What/Where is God?

"Quest For God" by Swami Vivekananda

O'ver hill and dale and mountain range,
In temple, church, and mosque,
In Vedas, Bible, Al Koran
I had searched for Thee in vain.

Like a child in the wildest forest lost
I have cried and cried alone,
"Where art Thou gone, my God, my love?
The echo answered, "gone."

And days and nights and years then passed
A fire was in the brain,
I knew not when day changed in night
The heart seemed rent in twain.

I laid me down on Ganges's shore,
Exposed to sun and rain;
With burning tears I laid the dust
And wailed with waters' roar.

I called on all the holy names
Of every clime and creed.
"Show me the way, in mercy, ye
Great ones who have reached the goal."

Years then passed in bitter cry,
Eacch moment seemed an age,
Till one day midst my cries and groans
Some one seemed calling me.

A gentle soft and soothing voice
That said 'my son' 'my son',
That seemed to thrill in unison
With all the chords of my soul.

I stood on my feet and tried to find
The place the voice came from;
I searched and searched and turned to see
Round me, before, behind,
Again, again it seemed to speak
The voice divine to me.
In rapture all my soul was hushed,
Entranced, enthralled in bliss.

A flash illumined all my soul;
The heart of my heart opened wide.
O joy, O bliss, what do I find!
My love, my love you are here
And you are here, my love, my all!
And I was searching thee -
From all eternity you were there
Enthroned in majesty!

From that day forth, wherever I roam,
I feel Him standing by
O'ver hill and dale, high mount and vale,
Far far away and high.

The moon's soft light, the stars so bright,
The glorious orb of day,
He shines in them; His beauty - might -
Reflected lights are they.

The majestic morn, the melting eve,
Teh boundless billowing sea,
In nature's beauty, songs of birds,
I see through them - it is He.

When dire calamity seizes me,
The heart seems weak and faint,
All natures seems to crush me down,
With laws that enver bend.

Meseems I hear Thee whispering sweet
My love, "I am near", "I am near".
My heart gets strong.
With thee, my love,
A thousand deaths no fear.
Thou speakest in the mother's lay
Thous shuts the babies eye,
When innocent children laugh and play,
I see Thee standing by.

When holy friendship shakes the hand,
He stands between them too;
He pours the nectar in mother's kiss
And the baby's sweet "mama".
Thou wert my God with prophets old,
All creeds do come from Thee,
The Vedas, Bible, and Koran bold
Sing Thee in Harmony.

"Thou art," Thou art" the Soul of souls
In the rushing stream of life.
"Om tat sat om." Thou art my God,
My love, I am thine, I am thine.

From a letter written by Vivekananda on September 4, 1893 to Prof. J.H. Wright of Boston who introduced the Swami at the Parliament of Religions

What/Where is God?

What/Where is God? The most debated question I should say. From the time humans witnessed the first lightning, thunderstorm, earthquake or hurricane/tsunami they looked at each other and said “Powerful it is! Out of our control! Supreme!” Some said he/she is punishing us for our sins. Some said God is testing human perseverance and is another way of teaching humans important lessons. Some said, it is the contribution of physical science and have no God factor involved in it.

In order to truly understand what I’m going to write from now in this blog, I would highly recommend you to read my blog called “Aham Brahmasmi”. That will help you set the background.

Now, let me use few books and stories to lay the foundation

• …And Prahlada said, “He is in pillars, and He is in the least twig” to his bellowed demon father Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu in his rage of anger smashes the pillar, and Lord Vishnu in the form of fearsome Narasimha appeared from it.

Conclusion: What we can learn from this story is,

1. God is omnipresent. It means he is in every atom, which means he is in an animal, a human or even in a pillar.

2. Prahlada was born to a demon, lived in a demon society, and still God appeared to save the child. It does not matter which society you are born into, what matters is a pure heart and an honest soul to be able to see the power of the omnipresent.

• "I shall tell you of the soul. The soul is God -who is immortal and infinite, who has no beginning and will have no end, and who both exists and does not exist. Those who know the soul, are immortal.

The soul dwells in every living being, and in every part of every living being; it dwells in the hand and the foot, the skull and the mouth, the eye and the ear. Although it does no itself have senses, it shines through every sense. It is completely independent, yet all beings depend on it.

