Pantheism

I am fascinated by Spinoza's pantheism, but I admire even more his contribution to modern thought because he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and body as one, and not two separate things.

Pantheism is harmless but not particularly interesting.

Shintō and Dào are Animisms, with ideas tending towards panpsychism or pantheism, respectively the mind-like aspect or the god-like aspect, at some level, in everything.

The Deity could be the universe itself, a concept labelled as pantheism, or it could be the universe and beyond it, a concept labelled as panentheism.

"Frank, in pantheism, everything has some level of the aspect of God." "Don, even this pillow here?" "Yeah, even that pillow may have a scant level of godliness. It's pantheism. In pantheism, this whole universe is God." "What about panentheism?" "In panentheism, God is this whole universe and beyond it." "You're like a philosophical owl, Don!

"Panpsychism" and "pantheism" are homonyms in Japanese—"hanshinron." They have different kanji.

Some religious people wonder if God or gods come down in human form. Hinduism's avatars and Christianity's Christ are precedents. In the concept of pantheism, everything and everybody have some aspect of godliness, at some level, even though sometimes scarcely.

Maybe, it's a crazy idea that there is God or are gods and there are aliens. I surmise that God is or the gods are not like persons. And hierarchically, there are aliens below. Aliens have a more immediate controlling influence over my life. God could be everything or everything and beyond it, respectively pantheism and panentheism. God could be more like space, light, or wind. Meanwhile, aliens could be sentient beings, more like people.

An immanent God is the universe’s pulse—think Spinoza’s pantheism, where God is nature, or certain Buddhist views of an all-pervading cosmic principle. Extraterrestrials, even if they’ve merged with technology to become planet-sized hive minds, remain distinct entities within the universe. They might manipulate reality in ways that feel divine—say, turning stars into energy grids—but they’re not the stars themselves, nor the laws that govern them. An immanent God’s essence is inseparable from all that exists; aliens, however advanced, are still players on the cosmic stage, not the stage itself.