504 thoughts on “What do Religion and God Truly Feel Like?”

1. Love this Lieke, it is all about our every day.

2. Feeling small and insignificant is incompatible with religion if you simply know that we are divine beings.

3. Ah it’s so wonderful feeling what religion feels like in truth and the brotherhood among people. I have experienced this every course I’ve attended at Universal Medicine and it’s something I take back out into the world as my normal, the openness and love we can all share between us when our stuff – beliefs, judgements etc, get in the way.

   1. It is deeply beautiful, I love that we know God instantly with babies, they are the constant reminder that life is miraculous and divine.

4. Churches are not warm and inviting places at all, I agree they are cold, dark and archaic I have never liked them. With so many more homeless people these buildings could be turned into homes .. now that would be about true love, service, brotherhood and community. We do not need a building to connect to our innate essence and the divine.

   1. Yes Vicky turn all those awful buildings into useful places to offer shelter all year round. God is within our hearts never should be sought outside ourselves.

5. Gorgeous Lieke, that is pure gold. So is the question well posed as I have experienced the same: ‘..nor did these mainstream religions support me to connect to myself and what I know is truth, love and joy.’
   It is by God that we feel our union, not by a building, regime or set of rules (to feel better). It is in one’s heart, that is why the way we live is our religion, hence why The Way of Livingness makes so much sense for me.

6. I Love to feel Our God. Its an act at any time I immensely enjoy. GOD is in the simplest of things. The other day I was feeling much and was not totally accepting what it was I was feeling. I was talking on my mobile phone to a very close friend at the time who I deeply trust to share, be intimate, open and transparent with all my feelings. I was driving my car to work and had just parked. A bee landed on my windscreen and was flapping to stay in the same position on my windscreen but eventually slid down and was caught by my wipers. It was super cute. I know nature is the magic of God. I felt what it symbolised and I instantly expanded and felt amazing. The magic of God changed my life in such a big way that it is for me to still live the message that was given to me that day. God to me feels always expansive.

7. I really like this little part of a sentence “simply walking my talk, even when nobody is watching”. It struck me how rare it is for us to live in this way, with the same dedication to love as when someone is watching. The ease that comes into the body when there is no on/off switch is amazing and would be well worth studying scientifically so there is an evidence base that could support others. In the meantime, it is worth being our own science experiment and seeing if it is something your body responds to or not.

8. I love the way you have said it is time to look at words and see how they feel for us, regardless of how they have been used and accepted by the society of today. I would not have a bar of religion and felt incredibly let down by God for most of my life as I felt the cold hardness of the church, and the lack of integrity between spoken word and lived experience. Having re-connected with both words now, I see it is in our livingness that we come to know the amazingness we are held by and in equal measure its absolute simplicity.

   1. Yes, I’d never have expected to come to re-connect with the words religion, or God because I’d felt the cold hardness of both in the religion of church and its dogma. Now I’m coming to feel the inner warmth of both and know that the more I live my connection with both the more these words will convey the warmth we are connected to when we choose to be.

9. What I have found most profoundly inspiring through The Way of The Livingness is that it confirms that everything we seek is already within us, is in fact who we are, including our direct and very tangible relationship with God. As such being religious, in the true sense of the word, is our innate way of being for with every breath the opportunity is given to deepen and expand this divine relationship with who we are, to connect to and express our Godliness through how we live.

10. Reading your blog again brings a warmth to my chest knowing that God is within and I do not need to go anywhere or do anything, I just need to surrender to the love that I am.

11. I think it’s great to relate religion back to a feeling or sense from within us that we have as so often it seems to just be about mental beliefs and ideals or images or what we think or are told religion has to look like or how God looks or is rather than connecting with the true wisdom and intelligence we all have access to in connection with our whole body…

12. True religion is so simple compared to the man created institutionalised religions we have today.

13. Beautiful Lieke, thank you, this is a beautiful blog & question for us to go into our day or to bed with. Religion is right there.

14. During a time last year of feeling particularly steady in my connection to me I felt a beautiful and consistent sense of space within me – as though every cell contained the space of the universe within. This space wasn’t empty; it was/is full. The space within me is God. So if God is within me, my body, then it makes sense that I too am God. As are we all.

15. Indeed, look into another’s eyes and feel our natural interdependence, divinity and absolute equal-ness in essence.

16. Growing up I never felt pulled towards religion, or god. To me it was hocus pokus told by old people to keep us conformed. Yet, I did not deny the fact of a greater power – I have always felt the presence of love in my surroundings. And with that knowing, it was easy to accept what was presented by Serge Benhayon.

    1. Yes Viktoria, I know that too, that inner knowing and connection that there is more to life than just the physical and so much more powerful than the current religious institutions allow mankind to be.

17. Words can become so confusing when they are miss-used, and when we look at the word religion and break it down this usually makes it simpler to understand, so that ‘re’ is to ‘return’ and ‘ligion’ is to bind or lets say unite back to a sacred way of living with the divine we all are. So then to be religious is to return-to, or unite-with-God again, then no one can own the word saying they are the only true religion because we are all returning to God. And as Lieke has shared “always discern if a word like religion or God is used and lived in its true meaning, or if it has been reinterpreted over time.”

18. Good question and one I have been asking a lot recently. As a child, God always felt like someone watching over me, always with me and watching or supporting, but I was told I also had to be grateful because God’s only son died for me so I should feel appreciative of his sacrifice – I actually just felt guilt that anyone would need to die for me. Anyone who knows psychology will share that guilt and shame are very destructive emotions that eat away and therefore should not be championed as good, in my book ever! We simply don’t learn that way, so I have been re-connecting and re-building to that God I knew as a child, who was always inside me and who loved nothing more that for me to live love as my normal way of being.

19. God feels like many of the things you have shared, especially in the simplicity and ceremony of how I go about my day. To me God, and therefore my divine-self, feel very expansive, holding, de-lightful, so natural, effortless and connected to everything.

20. It would probably be true to say that the angles with which most churches – and houses, schools, prisons, public buildings etc. – have been architecturally designed and constructed, would not be aligned in true harmony, truly serving the inhabitants and occupants of those buildings. And probably very little music has been composed from the inspiration of the heart, singing the Song of God. You are so right Lieke that Universal medicine is pioneering the way in all of this, simply by living Love in a truly intelligent way!

21. It has been a person’s need for a building to house God that has separated them from the same essence that resides within already. When we connect to and feel God in our living way then it is this that confirms love is known – it matters not where we are for we will always know that marker as it has shown itself to us

    1. Very true God is within us and all around us, in fact God made us so we too are his reflection – knowing this means every step we take we are either with God or choosing to not be with God – there is no in between.

22. As we mention the word religion, it simply brings a feeling of how we started in the school of The Livingness and that is, with being gentle and showing decency and respect for others. So simple, but we all need this foundation, which is always there for us to return to.

23. It is interesting you mention feeling small and insignificant in the places where some religions are practiced, because some may say that this is a good thing, to stand in a building made to worship God and to feel humbled by it. The difference is however, if one is open to humbleness but turns a blind eye to lack of integrity or indiscretion. I have witnessed the love that people have for God in these places, their absolute devotion to their faith, but reserve it only for the building that represents that faith, a place built by man and not by God himself. So, perhaps if one was to consider that God is within, and the most sacred place you can be is in your own body, there would be a lot more accountability within the religious movements of this planet.

24. I spent the first 15 years of my life going to church. I stopped going because I was reacting to the hypocrisy that I saw in the church. But underneath that I could also feel that we were not really learning about God, with what I could feel God was anyway and I wanted to explore what God meant to me and make this a very personal relationship. It wasn’t until attending presentations by Serge Benhayon that I began to not only have a greater understandig, but also feel God in my everyday. This is a personal relationship that I am developing and the most wonderful thing that I have realised, is that I never did need a church for this to happen, for that connection is always there. It was simply waiting for an opportunity for me to reconnect to God.

25. When I separate myself from my true essence, I lose my connection to God, however when I live from my true essence, not only do I feel God walking with me, I feel God in everyone around me, whether they have connected to God or not.

26. My first admittance of God’s existence was when looking at the sky during a sunset: the shapes, the colors, the light, surely that was Heaven. It took me a while to feel God closer and in myself as well, almost like this grandness was too big for a human being. But I know we come from this grandness, that I am a son of God and actually am God and that he is always, always there showering us with his stupendous love and supporting us on our way back to him.

27. After reading your blog once again it is so clear to me that God does not need any building, statue or whatsoever. God is with us, in and around us, what only true religion is allowing us to feel.

28. We all only notice what we want to notice. We will not see the darkness or feel the heaviness and cold in a church if we need the comfort of belonging (or whatever else we think we get out of the organised religion).

29. For me God feels as an amazing supportive friend that will never let me feel insignificant or small but equal to him if I let myself to be held by God. He makes me feel the grandness of who I am and we all are. We can connect to God any time as God never stops holding us with his stupendous love.

30. A beautiful sharing Lieke thank you, for so long I searched for God outside of myself, that when I was introduced to The Way of the Livingness it has taken some time to come out of my head and into my body to where I feel the beautiful warmth of God within me as I connect to my Soul.

31. It always confused me why people would choose to sit in such a cold place once a week. It always gave me the impression that to get to God you had to suffer. Now I’ve seen and lived, that to get to God you don’t even need to go sit in a room, as you carry the warmth of His house within.

    1. Yes there was definitely that correlation between being honouring to God and being physically uncomfortable, I had forgotten that! It clearly doesn’t need to be that way though. The rituals we bring into our day and the ceremony we can bring in as we go about our day to day, is a clear indication to me that I am far more religious than I once thought.

32. What I love is that I find God in all the smaller moments, when I’m typing, or preparing food, or walking or even the in-between moments, when seemingly nothing is happening but actually these moments are full of magic.

33. It is interesting Lieke, what you say about the building churches are housed in. In a way the buildings alone are already very imposing by the way they are constructed – the curves and the angles it is built in and the colours and decoration used. All is there to impose a way of being that we are not and we feel it. If we are open to this reality of life that only true religion is allowing us to see.

    1. This is a great point Nico about the imposing structure of churches. It’s as if churches are intentionally designed to make us feel small and insignificant, which feeds the guilt and shame factor that tells people they are born sinners and that God is outside of them.

       1. Indeed Michael, we must not underestimate the impact buildings do have on us. Do they allow us to live in the space that is natural to us and where we can experience God in everything, or does the building, by its angles and curves, move us into a pattern that makes us have the beliefs you are mentioning? And buildings like churches, or other buildings that represent power are intentionally built like that, to make us feel small under the force they are made in.

34. At the moment I really feel God in the grace of my walk, the absolute power and joy to be me and in the reflection this allows which expresses the truth and love of a woman out to the world, absolutely precious….

35. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.” I love this Lieke. No need for a church or a priest – just simply reconnecting deeply back into who we truly are – our essence.

36. I grew up thinking that God judged us and punished us, and I knew this was a lie but by that time my back was truly turned on him and organised religion. I am now discovering what true religion is through The Way of the Livingness.

    1. Indeed Simone, but without discovering The Way of The Livingness we would have been in the same cold and disconnection as when in the institutionalized religions, as when turning your back to something, what are we then facing?

    2. No wonder so many people hate God! If we are taught as young children that he judges us and punishes us then who needs that in their life? Crazy that we give such a magnificent love some of the lowest human characteristics.

37. I love this title too- ‘what does God and religion truly feel like?’ Your descriptions of the feel of these religious places says everything as it is how something feels rather than looks that is what counts. If you were to have asked me how I felt when sitting at religious ceremonies and school assemblies when I was younger then I would have said ‘small’ and like ‘I wasn’t good enough.’ I would have also said that it felt like something was being forced upon me.

38. I love your examples of what religion is and these can be anything – so simple. If everyone lived like this then the power would no longer be in the hands of the religious institutions and responsibility would be with people again. I am often at religious presentations as part of my work and it reminds me of when I was brought up for 12 years in a religious school where everyday we would be told what love is, as though we had to learn what love was because we didn’t know. This was not only disempowering but the complete opposite of what is true. We know love from our bodies. I’m now learning what true religion is too and I’m finding that it really is in everything and that my body and heart knows this inside out.

    1. Indeed Simone, we are naturally religious, we are born like that but this is not what the world wants us to be and until we understand the reality we have created life to be, the authorities like church will have its power over people because that’s what is being collectively chosen.

39. When I would go into a Church growing up for a funeral or wedding I always felt like I didn’t belong, and I could see that in my family as well. There would be this awkwardness, like we didn’t know what to do and we needed to be really careful we didn’t show ourselves up. This reveals the energy within many religious establishments that there is an exclusiveness and separation between those that are of a certain institutionalised religion and those that are not. The ones that are, may feel a sense of belonging and confidence in their decision to be religious but the ones that believe that they are not religious because they don’t attend an institutionalised religion are left feeling less. The Way of The Livingness shines a much needed light back on the truth that we are all religious and sons of God, and that no one has had to teach us and that we have never needed to convince anyone of.

40. As we grow up most of us lose our trust in knowing what is true and take on that which is not true which we think is true. Bring back our clairsentience and claim it in full in our lives for it is discernment through allowing ourselves to feel and sense our knowing that we come to see truth in our lives.

41. True religion is a whole body experience, it is felt in every particle of our bodies and not just confined to the head, and the more we reconnect to that which is true within ourselves the more access we have to that which is divine.

42. Everyday we get up and pore over the weather forecast to be sure we know what to expect and make sure we are dressed correctly. But it’s become clear to me we feel energy just as clearly as the sun on our skin. Truly as you show Lieke we should start to appreciate what we feel is going on – ‘today I’m going into work where there is jealousy, competition and a cloud of apathy’. If we did this I reckon our day to day would start to make a lot more sense.

43. Institutionalised religion has made it all about the things outside of ourselves, we have given our power away to these manmade so called religions when actually it is about the way we live, how we are with ourselves are we honouring the connection with our essence and that it can only be felt in our own body? My body is the temple of the Soul, no other building is needed and I can only reflect the divine when I come from a body I deeply care for and love.

44. Just knowing the I have an essence, a place within me that is there all the time, that I can connect to, and that through that connection I am a loving, respectful, and expressive woman, is everything.

45. I find it interesting to consider how we often may look outside of ourselves to confirm what we have already felt inside – like looking around to see if anyone else is sensing what we have rather than just staying connected with what we felt and not dismissing it….

46. This is such a great question – what does God truly feel like? And I totally agree with you, all I can recall from having been in religious buildings is the heavy seriousness, and how it was more about the place and whatever ceremony or ritual that was taking place at the time and I very much doubt if I had even contemplated a possibility of being connected with God by being there.

47. What I find most inspiring about The Way of The Livingness is that it is a way of living that deeply confirms who we already are, a return to being the Sons of God we innately are. As such in being our true selves our relationship with God is known and true religion is then naturally lived through our every day.

48. God, to me is a beholding love, a love that holds us all, an equal love that I feel emanate’s from with in and showers this beholding love every where we walk, if we so choose to hold ourselves in the equalness of the light of God.

49. Personally, it is a pleasure and an absolute honour to claim myself as being religious and knowing God. He is within me, and I am within Him and I do not need another to give me access or permission to contact to that knowingness.

