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Note: in this discussion I have used word "he" or "him" in many places to refer to God. This is purely for the sake of convenience. The fact is - God is neither "He" nor "She". God cannot be defined. To define God is to deny God. How can one
define something that is self-luminous, eternal, indivisible, pure, spotless, desireless,
qualityless, timeless, spaceless, changeless, beginningless, endless, unborn, imperishable,
fearless, motionless, nameless and formless - Something infinite that shines eternally?
The only adequate description of God (that human mind can understand) is what “it
is not” - a set of negatives. That is the reason why the Upanishads declare, "Neti-neti"
(not this-not this) when describing the God.
Anyway, the human mind still needs words to describe the God, that his intellect
can understand. Here is an effort to bind the God in words.
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Different interpretations of God |
Many people in this world pray or worship God in one way or other. Some worship God with objective of attaining him (or her or It). Most worship God only when they have material problems in the life and expect him to resolve the issue immediately. If ever God responds to their prayers, they quickly forget it and assign the incident as 'coincidence' and continue with their merry life until the next difficulty arrives.
Poor God!
 He is called again to respond to the next problem in their life….and there are millions that are standing in this line waiting for their turn so that God can respond with a 'miracle' to satisfy their needs. Some get angry at God because their problems were not solved while some believe in their own 'Purushartha' (ego) or Kartutva (creation) and don't even accept the existence of the God.
Some believe he is a certain type. Some are absolutely sure he has particular form. Some believe in many Gods while some accept there is only one universal God. Every religion has its own definition of God. Some religions accept the God is universal while some have their own 'local' version of God. They will even tell you that 'their' God will send you to burning hell after death if you do not believe in 'their' version of God. They claim that their's is the 'Only God' while your's is the 'Satan'. They wont even mind killing other people because they don't believe in their 'regional' God. Ten there are many who create various versions of that God.
Ha! Such a wonderful world! The world where almost none has seen the God, most are confuses about the God but still believe in God, some are hell bent to take you to 'their' God while others don't even believe in God.
So what is God? Is God some supernatural power? Is God he? Is God she? Or it? Is he up somewhere sitting in the heaven taking care of his devotees? Does God have a form or is he formless?
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The Existence – High level picture of
God and his universe |
Let us understand the concept of "Existence" before we can go into detail description of God
According to Vedas (repositories of Spiritual Wisdom) the “Existence” is categorized into three areas:
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The God (The Divine Awareness or the Bliss)
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The Soul ('Self' or Atman)
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The Maya (illusory power of the Lord)
GOD
God is an infinite energy force that keeps the whole Universe in order. God is the
source of all light. God is the source of everything. God is the destroyer of ignorance.
God is the fulfiller of the desires of every man. God is beyond all understanding.
God is the supreme governing power of the universe or cosmos. God is the subtle essence underlying all things we see and don’t see. God is Para-Shakti (supreme power) that is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient. God is a state of Eternal Bliss – Chaitanya (Supreme Consciousness). God is a formless, quality-less (Nirakar, Nirgun) “State of Being” – “A Blissful Being that is eternal as well as intelligent”.
God reveals himself only to the pure, the humble and the simple. He is the first
and the last, the manifest, and the hidden. To the unenlightened man who depends
on his senses for all final judgments, God remains unknown and therefore non-existent.
SOUL
Reflection of this God (infinite energy force) within each individual is called Soul or Atman (or Kundalini if you want). Soul is the subordinate power of God, which means it is one of God's dependent powers. Atman is the unlimited creative potential that exists within every human being.
MAYA (grand illusion of mind)
Maya is the illusory power of God. Maya is the material energy that produced the universe, and your body, senses, mind & intellect. Maya creates division between
the individual soul and the supreme soul. Maya generates different degrees of illusion. Maya is of the nature of mind and pervades everywhere. Maya is a mysterious power that keeps the mind under eternal illusion and confusion. Maya is an indescribable appearance. Maya is not ‘non-existent’ because it appears, neither is it ‘existent’ because it is destroyed by the dawn of knowledge.
ONLY he who gets knowledge of the Self having overcome maya or the illusory power, will alone know what maya is, how it arises and is destroyed. Everyone else remains under full control of full illusion.
God is a Choice
The soul resides within a material body. Soul has a choice - it can go in either Maya's direction or God's direction. But the soul is so much controlled (bound) by Maya that it continues to remain in a miserable state confined inside the cage of flesh and blood bound by mind (which is creation of Maya). The soul that remains bound by Maya remains in the cycle of birth and death.
The soul that successfully removes veil (illusion) of Maya is liberated from the bondage and is united with the God for ever.
