Can I Be Taught To See God

“For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pritha, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.6-7)

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ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि
मयि सन्न्यस्य मत्-पराः
अनन्येनैव योगेन
मां ध्यायन्त उपासते
तेषाम् अहं समुद्धर्ता
मृत्यु-संसार-सागरात्
भवामि न चिरात् पार्थ
मय्य् आवेशित-चेतसाम्

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi
mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ
ananyenaiva yogena
māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate
teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha
mayy āveśita-cetasām

“I understand that the believers can see all the time. Never for a moment do they feel that He is absent from their lives. They laugh at the challenge from the atheists to be able to prove the existence of an Almighty figure through sight. The concept that He would be invisible seems silly to them.

“But what about for the non-believers? Those who have yet to reach a revelation, who may not have even thought about what lies beyond, who aren’t necessarily spiritual – how do they see? Is it something you can be taught? Or it is based on your character, how you were born?

“How is someone who is down on their luck, struggling through life, going to believe that God will save them? What if they keep waiting and nothing happens? Won’t they be drawn towards atheism, as a result?”

Just as we can be taught to drive a car, to read words on a page, to repair a broken cooling system, to construct a house, to recognize different bird calls in the wilderness, we can certainly learn how to see God everywhere.

First learn the truth. Someone must inform me that God is everywhere. Someone has to explain the concept of God, beyond an imaginary figure living above the clouds, old and angry while looking down at the population of sinners on earth.

सर्वतः पाणि-पादं तत्
सर्वतो ऽक्षि-शिरो-मुखम्
सर्वतः श्रुतिमल् लोके
सर्वम् आवृत्य तिष्ठति

sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat
sarvato ‘kṣi-śiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śrutimal loke
sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati

“Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes and faces, and He hears everything. In this way the Supersoul exists.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.14)

The guru fits the role; they are happy to do it. They do not discriminate between language at birth, country of origin, or the occupation of the ancestors. In other words, the guru understands that anyone can be taught to see God everywhere, that every living being is eligible for receiving the Divine vision, of being lifted up to soaring heights.

The Almighty is everywhere through His expansion of Supersoul. He is not absent from any space. This is a fixed position, which means that in spite of the changing condition of the world, wherever we see life we should know that God is there.

Until we receive proper training, we continue to lack the eyes to notice the presence of Supersoul. We mistake a rope for a snake, our temporary happiness for lasting achievement, and this lifetime as the only one we’ll ever have. The misassumptions are rooted in illusion, and the guru helps to dissipate the false reality.

After I learn to properly see, I have the potential to realize that the omnipresent God is also a person. That individual is the most powerful, having the most potency at His disposal. Through His unlimited mercy, He uses ability to rescue me. The delivery is quick. It is like I am on a sinking ship and He arrives with an extended hand, ready to pull me up to safety.

Just as the vision is there for everyone, so is the hand of rescue. The distinction is in making the attempt, in looking up, in realizing that the all-attractive one is standing by, ready to end the cycle of birth and death and take us back to His imperishable kingdom, where He enjoys in His transcendental form of Shri Krishna.

In Closing:

Always closely standing by,
Not necessary difficult to try.

For this reward and that,
Or perfection at craft exact.

Just inward turn,
After training earned.

Guru teaching this to me,
How Divine everywhere to see.