    1. Hear hear Rachel. And here here too.

    2. Me too Rachael, it truly is an honour to know that we all have a direct innate connection to and with God. And that we are and can be a reflection of him on earth. And no one can ever take that away leaves me feeling very content and settled, knowing I do not need to strive to be anything nor need permission from anyone to live the God that I am, as we all are, here on earth.

50. ‘simply walking my talk, even when nobody is watching’ For me this is key in a true religion, which is truly living what we say, without the need of hiding anything as everything in our life is coming back to Love-God

51. To live a religious life has only been possible for me since being introduced to The Way of the Livingness – a true religion in everyway.

52. There is religion in so many things in life including ourselves. Religion is wherever we feel God to be.

    1. And that is everywhere if we choose to see it! It made no sense growing up being told that God was only in the church, yet at the same time being told he is everywhere! It was quite contradicting messages I got. And as other people have said churches tend to be cold places, with hard seats – not loving at all for the body – which made me question is this really the house of God? Because I can’t feel no love here!!

53. I happened to be in a chapel this week attending the Harvest Thanksgiving which my children took part in. I sat and felt. What stood out for me was how condensed it made me feel. I shrunk! There was also an arrogance as though being a member of the chapel and going to chapel was of a greater importance than those who did not attend. What also came to light was the beauty of allowing myself to feel and become aware of what was happening to the best of my ability with no judgement bringing about a responsibility to the all and in doing so feeling the expansion, understanding, allowing and equalness within exposing that no matter where I am or what situation I find myself in the connection to God is always there when I listen and take heed to my movements and what is going on.

    1. I’ve also felt an arrogance and better than in the Church. This arrogance and putting what we do and what we are associated with as more important than others can be felt between sports teams, the private and public school systems, occupations, the so called upper class and lower class etc. Whenever we hold ourselves as separate to God we add to the pool of comparison and judgement that exists on Earth.

54. What I love about what has been presented on religion by Serge Benhayon is that religion is not something separate from life, it is one and the same. So our every day moments, our every single movement is pat of that one and same religion. It is no different from you and me or from anyone and we can offer this to each other because we may have a moment together. There is such an exquisiteness to understanding religion in this way and returning it to its place of unity rather than of what we see very commonly in that of keeping us apart. Religion is about people, life how we are with ourselves, our movements, it is about feeling the world and who we are, letting each other in and letting God in, so that we may see where we are from and where we are returning to. When we look into the eyes of another God is there if we truly allow ourselves to see.

55. These places do feel cold, vacant, aloof – yet when I feel God in my house, in my body, he is warm, beautiful and intimate. No wonder I have struggled when I have been looking outside of me.

56. When you go to a ‘religious place’ they feel different in the body. A church and a synagogue for example feel different. The energy they project onto the body produces something different in them. In either case, what they do in us is not good at all. The question is: what is this telling us about how much they truly represent God? Wouldn’t a place where God is present be a place where you just feel an enormous expansion?

    1. “Wouldn’t a place where God is present be a place where you just feel an enormous expansion?” If we would ask more of these simple questions, much of life does not make sense and we would like to change things. But many don’t even are free so to speak to think these questions and see life just as the way it is, even though it could be so very different.

    2. I was in a Church not so long ago and really noticed everyone during the service that everyone participating were not themselves. There was a following of a ceremony, by rote. Everyone was on automatic pilot. When we went outside everyone was more themselves, coming together, more connected. It was like we had to be a certain way when contained within the building. Having not been in one for a while it really stood out.

    3. I agree Eduardo, I always felt it was strange to have to go to a building, in my case a church, to pray or worship to God when we were also told he was everywhere. And then for that building to be freezing cold with very uncomfortable seats – it made no sense to me at all!

57. True religion to does not feel like it can be judgemental or feel like you are being criticised in any way. That is what I have felt from a lot of organised religions that are in the world today. Whereas ‘The Way of The Livingness’ religion, is all about love, respect for yourself, for others, bringing service to all that you do, learning to feel the world not impose on you, but you to feel all of you, in the world.

58. When I allow myself to simply be me that is when I know God the most, because in truth I come from God and so to get to know God I simply have to get to know myself.

    1. Beautifully said and so very true Elizabeth. God is within each and everyone of us.

59. I mean… Really… If we just simply tuned in in the most basic way we would feel the extraordinary dichotomy that is around us in so many ways, when the innate truth of our connection with God is so simple.

60. One of the gravest evils in this world is that we have been conditioned to believe that God is separate to us, that we are born sinners, and our life is about renouncing our sins through what we do. There is no further from the truth we can go. For as you have so beautifully shared Lieke, God is within us by virtue of the fact that we are the sparks of God, His eternal Sons, and it is through developing a loving relationship with our bodies that we can live in awareness of and connection to our Divine spark within, and to God in all that we do. We also come to understand the interconnectedness of us and all. In living this way we are living religion, where the greatest temple we can devote ourselves to, to be in union with God, is our bodies.

    1. Very well said Carola, God is within us all and as we are a direct replica of God we are all Gods here on Earth. Which is unthinkable when we look at society as a whole because of how far we have strayed away from this fact.

61. When I connect with my inner heart I feel God there in the exquisite feeling of warmth that permeates every cell, when I am disconnected to my innermost, struggling with patterns of behaviours, God is still there within me and all around me, there is no place that I can go that God is not there.

62. Hearing your experience of Church and Religion when you were growing up, I was thinking how many people would probably relate to you around the world, the coldness the hardness of the church etc. Equally though, I am sure that there are many people that have had warm and precious experiences of the Church. I am not saying I am one of those people but I think the important when we discuss different faiths to make sure we are remembering we are all equal brothers, no matter what house we think God lives in. The question I would like to ask, is this…. How do the people who run the services that take place in these Churches live? And how does that then effect those that congregate? For we can only truly support or guide another in tough situations when we have healed everything about the issue yourself. I have not seen many people in or outside of churches that are living in a way offers true support in this way for their congregation except Universal Medicine .

63. Super powerful this blog of expression is – especially the last paragraph where I come to feel that it is very okay to speak the truth and share what did not feels right to you about the current religion/churches and how much we are suppressed (have let ourselves be suppresed) by the outer forces that do not want us to actually share the truth about churches and expose the lack of integrity, respect, decency and truth they resemble. And so, we should have the full place and space to express this without being suppressed (or trying to stop you) – that would be a truthfull experience and hence because this suppression is still there – this means there is no love – as Gods love is offering space. Simple and easy. Those who wish to torn it , know they manipulate not feeling the truth.

64. What does God feel like – whew quite a question. At the moment my experience is of a wide deep flow inside my chest. The flow starts outside of me, I connect to it, but it runs through every cell of my body and then it flows out into the world from and through me.

65. I love the simplicity of what is presented here: we know God by what we feel and this is undeniable as is knowing what is proclaimed as being of God but is so not.

66. Having similar experiences as Lieke as a child going to a Catholic Church, I can say that there was so much that never made sense to me about what was being taught. How can God be loving but also punish people and send them to hell? Why do I need a priest to tell me who God is and what His qualities are? How and why would we be born ‘sinners’ even though we had not experienced anything yet in this lifetime? This lead me to ask many questions to the nuns and Sunday school which not only annoyed them, but which they had no true answers for. In contrast, everything about The Way of The Livingnesss has felt open, expansive, warm and all inclusive. Just the teaching that we are ALL born Sons of God (as taught by Serge Benhayon) is enough to guide us all back to a true way of living soulfully and feels right in every cell of my body.

67. We know God and the meaning of religion in the simplicity of life, in the focus on the quality of a movement we can access that which is divine.

68. You asked, ‘How does God feel to you?’
    To me there is an instant warmth, a holding, a knowing, an offer to surrender my body to the warmth I feel. When I do there is then an expansion, an opening of the cells in my body, like all of a sudden every cell in my body is full of the grace of God.

69. I love your observations Lieke, when you have been to a presentation or workshop with Serge `Benhayon. I have felt all these too and is very different from the oppressiveness, coldness and separation I feel when I go in most of the churches in the UK. I walk past an Abbey on my way to work and all I can feel is the coldness and opulence of the time that had no real care for the people around, just the need to show the wealth of the Church.

70. God is not cold, imposing, hard or scary.. these can only be an outer manifestation of someone else’s interpretation which is so categorically the opposite of what he truly is.

71. ‘I know now I came to associate the word religion with these experiences of coldness, hardness, piety, contraction, hard work and most of all, feeling unworthy and guilty’. Same for me Lieke, especially feeling unworthy and undeserving to receive God’s love and I can feel just how damaging that was and how heavy that was to carry in my body.

72. I love the way you describe God being so alive, active, real and in everything Lieke, including us human beings.

73. I love the question at the end inviting us to ask ourselves ‘How does God feel to you?’ Instantly I know that my connection with God can be deeper and I can feel in my body how I have turned away from the truth I know. Recently, particularly this morning, I have felt how I am not living the truth I know which is great to feel as because I can feel this I can heal it. Also I can feel the bastardised picture/image that the church holds of God has subconsciously been with me .. that God is this male like energy to be feared and outside of me. This could not be further away from the truth as I know God or the Divine to be a love that is beyond words or limitations but very true, present and real, non imposing and very beholding. My relationship with God is still and will always be forever unfolding and forever deepening just as my relationship with myself is .. the two are together. This was healing for me to write.

74. I love that God and religion is about a relationship from the body, you need no building or anyone else to tell you that it is real or not, you can feel it, it is in the stillness inside, in a gentle touch, in the sparkle in someones eyes, no need to look anywhere else, it is within us.

75. Now that is a litany that makes sense to me – very beautiful Ariana.

76. We can feel God in everything we do, it’s a feeling of settlement and contentment with ourselves – absolutely beautiful feeling that nothing can compare to and I have longed for, for a very long time. Thank you, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for bringing this to our chaotic planet!

77. What I love about The Way Of The Livingness is the simplicity, no complication.. to connect to God is to connect to you, through our inner heart, from here love is abundant, uniting and is us all.

78. We all do have an essence, we can feel it, it has no words, it is with universe, it’s stillness is beyond anything else we know on this planet, connected you can never be alone, it burns bright and it can never be broken or tarnished by anything we experience on the planet. This is what we can reconnect to if we chose to, this is what is with God, of God. This is a universal angle of life that brings our experience of life out of the grind of not only what we see but brings back what we feel; this is something we often neglect.

79. Any religion that has a bad and good, right or wrong, in or out category, indicates to me intolerance, and not a holding of all of humanity. The Way of The Livingness is inclusive, equal, truth-full and full of love these are words that resonate with me.

80. If I am honest I have always known there is a God, a higher being, the Creator or whatever even though there was a time I said I didn’t because I never felt him in the religions I had experienced as I felt a lot of the same things that you felt about them Lieke but now knowing that God can be felt everywhere, in space, in nature, in each other it all adds up to what feels like truth which can’t be found in some old building with a cross on the top of it.

81. I had the same experience with church when I was little. It didn’t really make sense and made me wander away from the preciousness I felt within myself. BUT it’s never to late to resurrect that connection.

82. The is much that is called religion but in truth describes what religion is not – some very well known mis-truths are recorded at the opening of this blog. It’s up to ourselves to discern and choose true religion. The Way of The Livingness introduces and expands on this understanding so simply for everyone.

83. Love what you have shared here Lieke and it is certainly pertinent for all. What strikes me as very starkling about how humanity has generally seen life is that religions are supposed to offer the answers to the things of life we don’t understand and don’t add up. And this is so because we all know that God is in truth absolute and everything should add up. But no religions have offered this even though they have been round for a long time and today we are no better now that when the instutionalised forms of religion were not there to start with. So what is going on? The Way of The Livingness has been the ONLY religion that has offered me a way of understanding life that not only is simple and makes sense but equally feels true deep within.

84. Beautiful Lieke, we go through life using so many words, being vocal about what we see – but how often do we actually take time to describe what we feel? We might spend ages describing a food, but why not equally elaborate about a place or space? The fact is everywhere and everything has its own energetic flavour and taste. This is what we live with every day so why cut off and ignore our senses anymore? To inform and educate, understand and illustrate, this is what our feelings are for.

85. I have often found I go into some sort of internal anxiety to avoid feeling the presence of buildings, of people and of how we behave. It’s natural to be aware but takes some adjusting once we begin to see that the essence of God within is not reflected much in the external world.

86. There is one thing in common with all the institutionalised religions, and that is that they all impose their own beliefs on the way to understand God when in fact this can only be achieved through our own connection within and our interconnection with the all.

87. Oh those seats are so so hard and uncomfortable. So many years of Catholic school and going to church on the weekend, squirming through the long complicated words of the sermon, on those so uncomfortable seats.

    1. Words can tell us that we can have love even on uncomfortable seats but our body speaks clearly that love has to be incorporating of everything, from the chairs, to what is presented, to the temperature of the room etc. It all matters.

       1. Totally Lieke (and Sarah), everything matters. This love and care for self and others is sadly lacking in our lives and the churches are a symptom of the way we are already living. I have to go and work in people’s homes sometimes and it is surprising to me (no critique intended) that there is no heating in the home at all in mid-winter and that the chair I must occupy is very hard. I always ask for a cushion and people are always very willing to give me one. Now I will have to get focused on the heating!.

88. It is such a quantum leap from where God was to me as a child (up on high judging me as a weak sinner) to where God is now for me (in me, all around me, giving wonderful support) . This understanding alone is a world apart in the true sense of religious teaching.

89. I never liked the word religion either, but for me it was because I had travelled the world and seen so many different versions and how much hate and war is initiated all because of religion and that totally put me off it all together until I learnt about its true meaning and now, my whole take on religion has changed and I can appreciate how truly religious I naturally am.

90. The quality in the room when Serge Benhayon presents is quite remarkable. As is the feeling of connection to God when in nature or simply via your own body. For me religion is simply connecting with myself, which then connects me with God and everything. Being in a church never supported me with this level of connection.

91. Life is religion if we choose to live with love and commitment to self and all humanity

92. To truly surrender to qualities such as intimacy, transparency, letting ourselves be seen – well that would simply be divine as often these things are talked about but rarely our every day experience.

    1. I agree Harry – speaking about these things is on the increase in society but not as may people actually live them. It’s awesome to observe those that do and feel the pure inspiration to let go of more of what is not.

93. Religiousness, being religious, for me is a communion with more than the self, when I am with the All, more with universal order and not preoccupied with my own agenda, that is religious, this is how I walk my path, with no perfection but with an inner knowing that we are all connected and responsible for our part, concerning love and truth.

94. It all comes back to feeling. How I feel within my heart is all that I would trust. There are many things in the world that would attempt to convince us that what we feel is not important, but that is the only marker and anchor in my life that has truly offered me empowerment. By trusting in myself first, this trust becomes much more apparent in my external world reflected back from others, but at the same time, this marker of trust and confirmation allows everything that is not true to stand out like a sore thumb, so life becomes a lot more simple.

95. Complicated words are often used to hide our lack of understanding of life, which when truly understood, is for the most part quite simple.

96. This is a beautiful blog Lieke, you have described religion in it truest sense. True religion is re-connecting to the Divinity within, our very essence. . . and being religious is the movements we make to ensure that connection.

97. I have visited many countries with different cultures and likewise explored many differing religions. I had not, until now, realised that the buildings of worship, without exception, felt cold to me even if in very hot countries in the tropics, and even when teaming with people there was an emptiness. When there are lots of helpers busily organising and making sure everything runs smoothly, I have observed that the emotional outpourings and silent neediness can mask this emptiness.