Although Maya obscures the truth (God) and our relationship with God, it is also our well-wisher. It is the mind (maya) that takes us away from the God and it is the mind that take us to the God. Without a material mind in a human birth, spiritual practice and understanding of Divine philosophy would not be possible.
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We are not equipped with the tools
to see the God
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Let us first understand the tools that we will use to 'know' or 'experience' the God.
We basically have 5 sense organs (vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch) and one mind (with millions of reflections and images). We perceive and experience the world with the help of these tools. The world itself exists because of these tools together. The world will cease to exist the moment 5 sensory organs and mind stops functioning. This is the same mind with which we are going to try to understand the God.
So who provides the 'ability' to these 5 sensory organs and the mind so that they can function together to create the world before us? That is what is GOD. Do you understand or feel the God yet? NO!
How are you going to comprehend something with the help of which you yourself comprehend? There is no way you can. In other worlds 'YOU CANNOT COMPREHEND (SEE, EXPERRENCE or UNDERSTAND) THE GOD WITH HELP OF 5 SENSORY ORGANS AND THE MIND.'
The fact is – the tools that you operate with can work because of the energy they receive, they have no ability of their own to see the energy that operates them.
No wonder most of the people are confused about the God. The reason is they are no equipped with the right tools with which they can see or experience the God.
Now since you do not have tools to know the God the only option you are left with is either use your "intellect" (with which you will try to understand and imagine the God) or have full faith in the words of those who have seen and experiences the God.
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God can be ONLY partially understood
with help of intellect
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All the descriptions you hear about God (in first few paragraphs above) are creation of intellect (which varies in every individual) combined with "faith in the words" of those who have seen and experienced the God.
So are those descriptions of the God wrong? The reality is they all are correct in their own perspective. Each individual is trying to see the God from where he is standing on the path to the God. It is a vision of the God away at an infinite distance away from the God. How can one say it is right or wrong? The fact is more the distance between the God and the individual, the less clear the picture (of God) is. At the same time they all are pictures of the same God (mostly impaired views of that infinite God.) Basically these are the weakened, diminished, damaged or distorted images of the God which will get better and better as person moves closer to the God.
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This is God
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In reality, the God is an Eternal, Blissful and Creative "State-Of-Being" (Chaitanya or consciousness) that can be achieved after attaining absolute purity of thought, speech and the actions. It is a blissful state beyond Bhava (feeling) where Vrttis (thought waves) of mind have completely subsided (mind is destroyed) and Sadhak's (spiritual practitioner's) existence has completely merged with the Divine existence after loosing its own identity. This is a state where the Yogi's "Will" has merged with the Divine "Will". This is an ocean of Bliss where Yogi is enjoying the waves of the Bliss.
Can you see God? Yes you can see the God – not with your physical eyes, but with your Gyanchakshus (eyes of Divine knowledge). Sadhana (spiritual practitioner) with strong faith in God slowly opens Gyanchakshus that open the Divine doors before Sadhak where he starts seeing the God. Initially this vision is "impaired" – set of unclear images. One needs to develop consciousness of spiritual things to start seeing the God.
Can you experience God? Yes, you can experience the God. You can experience the God in a form of Divine Grace as your mind starts focusing on the sattvik (Divine). Initially the experience starts with few moments of bliss in a day and it grows as the purity within grows. Eventually all that remains is the 'experience' of the Divine and nothing else.
Can you be God? Yes, absolutely and definitely. Union with the God is the Goal of human life. So yes, you can 'BE' God. In fact that is where every Yogi and devotee eventually reaches where the experiencer BECOMES the blissful state itself. This is called Self-Realization.
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Is God Sagun (with form) or Nirgun
(form-less)?
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Many people wonder – Is God Sagun and Sakar (with form and qualities) or is he Nirgun and Nirakar (formless and quality-less)?
The truth is – He is both! God IS Sagun and Sakar and also Nirgun and Nirakar
How can one be both Sagun and Nirgun?
As mentioned above, by nature, God is "formless-state-of-eternal-blissful-being" (Chaitanya or Supreme Consciousness). At the same time this state is also an "Intelligent" - one having ability of creation that can take a form and assume qualities. This is the reason why many devotees of the God can see him in one form or the other in which they believe he can appear (which he does.) This is why some people recognize "Self" (Nirgun, Nirakar) as God while others get the "Darshan" (visualization) of the God that is Sagun and Sakar.
This is the reason why God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omnipresent. In fact because God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omnipresent because he can be Sagun/Sakar and Nirgun/Nirakar at the same time.
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Various descriptions of God
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God is a bliss or ceaseless joy NOT connected with body or mind. How can one define something that they have not seen or experienced? How can one describe the taste of Amruat ("Divine Nectar" or "Drink of the Gods") if one has not even seen the God?
