless and accept that everything we come across is from God, no matter from where and whom they might come. This is a kind of absolute resignation.
There is no problem up to here. Surely what matters in the end is the absolute willpower, the direction of the large vector. We can contribute to it to the best of our ability, but anything that happens, will happen regardless of the large vector.
The main problem with absolute resignation is that it forgets our efforts to become God. The approach of “make no choices and accept what comes” will take us to a pacifism similar to Gandhi’s or the Hindu fakirs. All through history, flexibility has defeated rigidity because rigidity has a certain ability to resist, whereas flexibility and mildness have a high tolerance, and time works in favor of flexibility and mildness.
However, if God demands a surrender to the large vector, what are all these experiences for? God already knows about the large vector, and being in absolute conformity with it will contribute nothing to God or help us recognize our power to change ourselves.
We have to take charge of our own vectors in order to contribute to God, and this is not achievable through absolute resignation.
Therefore, the aim of being choiceless while evolving is not nihility or wiping out the reflection on the mirror. Being choiceless is being all and everything. It means being everyone.
Yes, that is right. Everything comes from and returns to God. We should know that everything comes from God, but what God expects us to do is not accept whatever comes, yielding without an effort to change. God expects us to increase our power to transform ourselves, strengthen our vector, and contribute to what happens in the light of our choices. He expects us to elevate ourselves first then others, increase the total, and to take responsibility for our health, tranquility, and happiness, struggling to improve our lives.
Only then will we have accomplished what God expects from us. Only then may God benefit from our experiences.
This is achieved not by surrendering and becoming nothing but by trying to resemble God and becoming all, by making peace with our adversities, by balancing the polarities inside us, and by understanding that having adversities is normal. Adversities exist so God may get to know himself, and, of course, so we may come to know ourselves as well.
When light and darkness, and love and fear, are in conflict, and when the black and white pieces struggle on the black-and-white square board, our mission is to be the white piece representing light and love. God gave us this mission on Earth.

Power of Choice

God probably laughs when he watches us trying to understand the universe from Earth or perceive the ocean from a single drop of water. What if the Earth has different rules to those prevailing in the rest of the universe? What if it is a special place in the universe? What if God is conducting a special experiment here to get to know himself?
When we read the holy books, we find very interesting common statements regarding the creation of man, but the wording is certainly veiled. I hope that someday, with God’s permission, we will fully comprehend the holy books. For the time being, we have to take what we can understand.
Importantly, God created humanity in his own image. Even more importantly, he gifted humanity a soul from his own. God then told the angels to respect humanity, and they all did so except for Satan, who  refused, claiming that it was weak and easily perverted. Let us stop here for now.
We believe that God’s greatest gift to humanity is its mind and intelligence, but is that really so? Or did God’s creation of humanity from his own image and soul carry another meaning?
Could it be that God’s greatest gift to humanity was its freedom of choice? What if, like God, the only being with freedom of choice is humanity? What if humanity is capable of switching from being dark today to being light tomorrow, from fear to love? What if no other form of life in the universe, including the angels, is capable of doing this?
What if Satan rose against this? What if Satan refused to pay respect to humanity because it was provided with God’s freedom of choice despite being short lived, not very intelligent, and limited in its abilities?
Let us reflect for a while. One day, out of the blue, would angels be able to say, “From now on, I will be evil” or “Just once, I want to kill someone”? Maybe Satan occasionally says, “I feel good today. I want to do some good.” They don’t, because they don’t have the ability to, but we do.
We can be at one extreme one day, and at the opposite another day, because we have the ability. We are able to choose freely which side to take. We can turn our vectors to the direction we desire, and we have a free vote in the combined vector. Not every place in the universe is like this, and the Earth is a very special place because of this ability that belongs to humanity.
Earth must be a very important laboratory, an experimental area that is very special to God.
It is a distinctive place that is exceptionally valuable, like nowhere else, where a major experiment is being conducted on what would happen if the beings living on it had total freedom of choice.
Humanity has been impaired somewhat, because as a prerequisite for this experiment, its potential to achieve its maximum power, live long and healthy lives, and become aware of its metaphysical and spiritual abilities was hindered. That is why humanity has to try very hard to discover its limits or rather its limitlessness.
If we become aware of all the gifts God granted us, and if we know that we are a part of God, the experiment will be meaningless. That is why with the closing of the fontanel we become limited. In reality, we are limitless beings that experience being limited.
However, God doesn’t want us to know this without any effort from us. God wants us to try to get to know ourselves or, as it is written in the temples, to recognize ourselves and then try to transform and change ourselves. During all this, God observes our experiences and recognizes himself. We are different to the rest of the universe because we can make free choices, so the  experiment here has a major difference.
If there is no intervention, and if everybody tries to learn lessons by making free choices, will the combined vector point toward light or dark, war or peace, love or fear?
This experiment, in which we are not subjects but rather the experimenters, is very meaningful to God because a result that is crucial to the universe will come from it. If we succeed and our combined vector enables the white pieces to win, this will lead to a vital conclusion that may affect the course of God’s future creations.
Therefore, the direction that our vectors point is vital. The vectors of the more powerful have a greater influence on the total vector, but what is important is the direction of our vectors. Let us look at the vector figure once more.

Where Do We Go From Here?

what is god?
In which direction will our combined vector point? Which direction will it point toward when all seven billion vectors are combined? Which direction does our individual vector point toward? If the first seven billion vectors combine to stay at the origin, then our vector, which is the next and final one, will effectively be the large vector.
This is what it’s all about. On the day of judgment, doomsday, or Armageddon, each of us will take responsibility for our individual vectors.
It is recorded in mythology and holy books that this experiment has failed a couple of times before, but how is it going to end this time?
It’s our turn, but to be worthy of being a piece of God, we need to accomplish what God wants from us.
What God wants is for us to know ourselves and increase our power to change ourselves and deny ourselves, as well as increase the power of others to change themselves. He wants us to turn toward the white direction and steer others there as well, thus increasing the proportion of white in the total and exceeding the proportion of black. He wants us to feel and take responsibility for our combined vector, stepping closer to God and becoming more like him.
Even though we have proposed a brand-new approach today, our conclusion is not new at all. However, today we recognize that to say, or be able to say, “I am God” is not something to be achieved—it is a right. It is the most important piece of truth we are in search of.
So, is there more than “I am God”? There is. In fact, saying “I am God” does not suffice. It is completely correct, but it barely conveys the message. Those who speak Arabic will understand: “Ente Hakk”—you are God, too.

Ali Korkut Keskiner