98. There is such a stark difference to how I was brought up with organised religion to what I know is true religion today. Being religious is not being scared as a child of God seeing us doing naughty things and judging us for them – with this type of indoctrination is it any wonder that we develop lack of self worth and guilt.

99. “The Way of the Livingness’ makes God tangible and accessible and very real, all other religions I know keep him on a pedestal and only accessible for a few.

100. Through ‘The Way of The Livingness’ it has been beautiful to realise that feeling connection to God is the most natural thing in the world.

101. Our Livingness is the way for us to stay focused on The Way so that what we live is to be in every moment, and is a movement towards God. For being with our divine connection is the way to be in our own Livingness, and by our will we then can be connected to multi dimensionality as part of our Livingness, which is all in the presentations The Way of The Livingness. This is all so simple and is only ever done to the best of our ability then we can never be in judgement or self critique.

102. One of the greatest joys I’m discovering is connecting to the true meaning of the word religion through “The Way of the Livingness”. It opens up the true love we are and part of, brings into understanding our connection and equality with God and expands everyday livingness to include humanity and the universe as one.

103. The religion I grew up with and The Way of The Livingness religion that I now belong to are like chalk and cheese. One preached about love and was loveless in its livingness and the other lives love and reflects back to all how it can be lived by all.

104. God is simple. Why did it become as cold and as complicated as a government bureaucracy? Just so that we could stay individualised and in the Big Chill of the human spirit.

105. Within each of us is a pristine, precious essence, so pure, so exquisite, so glorious – the home we all yearn for. We can devote ourselves religiously to rekindling this essence, having it bathe us from the inside out – or we can devote ourselves religiously to hammering ourselves further and further away. What quality of religion we choose is up to us.

106. Living in connection to our inner essence within is naturally religious and in union with ALL.

107. When I see the rays of sunshine coming onto the mountains around me, I know without a doubt there is a God. The magic of God is breathtaking.

108. What does God feel like? Well, like you are being held in the ever expansive embrace of a warm fire.

109. It’s beautiful to re-connect to that feeling that God is in everything. This is what I too felt as a child and yet as you say Lieke, I did not find this feeling this confirmed when I went to church. It is such a joy to have found a place within that now confirms and allows me to connect to others, knowing that we all have the potential to become one with God.

110. I too have often felt uncomfortable in churches and realise what you share is true Lieke, churches can feel big and imposing, cold, sad and grey which in truth is the exact opposite of how a place that is appreciating and celebrating the magic of God should feel.

111. True religion is the confirmation of everything that feels true in our bodies. A complete contrast to all we are feed in the main stream Religions.

112. The Way of The Livingness is a religion like no other. One that accepts anyone regardless of creed/colour/sexual orientation and values all equally.

113. ‘God is in everything, yes in us too…’ The more I have allowed myself to consider this (as in de-construct the thinking and beliefs that had me fixed otherwise) the more sense life has made and the more purposeful and inspired I have become.

114. For those that think that to know God is to see him arise before one in physical form there is only disappointment. For God can only be known by energetic essence, and that is simply because his form is such that it is not of a vibration dense enough to be seen by the naked eye. And so a true religious relationship required the formation of a way of being that allows one feel life by its energetic essence, rather than rely on what is physically presented before us.

115. To be with God and connect with him can be as simple as a walk, like you shared Lieke, no church or institution needed, just an open heart to connect.

116. Equality between the presenters and the audience is what stood out for me in this article the understanding that every voice matters.

117. The timing of the symbols in nature and the environment around us could not be more perfect, it becomes so clear when you are open to it.

118. Gorgeous blog Lieke, religion is something very precious and warm, holding us in all its glory.

119. I haven’t had a lot to do with mainstream religions in my life, which I am thankful for as I feel the majority of them reduce God into a practice, a discipline and a rule. All of which is outside of ourselves rather than connecting to an learning to express from and with God within.

120. When I think of God being in the house, I have to remember that his house is everywhere! From the bathroom, to the ballroom, from the starry sky to the place deep within my heart. He is everywhere and that gives all of us an opportunity to connect ….. everywhere.

121. True religion is what makes us fully realize that we are the sons of God.

     1. Exactly Alex, this highlights how to actually know and live with the true awareness of God in our everyday we must accept that we are Sons of God which means we are by essence fully equal to Him. Are most willing and ready to claim this?

122. I see the symbols I receive in nature as confirmations and messages…quite often they make me laugh, like 2 ducks waddling up the hill to where my friend and I were talking about something. And then the way they then were with each other confirmed to us both what we were discussing.

123. Yes, there is such a strong feeling of absolute equality in the room at Universal Medicine events, which has been such a revelation to me and has highlighted how generally in life I previously accepted being treated as less than who I truly am…but no more!

124. We are before the words ever existed.

     1. Absolutely, we are religious deeply, even if we have in our mind a reinterpreted version of the word ‘religion’ and we think we are not and this goes for many words.

125. When I am in rhythm with life and its flow, moving connected with my body and with love it is godly.

     1. Seeing the religiousness of everything has brought so much reverence, humility, inspiration and surrender into life.

126. A beautiful warm and loving knowing of true religion that lives within us all .”True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious. So this means that many things in our life can be religious and that these activities are not restricted to being in a church or praying.”

127. How can we get to know how God feels like when the people and places that supposedly are representing God are not filled with the knowing of God from feeling?! Impossible. But as everyone knows God deep inside we are not dependent on the outside representations to know, just as you describe here, Lieke. What we anyway may require at times is a reflection that confirms our inner knowing so that we trust and honour what we are knowing.

128. True religion allows for understanding to unfold in time, and is never imposing nor dogmatic in its outlook.

129. Feeling ‘really small and being alone’, in any place, especially when it is to do with religion, doesn’t feel right. The word religion is that, which re-binds or re-connects to God, so when we are feeling lesser than how can this be true religion. This is a great point you have raised Lieke that I felt to explore.

130. Love the question Lieke… for me it’s the vastness I feel inside, a magical centre point and when I do touch into it there is a warmth, depth and everydayness. It overflows as it can’t be contained, into relationships, and what I do. And I can recognise it and feel it all around in the smallest or grandest of things.

131. I agree with what you are saying, Lieke, with regards to your experience in church of complicated words being used that had no meaning for you. Speaking with complexity is such a give away that the person is living from their head, because the truth that resides in the body is always clear and simple.

132. “This made me feel like what I felt was not true and confirmed the feelings of being small and alone.” I remember looking at the statue on the wall of Jesus on the cross and thinking how could this be the truth? My feeling of Jesus did not resemble that morbid, miserable, sad statue. It was horrible to feel and such a contradiction to my feelings about God and love and being loving. Their words expressed joy which was not in that statue. It made me feel guilty for being human. It actually made me shun and avoid religion as a child.

133. If we think awe is love, then a big, gothic church could be considered to inspire love but if we know that love is something different, we may then become aware of the presence of other things in a big church beside awe that Lieke describes so well.

134. It is interesting how there can be places for the worship of God that do not necessarily inspire true love for human-beings.

135. What I love is that feeling God and love is a fully tangible experience, there is no faith but rather bodily experience of expansion and depth that pulses with the universe.

     1. Wow. Super cool. Beyond words and the understanding of our brains, true religion is a whole body experience… love it.

136. True religion, to me, is a deeply honouring bodily experience. The feeling of expansion, fullness, steadiness and absolute acceptance and love for myself and everyone else is a physical palpable feeling that I only feel when I make the choice to connect with my body. Mainstream religion does not teach us this most basic fundamental reality. So real, it is the words of Jesus – The Kingdom Of God Is Within You. How can we know and live this truth, if we don’t first connect with and live from the centre of our bodies?

137. As a child the settlement and harmony within your body makes for a brilliant barometer of that which is not.

138. True religion, God and a religious life feels like home, it asks nothing of me and, offers me the inspiration to expand and arise, with no imposition.

     1. Yes, and you carry it with you at all times, even when you visit a building that describes itself as a church and even in any other place.

139. Being open and allowing everyone in with no protection or hardness is to me feeling the presence of God. I feel warm, joyful, loving, equal, non-imposing and can see the reflection of God in others… God is felt and lived.

140. I most easily see the reflection of God in people; even in the big cold hard churches there were amazing people and that has always reminded me how incredible humanity can be. Equally, it is very heartbreaking when we step away from that care and regard for each other.

141. If one lives in disregard, or allows themselves to be numbed by their desires, then one can never know what God feels like.

     1. If you understand this, then you understand firstly why the world is as it is, and secondly why it is for the most part ignorant of the awareness of the fact and quality of Gods true light – that of fire.

142. This reminds just how much I now feel God in the magic of everything and can feel this in myself when I allow it too.

143. True religion feels so beautiful and deeply knowing and welcoming within, honouring, expansive and flowing like nature, the seas the stars and the Universe, so expansive and all at one with an inner stillness that is known and feels like home as our living way.

144. I also find that exercise is a part of my religion, as it takes me deeply into my body, away from the pull and push of everything going on around me and re-ignites my awareness and connection to the big picture and an unquestionable feeling of oneness.

145. It never made sense to me to go to church on Sundays, be absolved of my sins and return home to live in the same way because I could return to say sorry again the following Sunday. There is no learning there, I am repeating my same pattern every week. The Way of The Livingness shows us how we live our daily life is our religion, how we feel inside our hearts and our connection to our bodies and how we grow with the way we live… now that makes sense.

146. As I understand and embrace the true meaning of religion I too get a sense that a lot of our language has been modified and abused over the years. There is great inspiration in exploring the true meaning of words and the significance of using them in truth.

     1. The other thing I notice is that I’m not used to expressing the enormity of it. I’m having to re-learn the language, make up new words to be able to describe what is there inside to be shared. And with practice and that inspiration it amazes me what is there to be spoken.

147. Everything loving feels godly to me.

148. The words ‘religion’ ‘god’ and ‘soul’ were rarely a part of my vocabulary as I thought it was forbidden to speak them – from fear of being automatically boxed and judged, but since learning the endless ness and depth to the words, it is a true healing to say them without reservation and to embody their meaning.

149. ‘For me, going for a walk can be religious when I am connecting more with myself, my essence and the beauty around me.’ This is how it is for me too Lieke and a far cry from the emptiness I felt at Sunday school as a child.

150. As a child I grew up in a Catholic community and I used to dread going to church because it always felt cold, detached, boring, irrelevant to my life and very uncomfortable to sit on hard wooden seats and kneel on a wooden plank for hours on end. The bit I did always enjoy was being with other people and a sense of community and congregation. When I first came across Universal Medicine and The Way of The Livingness I discovered that true religion was about exploring my own relationship with my soul and with other people together with other people all learning to do the same thing. And that this did not have to be pious, dutiful, arduous, boring or cold but could be fun, light, warm, humorous, playful and real and relevant to my everyday life. I thoroughly enjoy these days congregating together with my fellow students of The Way of The Livingness and have discovered that religion also extends beyond any gathering or meeting but into my whole life everywhere and that every human being is a student of life and therefore one part of the same religion and path back to our true soulful origins.

151. True religion, what does it feel like? A good question. Truth always feels expansive in my body and heart and so does true religion feel, expansive and heartopening.

152. As a child I could never understand why churches were so cold, dark and miserable. This went hand in hand with the message that you were a sinner and should feel bad. This to me, never ignited in me a connection to God, like you shared, it made me feel small and like I had done something wrong.

153. The observations and feelings that you sensed from presentations of The Way of The Livingness are things I can totally relate to – for me it is the only entirely true form or expression of religion that I have ever come across and is beautiful in how it supports us all to re-connect with our essence and restore that back into our daily lives and expressions.

154. If churches truly places of worship as they are supposedly within a lot of Religions – you would therefore assume them to be the highest points or reflections of heaven on earth – and yet, they are cold, heavy and oppressive, and hold qualities that are far from heavenly…?

155. Yes, Lieke, I too love seeing the light in people’s eyes, a reminder of where we come from because, as you say, “such beauty can only be divine.”

156. “I had the most physical experience with Catholic churches, attending funerals or visiting them whilst being on holiday, and these are some of those things I remember clearly” [your dot points…] Agree Lieke I too experienced physical symptoms in such churches to the point of not being able to enter the place… the heaviness of the insides [even from the outside too on the approach towards entering] i found dense and oppressive that i’d feel lethargic and on a few occasions light head headed towards fainting. The energy of places affects our bodies, its particles, our sense of wellbeing far more and far greater than we’d like to think or even know.

157. Why have we made things so complicated when the simplicity of truth is all around us?

158. The reality and Joy of knowing God from inside us all is the pure magic we all know and miss deeply if not connected to by our every movement and way of being and this is true religion.

159. The warmth and love of God and true religion is absolute and beautiful in every way and The Way of The Livingness shown to us by Serge Benhayon and The Ancient wisdom is just this.

160. If being religious is not joyful it must be questioned for its religiosity. What can be a greater joy than being with or in divinity?

161. Religion in its true sense is the value and richness we so deeply crave when it is not lived.. every day. It is so important for us to classify religion in its true sense (our relationship with God) from the myriad of dogma’s and doctrines which like anything when blindly followed offer no nourishment.

162. Just reading this title has reconnect​ed me to what it feels to be religious, I know it in my body. So I know what it is to be religious with myself, a beautiful quality I can be with myself through out the day.

163. ‘So this means that many things in our life can be religious and that these activities are not restricted to being in a church or praying’. Knowing God as I do now, I see how illusionary it is to think that any one activity can be more religious than another without considering that it is my connection that is the religious aspect in all I do.

     1. Yes indeed, Kylie. Religion is not something that just happens on a Sunday morning every week, it is with every breath.

164. Yes Lieke, it is all about discerning energy. What does it feel like? Does it feel cold and disconnected or does it feel warm and connected?

165. The Way of The Livingness- a true religion that allows anyone to connect to God within themselves, to feel the Masters not as people who are better or above us but as equals who walk with us side by side lovingly guiding our way back to soul in deeper communication with God.

166. Its great you talk about the amazing messages that you receive. I always used to ignore them but now I know the absolute magic and meaning shown to me when I see a feather or a bird. But not just that, the detail of what kind of bird, where i saw it and how many. It is ever-expanding what is there to be shown to us.

167. ‘So, how does God feel to you?’ A great question to ask. I think if I am honest God has always felt the same. When I rejected Catholicism as a teenager I was confused because I had been confusing God with this religion which didn’t feel true. Divorce organised religion from God and God still remains, but our relationship with the divine changes. It becomes more clear, natural, instinctive, personal and universal!

168. I also grew up with mainstream religion and while I maintained a sense of connection to ‘something’ I would not have called it religious until I realised there was a different way to be religious.

169. It’s beautiful to connect to what is actually being religious and to have the list you refer to- how I know each one of those points as points of truth, a reference to what is religious that supports me to observe these qualities in my day and appreciate the religion that I do live.

170. Language and the way we use it has changed so much over time. I find language of bygone times quite rhythmical wih an ability to capture more the fullness of what is wanting to be expressed.

171. It is always the feel of things and not the look that allows us to know what is of truth or not.

     1. Yes and what a simple way of living​ if we allow it, so observing all the beliefs and ideals that may get in the way, the not feeling what is beneath what our eyes and ears see and hear.

