Gary DeMar

 All is god. It follows from monism that if there is god, then all is god. Pantheism (pan means all; theos means god) is the theology of the East. There is no personal God who stands above creation. In fact, there is no creation as such. To speak of a creation would mean to postulate a Creator, someone distinct from the cosmos. Thus, the pantheist agrees with the naturalist that there is just one level of reality, although the naturalist would not consider it to be “spiritual” or “divine.” In pantheism, there is no God who is “out there.” God and the material world are one and the same. The word god should be used to refer to the sum total of reality rather than to some being distinct from the rest of reality.

We are god. The consistency of monism brings us to one of its most bizarre features. If all is god, then man is god in some form. “Swami Muktananda – a great influence on Werner Erhard, founder of est and Forum – pulls no pantheistic punches when he says: ‘Kneel to your own self. Honor and worship your own being. God dwells within you as You!’“