The concept of God

The concept that "God" is everywhere and also within humans themselves is a widely spread and profound spiritual belief that has found expression in many traditions and schools of thought. It emphasizes the immanence of the Divine and contradicts the idea of an external God, separate from the world. This view invites one to understand their own spiritual experience as part of a greater whole and to recognize the divine aspect in everything that exists.

Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that God is identical with the universe or nature. In this perspective, God is not a supernatural being existing separately from the world, but God is in everything – in every tree, every stone, every human, and every moment. Everything that exists is part of God. This idea was espoused by philosophers such as Baruch de Spinoza, who said that God and nature are one and the same. Pantheism sees God as an all-encompassing force or energy that permeates everything, but not necessarily in a personal or anthropomorphic form.

Panentheism
In contrast to pantheism, which equates God with the world, panentheism emphasizes that while God is in everything, God also transcends the world. In this view, the universe is a part of God, but God is more than the universe. Panentheism can be found in some mystical traditions, in Hinduism (particularly in Vedanta), and in Christian mysticism. For panentheists, God is both within the world and humans, as well as transcendent and beyond the world.

Individual Spiritual Experiences
Many spiritual movements, especially those dealing with self-realization or inner enlightenment, emphasize the idea that "God" or the Divine is to be found within the individual. In this view, God is not something separate from us, but a part of our own consciousness and essence. This could also be a form of mystical spirituality, which highlights the direct experience of the Divine within oneself and in the world.

An example of this perspective can be found in Zen Buddhism, where the Divine or enlightenment is not seen as an external goal or being, but as something present in the moment and within each of us. Similar ideas also exist in Sufism (the mystical tradition of Islam), where union with God is not understood as a separation from the world or self, but as an awareness of the divine presence in everything.

Modern Spiritual Movements
In many modern spiritual or esoteric movements, it is also emphasized that God does not exist only as an external being, but that the Divine exists within every human and in everything. This view could be understood as a form of self-realization, where each person can discover the divine nature within themselves. A prominent example would be the New Age movement, which often speaks of an all-pervading energy or universal consciousness present in all things.

Buddhism and Hinduism
In some strands of Hinduism, such as in Advaita Vedanta, the view is held that the individual and God are ultimately one. The divine aspect is not separate from the world, but essentially the same reality as the individual soul. This realization is called "oneness with God" or "Brahman" – the highest, infinite principle of the universe that is both transcendent and immanent.

In Buddhism, although there is no direct counterpart to a personal God, the concept of Buddha-nature states that every being contains a divine or enlightened potential. This potential is present in every human and must be recognized in order to understand the true nature of the world.

Modern Philosophy
In modern philosophy, there are also approaches that question the belief in a separate, transcendental deity. Philosophers such as Albert Einstein and Carl Jung spoke of a universal, all-encompassing force that can be found in the world and in ourselves. For Einstein, God was not a personal being, but the "law" of nature or what drives the universe in its order and beauty. Jung, who had a strong interest in spiritual and mystical themes in his later years, spoke of a universal divine energy present in humans and the world.

Autosuggestion

The direct claim that "God is autosuggestion" may not be widespread or formulated in this exact way, but the idea that religious belief or God functions as a product of the human mind, maintained through psychological processes like suggestion or illusion, has been articulated in various thought traditions by several prominent thinkers. They often view belief in God as a psychological phenomenon that is, in some way, created or sustained by humans themselves.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, proposed in his work "The Future of an Illusion" the thesis that belief in God and religious convictions ultimately stem from childish wishes and psychological mechanisms. Freud regarded God as an "illusion" that provides comfort to people in difficult times and serves a kind of psychological function. One might argue that Freud is referring here to a form of "autosuggestion," meaning that people convince themselves of certain ideas to cope with their fears and uncertainties. He assumed that religion satisfies a kind of psychological need, similar to autosuggestion or a coping mechanism.

William James

The American psychologist and philosophy professor William James (1842–1910) was also fascinated by the psychological and subjective dimension of religious experience. In his famous work "The Varieties of Religious Experience" (1902), he explored how people have religious experiences and how these experiences affect their mental state. James did not necessarily believe that God was just autosuggestion, but he viewed belief in God as a very personal, subjective experience that could bring profound meaning and change to the individual. In a way, one could interpret his perspective as an openness to the idea that religious belief is also maintained through mental processes and concepts (like autosuggestion).

Ernst Tugendhat

The German philosopher Ernst Tugendhat raised the question in his work "Lectures on the Introduction to Philosophy"whether belief in God could also be a product of the human mind, originating from collective ideas and individual psychological processes. While he did not directly claim that God is merely autosuggestion, he delved into the origin of religious ideas and their psychological roots. Tugendhat and similar philosophers often view religious experience as something that emerges in a specific social and cultural context, and could, in a sense, support the idea of autosuggestion in relation to religious belief.

Karl Marx

Karl Marx, who referred to religion as the "opium of the people," saw religious belief as an illusion that helps people cope with the hardships of life. While Marx did not directly state that God is a form of autosuggestion, he viewed religion as a creation of society that helps people deal with their social and economic alienation. In a broader sense, one might understand Marx's perspective as a form of "collective autosuggestion," in which society finds comfort and order through belief in God or a higher power.

Modern Spiritual and Esoteric Movements

Some modern spiritual or esoteric thinkers and practitioners have also suggested that belief in God or higher beings partly relies on mental or energetic self-influence. In certain esoteric circles, God or the universe is often described as an energy or form of consciousness that can be influenced by one’s own imagination or mental alignment — which could be seen as a form of autosuggestion.