Dear Paul,

There obviously aren't any physical god(s).

God does not require anything of us, but it is us who may (or may not) wish to come closer to God, and should that be the case then there are methods that can help us to do so.

Sages who have united with God (this is just a figure of speech so please don't take it literally as a physical union), having been there and done that, can share their experiences, telling us what has worked for them and what did not.

I am not aware of any sages who wrote books themselves, because teaching what works to reach God requires a personal interactive touch between master and student, yet it is the disciples (or others who have heard the words of the master 2nd-hand through them), that tend to write books of what they heard from the sages. As I said to "Doog", the Koran (also most of the Bible) does not even come to that.

Hi Yuyutsu,

St Paul, the true founder of Christianity, claimed to be the "greatest disciple of of them all". He claimed the chosen 12 only knew the physical Christ, he alone was chosen by Christ to know him in the spiritual sense. He went on to claim, it was through him that Christ revealed the pathway to God. Do you believe that?

Something of interest, is the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. "Buddha". Buddha seen no relevance in a physical or spiritual deity, he rejected the notion of a creator God who made all things. Concentrate on your self being to achieve what Buddha called "Enlightenment". It is through self reliance and personal spiritual effort that a person achieves fulfillment, not something bestowed on a person by an external God. Do you believe that?

Dear Paul,

«he alone was chosen by Christ to know him in the spiritual sense. He went on to claim, it was through him that Christ revealed the pathway to God. Do you believe that?»

I would be suspicious of anyone claiming to be the ONLY.

Shri Krishna states:

"Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjuna, at that time I manifest Myself on earth.
To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to reestablish the principles of Dharma I appear on this earth, age after age."
[Bhagavad-Gita 4:7-8]

«It is through self reliance and personal spiritual effort that a person achieves fulfillment, not something bestowed on a person by an external God. Do you believe that?»

This statement is deeper than it seems at first glance, but essentially yes. God is not external, There is nothing but God - Yourself included!