THE GOD WITHIN

Posted on: April 1, 2010 by: Deshvidesh

By His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

God is never an object of isolation, but the very core of your being. The difference between self and God is like the wave and the ocean. Can there be a wave without the ocean?

Who are you? Find out about yourself first. If you think you are the body or mind, that is not possible because they have limitations. They are just layers of our existence. If you are Silence or Space, it is possible – God is also space.

Just as your body is made up of proteins, amino acids and carbohydrates, your mind and soul are made up of love. You are made up of love. Everyone is full of love and love is God. So you are made up of God! Every little atom of your body is made up of love, God. Do not think God is sitting somewhere in heaven. God is here and now!

God is not someone with a big beard sitting in heaven. God is love. He is space. When you meditate, when you feel at peace, at home with everyone, you are in touch with the Divine force. Can you live without love? In the Upanishads, it is said, “Kham kham brahma.” Space is God, in which everything is and into which everything dissolves. What is not God? God is that which is everywhere; which is all-powerful; which is responsible for this creation, its maintenance and its dissolution; which is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. When you want to see God as something, an object, then it is not everywhere. Then you are not God. This wanting to see God as separate from you is an illusion. God is not an object of the senses, but the feeling of feelings, the presence of presence, the sound of silence, the light of life, the essence of the world and the taste of bliss.

Just as love is felt, so is God’s presence felt. God is the sum totality. When you dissolve, God remains. When you are there, there is no God. Either you can be there, or God can be there, not both. So when you meditate, you become one with God. You are God. That is why it is said, Tat tvam asi, meaning, ‘Thou art that.’

God is felt in the depth of your heart. God can neither be perceived through your senses nor through the mind. God is the seer himself. Who sees? That is God. Space is God. Space is everywhere, and everything is in space. Nothing can touch space. Nothing can destroy space. You cannot see space as a separate object.

There are three types of space: Bhuta Aakash: Outer space in which all this universe exists; Chitta Aakash: The world of impressions, thoughts, and dreams that exist in your mind; and Chida Akaash: The sky of consciousness that is all permeating, the consciousness, the basis of creation, that is Divine – that which knows all.

You cannot make God an object of your sight. You can live God, can be God, but you cannot consider God as an object which gives you the path.

Existence has a mind of its own, it is like you. You have a mind and it has intelligence, that’s why it keeps everything orderly. Similarly, this moment is seen by this big mind. This moment knows exactly what to do. There are so many activities happening in creation. Right now, some people are sleeping, some are waking, enormous activity is happening in the mind, in the present. In the Now! This mind is what you can call Atma or God and that is what you are.

GOD is the Generator, Operator and Destroyer (Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara). The present moment has generated; the present moment is operating; and the present moment destroyed the past. So you are in God and God is in you.

The mind is used to concrete ideas, not the abstract. You do not believe what you do not know. You say that you do not believe in God. God is the very core of your being. Like an onion, if you start peeling the layers, when you reach the center, there is nothing. Everything is made up of that space. The whole is God. Everything is God and that consciousness is present everywhere. I am present here, I am present there, I am present everywhere. That being, that space, the very consciousness is what people have called God because it is present everywhere at all times. It is to that omnipresence, that omnipotence that all the different names have been given.

In the body there are many cells and each of them has its own life. New cells are coming up and old cells are dying but they have no knowledge of you. Yet, these cells are affected by you and you are affected by each cell. In the same way, know that the big life and the big mind, which encompass all our minds and lives, is what we can give the name God. It is useless to find a meaning. A flower blooms. What is the purpose of beauty? You may say it is to enjoy. What is the purpose of joy? There is no purpose to joy, it is an end in itself.

Life lived in its totality, is an end and beginning in itself. Love, joy, beauty, all that is precious and valuable in life, are beyond value, meaning and purpose.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a world-renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian whose programs have impacted more than 25 million people on six continents. In his presence, millions have come to a deeper understanding of themselves and experienced a profound transformation in their lives. For more information about Sri Sri’s programs visit:www.artofliving.org or call 1-877-AOL-FLORIDA.