The soul is both near every living being, and far from every being. The soul is both inside and outside every living being. The soul is the cause of movement, but does not itself move. The soul is one, yet has innumerable forms. The soul creates, preserves, and destroys.
The soul is the light of every light; and its light transcends the duality of brightness and darkness. The soul is the light of knowledge; and its light is also the goal of knowledge. In the soul the subject and object of knowledge are one.”

Gita 13.12-17

· "The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart. 0 Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities."

Gita 18.61

· "That Brahman is in front and in back, in the north, south, east, and west, and also overhead and below. In other words, that supreme Brahman effulgence spreads throughout both the material and spiritual skies."

Mundaka Upanishad 2.1.1

Besides all the above, the scriptures says the following about Guru = Teacher.

• “Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwara
  Guru Sakshath Parambrahma Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha”

Adi Shakara

Who is a Guru?

Guru is that person who will help you

“Flourish your Knowledge” (Gyana raksha);

“Diminish your Sorrow” (Dukha kshaya),

“Arose unconditional Joy and Bliss” (Sukha aavirbhava),

“Increases your Prosperity (Samriddhi),

“Develops and helps you realize your innermost talents and uniquness” (Sarva samvardhan).

A Guru can be your mom, your dad, your brother/sister, your best friend, your role model or even yourself.

From the light of the above discussion, A pillar or a twig has God in it, the Soul is God, Guru is God, Every religion has God and prayers are heard no matter what religion you follow, thereby proving God is Jesus, God is Buddha, God is Allah, God is Shiva and God is Vishnu.

What can be deduced from this?

God is what “you” think God is. Determination, confidence, trust, vision and perseverance makes impossible happen. He who passes true knowledge (just when a mom teaches you how to say “amma” and dad teaches you how to “walk” and a Guru teaches you how to “understand”) transfers energy thereby triggering several electric sparks in your brain. Energies of various kinds are transmitted from body to body, living as well as non-living. Realizing it, feeling it, conceiving it makes a human body powerful. That’s how saints are born, and are known to do miracles. Just how Mother Theresa brought hope to the poor and sick, just how Vivekananda brought light back to the Vedic books, just how Adi Shankara rediscovered Advaita, extraordinary things can happen if humans “want it to happen”.

Talk to the God in you, and see what you can do for yourself. According to me, God is the combination of physical science, true unconditional belief, and bright visions, and each one of us creates our own personal Gods, giving our lovable God his/her definition and personality.

Now there is a big question that comes along with this. What about all the other phrases written in our Vedic books? For example, when Mundaka Upanishad talks about the shapeless, formless, omnipresent eternal body, Brahmanda Purana gives the most versatile and beautiful description of Mata Lalithambika. But, if you closely look into it we will realize that both of them have a common focal point. The later is helping the wise perceive the former. When you read Mata Lalitha Sahasramam or Mata Lalitha Stotra Shatanamavali, you encounter glorified description of extraordinary qualities. Qualities such as knowledge, beauty, power, compassion, empathy, forgive-fullness are glorified. If you read Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puran, take any books, the Goodness is Glorified, and Evil is Eradicated. The question one should ask oneself is, aren’t these the same qualities we are trying to awake in ourselves? The most important thing a person can have in his life is a “Role Model” and Brahmanda Purana is gifting you with the Role Model = Mata Lalithambiga. Striving to be a part of her personality has always been my personal mission. And by doing that, I’m trying to realize more of “Aham Brahmasmi” the principle well described in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10, of Yajur Veda, and Mahanarayana Upanishad.

Now, personally if you ask me, how do I pray… I visualize a powerful being, having all the beautiful qualities I have ever heard of, exuberating the strongest vibration and energy into me. I believe that, you have no one to blame except yourselves for the mistakes you do. Its not the birth sin you should be bothered about, the sin you committed is what you should worry about. Taking responsibility and learning from the wrong is the best thing you can do to yourself. I believe that, God is not going to help if you do not help yourself. It is about energizing your body and channelizing it into the right focal point.

God do exist, but it is left to our own imaginations, and we are the ones that give shape, form, and life to that energy. And if the right energy is passed, even a “Rock will learn to Speak”.