tend to use the word God and phrase Ultimate Reality although I don't really like all the anthropocentrism and cultural baggage which comes with the word God. I will discuss elsewhere more extensively why I use this word and what I mean by it. I haven't found a perfect alternative which is without the semantic and cultural baggage. Carlos Castaneda used the word "Nagual" and the phrases "the active side of infinity" and "the Dark Sea of Awareness" and, I believe, means the same thing that I mean when I use the phrase Ultimate Reality or the word God. Don Juan rejected God as not being part of the Nagual, but I believe he was making the same kind of distinction I am about the usual meanings and attached baggage carried by the word. To use religion or ethnic based alternative names for God would no doubt cause some conflicts and unhappiness. I use the terms God and Ultimate Reality because they are basically generic and not likely to be disputed under someone's copyright or religious sensibilities. To some extent, the semantic and cultural baggage can be useful. At least people generally know the concepts involved when you say God, even if the scope is insufficient and the details are different and subject to disagreement. I am in accord with the respect associated with the term. The bottom line is that these two terms each cover one of the viewpoints which I have been given and I tend to use either the one that fits best in the current context or to use both with a tilde between, signifing to me an equivalence.

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   Copyright 2002,3 by Ted Vollers