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What is God?

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We dig here a little more from what we discussed earlier here on this page on What is God - Part I.

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"So What is God?"

 

Is that not the question every Yogi, every Spiritual seeker asks?

What is God?

How do you realize God?

Why is God important?

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Well at least I do. And I consider myself a Yogi, a Spiritual seeker and a lifelong learner.

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What qualifies someone as a Yogi, Spiritual seeker and lifelong learner?

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Well, According to me and based on my experiences, a Yogi, Spiritual seeker and lifelong learner is anyone who wants to know:

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• What is The Truth behind our existence?

• Why we are born? 

• What is the purpose of Life?

• What is death? What happens after death?

• Are we just this body? or Are we just this mind? or Something more beyond this Body and Mind?

• What is the difference between a non-living entity and a living-being?

• What is the reason for all this variety in Nature?

• Why everyone is different in various ways and yet there are similarities?

• Where did this Universe come from? Where is it going?

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and so on...

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So if we agree on the above, then the original questions come back - What is God? How do you realize God? Why is God Important?

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Lets try to address them one by one...

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What is God?

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Different Philosophers, Sages, Thinkers, Yogis, Seekers, Learners over the ages and in all parts of the world have tried to answer this in various ways. While their words may be different, their details may be different but if you look at the macro level, they seem to have some common themes.

All of them seem to agree that God is 

• Indescribable

• Infinite

• Absolute

• Almighty

• Eternal

• Ultimate Truth

• and more..

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And all of them are Correct yet they are different in the characteristics of God they are describing.

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According the Ancient Indian scriptures called Vedas, God is described as the Ultimate Truth of Existence -- a Truth that is Indescribable, Infinite, Absolute, Almighty, Eternal. Noone can fully describe it yet it Exists. This fact is beautifully summarized in the well known Vedic Aphorism: 

एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्ति

'Truth is One, Sages call it by different names' 

 

Apparently paradoxical, but it is somewhat similar to write down the largest number possible. Well you try to write it down for eternity but every number you write down can be incremented by 1 (One) digit and there you go, you have a new number which is bigger than the predecessor and yet lesser than the successor. Isnt it? And therefore, to put simply, the largest number that is infinity is represented by a convenient symbol of 

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In other words, God is a Real Entity that cannot be described. Only Experienced by oneself, through ones Spiritual seeking, discipline, practices, viz. Yoga

Like imagine you have never had ice-cream before in your entire life but I have had it atleast once.

And if I try to describe to you what ice-cream tastes like, you will probably get a general idea but you will never know for sure unless you experience it yourself by eating it yourself. Such is the paradox of trying to explain God. 

Only from our experience we will know that we are not almighty, things around us in the Universe dont follow our wishes always but there is a higher meaning and purpose behind every phenomenon. Its not random. Its planned. And that plan is the plan of a higher power we cannot describe but only experience personally and that we call God.

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In my personal experience, God is the Highest state of Existence in Spiritual Evolution.

We exist on a certain plane--we have a body, we perform actions with our Body. Similarly we have a Mind, that we think with, store our memories and experiences into. Then we have the Highest state of mind or the Buddhi - the faculty of deciding, or discriminating which is based on the collective knowledge of our existence and experiences stored in our Mind (think of the Mind as a knife and Buddhi its cutting edge; or think of the Mind as fire and Buddhi as its heat). Then finally we have the Soul or Spirit or Atma that is experiencing and perceiving all the lifetime of Karma (Thoughts, Words, Actions) in the package of Body+Mind+Buddhi complex that we get for a given lifetime and then again in a different Body+Mind+Buddhi in next life and so on..

The purpose of each Life we get is to leverage the experiences of 'that' life to rise to the 'next' higher level and repeat this life after life until we reach the highest level of Existence in Spiritual Evolution called God.

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This point needs a bit of illustration...

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Lets imagine yourself in your current life as a Human being. From birth unto death you are performing Karma (Thoughts, Words, Actions). Every good and Selfless Karma is Good Karma. Every Selfish Karma is Bad Karma. They cancel each other. Think of Good Karma as your money in the Bank and Bad Karma as your debts. At the time of your Death, depending on whats the balance of your Karma, you will attain a different level of existence in next life. If your net Karma at the time of death from this lifetime is very high and positive, you will attain a life of a Human better than this present life (perhaps a more beautiful and stronger body, perhaps born in a richer family, perhaps better Mind of experiences, better discrimination and so on) and then the cycle of Karma will start over again. If on the other hand, your net Karma at the time of death from this life time is lesser and negative, you may attain a life of a non-human form like a cat or dog and then again you start over in that form to work your way up in spiritual Evolution.

Thus, continuing life after life in various states of Existences in Spiritual Evolution, you finally reach a state in which you desire nothing and avoid nothing, you are at bliss all the time, you are at Peace all the time in your entirety, Peace in Body, Mind, Buddhi and Soul. This is state of existence Yogis describe as Samadhi. At this stage, you (the Soul, the Atma) becomes One with rest of the Universal Soul or Brahman. And That is the Highest State of the soul's Spiritual Evolution conveniently symbolized and described by the word 'God'.

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Next question is, How do you realize God?

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Well this was somewhat explained above. 

Simply put, God Realization is:

• a Personal experience - no one else can describe it to you, no one else can do it for you; You have to do it yourself

• Attained through Spiritual elevation, life after life through accumulation of Good Karma (see above)

• The Goal of every Soul's Spiritual evolution. Everyone will ultimately get there sooner or later.

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Finally, Why is God Important?

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Well that is a simple question with a simple answer.

God is important because God is the Absolute Truth - the highest level of Spiritual evolution that every Soul will attain to sooner or later. The discipline Spiritual seekers, Yogis will get there sooner, others in their own time. But there is no escape. 

So the sooner you realize that Ultimate goal of life is not Enjoyment but rather Spiritual Knowledge through Spiritual Experiences life after life, chances are the sooner you will reach God, Free from the cycle of Life and Death.

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