GOD AND YOU – THE DIVINE PRESENCE
Have you ever seen God?
Do you believe God exists?
Have you ever experienced God?
Is God a copyright of a select few?
Am I pure enough to reach God?
Most of us believe in God, meaning we believe God exists, isn’t it. We go to temples, keep fasts, conduct rituals, worship deities, follow rules of religion we believe in, etc. We do everything possible from our side to please the God we believe in. We have an image of our favorite deity embedded in our mind which defines our God. We follow and please that form of God always. How did you choose that form? Was it an internal call ? Was it because your parents did so and you are following their footsteps or there is some other reason. An introspection, can you relate and connect with the God you worship?
Do you feel the God you worship is weaker than the God I worship and you need to changeover? Do you feel your God is slow to respond and sometimes even doesn’t?
Let me share a story with you, I heard when I was a child. Long time back there used to be a Hindu priest called Srinath who stayed with his family in a village. This priest was in charge of a Krishna temple in the village and used to worship the Lord everyday. He used to wake up at 4 am and open the temple, clean the whole temple himself, garland the Lord, do abhishek and finally open the door for people to enter and worship.
Like a typical poojari, he used to sit in the temple the whole day, place the offerings the devotees brought at the Lord’s feet and give them prasadam in return and complete all the tasks and activities of the temple. Many years passed by, the same way. One day Srinath had to rush to the city for some urgent work and he called upon his son who was 7 years old to carry out the basic work of the temple. After explaining everything, he told his son’ I will return back in the evening today, see to it that you give lunch (bhog) to the Lord before eating your food. ’
Saying this Srinath went away and returned back late in the evening.
On reaching he asked his son ” Did you complete all the work of the temple?” The son replied “Yes.” He further asked ” Did you give offerings to the Lord”. The son replied “Yes, I gave. He does not eat easily though” Curiously Srinath asked “What???”. The son himself quite surprised at this stage said ” Yes, He is difficult to deal with. Initially He was not eating, I kept the food, went to play and asked Him to eat it and finish it. When I came back after a while, He had still not eaten it. Again I requested Him to eat and went to play. The same thing when it repeated thrice, I got angry at Him. Then I used my force and told Him If you don’t eat food now, I will beat you with the stick which is kept behind the temple. Krishna got frightened and immediately came and ate the food. You also can use this technique in future if He doesn’t eat.”
Relationship is the first step to God realization – Veejay Israani
Do you believe God exists?
Have you ever experienced God?
Is God a copyright of a select few?
Am I pure enough to reach God?
Most of us believe in God, meaning we believe God exists, isn’t it. We go to temples, keep fasts, conduct rituals, worship deities, follow rules of religion we believe in, etc. We do everything possible from our side to please the God we believe in. We have an image of our favorite deity embedded in our mind which defines our God. We follow and please that form of God always. How did you choose that form? Was it an internal call ? Was it because your parents did so and you are following their footsteps or there is some other reason. An introspection, can you relate and connect with the God you worship?
Do you feel the God you worship is weaker than the God I worship and you need to changeover? Do you feel your God is slow to respond and sometimes even doesn’t?
Let me share a story with you, I heard when I was a child. Long time back there used to be a Hindu priest called Srinath who stayed with his family in a village. This priest was in charge of a Krishna temple in the village and used to worship the Lord everyday. He used to wake up at 4 am and open the temple, clean the whole temple himself, garland the Lord, do abhishek and finally open the door for people to enter and worship.
Like a typical poojari, he used to sit in the temple the whole day, place the offerings the devotees brought at the Lord’s feet and give them prasadam in return and complete all the tasks and activities of the temple. Many years passed by, the same way. One day Srinath had to rush to the city for some urgent work and he called upon his son who was 7 years old to carry out the basic work of the temple. After explaining everything, he told his son’ I will return back in the evening today, see to it that you give lunch (bhog) to the Lord before eating your food. ’
Saying this Srinath went away and returned back late in the evening.
On reaching he asked his son ” Did you complete all the work of the temple?” The son replied “Yes.” He further asked ” Did you give offerings to the Lord”. The son replied “Yes, I gave. He does not eat easily though” Curiously Srinath asked “What???”. The son himself quite surprised at this stage said ” Yes, He is difficult to deal with. Initially He was not eating, I kept the food, went to play and asked Him to eat it and finish it. When I came back after a while, He had still not eaten it. Again I requested Him to eat and went to play. The same thing when it repeated thrice, I got angry at Him. Then I used my force and told Him If you don’t eat food now, I will beat you with the stick which is kept behind the temple. Krishna got frightened and immediately came and ate the food. You also can use this technique in future if He doesn’t eat.”
