Yugavani

Seeing God L et me tell you one thing. God can be seen. The Vedas say that God is beyond mind and speech. The meaning of this is that God is unknown to the mind attached to worldly objects. Vaishnavacharan (a Vaishnava scholar and sadhaka) used to say, ‘God is known by the mind and intellect that are pure.’ Therefore, it is necessary to seek the company of holy men, practice prayer, and listen to the instruction of the guru. These purify the mind. Then one sees God. Dirt can be removed from water by a purifying agent. Then one sees one’s reflection in it. One cannot see one’s face in a mirror if the mirror is covered with dirt.

Living in solitude now and then, repeating God’s name and singing His glories, and discriminating between the Real and the unreal – these are the means to employ to see Him.

If by the grace of the guru one’s ego vanishes, then one sees God.

Through restlessness—the restlessness a child feels for his mother. The child feels bewildered when he is separated from his mother, and weeps longingly for her. If a man can weep like that for God, he can even see Him.

Why is it that people do not see God? It is because of the barrier of ‘lust and greed’.

One cannot see God unless maya steps aside from the door. …But maya steps aside from the door when God shows His grace to the devotee. When the visitor stands before the door, the door-keeper says to the master, ‘Sir, command us, and we shall let him pass.’

It is one thing to hear of God, another thing to see God, and still another thing to talk to God. … You will get peace of mind only when you have seen God. You will enjoy bliss and gain strength only when you have talked to Him.

I used to see God directly with these very eyes, just as I see you.

I put the palm of my hand near Her nostrils and felt that Mother (Bhavatarini in Dakshineswar Kali Temple) was actually breathing. I observed very closely, but I could never see the shadow of the Mother’s divine person on the temple wall in the light of the lamp at night. I heard from my room Mother, merry like a littel girl, going upstairs, Her anklets making jingling sounds. I came out to verify and found that She, with Her hair dishevelled, was actually standing on the verandah of the first floor of the temple and was now viewing Calcutta, and next the Ganga. — Sri Ramakrishna