Did you know that when Einstein gave lectures at numerous universities in the US, the recurring question students asked him was:

-Do you believe in God?

And he always answered:

-I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Whoever hadn’t read Spinoza stayed in the same ones…

I hope this little gem of history serves you as much as it does for me:

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the three great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with the French Descartes.

Here’s a little something from him.

This is the God or Nature of Spinoza:

God would have said:

Stop praying and beating your chest!

What I want you to do is go out in the world and enjoy your life.

I want you to enjoy, to sing, to have fun and to enjoy everything I have done for you.

Stop going to those cold, dark, cold temples you built yourself and call yourself my home!

My home is in the mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, beaches. That’s where I live and I express my love for you.

Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing!

Sex is a gift that I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don’t blame me for everything they made you believe.

Stop reading so called scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can’t read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in the eyes of your son…

You won’t find me in any book!

Trust me and stop asking me. Are you gonna tell me how to do my job?

Stop being so scared of me. I don’t judge you, I don’t criticize you, I do not get angry, I do not upset, I do not punish you. I am pure love.

Stop asking me for forgiveness, there is nothing to forgive. If I ever made you… I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, incoherents… of free will how can I blame you if you respond to something I put on you?. How can I punish you for being who you are, if I’m the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my misbehaving children, for the rest of eternity?.

What kind of god can do that?

Forget any kind of commandments, any kind of laws; those are ploys to manipulate you, to control you, that only create guilt in you.

Respect your fellow men and don’t do what you don’t want done to yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention to your life, that your alert state be your guide.

My beloved, this life is not a test, not a stepping stone, not a step on the road, not a rehearsal, not a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and the only thing you need.

I have made you absolutely free, there are no awards or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one holds a record.

You are absolutely free to create in your life a heaven or a hell.

I couldn’t tell you if there’s anything after this life, but I can give you one piece of advice. Live as if there is no. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.

So, if there is nothing, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured I’m not gonna ask you if you were good or bad, I’m gonna ask Did you like it? Did you have fun ? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?…

Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don’t want you to believe in me, I want you to feel me in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your lover, when you tuck your daughter, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

Stop praising me, what kind of egolating God do you think I am?.

Tired of being praised, sick of being thanked. Do you feel grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Are you feeling watched, overwhelmed?… Express your joy! That’s the way you praise me.

Stop complicating things and repeating like a parrot what you were taught about me.

The only thing certain is that you’re here, that you’re alive, that this world is full of wonders.

What do you need more miracles for? Why so many explanations ??????

Don’t look for me outside, you won’t find me. Look for me inside… there i am, beating on you.

Spinoza.