172. I remember the times having been in christian groups. For me the main thing about God was that I felt him like far away and not truly reachable nor reliable. I was not able to feel if he was hearing the prayers at all coming from people. So I developed a relationship with him which was based on insecurity.
     Learning to know Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine brought me to an understanding of God which did not rely on outer teachings, but I was able to feel that God was residing inside of me and that it was my choice to hear his voice and my bodies voice or not. I was able to start a new relationship which was vibrant and real.

173. God becomes very alive to us when you describe this way of your living now Lieke, not someone to be feared or revered but a friend supporting us in our daily lives. The contrast of your two lists reveal all to me how God and religion can be so disguised in myths and lies or are lived in truth.

174. You are so spot on Lieke, true religion is not cold, it is warm, in fact, it is very warm, even unto ‘Fiery! The dogma of false religion has gone so far as to bastardise the utterly divine and universal meaning ‘Fiery’ to make up myths about burning in hell – anything to distract or terrorise people instead of encouraging and supporting us to live in the held-ness of the divine fire.

     1. So weird that such a misinterpretation is so prevalent. Why would God feel anything but warm, playful and personal?

175. If only we honoured what we feel we would not fall for so many falsities the mind and psyche otherwise buy into. It is only by overriding what we know through feeling that we disconnect from who we are and become a version of ourselves that suffers from not being seen for our true beingness, ie we don´t feel being loved.

176. As a child I could always feel God in myself through the reflections of nature. That was my go to when everything else failed.

177. I have been in the UK and Europe for the last few weeks and have visited some old religious buildings. I would agree that they can feel quite cold, dark and unwelcoming, despite the grandness and lavish decorations. This feeling is enough to put anyone off religion. Thank goodness for Serge Benhayon, who has brought back the meaning of true religion and along with it the joy, lightness and self-responsibility of having a relationship with God. As you have shared this simply means connecting to your true inner core and living from that.

178. ‘True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.’ Such a simple explanation of religion and note it has nothing to do with beliefs.

     1. Yes, this beautifully expresses the nature of religion as a living way.

179. Places of worship are apparently designed to reflect God’s glory but I suspect it’s a ploy to make us doubt our own might, power and magnificence.

180. The warm embrace of God is beholding, fiery, warm, an non-imposing in such a way that when you let it in, there is no want to do anything but surrender.

     1. Further to above, to feel God is also to feel tension – to feel the tension created between the essence of divinity and the reality of the way things are. That is not to say that humanity and physical life is void of divinity. To the contrary, it is all around us. However, to live in a way that is in separation to the fact invariably leads to unforeseen consequences, the worst of which we call evil. Yet evil is seeded well before the act we call evil ever eventuates, and it starts simply by disconnecting to the fiery essence I have described above. For in that space of oneness,such thoughts to bring harm to another in even the slightest way do not even enter one’s thoughts. And yet, as I said, there is a tension that is even more present within as one starts to feel in full the true extent of the divide between our true fiery essence and the actual lived emanation of all living beings.

181. Very true Lieke, when I attended the catholic church services I could never understand what the priest was talking about when he read his sermon, it never made any sense to me. When I hear The Way of The Livingness sermons they resonate with every cell in my body.

182. I smile as I read this – once upon a time I would have been puzzling about what the word religion or God really meant. These days it is a strong feeling that I clearly feel inside, and my daily challenge is how to put something so vast into words!

183. It is great to discern and feel what is true for ourselves .. and I would say it is more vital than ever that we do this.

184. Just being around the room of a Universal Medicine is so beautiful. I have been revising outside the workshops and it’s an absolute blessing have such calming presence around.

185. The more I connect with the divine qualities within me the more I see feel and connect with them in everyone and everything, a continuing deepening path that I am loving. Thank you Serge Benhayon and The Way of The Livingness.

186. I can relate to what you say Leike about the music in church making you feel sad. I used to find I felt the same, especially when I sang the hymns and I often wanted to cry. It happened every time! We really can be affected so much by the energy of a place or building without being aware of it.

187. How extraordinary to know that God is within and not just an image that exists by the tenants of a certain place or movement of people. He is here in us, we are his children.

188. Feeling is so important as our heart holds all truth. Something that feels cold and uninviting does not need an expert to tell us it is not from the heart and it is not truth, we just need to be honest to ourselves and honor what we truly feel.

     1. Yes to the power of being honest with ourselves and yes to the truth in what we feel.

189. To be truly religious one must look both inward and outward at the same time. The inner search allows one to reconnect, and the outward look allows one to express that which they have connected to.

     1. The outward is a natural extension of being full to bursting with the everything inside!

190. There is no end to how God feels or is experienced as he/she is not defined by any limitations but ever expanding just as we are as his equal sons. As we unfold we realize more of who God is and who we are.

     1. That makes a lot more sense to me than a man with a white beard sitting on a cloud – or was that Santa Claus?

191. Yes, Lieke. A friend joined me at a Universal Medicine event for the first time yesterday, and during the break she shared that she was so touched by the warmth and openness of everyone there, that she felt instantly at home and could just be herself.

192. You can look at someone’s eyes and read a lot about them, or you can connect with them by looking deep into their eyes and join them in the best church ever, our connected souls.

     1. Ah totally agree Steve, the best church ever is looking into someone’s eyes and seeing the universe reflected. No need for exploitation to have built those buildings many now so admire.

193. I could never stand the fact that we have had a housing shortage for a long time yet have religious institutions taking up vast amounts of prime space for no truly good use.

     1. So true, you know that after the Second World War they re-build 12 churches in Cologne from the rubble, they put all this effort into that, whilst many people did not even have a roof over their head. This does not make sense to me.

194. When I first encountered Serge Benhayon and The Way of The Livingness I realized that for the first time in my life, with all my searching, that I had at last come home to God and Religion! The beautiful feeling of being a valuable and loveable person just as I am, was amazing!

195. When I reflect on my religious upbringing, going to Sunday school and church I can relate to much of what your past experiences were Lieke. I always struggled with what was being said and what I felt within me, plus the added sombre heavy energy felt within the church building. I also remember what a relief it was when the service was over to come back out into the sunshine. The Way of The Livingness religion to me was like coming back home – re-connecting to the truth I always knew and I feel if I were still a child I would describe it like living in the sunshine everyday – feeling the love and light of God in everything and everyone. and as you have written Lieke “..-simply walking my talk even when nobody is watching.”

196. Connecting to my divine essence within is connecting with God and staying with this connection in all of my doing through out the day makes everything I do religious, no need for churches to find God for he lives within by the light of the soul.

197. Ariana that is such a wonderfully simple summation of religion. No prayers needed, no rosary beads, no mantras, no bible, just the honouring of God within, to the best of our ability.

198. Lieke, your second list is the same as mine. It shows how similar we all are in how we feel about religion and God. When we openly share about our feelings and experiences we realise how many people have felt the same and had similar experiences as us. This to me confirms how we are connected and living the One life sharing it with others even though we may not physically see this.

199. I know from young I always felt walking into and being in big old churches very oppressive. The longer I stayed in them the more intense the feeling. These days I understand clearly it is because of what the are full of – and none of this aligns to the love and light of God.

200. I have recently attended a christening ceremony and it struck me just how much the children did not enjoy the process or connect with priest. This is in their very early years and this may be their first experience of institutionalised religion but they know at this point that it does not feel right or true.

201. ‘feeling small and alone’ this is the way many of the main religions make us feel, despite having regular congregations, but we can feel alone in a crowd when we are not connected within, when we cannot truly feel the Brotherhood of humanity. In truth we are all connected all of the time, just not allowing ourselves to feel it.

202. God’s a big word and at the same time ‘just’ one word. To me the word is very sacred, close to my heart and very dear. Almost as if I’m constantly protecting the fact that I am in relationship with him. Almost a secret sacred romance. It doesn’t need to be that way. I am who I am and I have the natural right to celebrate and connect to the value I hold our relationship in. This is completely new in this life, but feels very much me. Thank you Lieke for your beautiful blog that is very supportive to connect to what I feel inside of me. Deeply appreciated.

203. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine.” when we make religion true religion there would not be a question of war, of harm, of hiding or of irresponsibility. It shows there is no need for any separation in the world and life can be full of purpose, love and joy. Very inspiring and humbling to reflect on.

204. Religion comes in many forms in society today. I like how you have set a standard for yourself here in that you choose a religion based on the depth of support it holds you in.

205. It’s in the preciousness of the moment that I know I feel the presence of God, within me and all around me. It’s in the moment of me being fully present, humble and connected with myself, with my body, that I then instantly connect to so much more. And then everything I do comes with that sacred reverence, for that is what it is – God is revered in the small things, all of which have an equal grandness in the quality in which they are done, and they quality that they then leave behind. This is a joy, a daily devotion….. the utter beauty of true religion.

206. Who has ever asked how God feels like? All focus in religion has been laid on who or what God is, how we can appeal to him by a way of living, moral, behaviour based on images (ideas, beliefs and ideals), thus focusing on the intellect or mind to relate to God; and with mind comes emotion, not feeling as a sense and source of knowing. ‘How does God feel like’ opens the space to very personally connect to God, to explore one´s own relationship with him without any intermediary (person or picture).

207. How religious places of worship feel is often discounted. When feeling really down and lonely in another country whilst traveling I sought religious places because deep within I knew we all have a connection with God and one another. Because of this I ignored what didn’t fit what I knew religion to be deep within and at the time this was as good as it got. But this compromise led me away from the relationship I can have with myself and God all of the time, the connections I can have with everyone with no need for doctrine or buildings.

208. What needs to be respected above all is freedom of religion, and what should be encouraged in anyone who embarks on a “religious quest” is to ensure they remain discerning – and energetically so if possible. Anyone can preach the words of love, but to live it is another kettle of fish indeed.

     1. Indeed, Adam. It is easy to be fooled by someone’s words but not by their movements. That’s why it is so clear to see and feel that Serge Benhayon lives love with every breath.

209. I love your question at the end Lieke asking, ‘so how does God feel to you’? To me God always felt like the most all-encompassing love possible… love that has no room for judgement or critique only a never-ending amount of understanding, patience, holding and acceptance. To meet people who hold these qualities and reflect them back to us is a stunningly beautiful thing indeed. They practice religion in the truest sense!

210. What do religion and God truly feel like? They feel the same to me, religion feels like God and God feels like religion.

211. God was presented to me as a distant figure, a big character whom we all must fear, be good for and be judged by. Now I am learning that I am an equal part of that God, created to expand the Universe – very different from being taught to adore and be humbled by.

212. I have always felt uncomfortable in churches, I do not like the cold at the best of times and being in a cold church for a couple of hours is definitely not my idea of fun.
     It is crazy that by man, God and religion have been put into boxes that are quite ruthless and cold – it ironic as this is 100,0000 trillion times away from the warmth love and joy that true religion is – the religion which in truth is found in all our inner hearts.

213. The contrast between what you felt when going to a Catholic Church and attending a presentation by Serge Benhayon is striking Leike, and its as though you are talking about two different subjects! But this is the reality of how far religion has strayed from the true meaning of the word, and now Serge Benhayon is bringing our awareness to what we have lost touch with, through the teachings of Universal Medicine and the Ageless Wisdom for all to know.

214. So how does God feel to me? God feels to be an ever beholding and ever loving presence.

215. God always feels warm, confirming, supportive and very, very wise.

216. When we see God as something outside of us we negate our own connection to the bodies divine purpose. It is here that we no longer need to look for answers or pray for help because we have God joyously within and the wisdom is available to us on tap if we so choose, to connect to our body and move from its inner rhythm.

217. “The mainstream institutionalised religions as mentioned above are not true religion as they did not support me to live in a truthful way with integrity.” This is one of the keys for me that really makes The Way of The Livingness stand out, integrity and truth are in absolutely every single tenancy of it. My experiences of other religions are: that they did not ask me to know the truth, but told me a bastardised version of the truth, they did not ask me to speak the truth, but be obedient to their version of the truth, and that their version of the truth never actually felt wholly true to me.

218. It is so beautiful, Lieke, to read how for a young person such as yourself, religion has returned to being a natural and joyful part of your everyday life, a celebration of the fact that God is in everything.

219. Lieke, I love what you have shared: “To me this shows that we should always discern if a word like religion or God is used and lived in its true meaning, or if it has been reinterpreted over time.” For me this should be the only way to life as to not discern will make us puppets who always serve a word or a god who is not true.

220. The major religions keep trying to repackage their product to entice new sheep into their fold. Painting an old car to may make it look great, but it is still just an old car with its original manual stuffed in the glove box. True religion is simple and requires nothing to improve on. How simple is it to connect to the amazing love we all are!

221. I too can rememberer walking into churches when I was a young child and recognising the cold temperature and hard seats inside these buildings, and also noticing that it didn’t look like the adults noticed it either… It is an example of how as children we feel and use clairsentience more so than as adults, by over riding feelings and conforming to the outside expectations.

222. ‘Coldness, contraction, piety and unworthy’ – I can relate to feeling all of these things when I’ve been inside churches and attended their services. The feeling of being ‘unworthy’ was probably the most impactful sensation for me, and the reason I dis-associated myself completely from organised religion. It’s now very confirming to have a very different understanding of the word religion and I’m deeply appreciating my choice to not buy into the false version.

223. God feels awfully like love and lived truth.

224. ‘This made me feel like what I felt was not true and confirmed the feelings of being small and alone.’ – I can completely relate to this feeling Lieke. It’s not currently the norm for us all to be surrounded with people living full vital lives from their inner heart, making loving choices that nurture and support them, rather the opposite. Hence, when we are feeling a pull that is against the reflections and messages that we are being bombarded with in life, it can be hard to trust in our own impulses and the pull from our own body. It’s so important that we do trust in our inner wisdom, that we claim our true divine selves so that we are then a reflection for others to do the same – and so, in time, the tide will turn.

225. This is very true Lieke: ‘True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine’. It is so interesting that the whole world is set up to prevent us from re-connecting to this essence, and holding out myriad goodies and behaviours like an evil uncle to us that will certainly and surely bury that essence deep from feeling. The joyous thing is that this essence can never be destroyed, it can only be ignored.

     1. True Lyndy, there are so many distractions that can pull us away from that which lives naturally within. Our relationships are key and calling for a true family reunion.

226. ‘I can also see God in my eyes when I look in the mirror and other people’s eyes when I meet them because, if I am honest, such beauty can only be divine.’ – This statement puts a smile on my face, a smile that recognises every word you are saying.

227. Love that you’ve posed this question as completely open and broad, because so often people feel as if they have to believe certain things, or think about religion/God in a particular way based on their upbringing and environment.

228. Great point to focus on how it feels to the body being in different religious places, as the body doesn’t lie. The Catholic church is the only building of worship I have been in growing up and what you describe is spot on, as well as a general feeling of aloofness as if God was unattainable, not tangible. This is the opposite to what I know God to be now.

229. Isn’t Religion actually very sweet and purposeful? Relating to each other with the purpose of supporting each other on their way back to themselves, back to God, back to life.

230. The only time I have been to a Catholic church or cathedral, and in fact most churches of whichever denomination, they have been cold and smelt very old and musty – need a good heater and an air freshener.

     1. This blog and all the comments being shared are very confirming of our innate wisdom and our sensitivity to the energy around us. We pick up on so much, yet, if we are seemingly the ‘odd’ one out, how often do we dismiss the messages we are keenly aware of, feeling we must be wrong or missing something that everyone else seems to be getting. It may just be that we are more tuned in to the reality of what is around us.

