Spinoza: God is just nature not some fantasy being

Barach Spinoza was a Separdic Jew whose family fled from Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition in the 1600’s. A little like Buddha, Spinoza had a wisdom far beyond his fellow citizens of the day. Although his writings were not readily available at the time, due to his excommunication by the Jewish community, which forced him to publish anonymously,  his wisdom and reasoning have survived and thrived for four centuries already! 

Spinoza lived in Amsterdam the Netherlands but eventually moved to the Hague where he died at the early age of 44 because of an illness for which there was then no cure. 

Spinoza’s philosophy in short, paved the way to the enlightenment and some call him the father of atheism. However, he did not believe there was no god, he only replaced human understanding of a god who created humans in his image with the idea that Nature is god. Descartes came along and still thought soul or god was separate, creating the mind body problem but Spinoza was far more intuitive. We arise or become from unconsciousness and in our death leave  consciousness to return to unconsciousness. 

Many want the promise of an afterworld or some spiritual plane where they hope their memories or ego will still reside somewhere in this or another world. But that is only ego. A self we create to survive in life, from which many never manage to untangle themselves from its veil of illusion. 

Nature creates then dies then arises just as we pass on leaving the earth while others are continually being born into it. The wheel or cycle of natural life. 

 Spinoza led a quiet life of solitude thinking and writing, not collecting material things. He knew that where we are going, none of that is needed. Despite his being ousted by society and family due to his controversial so called anti religious ideas, he led a life of truth and light in humble surroundings, gaining knowledge, reading and passing it on through books from which we still learn from today. What a man and what a mind!   If you have not read anything on Spinoza I thoroughly recommend that you do so. His ideas are mind expanding and food for the soul.