Dear Mr. Alfredo Guevara,

Before reading the first chapter of the book Ten Eternal Questions, I did not know much about you, other than that you are a Cuban filmmaker. However, after reading about you concept of God, I feel like you and I have much in common with regard to how we view our own conscience and how to experience harmony. I, too, believe that “God exists in the deepest part of your own conscience.” I could not agree with you more that “the rhythm of modern man, of modern life—is not conducive to looking into oneself.” And that we “need silence and reflection” in order to experience that “musical resonance” that is the “very essence of harmony.”

In most religions, and in nearly every society, there’s an understanding of “God” on a conceptual level. Despite different “definitions” of this idea, I have always noticed the striking similarities. (Noticing similarities, rather than difference, led me to become Unitarian Universalist.) When attempting to describe “God” it’s easy to lose an important common element: the awe factor – the “complexity and…the simplicity.” People discussing “God” readily admit that this is something we don’t understand. (This uncertainty is healthy, for certainty often indicates the inability to see truth.)

More than any other idea of “God,” I identify with the notion that what people call “God” is not a person, but a force or an energy that is everywhere and in everything, perhaps on a sub-atomic level. It is the “basic goodness” (in the Buddhist sense) that lies within each person, and absolutely every living thing. This goodness lies in each person’s heart – and in looking into our hearts, we always know the answer to our own questions. (In that respect, I believe that prayers can always be answered through introspection.) There is a universal harmony of which we humans play a note. If we look and listen closely we can find this basic goodness in everything we experience each day – especially in nature and in our interactions with others.

I meditate daily, and am a different human being without this practice in my daily life. From that time I devote in the morning, everything in my day can then become further meditation – working, interacting with my children, or cleaning the house. Whatever I’m doing can become a sort of a “prayer,” by virtue of the way in which I do it. Awareness of our actions automatically causes us to behave in a way that is of the highest good. Each and every action has the potential to reflect that basic goodness within us all.

May every being find that time to spend in silence and connect with the Universal harmony of which we are a part.