72. Know yourself, know God
What is God?
What is not God? What is the definition of God, if there is one? The moment you define by a word you already have a concept about it. What do you think is God? You describe it as that which is everywhere; which is all-powerful; which is responsible for this creation, for its maintenance, and for its dissolution; which is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.
You say ‘‘I want to see God’’ and when you want to see God as something, as an object, then it’s not everywhere. The moment you see God, there is a distance between you and God; then you are not God. You want to see God, and this wanting to see God as separate from you is again an illusion; and if you are seeing God, then God is not omnipresent!
Like love is felt in the heart, so is God’s presence. You cannot see air, but you simply feel the air. You cannot see heat or cold, but you just feel it. So in the same way God cannot be seen. If you see God, then He is outside there; He is away from you and isolated. God is never an object of isolation. God is the sum total. When you dissolve, God remains. When you are there, there is no God. Either you can be there, or God can be there, not both. So when you meditate, you become one with God. You are God. That is why, it is said, ‘Tatvamasi’, meaning, ‘‘Thou art that’’.
So, God is to be felt in the depth of your heart. In deep meditation when your mind is still, calm, hollow and empty, you suddenly feel, ‘‘I am not there. There is only one big existence.’’ So, don’t worry about God. First know yourself then you also know what is God, almost simultaneously.
Who are you? Do you know about yourself? Just find out about yourself first. If you think you are just the body, it is not possible, because body has its limitations. If you think you are the mind, that’s also not possible because mind has its limitation, it’s another layer. If you know that you are Silence or you are Space, then it is possible; God is also Space. Space is God. Can you see space separately? There are three types of space:
Bhootha Aakash — Outer space in which all this universe is hanging. Chitta Aakash — In your mind, there is a world with impressions, thoughts, dreams; you live in that world, all the visions come in your mind. Chida Aakash — It’s the sky of consciousness that is all permeating; the consciousness, the basis of all creation, that is Divine, that all knows.
Lord Rama himself had asked a question once. He was curious to see so much love, devotion and dedication in Hanuman that he wondered and asked Hanuman what it felt like being Hanuman? Hanuman told Rama — ‘‘When I am in body Consciousness, I am your servant; when I think I am an individual — I am in Soul Consciousness, I am a part of you; and when I am in my being Consciousness, when I am in my self then I am you; there is no difference between me and you.’’ It’s the same when somebody blames your child; you take the blame don’t you? There is so much oneness; in fact, there is really nothing other than God. God is that which is present everywhere, all the time.
Don’t worry too much about philosophy or descriptions of Atma (self) — Paramatma (God). Let’s forget about God and observe this moment; this moment has a mind of its own. The whole existence has a mind of its own. Like you have a mind and it has such intelligence, that’s why it keeps everything orderly. Similarly, this moment is seen by this mind.
This mind you can call it Atma or God and that is what you are. Yesterday is not here right now, tomorrow is not here but the present is here, now! Respect this moment, adore this moment. See, this moment is not flat; it’s very deep. When you accept from the head, you can have the horizontal idea; from the heart you experience the depth; and both together bring true wisdom and knowledge.
What is God and what is Self? The one beyond Self is God; first reach till the Self at least. The difference between Self and God is just like the Wave and the Ocean. Can there be a wave without the ocean? Space is everywhere; everything is in space. You take all things out from a box, empty it yet something remains still; the space remains as space, can anything touch the space? Can anything destroy space?
You cannot make God an object of your sight. If you make it then it is no more God. You can live God, can be God, but you cannot see or perceive God as an object which gives you the path. As you move into the spiritual dimension of your life, you will come to know your true nature. In ancient India they said, ‘Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram’.
Satyam (Truth)
When you feel the truth strongly, energy arises. Suppose someone accuses you of stealing a car. You become upset and say, ‘‘No! I have not stolen anything!’’ What is happening to you? A huge force of energy is coming up. When You say, ‘‘How dare you say that?’ truth is coming up to confront a lie. Only when a lie confronts you, does truth come up so strongly. When you see that everything is changing, something inside you stands up and says, ‘‘No! I am not changing.’’ That force within you is truth; it’s always there.
Shivam (Infinity; that which is comforting)
Comfort comes from consciousness and is experienced by consciousness. When the consciousness relaxes itself to some degree that is called comfort. If you have worked all day until you are very tired and you lay down in bed and take a deep breath, there is a sense of your whole consciousness expanding in some manner. Energy moving in a particular way creates comfort. In the spiritual dimension one’s perception and expression of life changes. The small ‘I’ and ‘mine’ disappear. You see life as a phenomenon. You are here and you are part of the river, the trees, the mountains, and the whole of nature. Such a soothing comfort comes with this knowledge.
Sundaram (Beauty)
God is ever youthful, ever young. To me, God is very naughty; God loves fun! That is why he has created so much fun around, including all the worry and everything else. All the rat race that goes on, that is also fun. Life is fun! Recognising beauty, loving beauty, surrendering to beauty; life can never be dull. As you move into the spiritual dimension of your life, you come to know your true nature — Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram
Head understands head and heart understands heart. Nose can only smell; eye can only see; ears can only hear, ears cannot see. So, heart can feel, isn’t it? We try to put the heart in the head and the head in the heart and it doesn’t seem to work. Your heart feels something is beautiful, head says it is beautiful. We cling on to the word in the mind, we don’t feel it. We repeat the word ‘beautiful’ and it doesn’t seem beautiful.
The same thing goes for love. You talk too much about love, you get stuck in the head and it doesn’t rise in the heart. In silence love emits, radiates. We are not separate. We are all one. I know you all and when you go deep inside you, you know me also. We are not strangers.
When we start listening to our heart then we know that all is one and all is God. GOD stands for Generator, Operator and Destroyer. The present moment has generated; the present moment is operating; and the present moment destroyed the past. So, you are in God and, God is in you...
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