Saying this the small boy went to sleep. Srinath was confused ” Is my son telling the truth? If so, how can a stone idol eat food” With all these thoughts in his mind, he went to sleep. That night for the first time in his life, Lord Krishna appeared in his dreams. Crying inconsolably he asked the Lord ” I am such a sincere devotee and a priest too and I have dedicated my life at your lotus feet. If my son is right, please tell me how come you ate the food he offered you, whereas till today you have not eaten anything I gave you. Am I so impure that you have not eaten my given food till date or were you afraid that my son might beat you with the stick and break your idol.”
The Lord smiled and replied “Dear Srinath, its neither of the above. Your son today treated me like I am a real living being and expected me to eat the food offered, hence I had to come and accept it. In your case, you have been offering me food for 40 years thrice a day. But at no point in your life you thought I will really come and accept the offerings. You treated me like a stone idol and I responded to your beliefs. I am Bhakt paradina i.e dependent on the devotee.” Saying this the Lord vanished, but Srinath learnt a very important lesson in his life. His thinking, his understanding of God, his faith all transformed. He learnt faith is binding, experience is relieving. He was himself bound by faith, his little son had experienced God.
So are you too worshiping a Non Living God?
The question to ask is what is your understanding of God. Is it like Srinath or like his son. There are crores of Srinaths even today who go to temples regularly, keep fasts, follow all rituals, in other words are staunch devotees and feel God exists only in idols / temples.Like a regular routine they go on worshipping deities without even believing He can respond. They fear God, feel God will punish, God is very high up in the skies where a few sadhus, saints, etc can reach. They feel He only listens to the saints or Gurus and that they have a copyright over God. The prime reason for such a belief is nothing but a lack of relationship with the Divine. God created the whole universe. All the universal things are dependent on Him. But God, the creator, is Bhakt paradhina, dependent on His devotees.
The Lord smiled and replied “Dear Srinath, its neither of the above. Your son today treated me like I am a real living being and expected me to eat the food offered, hence I had to come and accept it. In your case, you have been offering me food for 40 years thrice a day. But at no point in your life you thought I will really come and accept the offerings. You treated me like a stone idol and I responded to your beliefs. I am Bhakt paradina i.e dependent on the devotee.” Saying this the Lord vanished, but Srinath learnt a very important lesson in his life. His thinking, his understanding of God, his faith all transformed. He learnt faith is binding, experience is relieving. He was himself bound by faith, his little son had experienced God.
So are you too worshiping a Non Living God?
The question to ask is what is your understanding of God. Is it like Srinath or like his son. There are crores of Srinaths even today who go to temples regularly, keep fasts, follow all rituals, in other words are staunch devotees and feel God exists only in idols / temples.Like a regular routine they go on worshipping deities without even believing He can respond. They fear God, feel God will punish, God is very high up in the skies where a few sadhus, saints, etc can reach. They feel He only listens to the saints or Gurus and that they have a copyright over God. The prime reason for such a belief is nothing but a lack of relationship with the Divine. God created the whole universe. All the universal things are dependent on Him. But God, the creator, is Bhakt paradhina, dependent on His devotees.
Its not God, its My God. Personalizing God
Let me share my own experience here. My personal relationship with the Divine is of a friend. I speak to Him everyday, express myself to Him and ask for His grace. My bond is extremely strong and I know He is there for, with and active in me all the time because He is not God, He is My God. I address Him as My Ganesha. When there are desperate times, some long standing desire not fulfilled and things don’t go my way, I even scold him, fight with Him. I have scolded Him quite a few times and let me share He never punishes or gives it back because He is my God. I know Every time I have fought with Him, my bond has grown stronger. The liberty to do so with Him is given by the relationship and the strong bond we share.
Day by day, I can feel Him becoming all the more powerful in my life. My mother once told me, problems and challenges will always come. Its not enough to just pray and feel God is so powerful, He will do it. Its actually about the God in you, if that’s more powerful than your challenges, you win. But if not, then it’s the other way round, so keep strengthening your bond with the Divine. Whenever I find any difficulty approaching my life, I can see His eyes become sore and moist, signaling the pain He is also going through seeing me in that situation. Like a father cannot see his child suffer, He cannot see me suffer.
Why we can’t surrender?
Have you ever thought why we cant surrender to the Divine? The primary reason is there is no bond, he just exists in our homes as a stone idol. I have seen so many people select Ganesha idols in Ganpati festivals in India based on the decorations, colors, etc. The connectivity is important. Can we see the idol and relate to Him, if no, then look out for the other one. When there is no bond, there is no confidence, when there is no confidence, there can never be surrender.
What is your relation?
