God All Around Us
I have been in this journey for so long, but the search is
still on. From over one year I have had this thought to write about something
and yet I seemed not to have the right words or the complete truth on how I
should put it forward. Finally, it seemed to have dawned on me and I finally
decided to jot down the beautiful thought which in my view can help unite with
every soul in the Universe.
I
have often wondered why am I angry, why am I hurting, why am I not loving
always? Why am I not perfect, why am I not consistent? Why does the world elude
me from the real truth underneath? Why did I keep making so many attempts to
improve and yet I failed time and again? I failed many times. I failed as a
child, I failed as a daughter, I failed as a student, I failed as a friend, I
failed as a sibling and I failed as a daughter in law and I failed as a wife
and I failed as a mother too and the most hurting part is that I have failed as
a human too many times.
So, the story of eternal failure finally reached close to
conclusion. I enrolled in this program called Discover your self at the temple
and they started with a totally different approach to it. They started with
this great question. Why do you need proof that there is a creator? Wow a very
tough question right. Generally, our approach is show me the proof right. Our
intellectual thinking or materialistic education everything teaches us to look
for evidence. Or our cultural upbringing might have given us half faith that
there is a distant God or a God who is counting your every sin so that he will
meet him the day you die, with a proof of why you deserve to be in hell. So
profound what this presentation – If there is art (they showed nature in its
true splendor) there must be artist, if there is a creature there must have
been a creator and if there is an organization there must be an organizer.
I
was so spell bound that all my lingering doubts about why God was distant
vanished that very second. And then came the next set of twenty thousand
questions which I have been wielding at so many unsuspecting souls all around
me to get to the answer. But I got curious at least. And this curiosity was
thankfully the one which led me in the right direction. I have had experiences
of the opposite curiosity as well.
So, over a series of six classes I learnt so much. I am not
sure if I captured every thing that was taught but I came out with some
knowledge which connected me to what I has been thinking of writing since last
Christmas. Since I have graduated in this program, it gave me some courage to
put this article out in black and white finally.
The class was a scientific deep dive into the concepts
taught in Bhagavad Geetha and Bhagavatam. But in a layman’s language what they
taught us is so true. Though we are all are glimpses of God and we all have a
bit of God in us, we are far from perfect. So, we all have senses - but the
senses are not perfect. Because these senses are not perfect, we are prone to
faulty thinking or false beliefs or illusions however you call it. And since we
are so easily prone to illusions and those illusions make us to commit mistakes
and the mistakes make hide them because of fear of contempt. And when we hide,
we are hiding the truth and in the same process we are also hiding from truth.
But who wants a doctor who gives diagnosis but no medicine?
But the most beautiful thing that solidified my thought a year ago is this.
They said that if we focus on God, we can be cured of these traits present in
all humans. I am saying human again because, I have never seen a Dog commit a
mortal sin 😊. And this is exactly what I felt around last
Christmas. We should use God as a filter.
But I kept thinking why is God my
filter? Is this correct or again an illusion? How crude is this way of
presenting? So I finally got confirmation that only through God we can do
better, act better, think better and live better. If I were to look at a fellow
human with my imperfect eyes, I will only see defects. And thanks to the
illusion, I will see several more defects in the person I am focusing on than
my own self. But if I were to look at this person with God’s eyes, I would see
a very different story altogether. I see another soul who is also God’s
creation, who may have defects- but I have my own set of defects too. I will see
another lost person, just like me in the constant pursuit of happiness. I might
see a person who might have failed just like me. I will see that he or she may
not be perfect, but neither am I. I will expect less from others because I will
develop patience, because God has been so patient with me. I will give them
another chance, because God has given me many chances. I will stand by them
because God has stood by me silently without saying a word for all my life. I
will not speak a word in judgement since the God who created everyone did not
judge. I will be a beholder who sees that everything around is so beautiful and
perfect. Simple right, yet so profound.
We cannot stare at the sun, but when we watched solar
eclipse, we used filters and we were fine. So, the moment things start looking
ugly around you, just put on your God filters. And if possible, always keep
them on. Always stay in constant connection with the divine inside. Nothing
will look impure, nothing will look scary, nothing will look ugly and nothing
hurts again. And if it does hurt, just look up, down, right or left or all
around. Look hard, you will find the glimpse of God again or the truth will
dawn on you once again. All that you have lost you will find in God and all
that you find in this world is also taking you the same way. So beautiful isn’t
it? This is the thought or the idea of God all around me.
Thanks to all the friends, teachers and family who have
constantly helped me understand this finally.
But please do understand that I might find this truth and lose it again.
So, this is just an attempt to lock it black and white so that if I get lost
again, I can go look for it in my own words or in my own soul. This is the
genetic imprint in all of us. When we really look inside, we will find it. But
sometimes we must open our ears and listen and learn. We must open a book to
read and learn. And this is not true for our material education which we
emphasize so much. This is true for moral or spiritual education. And if you
cannot listen or read or learn just open your heart to God. Everything will be
taken care of.
One great soul said this on the day of our graduation. The
more you know the lesser you see difference between people. The absolute truth
always unites, and bias always divides. There is nothing more to life and there
is no better truth. If you feel you are different you have lost it. But it is
so easy to find it again. Who can create such place or universe where no
experiment leads to a total failure. If this birth may not be enough may be
another one. But being human is the most privileged birth and through many
births the soul has been accumulating the pearls of wisdom and beading them
into a delicate fabric of life in this eternal pursuit to reach God. Do not
scatter the beads of wisdom when you almost got to the last one you need to
complete the necklace. Just complete the necklace if possible and gift it to
the creator and attain the ultimate abode of God.
Sarvam Srimannaryarpanamastu
By Sailaja Chiravuri
