REALIZING GOD WITHIN
Where is God? Is God living far away on a distant planet? Is God that old man with a long white beard floating somewhere in the clouds, as we sometimes make our children believe? Is God the statue in the temple? Is God the saint whose picture is painted and framed on the wall? Unless we realize who God is not, we will never realize the truth about God.
Haven't you seen people pray? Most of us, most of the time, intuitively close our eyes when we pray. Sometimes, we take all the trouble of going on a pilgrimage, but the moment we reach 'our God', at that point, we close our eyes. Why? Because, intuitively, we realize that God is not outside. God is within. Because we are so enamoured with the attractions of this world and the distractions of our mind, we are unable to go within. Then comes the ego which states, 'This is ME.' How can 'I' be God? Along with the mind, it makes our ignorance reign supreme and continues to make us suffer.
Most of us accept that God exists. But we think that God is the one we pray to in the temple, mosque, and church. We don't search for God because our yearning for God is overtaken by the yearning for material pleasures. Thus, our life escapes us as we pray, but we don't really find out to whom we pray, nor do we understand the meaning of what we say.
Once we realize that we are not the body, the mind, the ego and we realize we are the Divine Soul, then we realize God within. However, as long as we do not let go of the ego, we will never find God in the temple of our heart.
How does one realize God within? Is it enough to read and understand this Divine truth? In such a case, millions around the world should have realized God inside their heart. But God-realization is very rare. Only those who truly yearn for God and are willing to let go of the world, reach destination God. Their yearning for God is more than a miser's yearning for gold, a lover's yearning for their beloved, and a child's yearning for its mother that it has just lost. If we truly yearn for God, if we truly seek God, then we will be able to let go of our ego and find God.
Realization is not for the ordinary. It is not like finding your favourite restaurant on Google. It is not even looking for that unique merchandise in the supermarket. Realization of the self and of God, is very simple, but still, the most difficult challenge in the world. Why is it simple? Because God is within. Why then is it the most difficult challenge? Because the Ego along with the Mind, ME, makes it near impossible to realize this truth.
There was an old lady who was searching for a diamond ring she had just lost. All the neighbours gathered outside her house to join in the search. They asked her several questions. How did the ring look like, did it have a diamond, was it gold? But nobody could find the ring. A smart neighbour who joined the search, asked her the question,'Where exactly did you drop it?' She replied, 'I dropped it inside my house.' In utter surprise, he asked her, 'Why then are you searching for it outside the house?' 'Oh!' she said, 'You don't understand. There is no light inside my house.'
As long as we are looking for God in the wrong place, how can we find God? God is not far away, but we must pass the 4 doors to find God. These 4 doors are like 4 milestones that we must pass on the highway to reach the destination. The first door is Dispassion or Detachment. It is all about living dispassionately without being attached to people or possessions. The second door is Discrimination. It is about using our intellect and choosing right over wrong. It is the ability to make intellectual decisions and not emotional ones. The third door is Discipline that starts with complete control of the mind and goes on to control the senses of the body. True discipline is about overcoming desires and cravings. The fourth door is to Desire the Divine and to seek Liberation, not to seek the worldly pleasures that people usually do.
Most people don't realize that God never leaves us from the moment we are born, till the moment we die. It is God- energy in us that makes us breathe from birth to death. But because the ego is screaming, 'I,' 'me' and 'mine!' we cannot hear the sweet silent voice of God, that sometimes speaks as our conscience, and at other times, appears as a flash of inspiration, intuition, or sixth sense. The scriptures of all the religions advocate that God is within. The Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Guru Granth Sahib, and the Upanishads, ask us to realize the God that is within. Still, the ego takes us outside. The ego stops us from God.
We have a choice. We can choose to be the ego or we can choose to live as God. We can't be both. The moment we behave as the ego, we cannot see the light of God. The famous Indian poet Kabir Das said, 'Jab main tha tab Hari nahin, Jab Hari hai main nahin… Sab andhiyara mit gaya, Jab deepak dekhya mahin.' It means, ‘When ‘I was,’ then ‘God was not,’ now ‘God is’ and ‘I am not.’ All the darkness and all the illusions mitigated, when I saw the light within. There was illumination.' The light of God gets enveloped in the darkness of the Ego. It is only when we let go of the ego that we will find God.
What actually happens in our day to day life? A seeker can practically experience how the mind robs our Divine Consciousness. When we try to meditate and contemplate the God within, we experience a Divine peace. In that very moment of devout prayer, our mind steals our Divine consciousness. We can experience this consciousness of God within, but this moment of Ananda or bliss is short- lived because of ME – the Mind and Ego. Together, it jumps like a monkey, from thought to thought, from a past that is gone to a future not yet born. We lose that present moment of Divine consciousness. Thus, the ancient sages prescribed Yoga to realize God within.
Yoga is a Divine exercise that helps us transcend the ego as we unite with God. Unfortunately, we have even manipulated the term Yoga to be just a few physical exercises or Asanas and breathing techniques or Pranayama. These are just two of the eight limbs suggested by Saint Patanjali to attain that state of Samadhi or Divine union – Yoga.
Yoga means Yuj or Union. It is the art of transcending ME – Mind and Ego and building a Divine connection with God.
Just like a good SIM card is constantly connected to the satellite, and gives us a strong network to communicate, Yoga is building a strong connection with the Divine that is within us. The Divine is everywhere. It is within me and it is within you. It is in every living organism on earth. So, everything beautiful is a manifestation of the Divine. Satyam Shivam Sundaram – the truth is God is beautiful. The truth is everything beautiful is God. Because we live in Bhoga, there is no Yoga. Bhoga is craving and connection with the material world. Yoga is union with the Divine.
How can one live in Yoga? To live in Yoga or in Divine Union, one must constantly move in the Yogic cycle of Dhyana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyana Yoga and Karma Yoga - Yoga of meditation, of devotion, of education and of action. It is not easy to be in Yoga all the time, but it is possible.
If one wants to be in Yoga, one must make a conscious decision to be in Divine Union. If we do not do this, the senses of our body and the wandering of our mind, will make us go round and round in this world of attractions and distractions. The first step is to let go of the ego, because it is the ego that takes us to Bhoga – desires and cravings of this world. When we realize we are not the body-mind, but the Divine Soul, only then can we become conscious and live a life of Yoga being ever united with the Divine.
One who lives in Yoga is a Yogi. A Yogi is conscious about the truth – 'I am not 'I'.' The Yogi realizes that we are all the Atman, the Soul or the Spirit and our goal is to be one with the Paramatman, the Divine, the Supreme. Such a Yogi who is conscious of this truth, transcends the thoughts of the mind and cravings of the body. The Yogi starts his