231. I am reminded of the children’s story of ‘The Emperor’s clothes’ where every person in the crowd is busy hiding their own awareness that the emperor is not wearing any clothes, because no one trusted their own perception that happened to go contra to the charade the whole crowd was acting out. Instead everyone was pretending that they saw magnificent skilled tailoring in the clothes – that is until the innocence one person in expression helped everyone to realize they are not alone. I wonder how much of our acceptance and putting up with religious buildings and so many aspects of institutionalized religions is similar to that old story?

     1. Perhaps everyone was afraid – when the child didn’t get harmed, everyone felt safe to say the truth.

        1. That is an importance point Christoph. Many of us tend to hold security and comfort as the most important thing. I know I have often been afraid of reactions and rebuttal so I have held back the truth that I could sense. What a gift it is to everyone when someone is prepared to be the first one, so that the path becomes that much easier for everyone else to also walk their truth.

232. I distinctly remember the sense of foreboding as a child on entering our local church with my mother and meeting the minister in preparation for going to Sunday school. It felt dark, musty and creepy. I insisted to both of them that I did not want to go, but of course my words were ignored. Learning that life is about discerning energy is the greatest gift we can ever receive – thank you Serge Benhayon. It allows us freedom from the temporal prisons and as we connect with our inner essence, our divinity nature, and ask very simply – does it match?

233. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.” This captures religion in a very simple and succinct way and also shows that everyone may have their own ways of being religious but in essence being equal.

234. When you look at some of the atrocities that have happened over the ages, and still go on today, in the name of religion, it is clear that the word has been misinterpreted and misued.

235. Is it any wonder many of us as children disliked going to church – we didn’t like the seriousness, the rules, the piety and the cold and hard environment of the church? And church and religion went hand in hand. If you didn’t go to church then you weren’t considered to be religious. But religion is how we are with everything we do…no church required.

236. The key word here is feel. I am understanding the power of using the word feel.

     Saying that I feel God is so much more powerful than saying I believe in him.

237. “The place felt sad and heavy” its always fascinated me why so many institutional religions and in particular the catholic religion are places that are dark, sad and feeling heavy and oppressive. When God is about Love this never made sense to me. I would overlook it but in truth this was a big tell tale.

238. It’s amazing how we have tried to make Religion about the objects, rituals and things when what makes us all so beautiful is the energy inside. This is what brings it alive. And so what this says to me is the greatest way I can pray or praise God today is to cherish and celebrate the quality of divinity in everything, not the things tasks the day brings. Thanks Lieke for sharing this quality too.

     1. If a ritual doesn’t loop us back to ourselves then it can’t be a truly religious ritual.

239. I see the names of all these religions listed at the start of the blog and if I am honest I couldn’t tell you a great deal about the philosophy of each, as it has never interested me to know more. Perhaps that is for the best though and actually leaves me more open to being religious with people than I otherwise might be, as i have no preconceived opinions about them and can just treat everyone as I find them. That seems like more of the kind of religious relationship I would prefer to have, where everyone is equal and equally worth caring about.

240. Love reading and feeling the ways in which you are religious and the simplicity of being religious is the quality of what one does to be connected. This feels so warm and lovely, so different to the hardness I once associated being religious with.

241. Often people talk about the emotional response or reaction to religion and religious buildings or pilgrimage sites, but not so much their physical responses in these places. Could it be that the emotional reaction or need, stops them from feeling the actual qualities that Lieke describes in her experiences of such places as a child?

242. I have that same experiences too Lieke, that the mainstream religions have not brought me that simple connection with that which lives in all of us, but instead has shown me directions to go which I felt are impossible to achieve and only reachable for the ‘happy’ few.

243. God is constantly evolving, so when we truly connect to God within ourselves then we embark on a journey of relentless evolution becoming more of who we naturally are and returning to a unified brotherhood of immense grace. True religion puts this immutable truth at its core and empowers all who engage to deepen our knowing of our divine wisdom and purpose and thus commit to life with every particle of our bodies.

244. I have heard from many people about how alien, attending the first Universal Medicine event is! There all of these people hugging each other for one! But, from a man’s perspective, there are no man hugs and no slapping of the backs like a rugby scrum! And, the amount of love in the room feels good and strange at the same time. Then, the coming home feeling slowly settles in and what was our normal way of life starts to feel like the real alien!

245. Powerful piece of writing Lieke, you share with us the history (what has been recorded and lived).
     First that we have lived the truth.
     Second that we have chosen to no longer live the truth and hence truth was no longer lived and space to the misintepretation was given. Hence a lie is simply a space we have given that filled the lack of truth in our lives and so on in society..
     We are very powerful because we have lived the truth in history, the old ages. So we should collect the courage to let go of the things that have not served now and in the past – and make our lives about truth again.

246. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.” Beautifully expressed, reconnecting with our essence to divinity, universe, and God.

247. Absolutely, Elizabeth and there is no sense in the hardship and struggle of the former list when the truth is that God is embracing and supporting us always as we return to our full relationship with him.

248. ‘They always felt cold’… this first point in your list about what churches feel like is one to stop us in our tracks instantly… why the hardship and lack of warmth and care when we are meant to be celebrating God’s presence in our lives.

249. “This is what God feels like to me and it makes it clear to me that the mainstream institutionalised religions as mentioned above are not true religion as they did not support me to live in a truthful way with integrity.”Lieke, l would have to agree with you. Mainstream religious rituals and churches feel stifling and stagnant. For me they have nothing on “The Way of The Livingness”, which feels alive, fresh, vital, divine, pure and true. A reflection of who we truly are.

250. My understanding of God and how we came to be has transformed from the creation dogma taught by the Catholic Church. Understanding that God does not judge us has been life changing. I still judge myself, but I’m working on letting go of that. Understanding that we are all equal, regardless of our beliefs has also been life changing. It’s not about ‘tolerating’ someone who lives differently, but allowing that they are the same as us, neither superior nor inferior, but absolutely equal. It’s pretty mind-blowingly different from the way most of us are brought up.

251. Lieke what you have shared comes from our clairsentience, basically our ability to feel energy. It is a natural ability that we all naturally have but one that we choose to turn off for a multitude of different reasons. What you have so beautifully demonstrated is that our clairsentience never leaves us and can be reinstated at any time.

252. Your blog took me back to my younger days when I had to attend church and the coldness I felt within it. Universal Medicine has offered me a complete turn around to how I felt about religion. From once cringing at the word God, to now embracing it, and feeling the incredible warmth and love God offers.

253. Lieke, thank you – I love in particular this section here: “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious. So this means that many things in our life can be religious and that these activities are not restricted to being in a church or praying.” – Religion is accessible to us all, it is simply about re-connecting back to who we are and where we come from!

254. God is around us, everywhere and anytime, but it is still for us to choose to ‘see’ Him and feel him. Not seeing Him or feeling Him is simply because we have chosen not to, and hence is a great reminder for us to open our hearts again.

255. It is so easy to see now that all the trappings of religion are just that – trappings. We can still use incense and ceremony in our lives in a religious way, but it is simply the quality of love that counts.

256. One of the great tricks of our times and those of the many times past is to make religion feel like it is a heavy and imposing structure that will crush you if you do not conform – thus, the birth of a vengeful ‘God’ that will punish you for your sins if you do not comply with ‘his’ laws (pure illusion and an absolute lie).

     Or at the other end of the spectrum we have the religions that make you feel bigger than your body in desperate search of ‘nirvana’ – a state of bliss whereby you can renege your responsibilities in life and escape into your mind and the host of images that await you there, while you leave your body behind meditating on a cold hard floor somewhere thousands of feet below you.

     And then there is the truth – that religion is anything that supports us to reconnect to our essence, which is love. Perhaps far too simple for a wayward species (us!) that have spent thousands upon thousands of years creating elaborate structures and techniques to worship something that exists outside of us rather than simply re-turning to divinity that lives and breathes within us all and is reflected externally by nature (the magic of God) and any gesture from a fellow Brother that contains truth.

257. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine.” Beautiful words LIeke… our essence that was within us all along, waiting for us to re-turn.

258. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.” I really like this and will take this into my day, looking at which activities are religious and which are not – which ones are connecting me to my by essence and which ones take me away from it.

259. I can remember feeling uneasy about going to church as a child, I didn’t go often (weddings, funerals and a few odd other occasions) something didn’t feel right and I remember the apprehension I had beforehand and sense of relief it was over afterwards.

260. The word Religion to me becomes a more and more beautiful, delicate and super precious word. The word captures all interactivities I have with people. Which are very, very dear to me. How beautiful is it that these interactions do have a deep purpose. They confirm – whether we see it like this or not – that we’re religious and we’re proud of them. There’s nothing more precious than the connections we have with people, nature, ourselves and God. Re-ligion isn’t what it is bastardised to. It’s the polar opposite. I’m forever thankful to Serge Benhayon for resurrecting the true meaning of the word Religion (and God).

261. When I first started to attend Universal Medicine presentations I was totally humbled by the fact that I was sitting in the audience next to one of the Esoteric Connective Tissue practitioners I’d had sessions with. There is such a deeply beautifully equality amongst the students of Universal Medicine – practitioners, presenters, mothers, children, business people and medical professionals all sit in the same chairs and listen to Serge Benhayon present on the Ageless Wisdom.

262. Religion being fun? Now that’s something you don’t hear many people saying everyday! There has been a lot of hardship, sufferring, torture, judgement, emotion, sadness, grief, guilt and the list goes on that has been associated with this very controversial word. But not many have put religion and fun together. Perhaps thats why you don’t generally hear many people saying young children are relgious when in truth they generally express their connection to God so naturally and effortlessly in their fun and joy.

263. It’s taken me a while to come round to the fact that I can say I am religious, there was much stigmatise and concern over what people would think I was involved in. Now I can say I am religious – and that is the reason why my life is as amazing as it is and will only get even more glorious.

264. So many religions say god is everywhere, yet hold large halls as his house…it doesn’t make sense

265. How those institutionalized religions give God a bad name is just incredible. There’s something so unloving in there.

266. I was talking with someone recently who had ‘walked away” from their religion and from God because of some life events where they felt that God had not helped them. Whilst this is an understandable reaction, it’s the reaction itself that keep us from seeing beyond that which our eyes can see and that is every moment no matter what fills it, is our opportunity to re-connect, re-build and deepen our relationship with God. God has never walked away from us, ever. Therefore it is our responsibility to return to God, where he waits for us with open arms and without judgment.

267. I love how simply you have have laid out what religion is for you – a far cry from the complicated ideals most people have around religion, based on how the traditional religions have been practised.

268. ‘True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine.’ And when I connect to that there is a sense of joy and sweetness, not the heavy foreboding feeling I used to get when I had to go to church. Here I was presented with a picture of God as an enormous someone you had to please by monitoring your behaviour, and no matter what you did it wasn’t good enough. It made me feel boxed in and hardly able to breathe, yet I naturally and easily connected with what I now know as God but discounted as it seemed so much a part of me. I couldn’t define it with my mind which seemed to be what you had to do to know God, according to the religious authorities. Serge Benhayon’s teachings have helped me reconnect to the simplicity of true religion which I knew as a child.

269. To reconnect back to God in nature and through the simplest of ways for me is far more true than standing in a cold church saying words and reciting prayers that don’t mean much.

270. Stunning and I absolutely agree Lieke with everything you have shared. God to me feels warm, loving, purposeful, joyful and the lists goes on. For me The Way of the Livingness has reminded me again of what it is like to live in a way that is in line with our essence and connect with everyone’s essence.

271. Like you, Lieke, I instantly feel a connection to God, the Universe and beyond whenever I am in nature, it’s a feeling of absoluteness and very confirming of all that I am. Going for a walk outside is my go to place whenever I don’t feel quite myself.

272. When I walk into a room to attend presentations by Universal Medicine, I know absolutely that I feel the joy, and equality you describe Lieke.

     1. I feel the same Rosanna, completely held in the knowing of who we are.

273. ‘When I saw the other people in these religious places, they were seemingly not noticing these things, even though they were so obvious to me.’ Sometimes our need for something to be true overwhelms and blinds our awareness and discernment as to whether something IS true or not.

274. Reading the observations of institutionalised religion shows just how much we override what we feel and observe in order to follow these types of religions. A total case of giving our power away.

275. I love the juxtaposition of your two lists Lieke the difference in quality is palpable.. It is a no brainer as to which one feels true!

276. In the blog there is such a strong feeling of ‘the livingness’ which you speak of Lieke, from living religiously rather than preaching religion.

277. All I can say is that God feels like home to me – something natural, familiar and part of me

     1. I agree, and that God is at home, at work, in life always, because he is in me.

278. True religion is very simple, wise, warm and open hearted, a tender quality felt within my body that I know is present in absolutely every person on this planet without fail. Choosing to stay with this throughout the day restores our sacred values to normal life, so that our communication with God becomes one perpetual conversation.

279. Its never time wasted defining what we are talking about to ensure there is full inderstanding of what we actually discuss.

280. Yes indeed, Lieke. God is in everything, so that must mean he resides within us too. Once we can accept that we too are divine, life becomes full of joy and purpose.

     1. Absolutely Janet when we understand and connect to this, divinely knowing that God is within us, life becomes a beautiful flow of movements and choices, full of joy and purpose.

281. There is not one ounce of judgement in God. So if we are judging another or others then we know we have separated from our Self. I also find it interested how much reaction comes up for people around the word religions, churches, bible, or with people who practice institutionalised religion, for if we judge them then we are being the same as what we say we don’t like.

282. As all the traditional religions claim, God is Love but this is not reflected in their lived experience. The Way of The Livingness religion, however, does.

283. So true what you say about words here Lieke. Words are important. They weald power or force and the bastardisation of words can lead us ‘up the garden path’ if we are not discerning. Coming back to what is felt in words is a key part of this process.

284. Associating religion with unworthiness and guilt – this is still something I am battling with – the beliefs imposed upon us by the Catholic Religion that we are all sinners and only the Church can save us – I am learning that is me who saves me by taking responsibility for the energy I align to, how I am in each day, how I move, how I speak, how I breathe.

285. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine.” the power in what true religion is all about is amazing, the more I understand and make reconnection to my essence how I live each day the simpler and more full and enjoyable life is and the greater I am contributing to society.

286. As I have been raised in christian religion, I made similar experiences like you, Lieke. When now I read your blog I realize how different I feel about religion. I was not aware before how deeply I feel held and loved.

     1. That’s beautiful Kerstin. When you find true religion you realise the extent of Gods love which was there all along.

287. A church is meant to be a building of God, a vessel of God, a conduit to God….My church is my body; that is where I can feel and be with God….and then all around me and in the every detail of my life. No church needed.

     1. Love this Otto, our body is most certainly a vessel and one that is far grander than any church or cathedral. I can’t wait for the day that there are no church’s, when congregations and communions take place over dinners at home, during meetings at work and many more daily routines!

288. Your description of the the religion of The Way of The Livingness is so simple, clear and totally accessible to the all. A far cry from the purposefully complicated and separative language and teachings of many of the organised religions. Indeed the Catholic Church would conduct its services in Latin – a language that only a tiny, tiny fraction if its congregation would understand – how can this possible be a true religion for the all??!! Yet there has never ever been a moment in any single one of the ten years of teachings and presentations that I have heard from Serge Benhayon where he hasn’t made a very conscious and specific effort to ensure that every single person in the room – irrespective of their mother tongue, hasn’t grasped very word. True care. True equality. True religion.