To define God is to deny God! You can give definition of a finite object only. How can you define the limitless or infinite being that is source and cause for everything? If you define God you are limiting the limitless one, you are confining God within the concept of "your limited mind". God is beyond the gross mind (at the same time God can be realized through meditation with a pure, subtle and one pointed mind.)
Technically it is NOT possible to define the God. How can we describe infinite using a limited mind? But we can use our "intellect" to compare it to something that our mind has seen or can understand, perceive or visualize.
Here are some descriptions of that limitless God with the use of limited "Intellect"
God is Omnipotent (having infinite power), Omnipresent (being present in all places at all times) and Omniscient (knowing everything that is there to know.) He is dharma (righteousness).
God is the subtle essence underlying all things. He is the source of life and bliss. He is all in all, He is indivisible, indefinable. He is the only reality. His light pervades every being. He is the Light of lights. He is knowledge. He is the knower. He is the same from age to age. He never changes; he is ageless. He has no opposite. He is transcendental. He is the inner ruler of all souls. He is their goal and he is the path. He is beginning-less and endless. He is without pain, sorrow, fear, passion, caste, creed, sex and color. He is the indweller of your heart. He is within you. He dwells in your heart.
God creates the world and remains as its inner ruler. He also rises above the world. He is never involved in samsara (or the world process). He is the `unmoved mover'. He desires and wills but does not experience pleasure or pain.
God has no religion; He is the source of all religions. He is beyond religion. He is not touched by evil. He is free from hate. He is one. He is peace. He is universal harmony. He is love and law. He is the path and the goal. He alone is your real father, mother, friend and Guru. He is truth, beauty, goodness.
God has no purpose. He is not bound by any action, just as the sun is not bound by the activities of the people of this world. He acts out of compassion for the individual soul. His sole purpose is to see that His creatures evolve spiritually.
God is The Absolute, Divine, Divine Awareness, Nirvana, Mukti , Moksha , Salvation, Bliss, Sat-Chit-Ananda, Chaitanya, Supreme Awareness, Brahman, Supreme Consciousness, Super-Soul, Self, Sakshatkar, Parameshwar, Brahma-Gyan, Realization of The Infinite.
God reveals himself to you in the form in which you love Him most. God cannot be comprehended but can be realized.
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What does God do?
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Creation, preservation, destruction, veiling and blessing are God's five kinds of actions. God is the ruler. He is the knower of the heart. He helps the Sadhak (spiritual practitioner) in a variety of ways - through dreams, the inner voice, talking through the mouths of others in conversation.
God has set the "Law of Karma" into motion. The universe runs ONLY on the "Law-Of-Karma". This we call as "Will" of the God. He is a silent observer of the Law of Karma. God does not interfere in human life or any form of life. At the same time he DOES interfere in the life of a devotee by enabling changes in his material life....only sometimes…not every time.
According to the Prasnopanishad, there are fifteen Kalas (rays) of God. These are: prana (life), faith, sky, air, fire, water, earth, senses, mind, food, strength, penance, mantra (mystic formula), karma (action) and name. Who can know the will of God? He who knows God, he alone can know His will. God and His will are one.
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How can one attain God?
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Eternal bliss, supreme peace, eternal satisfaction, infinite happiness and unbroken joy can be had only in God. One can attain God consciousness or Self-realization through exclusive devotion to one aspect of the Lord, or by Vichara.
Sadhak (spiritual practitioner) attains God by Vichara (Self-enquiry, sustained thinking), Vairagya (non-attachment and dispassion) and Viveka, (discrimination). When one attains absolute purity of thought, speech and actions you come face to face with something that is never destroyed, something that by its own nature is eternally pure, perfect, self luminous and unchanging, that is what we call GOD. After attaining God you will no longer be miserable or unhappy. All miseries are dissolved at the feet of the God and the Sadhak is swimming in the ocean of bliss and surfing on the waves of bliss. There is nothing other than bliss in that existence.
You need a calm, clear, pure, subtle, steady, sharp one-pointed Buddhi (intellect) to understand the reality of the God. Only then is Self-Realization is possible. Only a trained mind which utterly controls the body (5 senses and desires) can enquire and meditate as long as life remains, never losing sight of the object of its search and never letting it be obscured by any material temptations.
God cannot be seen ~ therefore, eyes cannot help the seeker. God cannot
be understood ~ therefore, mind and intellect are of no use to the seeker. God can only be
realized and experienced ~ It is the job of the heart. The realization must be attained
~ Guru and God can give everything but not the realization. Seeker must attain the
Self-Realization.
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External links that answer - What is
God?
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God is what you can believe in. God is not there if you can not believe in him. Watch this discourse of thirty minutes by OM Swami
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