How to see God

“Mummy, I can’t find my file. It has some important documents.where did you keep it?”

“Ask your daddy, he was looking for something, might have misplaced”

“papa, where is my file? I’m looking for it for so long”

“have you searched for it properly?maybe you missed, GO!!look again !!!

“I looked everywhere, but still couldn’t find”

“Are beta….dhoondne se to bhagwan bhi mil jate hain, ye to sirf file hai”

(if you search with all your heart and soul, you can even find the Almighty)

Whether god exists or not is one of the most debatable topics till date. If someone claims to have seen god, they would be asked, What does he look like? Is god male or female? If you can see him, why can’t you tell him so many people are suffering around the world, children are dying of cancer. why can’t he do something for them? Human mind perceives the world the way it wants to. Its is a mirror image of our mind. If we see ourselves as physical entities with emotional baggages we would see god too to be a physical being who has a thought pattern, physical appearance, habits, attributes, likings and dislikings.

Like most of the people I watched a lot of American movies while growing up. But after a certain point I figured out they were mostly repeating the stories on the same lines. Have you ever noticed the projection of aliens? They are created by the production team with a lot of reasoning but are still conceived on screen having the same human attributes. I usually differ from that projection. They do their best to make them look as convincing as possible but the emotions portrayed and their actions are very anthropomorphic. Jealousy, hatred, love, anger, compassion, exploiting earth to make their home comfortable(almost in every movie) etc are all in essence a portrayal of basic human nature.

As kids, we learned so many stories about the great devotees India ever had. Meerabai, Radha, Tukaram, Shabri, Ravana, Arjun, Hanuman to name a few. The benchmark has been set so high that we think it must take mammoth devotion to witness the divine in reality. Devotion to god does not ask, it just does. We do not question but accept what we are blessed with. There is no bargaining, no pleas or begging involved. What can you give to the one who has created everything. 

Below are the lyrics of a song from the movie Kaajal(1965) written by sahir ludhiyanvi. 

Prani apne prabhu se poochhe, Kis vidhi paaun tohe

Prabhu kahe tu man ko pa le, Pa jaayega mohe

Man asks god what is the way to you? How can I attain you? God answers, “if you can find your mind, eventually you will find me.” 

Mind is like a mirror. Nothing escapes from the mind. If one can understand the true nature of mind, attaining the supreme becomes imminent. Divine appears when our thoughts are the purest and there is no single fleck of doubt. In that one moment when we are sincere even in our subconscious mind, the unbelievable happens. Most of the times, when we visit temples, there is a certain way the deities are  projected. I have given considerable amount of thought to this, why is the presiding deity whether it is Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Vishnu or Yoginis projected like that? Is it because they are described in the scriptures like this or somebody has truly seen them. I am sure there are a lot of people who have seen and experienced the divine. At some point in life, we all must have come across somebody who would have claimed witnessing a miracle. A rare phenomena which tells not the visual experience but the impression of a divine entity. But many chose not to disclose their experience as the listener needs to transcend logic to understand the depth of such experience. Mostly, we brush off such stories as hallucination. They also chose not to disclose because they would be questioned on the credibility of their experience.

God rewards the devotees with their vision in the most unexplainable, unimaginable, bizarre way and surely something a human mind cannot comprehend. The vision of devi and devas is beyond our five senses to grasp. One does not have to be a vairagi to attain spiritual bliss. Bhagvad Geeta finds mention of king Janak who although a king but was a yogi. A true seeker will find ways to enlightenment. When your heart is pure you seeing the divine becomes inevitable. When there is sadhna, deep longing, a stubbornness and devotional love God will have to come to the devotee.

Here is a story which I read in a local newspaper(Navbharat times)and I absolutely loved it. This story teaches that God seeks simple and sincere efforts.

Once there was a young man who went to a temple and saw a sage offering obeisances to the god. He was quite inspired and offered to join him. He thought it is such an easy job, with nothing much to do. Just pray to god, sing the glories of the divine and when hunger strikes beg for food. The senior sage accepted him as his disciple. Once there was the monthly ekadashi fast. The senior sage told him to fast all day and offer prayers at the end of the day in the hut across the banks of Yamuna river. He was instructed not to eat unless he makes an offering to god. He had never stayed hungry so he wondered how will stay without food. Somehow he managed without eating and by the end of the day as instructed by his guru, he went across the river and cooked prasadam. He then offered it to lord Ram. Nobody came. He waited and waited. As he was getting hungrier he became annoyed and said, “Dear god, i know you like to eat all kinds of delicacies but this is what I have. so please come and eat. I cannot wait for you all day.” Seeing the innocence of this devotee, Lord Ram smiled and decided to come pay a visit. But lord rama arrived with Devi Sita. They both came and finished all the food. The devotee says, “lord Rama, I am glad you came but next time please let me know in advance how many people you will be bringing over because there is nothing left for me.” Lord rama took his leave and went to his abode. Next day, the senior sage asked him if he did what he was told. He nods but complains that Lord rama brought devi Sita along with him and I was left starving. Senior sage was amused at his story. During the next month, another ekadashi came. He did exactly the same except this time he took more food to be prepared. After he finished cooking he prayed again and asked lord rama and devi sita to come and accept his offering. This time, lord rama and devi sita brought laxman along with them. All three ate the prasadam and there was nothing left for him. Annoyed he complains to Lord rama, “Prabhu, next time please let me know in advance how many people you would be bringing because again I’m hungry.”

Next day he again mentions to the senior sage that he would be needing more food as lord rama came along with Devi sita and laxman. The senior sage found it doubtful and decided to check himself as to what is he doing with all the food. Next ekadashi came, he went across the river, made food and asked Lord Rama, Devi Sita and Laxman to come and accept his offerings. Lord rama came along with devi Sita, laxman along with hanuman. The young devotee became furious. “This is not fair. You never tell me how many people you bring and every time I am left hungry. I cannot cook for this many people, I need help.” Seeing this,Lord rama smiled and said to sita, now that the devotee asks we need to do something. Lord Rama asked Devi sita to cook food, laxman to bring woods and hanuman to light up the fire.

The senior sage was looking through the window but could not see who the young disciple was talking to. He decided to barge in. He asked the disciple, what’s happening and who are you talking to? To which he answered Devi sita is cooking food, laxman and hanuman are helping with chores and he was massaging lord Rama’s foot. But the guru could not see anyone. The disciple asked lord Rama, “why is my guru not able to see you?” To which lord rama answered, “your guru is not innocent and simple like you. That’s why he cannot see me.” He conveys the same to his guru, upon hearing which he bursts into tears. He admits he has not been sincere in his prayers. After the realisation, lord rama along with Sita, laxman and Hanuman appeared and blessed both of them.