289. For me feeling the oneness of God all around and within me has transformed how I live my life in every single aspect – truly life-changing and awe inspiring.

290. I accompanied my mum to church last Christmas and I could not believe how uncomfortable the seats were, they were the very same pews that were there when I was a kid. The funny thing was when I started asking people about this nobody seemed to notice, I mean these things were medieval and there were still a lot of people that would kneel down on these hard wooden kneeler things.

     1. It just brings back the history of churches and the self-suffering that was required to be a true believer. It was always just what ‘they’ said and told us, that it was what God required from us to show our dedication. Makes you ponder on other things that we were told by some of them, that it was just Gods will, that we had to suffer, for his love?

291. A great article Leike that gives a simple and clear deliniation of what we have been ‘fed’ to be religion and what is in fact true religion. My experience of religion before I came across Universal Medicine was similar to yours and nothing felt true to me. All I felt and saw was people following a doctrine without discerning whether or not it was true for them, and it would leave me feeling unclear about my own place in it. But now I know that true religion is about my own ever deepening connection with God in my own body, and learning to live my life with that awareness in everything I do, everyday.

292. There is a vibrancy to The Way of The Livingness, an aliveness, a pulse that I have come to know as the pulse of God. Traditional religion on the other hand is a rather grey lifeless affair that seems in desperate need of CPR! Either that or it should be supported to slip off this mortal coil forever.

293. How fascinating and how false Lieke that the fact that others were not noticing the things that you were, ‘made you feel like what you were feeling was not true and confirmed your feelings of being small and alone’ And yet what you were feeling was the absolute truth. This is such a great example of how we, as children, end up shutting down our ability to feel purely because it’s not confirmed by the world around us.

294. I feel the same Lieke: ‘To me this shows that we should always discern if a word like religion or God is used and lived in its true meaning, or if it has been reinterpreted over time.’ All words have been subjected to the torture of what used to be called Chinese whispers, a game we played at birthday parties when I was a child. We started with one person whispering a sentence into the next person’s ear and it was passed around the circle until the last person spoke it out loud. The original sentence was always totally changed, ending up meaning something different to what it started out with. This is the very good reason why we need to discover what God is by going within our innermost heart, not go outside to hear what we now call ‘circulation energy’.

295. ‘So, how does God feel to you?’ – God is active in the stillness in my body and in the motion of my body and emanates with an amazing warmth. God for me always holds expression through all that I see, feel and breathe and holds me in love.

296. “What do Religion and God Truly Feel Like?” – few years ago I would have run away from such a question or feeling….though for the past few years to today I’m running towards them both having run back towards me.

297. OMG YES YES and YES! Same. It is the same for me. Have you ever read something and gone OMG that is exactly how I feel and …. why have I not expressed this!!!!? Well here is that moment everything you have said here rings true to me. The coldness, heaviness and surpression etc of churches and the beliefs that we can only connect with God in these places and the ABSOLUTE complete opposite when attending any courses, presentations, teachings by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. Instead here there is an equality in the room, a truth, a warmth, an acceptance, a space to just be yourself, a place to express what you truly feel, a love, true connection, an openness and so much more and that God is not or never something outside of ourselves we all hold this equally within. Love the blog, love your expression. Thank you. This baby has got to be tweeted 🤗

298. Regardless of morals, beliefs and ideals, I love Leike how you’ve brought life back to how our body feels. What if we applied this way to the whole of living, not just churches? Perhaps we would find similar vibrations in the school, the army barrack and the pub? And what if we find an amazing warmth in the company and smile of a stranger on a train? It feels to me that then we’d discover that religion and God live in appreciating the energetic quality of everything.

299. How is it we have come to perceive God as this old man who passes down judgment, when we are told God is loving? How can someone who is loving pass judgment? Unconditional love does not stop being unconditional love.

300. Having listened to the bible and the way it is taught it feels very heavy and burdensome, and yet I am sure that this is not what the originally teachings were, they would have been light and fun and uplifting. So I feel we must discern for ourselves what it is we practice, for if we practice something so heavy then what are we really spreading through our religion?

301. I feel my reactions to the words God and religion come from the hypocrisy I saw as a child and feeling the lack of love in my religious experiences. God appeared to relate to a blaming/shaming game… people were either angry with God and blamed him for their lives/situation (with no self-responsibility taken), or they felt less/ashamed in some way – and in all of this love was lacking. In contrast, The Way of The Livingness is all about energetic integrity and energetic responsibility… and being the love we innately all are within, equally so.

302. This is a great question LIeke… “So, how does God feel to you?” Its not something I’ve ever considered believe it or not! Before attending Universal Medicine presentations I used to react to the words ‘God’ and ‘religion’, and really not want a bar of either of them. However, my perception and understanding of both have dramatically changed over time and I am now comfortable with both words… but reading this blog, I realise I haven’t deepened my relationship with God and embodied that relationship – so thank you for your inspiration Lieke.

303. ‘True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine’…and from here we see straight through everything that presents itself as Religion or Religious but is void of this connection.

     1. Beautifully said Kylie – and the same goes for Love, once we connect to true love from the Soul then all the imposters, the images and emotional love we have sold ourselves short for are exposed. We know the truth of life, in our bodies, and we know what is not it – it’s simply a matter of connecting to that knowing and the rest is history.

304. How true it is, that religious activity is not restricted to church, but something that simply supports our connection to our essence, the divinity within us.

305. ‘I can also see God in my eyes when I look in the mirror and other people’s eyes when I meet them because, if I am honest, such beauty can only be divine.’ Beautifully expressed, I can feel a deep appreciation for the qualities you bring and those in all others.

306. I’ve recently been to a very famous French cathedral and even on a super hot day it felt cold and foreboding, quite sinister actually.

     But I walk into any Universal Medicine event and I can feel the absolute acceptance of all of me. I have no doubt those facilitating the events can see I’m not shinning as bright as I would have been had I not made harmful choices but even though I know they know the extent of this harm far more than I have allowed my awareness to be, I am totally accepted and welcomed no matter what. This is such a reflection of God’s love that I cannot but be inspired to know God’s love within again.

307. A very real sharing of the true livingness and everydayness of true religion and the discernment needed with all religions out there and the knowing of what God really feels like. Beautiful Lieke and the warmth of Serge Benhayon and The Way of The Livingness comes deeply from within us all and we resonate and feel held by this.

308. God feels warm, fatherly and motherly, powerful yet unimposing, delicate, none judgemental, playful, deeply loving and magnificent. It feels like there are no words that can describe exactly how God feels to me, yet every word can be an expression of God when we express from our essence.

309. The cold of the organised religion and the warmth of the religious Way of The Livingness, are like chalk and cheese. I too have sat in many churches, and felt the coldness of the buildings and the emptiness & complication of much of the words spoken, and now I bask in the warmth of being at The Way of The Livingness sermon, and whilst I may not always ‘get’ all the words spoken, I can feel the fiery-ness of the words.

310. ‘Exercise for instance, is a way to connect to my body, to feel my body and how I feel at this time. Am I tired? Do I feel vitality? Do I feel how gorgeous I am? These honest questions support my connection with myself so for me, this is religion.’ – Love the simplicity in which you explain the true nature of religion, it is simply a matter of staying truly connected and aware of what our body is communicating.

311. God’s connecting to us all constantly, holding us eternally. Which means he’s constantly relating to us. Which means that there’s constant religious activity from him towards us. We’re deeply loved and cared for. It’s only us, ourselves that stand in between this relationship of pure love. Recognizing and accepting that this might (is) true, would be a great move forward for any individual. We’re as Grand as God is, but to connect to this,we’re to deeply surrender to our vehicle of expression that is in this constant connection, our body! In other words, we are to (learn to) deeply adore our body in every way we possibly can.

312. Anybody who lives in connection with their heart, starts to have a spark in their eyes and a shine and glow in their face that reminds me of God, it is like the light from heaven shining straight through.

313. Thank you Lieke for sharing this I can so relate, the churches I was in during my childhood were huge, cold and with hard seats and you were expected to kneel on hard wood – very much designed to compress you and keep you small; no consideration for the fact of how it felt in the body and definitely no joy or simplicity. Now I am part of a religion called The Way of The Livingness which encompasses all including my body, and supports a way of being that allows connection to God in me.

314. Being brought up as a Catholic I too found my experiences between the church and The Way of The Livingness as the complete antithesis of each other. My experiences are exactly as you describe Lieke.

315. Great blog Lieke – I can relate to your experiences of religion and churches. The Way of The Livingness has offered a completely different experience filled with warmth and the richness of the Magic of God moments that nature brings.

316. The beautiful thing that I have experienced with The Way of The Livingness as expressed by Serge Benhayon and shared here by Lieke is how it can be practiced through everyday actions and normal work and home life. There are no special buildings, priests or paraphernalia needed as in other religions as with Churches, rosary beads, etc. It never felt right to me when I would see people I know at church only act kind and caring while they were at church but were rude and abusive while at home or around town. But since God is within us and created us, then why would we need to go somewhere special to find him and why would we not express His Divinity through us no matter where we are located?

317. Just the observation about the gigantic buildings themselves is hugely significant to me. I have always felt drawn to be at awe of the magnificence of the building and God and religion and in comparison see myself as small and insignificant. And since that is how many talked about God and religion I thought this was how it was meant to be. Yet now this lack of equality with God and the divine is nonsense. I feel most religious, in those moments that I feel at one with God, with the Universe, nature and people, and never would I consider myself not equal, not worthy and insignificant.

318. “…True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine…” yes, and when you read the two lists in your blog that describe and compare the feelings between The Way of The Livingness and the Catholic church, one clearly stands out as enabling the connection to your innermost essence.

319. I had a similar experience to you, whenever I went into the Catholic Church, which was several times a week. I remember it always felt cold, hard, very imposing, with loads of statues and pictures on the wall of a dude being tortured and then hung. When I was first introduced to The Way of The Livingness it took me a while to feeling okay about being part of a religion but the more I attended the congregation the more I got to experience what true religion is.

320. I love simplicity, God is simple, so anything that’s complicated does not come from God, that includes when I go into my head, complicate things by trying to work it out instead of feeling.

321. Paying more attention to the meaning of words is an important part of communicating nowadays, as the same word may be used to express completely different things. What religion means to one person, may be different to another. It’s when we break conversations down beyond the ‘labels’ that we can really get to listen and learn from others.

322. I didn’t use the Word God back when I was little but from what I remember I was far more connected to God before formal education and religious teachings came along. To hear the words God, Jesus and Christ used in a not true way – for instance when being told off “My God Harrison” or “Jesus Christ” – said in frustration was a big impact and it makes us question our knowing of the energy of these words.

323. I agree – I live a very religious life and yet there is not a single moment of drudgery or obligation or contraction – it is simply a flow from within, a very natural way to be that just feels right.

324. Many say the God does not exist, because there is no proof. But perhaps it is worth considering that we have been using the wrong tools with which to conduct our search.

     1. And perhaps we have been searching from ideals and beliefs, pictures and images, our perception of God… rather than being open to seeing and feeling the truth.

     2. Or perhaps that we are consciously choosing to look in the wrong place, so as to enable us to use the excuse of his non-existence to allow us to continue on our paths of irresponsibility and comfort?

     3. Well said, Adam, many also said that the world was flat. The more open we are to life, the more we learn, the more we learn the more we evolve and realise that there is still so very much that we don’t know, yet we know it is there.

325. ‘True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.’ I love this. This brings the potential of religion to our everyday – and not just our every day, but everything in our every day.

326. Brilliant Lieke, the juxtaposition of mainstream religion of the institutionalised kind with the lightness and joy that is The Way of The Livingness captures beautifully the differences between the two. My experiences match yours – and as to what feels true and what does not, well, it’s been a no-brainer for me too.

327. It is worth uncovering the true meanings of words. Discovering the true meaning of religion is life changing as it clarifies the difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.

     1. Absolutely – these links are a great start. Full of great quotes and audio on true religion and God – the unbastardised version.

        http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-religion.html

        http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-god.html

     2. Spot on Abby – the true meaning of words is resurrected by those who walk their talk.

328. Absolutely beautiful Lieke. An amazing and easy to understand article that shows how joyful and simple true religion really is.

329. Lieke you have managed to convey the aliveness of religion in a very palpable way, this in itself is really quite extraordinary and is testament to the fact that religion is alive in your body and not a washed out doctrine from yesteryear.

330. True religion is connecting to our essence, very simple and true Lieke. I love your two lists of the contrast how organised religion felt, and how the teachings from Serge Benhayon felt to you. It exposes how very lost we have become from the true teachings of religion.

331. If God is love, which he is then why would he choose the most unloving cold damp and uncomfortable places to go and visit him and sing songs that were quite depressing, never made sense to me? To know God is all around us and with us in everyday life makes more sense and feels so much more expansive than only being able to visit him in certain buildings.

332. Yes, Lieke. It is a sad reflection of how disconnected we are, when we can walk into a building and feel the lovelessness of it but not question why we are there or what in fact is being offered to us.

     1. Yes, Janet well said. We have accepted lovelessness as normal. Basically we don’t question it and therefore it does not change. If we only realise we will see what we have to bring to the world which is amongst others, love.

333. I had a block and resistance to the word God because what my understanding of what God was from a reaction to what I had been shown God to be. I am so appreciative to Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon for presenting the true meaning of God. I always knew God was within me and I would say I was my own God but I can see how much more there is on offer when we truly allow God in and through us. I have a sense of how ginormous this is and when I connect to this it feels magnificent and I also know that it is 100 x more than this also once I allow and accept it fully in and that this is my Divine innate right; that it is everyone’s Divine innate right.

334. The rhythm and ritual of lighting a candle and incense at bedtime is something that completes my day, I am religious about it as it supports me to bring one day to a close and prepare for the next.

335. The Way of The Livingness feels true to me in every way as well, there is not one element or value within it that I don’t agree with wholeheartedly.

336. Your description of how churches felt for you as a child was exactly how I felt about churches. I would dread going to them (even though it was very rare) I hated the coldness, the gloomy dark feel and the imposing sense of the building. In fact the only thing that I did like was the super fine pages of paper within the bible, I loved this and wished more books were printed this way. I would spend my time playing with the paper in the bible and hoping the service would end soon so we could get out of the imposing building. I could never really understand why people liked to visit churches and cathedrals either as I always felt this same sense of cold as I entered. Yes the buildings were impressive to look at but it didn’t take away from the lack of love and hardness I felt. Now I have an understanding of why I felt this way and why I could not connect churches to God, as God is inside each and everyone of us and we don’t need any building, priest or otherwise to feel this.

337. Lieke, I also wonder what is it about mainstream religion that leaves us with a feeling such as you describe
     “I know now I came to associate the word religion with these experiences of coldness, hardness, piety, contraction, hard work and most of all, feeling unworthy and guilty.”
     surely we should be celebrating God not fearing him because we feel less and unworthy?

338. The Way of The Livingness re-ignites & supports a way of being we have all already lived as children, this spherical bodily connection to energy and in turn our ability to read and discern what feels true. Void of the pictures and expectations that so dominate today’s world, it is a return to something so confirmingly natural and pure, our divinity.

