ABSTRACT
People may recognize in the portrait of god, traits with which they are familiar from the reading of the Bible, the Torah, or the Koran. The true god is reached through a deep and sustained reflection on the nature of reality. The god never exists as a spiritual reality but always as a god incarnate in a particular person or institution. The realization of the true god in the personality is the product of an inner creative act. This is in direct contrast to the presence of the false god, which is through an act of submission in which the individual psyche is crushed. The realization of the true god lays a foundation in the personality for respect for the Self. The true god then becomes not only the rational basis of symbolism but also its creator. The false god is the destroyer of symbolism, the destroyer of the inner.
