I’ve noticed that when I introduce concepts like mysticism, spiritual enlightenment, and direct knowledge of absolute truth to extremely rational and logical people, their conception of proof tends to limit their open-mindedness. The belief that any truth must be proven to be considered as such is one of the convictions that most hinders the inner search of people with a rational and logical approach to reality. It’s important to consider the possibility of truths that go beyond the concept of proof.
If you believe that any truth must be proven, you won’t be able to unveil the mysteries of reality. As I’ll explain in this article, there are certain truths that cannot be proven. The existence of God falls into this group of truths. I’ve identified four main reasons why the existence of God cannot be proven, let’s explore them together.
1. God as Being: The Unprovable Foundation of Reality
God is Being, and Being cannot be proven. In fact, Being is what the very concept of proof is based on. I can’t point out to you what God is, because any phenomenal appearance is made up of Being; it’s impossible to point at what has no opposite. God is the canvas on which reality is painted and, at the same time, is the images painted on the canvas. I can’t prove to you the existence of the canvas on which I myself am painted, because there’s nothing outside the canvas. It’s impossible to prove the existence of being because everything is being. The very concept of demonstration is based on being. The very search for God is based on being.
The Paradox of Demonstrating the Absolute
The concept of proof assumes that there exists an opposite to Being. To be able to show you what God is, Being should have an opposite, but Being has no opposite. God is the substance that constitutes the whole of reality. God is the profound equality that hides beyond the illusion of any difference.
The protagonist of a dream, who becomes aware of being in a dream, cannot prove to the other protagonists of the dream that they are in a dream, because any object he points to is made up of the Consciousness of the Mind that dreams.
2. Proof requires duality
Another name to describe God is Absolute. Intellectual knowledge is based on the existence of duality and opposites. The mind is able to know reality only by placing the object of knowledge in contrast with the rest of reality. I can’t prove or point out to you the existence of what has no opposite. The concept of proof is based on the presupposition of the existence of duality. The Absolute cannot be proved because there is nothing beyond the Truth.
God has no opposite, and intellectual knowledge, human symbolic knowledge, is based on the creation of duality, on the creation of opposites. But infinity has no opposite; infinity is Absolute. This is why God cannot be proven and known through the human intellect.
The limited human mind can only know through duality, can only know by creating distinctions within the Absolute. The human mind can conceive of something only if that something is correlated with the rest of reality. But God has no opposite. God is infinite, God is absolute, and therefore cannot be proven.
3. The Illusion of Separation and Its Impact on Proving God’s Existence
The concept of proof assumes that there is a separation between self and non-self, between the subject requesting the proof and the subject who should provide the proof. This separation, like any other type of separation, is unreal. I can’t prove my existence to you because, in essence, I am you: the Being that should be proven is the same Being intent on the search.
4. The Paradoxical Nature of Spiritual Truths
The concept of proof is based on the assumption that all truths are rational, logical, and respond to the principle of causality. However, Being is not rational, not logical, and has no cause. Being is a true miracle. The sooner you begin to accept this possibility, the sooner you can begin to discover and unveil the mysteries of reality. From a metaphysical point of view, being is not logical, not rational, and has no cause. There are truths that go beyond logic, rationality, and causality. There are truths that are complete paradoxes.
Embracing the Ineffable Nature of Spirituality
As you go deeper with your spiritual practices, you’ll come to realize truths so incredible, so improbable, so paradoxical that they will surprise you. You’ll truly struggle to believe that such truths can be real. There are truths that cannot be proven, truths that make no logical sense, truths that are entirely paradoxical, but which are nonetheless true.