339. I never liked the feeling of churches, and the way organised religions operate was very off putting so I turned my back on God thinking he couldn’t really exist. It never added up. The Way of The Livingness makes sense to me and the contrast at their congregations is stark compared to other religions. As you say Lieke, there is joy, warmth, love, responsibility, equality and integrity to name just a few.

340. How does God feel to you?
     Great question Lieke, and I can concur with much of what you have felt, as children we understand the world through these spherical sensory packages and from here we choose what feels true. As we grow up we abandon this connection with ourselves and begin to read the world through our heads, using justifications to talk us round all that we have felt, for we still receive an energetic package, only that we become masterful at dulling or distracting our response to it.

341. Unlike you Lieke, I use to gravitate towards religious buildings, churches, cathedrals, temples where-ever I travelled, searching for something. Although I questioned conventional religions, I stilled held on to the belief these buildings offered something. With greater awareness, I’m amazed how far I shut down to not have felt what you shared. Just goes to show how long held beliefs can completely squash feeling and a perfect example of mind ruling body.

342. How important it is to ask ourselves what we feel rather than what we think. I find there are completely different answers once I get past the initial ‘armour’ of thoughts that I have created over the years. Reconnecting with what I feel is a source of great revelation and truth.

343. When I ask myself the question ‘what does religion feel like?’ the word ‘austere’ pops up. It is not a word I would use a lot in life but it is something that I clearly relate to my childhood experiences of church and Christianity. There was little room for and expression of joy in this ‘austerity’. Today I am embracing a different appreciation of the word and the truth of religion, one which is about the inner connection to myself, the love that is innate within me and everyone and living from this connection. In this living way, joy is much more likely and ultimately inevitable.

344. What a beautiful article Lieke. Religion is something warm and loving, filled with true life. When I was younger and travelled a lot, we would sometimes enter churches in Europe and I would immediately feel my lungs getting heavy as if a weight was being placed there. I found them to be cold hard places and wondered why people used to go around looking at them. I always preferred a waterfall, the mountains and fields, or the sea. Now it is the universe and all that it communicates that delights me and ignites the flame of religion within.

345. Your two lists are like night and day. With one you are forever in the dark being promised light in the at the end, the other, we are the light!

346. It’s so easy to dismiss our feelings as you did as a child Lieke simply because no-one else seems to be feeling that way. It just takes one man to present truth for us to realise that we have felt it all along, and to allow ourselves to claim what we know. It feels absolutely amazing to do so with clarity and purpose.

347. ‘Piety’ is another word worthy of reclaiming – having encompassed a far broader meaning it seems in Roman society than the interpretations later given… Basically, from my Latin studies and sense of it, it referred to a deeply devotional way of living, essentially a religious way of living. Once again, the Joy and aliveness seems largely stripped of the word today, when in fact it speaks of great beauty and oneness with God in our every living way…

348. Thank you Lieke for such a gorgeous question. God for me now is a beholding light that loves us all in unconditional equality. Although it never used to be this way, I now know this way as true because I can feel it throughout every part of my body when I re-connect to this light, it shows itself to be what it is and therefore no ideal need be placed upon it or myself in relation to it. God’s love simply is and as such I am a part of this, so I can simply be as well.

349. I wonder what the world would be like today if over the ages all that money that has been spent on places of worship could have been spent on the education of all who were open to it and that true feeling of knowing God when we are young was not deliberately snubbed out. True religion needs no Cathedrals.

350. “The priest would say very complicated words.” This is so unlike The Way of The Livingness, which is presented simply and straightforwardly making complete sense, as in truth, it is common sense.

     1. This is so true jstewart51, I as a non native English speaker attended my first presentation by Serge Benhayon when I just came out of high school and English was not my best subject yet I did never have any problems understanding Serge, the way he presents is very simple and common sense – but I guess it is also just simply the energy of truth that we know inside out which makes everything more simple to understand too.

351. Lieke your description of; “A warmth in the room physically, but also energetically” is what I’ve also felt constantly from the first time I met Serge. Whenever I am in a workshop or treatment session I feel completely held and supported with a warmth that allows me to feel at ease in myself.

352. I like what you say about how words have been changed or bastardised over time. Because for me it was amazingly simply; in that all I needed to do was understand the true meaning of the word religion to then accept that I was in fact very religious. Whereas I would never, in a million years, have aligned myself to the interpretation of the word that I used to hold as the truth – and indeed, I would be so bold as to suggest that a vast chunk of humanity would also interpret the word in the same way that I used to. This is very intriguing – in that, are there many people who consider themselves not religious but are just put off by what that word has come to represent? (likewise and more controversially – are there many who are ‘religious’ but are actually living way off track of what true religion actually is?)

     1. Yes reinterpretation of words is tricky, some might think they are religious when they are not and vice versa. It is not serving anyone in truth.

353. Recently for work I have had to visit a huge number of churches and cathedrals all over the UK and Europe. Buildings that pertain to bring us ‘closer to God’…or any other number of similar phrases. Some incredible feats of engineering, gigantic scale, intricate decoration and spectacular workmanship – yet not one single one of them felt anything other than severely imposing and separative. But then I pondered on it more deeply. This is now, in the 21st century, when the churches have much less power over the people that they have ever had in the history and these buildings carry a fraction of the importance and stigma than they would have had when they were first constructed. So, if I’m still feeling that imposition now, imagine what they must have felt like in the dark or middle ages when most of these buildings were first built. Truly these buildings are instruments of separation and entirely contrary to the truth of religion.

354. I have never felt God when walking inside a supposedly religious building but I see God when I look into another person’s eyes and in all the beauty of nature around me and I feel the warmth of God inside my body and in every breath I take.

355. Main memories of catholicism from my childhood: emitting a high-pitch scream throughout being baptised (ok, well I don’t really remember this one, but everyone else does); going to full funeral and wedding masses (even playing music at some) – holy moly for the heaviness in these places, and the sheer absence of joy (which means God was not truly being embraced there in my books…); going to a couple of ‘regular Sunday services’ with my grandmother (now deceased) to check it all out – again, no joy, everyone feeling and behaving like sheep (in a way far more dulled down than any sheep I’ve met in my time…), and no inspiration regarding God and the divine whatsoever.
     What was missing was the embodiment of God’s Love. To embrace The Way of The Livingness as my religion is to embrace a path of saying yes to the full embodiment of His Love – that His Joy, Truth and more shall be known through my every way.

356. The feeling of being unworthy and guilty can be very ingrained and hidden. It is a feeling which destroys any building of love and needs to be exposed. Like you share here the church has done its part to bring guilt and shame into the world, but it did not heal anything here, there is still rape and murder, violence and war.

357. The innocence of a child… to feel such things and not succumb to the diminishment of external influence… (at least to a point). And then the layers we don in order to fit in and in fact succumb – i.e. agree – to the diminishment so imposed upon us.
     To return to our true energetic discernment is everything. Thank-you Lieke for the wisdom you so simply yet irrefutably impart here.

358. The mainstream religions actually do disconnect us from our religion instead of connecting us and that is why they feel so cold, dark, heavy, complex and emotionally loaded as that is exactly the opposite of how true religion actually feels in the body, warm, light, simple and joyful. I do know which religion to choose.

359. I love the idea that we can walk into a room and just feel the energy, it is actually very easy to then uncover more than we would otherwise allow ourselves to understand.

360. It is great to strip away all the images and ideas we have around religion and God, and simply connect to our divine essence… we are naturally love and we all have this in common.

     1. I agree Victoria, and when we strip away these layers of ideals and beliefs in all the institutionalised religions and go back to its origin I begin to see that they are all the same, they talk about love and harmony but their original teachings have been deeply distorted and misinterpreted throughout the ages, as a result leaving humanity with many false versions of religion.

361. So beautifully written and simply explained, Thankyou ❤️

362. One thing that always got me about the Catholic Church was the enormity of riches they display with huge buildings and gold encrusted statues and ornaments. Especially when there are so many poor in those countries where such churches exist. The Church does ‘benevolence’ but does not offer love and care with integrity and true connection.

363. A big contrast in the way those two lists read and feel Lieke! Understanding the word religion for a start already pulls the rug out from what it is we have come to know it as.

364. It feels really beautiful to embrace true religion as a way of living and appreciating divinity in everything including ourselves, rather than a doctrine or dogma to be followed, or something outside of ourselves. Religion has most definitely been bastardised from the simple beauty of living connection, to the institutionalized structures that dominate our world, construct our beliefs and and taint our truth.

365. Thank you Lieke, I have felt the same about church’s. From my childhood I felt God strongly
     in nature, but I didn’t feel that same warmth, joy or connection to God in a church. God is also not something we can compartmentalise! God is a little too big for that. Yet in religion we can divide our relationship to God up by it being about certain days, by attending certain buildings, by performing rituals etc, when God is something we are part of everyday and can be in connection to in every moment.

366. Incredible blog Lieke, thank you. A gorgeous real and true piece of truth written about the religion we have on earth, lived by instition or group of people.. As you strongly have confirmed is that you never felt supported by any other religion before, I can too so declare – like you, until I met Serge Benhayon and The Way of The Livingness – which is absolute religion in all its way. The transparency of this way of living is so huge, that no ounce of hiding or agenda can be placed in its spectrum, as with many of the other religions I came across was always there – secrecy, limit, hidden agenda, separativeness, exclusiveness etc. etc. None of this is existence in The Way of The Livingness – simply because it is there to support us not bring ourselves or others down at any way shape or form. Love should be shared – never hidden.

367. A beautiful post Lieke, enjoyable to read about God, and from the living study of The Way of The Livingness I’ve come to know-feel that true religion holds the equalness of all men and all women as God holds himself in with us all. We are one. Equal to God. God equal to us. There is nothing exalted or to pedestal, just the love of His Love.

368. I feel the same when being in a church or even seeing one in the distance. They are institutions of control. The Way of The Livingness is showing us something very different and simple, that we all come from one source of love that we innately know and can connect to. It is a religion that gives true joy, love and harmony in our lives, when truly lived.

369. Looking at all that we choose to do as being supportive of our connection to our bodies, life and God makes being religious easily tangible. It changed things for me dramatically when I began to feel God in everything, especially nature. In truth, this was always there to be felt it was just that I needed to be open to it once more.

370. Hi Lieke, as a small child I was brought up in imposing churches with hard seats and cold kneeling pews, and my escape was to go into my heart and speak to God from there. So I would tune out of the mass and the sermons and go to what I felt was deeply within as I often felt this was the only time I was left alone. It could be that we all from an early age know what true religion is, by that I mean a true connection to the essence of who we are, and then we get distracted by what gets imposed upon us by the world. It is lovely for us to come back to this connection as it needs no churches or institutionalised religion it only requires us to be still within ourselves. It is like coming home.

     1. You went deeply into yourself, while I played up and disrupted every one around me. Same church, same time, just different ways of handling the imposition that was placed on us.

        1. Hahaha yes Mary-Louise, we were there together as children side by side handling the imposition in our different ways.

371. ‘…simply walking my talk, even when nobody is watching..’ This line stood out to me. Doing what we know feels absolutely true regardless of who is watching…now that’s a little unorthodox in our world today. How often are we doing what will be seen as ‘good’ in order to fit a standard or expectation by another group, religious or not and regardless of whether it feels right for us. There is little to be inspired by with a way of living that is dictated by how we will be judged. So, when we see another way like the one you’ve suggested here Lieke, it gets us thinking…or more importantly, feeling.

372. ‘…the mainstream institutionalised religions as mentioned above are not true religion as they did not support me to live in a truthful way with integrity…’ Wow, if this isn’t a true way to discern what true religion is then what are we deciding it by?

373. This article has described my feelings nearly to the letter on how the catholic churches felt to me when I was younger and the only thing missing from the list was the smell. Why did it always smell so stale and musty? We were told it was because it was old but my grandparents lived in old houses and they smelt nothing like the church did. Very very rarely was a visit to church an even ok experience and most of the time was spent asking the teachers to leave for all variety of reasons. For me this is no longer what I call religion and with respect how could it be? The Way of The Livingness brings a fresh approach that is truly a return to how things were and what’s more it works as many people are attesting to. I really do appreciate when articles like this come along and you get to read others experience with things that sits very closely to yours and yet you have never met them.

     1. These changes or “corruption” in the meaning of words doesn’t happen overnight, it is subtle and over time we see that somethings don’t even resemble their true meanings. I guess that is why we can have so many versions of God with each one claiming to be true. Where does this end and how does it end? Do we turn a blind eye and leave everyone to have their own versions of things or do we start to truly unify things, not compromise or tolerate but truly bring understanding to what is going on. The Way of The Livingness steps into this understanding and brings with it an awareness that everything comes back to one and one day this will be true again.

374. In a world that can be so challenging, where difficulties are very normal, where illness or ill health is common, the knowing of God in everyday life is a lifeline that supports revelation after revelation about the truth of life.

375. So much to comment on here, but this one leapt off the screen – “simply walking my talk, even when nobody is watching”. It is fascinating to observe what you do and do don’t when you think someone is watching or will catch you. It is like you hand over responsibility to those people to ‘keep you honest’ or ‘be your keeper’. True responsibility is to walk your talk, especially when no-one is watching. That is when you bring in true consistency and a solid foundation for which you to walk upon.

     1. So true and also everything we do affects everyone ~ it is an illusion that we get away with anything!

     2. Yes, Sarah, The Way of The Livingness encourages us to be responsible in every moment and with every movement so it is all the one life…there is a beautiful simplicity in this.

376. I have never spent much time in churches, in fact very little. I could probably count the number of times I’ve been in a church. Even with such little time in churches, knowing how a church feels is very clear. The cold, oppressive, heavy, dark feeling has always been quite strong and is most likely a big reason why I’ve not spent more time in such buildings.

377. “Am I tired? Do I feel vitality? Do I feel how gorgeous I am? These honest questions support my connection with myself so for me, this is religion.” This is such a simple key to stay connected – I love they way they hold only tenderness and love for honesty – this to me is also the reflection of true religion.

378. How does God feel to me? In very similar ways as you describe in the beauty that is with-in and around us. I also realised very young that Church buildings and congregations etc. didn’t add up to being the true reflection of God. Nature is a great opportunity to feel and connect to the presence of God – as nature itself can’t be manipulated into another’s interpretation, animals, birds and insects (in their natural environment) retain their divine connection to purpose and reflect this to us constantly – are we willing to receive?

379. (Institutional) religion has always felt cold to me – rigid, strict, not at all loving. Is that how it should feel? I would argue no – and when you know what true religion is, you cannot accept anything less.

380. I used to think that being religious meant adherence to specific rituals as laid down by the church but Lieke, you have used a beautiful simplicity to bring the reader to the realisation that “…all the activities which re-connect us to our essence religious.” As you remind us, these are often simple things that can be incorporated into our everyday livingness to support our connection to our divine essence.

381. I love your question – “So, how does God feel to you?” The first word that comes to me when I consider God is warmth. When I connect with God I feel a great sense of warmth and this in turn invites me to want to connect more deeply with people around me.

382. Thank you Lieke – I can very much relate to the things you have listed as I had a very similar feeling about Chatolic churches and actually churches in general – and I too did what most people do, I associated these experiences with religion, namely the traditional world religions. Hence I had a very tainted view on religion, until I realised that NONE of these religions represents true religion, which simply means re-connect or re-align to who we truly are.

