Whether God is there? He is not there but everywhere!
This renowned surgeon from Germany sincerely believed so—God is not there! Though he knew about yoga, appreciated physiotherapy, which he believed draws many features from the syllabus of yoga, he did not believe in God. “I have dissected each and every part of the human anatomy, performed thousands of operations, but have never seen your God. If he is there, what is his place in the body?” he asked the Perfect Master, who listened to him in all smiles. The surgeon’s tone was not arrogant, but argumentative.
“While performing such operations, you must have come across emotions like love, anger, jealousy etc. Did you? Were you able to locate their abodes within the body?” the Perfect Master’s question put the surgeon in the dock.
“These are human emotions, how can they be seen or located?” The surgeon was defending his reasoning with back to the wall.
“You said it right. These indeed are mind-level emotions. You failed to locate them. The existence of human soul which is irretrievably connected to godhood transcends the mind. Only when a human being beats the mind-barrier, one enters the realm of bliss. That is the abode of a yogi which one achieves through yoga. That state is also known as Self-realization or God-realization.”
Yoga contacts you with your inner fragrance, your distinctive nature. Once you make the beginning and reach the finality, you experience the endlessness of that end. Now the important question arises, what is this experiencing? Is experiencing possible through individual efforts?
The Perfect Master says, “It is not possible!” You need the benign grace and blessings of a Divine Teacher to induct you in to the art of eternal yoga.
The question before a normal aspirant of yoga is how to find a Perfect Master. If one errs in the choice of selection here, the results are going to be disastrous. You cannot expect sweet mangoes if you sow neem (1) seeds. You find counterfeits everywhere, and yoga and spirituality are no exception. Frauds and tricksters roam freely in this area as well.
Just as the Central Banking Authority issues certain guidelines to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit currency, the scriptures provide the credentials of a Perfect Master. Swami Vivekananda (2) had similar problems. He visited a number of so-called sages, those with flowing beards donning ochre robes, but none could satisfy his spiritual cravings. His original question remained the original question–Where is God? How can I see Him? At last his great fortune took him to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, (3) who assured him, about the eternal existence of God and let blessed him with the divine experience instantly.
One needs to surrender to such Perfect Masters, whose benign leads will take one to the abode of supreme knowledge. These individuals, who ever revel in the state of supreme knowledge, will bless you with the quintessence of spirituality by their grace. You are on the correct path to pursue the art of yoga.
- Melia azadirachta- a tree with bitter leaves.
- Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902), was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (February 18, 1836 – August 16, 1886), a great mystic-the Realized Soul.