This is the reason that these people don’t experience God or rather grace of God. I know of a friends father of mine who goes to a temple everyday which is atleast 20 kms from his place since 20 years now. But his understanding and relation with the Divine is exactly like Srinath. He has not moved at all in his life in these many years, but has never stopped going to the temple or tried introspecting. The question to ponder over is whether you have got Divine experiences, can you feel the Presence everytime with you. Whether He is God or your God. If No, then its time to develop a relation with the Divine. This relation can be of a friend, father, mother, brother or any you feel comfortable. The only thing, keep a relation you would be happy in. For example if your relation with your mother is not good then don’t keep a relationship of a mother. Share everything with the Divine, not just your desires. Exactly like we share happiness, sorrow, needs, desires with our loved ones.
Remember God does not reside in temples, its just a place of worshipping him in his symbolic form, He exists in relationships. And very soon you will find Him respond to you like the saints.
So, lets break the barriers, the old thinking, overcome the fear and guilt about God and develop a strong bond with the Divine, a bond which gives us the liberty to express ourselves completely and if need be, throw our frustrations on Him, maybe just for that one day, when He has not done what you expected Him to do.
This time on this auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, lets not get just the prasadam from the temple, lets bring back the Shiva with us. He has been waiting with open arms all these births and ages for us, not for our worship, but for establishing a relationship. As much as we need Him, He needs us too.
As man is incomplete without God, so is the other way round.
And very soon you will find ‘The God in you just got bigger’
Come lets open our hearts and get connected to the Divine.
Let me share my own experience here. My personal relationship with the Divine is of a friend. I speak to Him everyday, express myself to Him and ask for His grace. My bond is extremely strong and I know He is there for, with and active in me all the time because He is not God, He is My God. I address Him as My Ganesha. When there are desperate times, some long standing desire not fulfilled and things don’t go my way, I even scold him, fight with Him. I have scolded Him quite a few times and let me share He never punishes or gives it back because He is my God. I know Every time I have fought with Him, my bond has grown stronger. The liberty to do so with Him is given by the relationship and the strong bond we share.
Day by day, I can feel Him becoming all the more powerful in my life. My mother once told me, problems and challenges will always come. Its not enough to just pray and feel God is so powerful, He will do it. Its actually about the God in you, if that’s more powerful than your challenges, you win. But if not, then it’s the other way round, so keep strengthening your bond with the Divine. Whenever I find any difficulty approaching my life, I can see His eyes become sore and moist, signaling the pain He is also going through seeing me in that situation. Like a father cannot see his child suffer, He cannot see me suffer.
Why we can’t surrender?
Have you ever thought why we cant surrender to the Divine? The primary reason is there is no bond, he just exists in our homes as a stone idol. I have seen so many people select Ganesha idols in Ganpati festivals in India based on the decorations, colors, etc. The connectivity is important. Can we see the idol and relate to Him, if no, then look out for the other one. When there is no bond, there is no confidence, when there is no confidence, there can never be surrender.
What is your relation?
This is the reason that these people don’t experience God or rather grace of God. I know of a friends father of mine who goes to a temple everyday which is atleast 20 kms from his place since 20 years now. But his understanding and relation with the Divine is exactly like Srinath. He has not moved at all in his life in these many years, but has never stopped going to the temple or tried introspecting. The question to ponder over is whether you have got Divine experiences, can you feel the Presence everytime with you. Whether He is God or your God. If No, then its time to develop a relation with the Divine. This relation can be of a friend, father, mother, brother or any you feel comfortable. The only thing, keep a relation you would be happy in. For example if your relation with your mother is not good then don’t keep a relationship of a mother. Share everything with the Divine, not just your desires. Exactly like we share happiness, sorrow, needs, desires with our loved ones.
Remember God does not reside in temples, its just a place of worshipping him in his symbolic form, He exists in relationships. And very soon you will find Him respond to you like the saints.
So, lets break the barriers, the old thinking, overcome the fear and guilt about God and develop a strong bond with the Divine, a bond which gives us the liberty to express ourselves completely and if need be, throw our frustrations on Him, maybe just for that one day, when He has not done what you expected Him to do.
This time on this auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, lets not get just the prasadam from the temple, lets bring back the Shiva with us. He has been waiting with open arms all these births and ages for us, not for our worship, but for establishing a relationship. As much as we need Him, He needs us too.
As man is incomplete without God, so is the other way round.
And very soon you will find ‘The God in you just got bigger’
Come lets open our hearts and get connected to the Divine.
Relationship is the first step to God realization – Veejay Israani
This blog is written by Veejay Israani. Veejay is a Transformational life coach, Bachflower therapist, Heripatt healer, etc who works on transforming individuals through his workshops, writings, guidance, healings, etc to enable them to move towards Ascension. He can be reached from details on the contact us page on this website.