383. I’ve always known God to be real even if nothing around me did not make sense or had holes. There couldn’t be nothing. For me God is very much so a part of me, the warmth I feel when connected to my body, the expansiveness I feel when walking, a playful smile as I rearrange a room while connected to my body and it feels instantly lighter. God is everywhere and in every moment I choose to be aware of this truth.

384. We don’t find God in buildings, like churches and your description of what you felt in there makes this very clear and I can relate to this although I not always wanted to be aware of that when I was younger and living in a Catholic family. Today I can say the word religion or God and feel the true meaning of the word in my body as I am religious by the way I live and I feel God in myself and in everyone around me, in our essence we are all divine and equal Sons of God.

385. I love this, Lieke. What you have captured here in simple terms is the truth of religion, as a way of living day to day in connection with our soulful nature – “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine. Then all the activities which re-connect us to this essence are religious.” Absolute gold!

386. A superb blog Lieke, as you show effortlessly the simplicity and obvious nature of God that surrounds us and is within us and how normal it is to be religious … :For me, going for a walk can be religious when I am connecting more with myself, my essence and the beauty around me. Exercise for instance, is a way to connect …”

387. Being treated as an equal confirms the godliness in you making it much easier to claim your worth.

388. ‘Equality between the presenters and the audience’. There is such a strong feeling that comes from equality, a warm and care which is godly.

389. What a beautiful question Lieke – ‘So, how does God feel to you?’ The traditional religions spend their time lecturing, dictating and imposing their understanding of God and never stop to invite or allow a person to feel the truth of this question within them-selves. If they were to do this then they may find that we would all be re-connecting to the essence of God within and the control and structure of the old churches would cease to have their way.

390. God to me is in everything, everyone and is all loving. The judgemental and condemning God in institutionalised religions did not feel true. The Way of The Livingness is the only religion I know that presents the truth about who God is and who we all are, deeply divine multidimensional beings and all intricately connected.

391. I was recently in Greece and noticed how the Greek Orthodox churches stand on the highest hill overlooking the town, village or city. They feel so heavy and the rounded roof has a white cross on it which feels as if it is pinning you down and the roof is somehow capping you. They feel like prisons and the priests have that same heaviness and seem full of importance and empty of joy. They too are imprisoned by this consciousness. Religions like this are imposing and I associated the word ‘religion’ with such institutions. However, having been introduced recently to what true religion is, I can now claim that I am religious, without flinching at the word.

392. Discerning every word for there energetic integrity is important as is connecting to the words and feeling what they do to our body. This is so important as words can take us into movements and ways of thinking that disconnect us from our divine connection, which is being religious. The word religion is all about connection, as is the word love. These are two words, which are simple example of the most reinterpreted and misused words.

393. I always said that it would be far easier to get me to go to church if they put some central heating in!! I now understand it wasn’t the physical cold that I did not enjoy but the emptiness and deceit that was ever-present.

     1. Haha love that Michael very true. There is never central heating in a big church! And the benches are super hard and uncomfortable to sit on too. The lack of love and care in the design of these places already gives away the lack of true love and care in its teachings because how can you teach love and care without living and thus providing it to the people who come to your place?

394. The rituals that I observed taking place in a church as a child often looked quite colourful and at times rather dramatic, but they felt empty, cold and often pointless. In stark contrast The Way of The Livingness does not have any such institutionalised rituals but each and every person who has chosen to live in this way has the choice to develop their own personal rituals like “lighting a candle in the evening and some incense before going to bed”. What a simply beautiful way to support them through every part of their day; this to me is what being religious is truly about.

395. I love how you ask “So, how does God feel to you?” and how you bring your experience of God simply back to how you feel and not how you should think God and everything religious should be. Very very beautiful and tangible.

396. I used to say I was not religious, because of my dislike for organised religion, it wasn’t something I was drawn to, rather the opposite, it repelled me. However, I’ve always believed in re-incarnation and the existence of an all-knowing form of life that I felt was ‘greater’ than me, like a teacher in the sky. It has been so beautiful to listen to the presentations of The Way of The Livingness and the Ageless Wisdom, presented by Serge Benhayon, suddenly everything makes sense. Like you, Lieke, I now consider myself to be very religious, God is everywhere and in every thing confirming and reflecting to us the fullness of our divinity, even when we choose to ignore his very presence.

397. Lieke, I love how you draw attention to how buildings feel when we are in them …. ‘Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism etc. – like the energies and emotions in their buildings, the temperature, the colours, the people, the furniture, which all made me feel quite small and insignificant at that time’ – our bodies feel the energy that the activity within the building is being done in. It is either with love or without love. A cold, building isn’t necessarily to do with just the temperature, it’s a reflection of the lack of love.

398. How gorgeous Lieke! Amazed at how you can really learn more about another person and their understanding and observation of life through writing than you do at times in person! Very different expression and I feel inspired to express more and appreciate the power of God within me too.

399. Unimedpedia God: http://www.unimedliving.com/unimedpedia/word-index/unimedpedia-god.html provides some wonderful free audio excerpts and quotes about God from many angles – very worth a read and listen.

400. I agree connecting with God is pure Joy and all about coming home to our Essence.

401. I feel God reflected back at me in Nature, the magnificence of the night sky and the oceans, the delicateness of a flower or a lacewing, the playfulness of a puppy or a wagtail (a British bird that loves to be by running water and wags it’s tail up and down as it joyfully hops from one chosen place to another) the grace and beauty of a swan or deer, the joy in seeing a butterfly, one could go on and on forever with the qualities that nature brings us. The depth and beauty in another’s eyes, the feeling of eternity and spaciousness to be found there, is another divine moment. The feelings engendered in me in these situations I do not feel in church or the religious ceremonies I have attended. I do feel it in me and the more I am true to myself the more I feel it, the more I walk it and live it.

402. “How does God feel to me?” God is like my best friend dependable and always there no matter what. There is a joy and depth of warmth that is felt deep within my body that surpasses anything I have ever felt, knowing that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes. This is so different from the feeling I have got from any religion, or church I have been to, where I have felt a lack of true love and intense piety, which left me feeling cold and withdrawn. When I feel the religion, Way of the Livingness I feel the expansiveness of God a knowing that I do not need to reach out to him that he is always there regardless, and it is always my choice whether I want to connect to him or not.

403. Well written Lieke, I too have had that catholic upbringing, and felt that cold , hard place. I would often just start coughing and would have to walk out as it wouldn’t stop.
     The last two years especially I have noticed god all around me, more so after yoga, whilst I’m surfing or walking in nature or just gazing at the sunset,sunrise, moon and stars..
     taking the time to be present to what is around you all the time..

404. I love the 2 lists you have made contrasting your observations of being in church and being in a “Way of the Livingness” congregation. My experience of both has been very similar to yours Lieke. What brings me the most joy is that from a very young age I knew myself to be a religious person and yet I did not like what I felt and saw in the religions I experienced growing up and into my 30’s. The Way of the Livingness has returned to me the massive gift of religion, as through this I know and feel that religion is part of me, not some institution or set of rules or doctrines. It is my relationship to me and my relationship to God. I live with heartfelt thanks to Serge Benhayon for bringing true religion back to us all.

     1. “the gift of religion”. Hear Hear Lucy. God’s daily gift to us.

405. God feels like the most stupendous Joy in my body.

406. “True religion is about reconnecting with our essence, which is pure and divine.” Yes. God is all around us – and within us – if we choose to feel it so.

407. It is no wonder so many people get put off ‘religion’ when they experience, as you did, the imposing nature of conventional religions. “It wasn’t until I listened to a presentation by Serge Benhayon about the religion called The Way of The Livingness that I felt that there was another and true meaning for the word religion. What I formerly took on as religion was not true religion at all.” I so agree Lieke.

408. To me it’s obvious that humanity has allowed the reinterpretation of the words religion and God. We gave our power away and allowed a group of people thousands of years ago to dictate to us their version, rules and regulations on God, so now huge swaths of humanity perceive God to be cold, angry, vengeful, dictatorial etc. When actually he is none of these things it was all made up so that the few could rule over and control the many. To me The Way of The Livingness brings it back to me and my relationship with God and just how precious it is to have this within in my body.

409. For me God is in me and all around me so does not need a particular building or institution to be worshipped in or through.

410. Yes, Lieke to discern the truth of things is an absolute key life skill that needs to be applied at all times to all things and people. I concur to your feelings on entering other religious buildings. I remember in Thailand how the Buddhist temples didn’t feel any more inspiring than the catholic churches I had been to as a child. The body is the key to unlocking the divinity within and any Religion that does not honour the body cannot be true.

411. What a great question at the end Lieke. This brought it right back to me. Which already showed me that I wasn’t fully letting in what I read. God to me feels very, very joyous. An inner all-knowing joy. If I’m connected to this joy there’s no fear, just love and just observation. No fear to be rejected, not liked, being spewed at etc. Thank you dearly for asking this question.

412. I am learning that God is my greatest friend.

413. Lieke great question “So how does God feel to you”, I used to associate God with Catholic religion and in that I tarnished my feel of God with the feeling of the institution. This also left me confused about what God was and how God fitted into my life. When I came to connect with my inner self and God free of institution I feel a warmth, a beholding and a love combined with a magic that surpasses anything that can be created on earth. Its something for me to ponder further.

414. This blog inspires me to consider: what am I religious about? And how do these connect me more deeply to who I am, to that feeling of stillness and solidness I – and we all – hold within? I have introduced many rhythms and rituals into my day that I now do religiously – with as much purpose and focus as I can muster – and it’s been quite amazing to see how these things help me to stay connected with that solidity and stillness, and come back to these qualities when I’ve walked away from them.

415. Thanks Lieke for sharing your examples and experience of what religion means to you.. religion being simply a word that describes our reconnection to who we truly are, and not the meaning it has taken on and been interpreted as, by institutionalised religions.

416. I appreciate that you stuck to what you felt as a child – the imposing nature of an organ, the monumental size of the buildings and the disregard of the people whom religions say they care for.

417. I whole heartedly agree Lieke. The quality of God to me feels warm, steady and vivacious, a quality not found in a building, prayers or doctrines but in people and nature. God is immensely wise, all encompassing, light hearted, honest, open and very confirming. The Way of The Livingness has empowered me to re-connect to these qualities within me and enable me to walk the talk too, a path of constant inner evolution that restores purpose, commitment and vitality to the everyday world.

418. True religion is found in everything we do. I love your examples of going for walk, exercising, communing with nature, it can also be the way we make our beds in the morning, how we prepare a meal or moments of contemplation, each activity sacred in itself.

419. Your list of what a Catholic church felt like really got me pondering. All of those things I never questioned – I just assumed that this is what religion was about, what God was about – this imposing, scary, un-friendly, cold, inaccessible lofty ideal…and of course, of course, that just drove me away from the whole thing, and drove me deeper into the everyday business of life, self and the one-dimensionality of the existence that most of humanity eek out on this planet. So not only did the Christian religion not appeal to me, it actually drove me away from God.

420. Lieke, what you say feels very correct. There are areas in the New Age that tick quite a few of the points that you mentioned but where they fall is one two points: Truth and Love. The New Age can be very exciting and exhilarating, even blissful but none of that compares to love and there are always limits to our scrutiny, i.e. limits to truth.

421. What a beautiful blog Lieke sharing so much truth about Religion and what you now know it to be with the simplicity of knowing God in everything inside us and all around us in nature, in our own eyes looking in the mirror and in others eyes too, our glimpse of heaven on earth and our livingness of this.True religion is living our divinity here on earth in our everyday moments in connection with our soul God and everyone else in truth, love and joy as you share with a real knowing.

422. Going to Church, Mosque or Synagogue is never a true religious moment. Yet, the world is full of images of what being religious looks like and by and large, the people buy into them for some strange reason. It is not hard to imagine how many ‘religious devotees’ will die without ever having truly experienced God. It is too sad since there is nothing more natural, familiar and beautiful than that.

423. I felt the same when I went to a church and it never made sense that if this was God’s house why would it be so cold and hard. It was as if we had to punish ourselves because we were sinners yet the priests could have all the regalia. I remember feeling yes absolutely there is a God but also that God was not what the church taught as that did not make sense in full to me. Something Universal Medicine has taught me is that you cannot just take a part of something by saying yes to a part you get the whole and so it is important to fully be aware of what you are saying yes to as it is easy to be tantalised by a part of something.

424. Thank you for the question Lieke. The most fundamental difference between the God ‘I learned about in church’ and the God I know now, is that he does not judge. God observes but does not judge. I feel that judgment is the antithesis of a truly loving being. The pure observation of God beholds us in our true Light, the Light of our essence still as pure as the day he breathed us forth, whilst we play our games with creation and until we choose to return to our essence. We are therefore held in the absolute awareness of our equalness. We are the ones who create inequality, not God.

425. To go into buildings, churches, shops, presentations and houses etc and feel the energy and quality of energy is beyond what we currently call human intelligence, when we feel energy we know more about people and situations than the knowledge or visuals are communicating. I have found it is this profound and out of this world ability that allows me to truly understand situations and live by a quality that is open, transparent, warm and caring.

     1. Feelings are often not seen as intelligence but it is when we consider that by feeling energy we can know much more and much earlier what is going on around us.

426. This is a wonderful interpretation and so true Lieke and how I have felt with The Way of The Livingness. It felt for me a true connection to God and a feeling of coming home! To know that we are never separate from God, He is in us and we are in Him at all times.

     1. Same for me Roslyn, beautifully expressed and trusting what I feel about God and people has made life so much more loving, joyful and amazing. The Way of The Livingness is the true religion for me. It teaches us to be love, teaches us about true equality and openly share that we are all Sons of God no matter if we know this or not. No one is excluded regardless of our origin, religious background or race. We are all One and all one huge family and in essence we are all the same.

427. “I listened to a presentation by Serge Benhayon about the religion called The Way of The Livingness that I felt that there was another and true meaning for the word religion.” The beauty of The Way of The Livingness is a way to be in every moment and there equally for all.

428. If we could all trust what we feel when we are young and hold on without losing that feeling we would remain naturally religious in the true sense of the word. I remember how awful a church would feel when I was young but I was taken along at least once a week until I got used to it and thought that it was the way it should be.

     1. So true kevmhardy, how many of the choices we make in life override the natural knowing that we all have and were born with?

     2. “naturally religious”. This is a divine phrase and the absolute truth and there is nothing about a church or the way that most organised religions operate that nurtures or encourages our natural religion. My journey back to a religious way through Universal Medicine is beautiful to reflect upon and appreciate; at no point did I set out to be religious or to follow any dogmas, rules, or any other imposition that most religions enforce. I just fell back in love with myself, with my life and awoke to my responsibility to live for service and evolution – and then, realised that I had in fact become religious and was living in a way that was religious. It’s a million miles from what the church would have me do or be, but there is no question in me that it is not my true religion. I am naturally religious again.

     3. It’s interesting how overtime we block what we feel in order to conform with what is going on around us.

429. `If we are the temple of God, which we are, if you use your list to describe our body with your list of how churches felt… how many people in the world are living that way? The Way of The Livingness has no doors walls or roof just a foundation of love and truth.

430. I have felt this too but not in a while because of life’s distractions, thank you for bringing this back to my attention. It has been some time since I have felt connected to the beauty around me, I had almost forgotten that it was there. I am not religious although brought up religious I left the institution because of the coldness I felt and because I never felt the peace within those buildings, I felt it outside and within not encased in ritual and tradition.

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