Is God Attainable?

Gauracandra · August 12, 2002

Is God Attainable?

This week's Srila Siddhasvarupananda program concerns Bhagavad-Gita 8:22 "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him."

There are many points in this verse, and in this lecture we might not be able to get to all of them. The first point is in regards to the question of attaining God. Many say that God must forever remain a mystery and that He is not actually attainable. He is distant. But in reality God is a person, the Supreme Person, and you too can see Him face to face. He can be your beloved, your friend, your master. The second point is how can one attain this Supreme Person? He is attainable only by unalloyed devotion. Devotion refers to uniting your will with God's will and engaging in loving service.

In the New Testament Jesus makes this very same point. He said that he came to give "good news" and that this good news was that God is attainable. We are all seeking the perfect friend and the perfect shelter. This can only be found by developing a relationship with the Supreme Person. How? It is not just feeling but with your entire being. God is not someone to be feared, but someone to be loved.

So God is attainable only by unalloyed devotion. If you love Him you have Him.

There is one pastime with Mother Yasoda. She loves the Supreme Person as the Supreme Child. The Lord will reciprocate with us as we want Him. You can love Him as your child, beloved, friend, or father.

There is one story where He was being naughty. As the most lovable child He was stealing butter and feeding it to the monkeys. So Mother Yasoda decided to punish the Supreme Lord by tying Him up. She had some rope to tie Him but found that it was not long enough. So she decided to get more, and still it was just as short as it was before. She became frustrated because she wanted to punish the Supreme Lord. The same person who Moses ducked away from, that the yogis are meditating upon in the forest, then decided that He would allow Mother Yasoda to tie Him up in ropes just to please her.

The point of this pastime is that God, though he can't be conquered or catched or bound up will allow Himself to be captured by His devotee. In the Sri Isopanishad it says He is faster than the fastest. The Mohammedans have a name for God that describes Him as the most clever. I forget the name they use, but He is the wisest and most clever. No one can defeat Him. He is a mystery even to the great religionists.

Yet by the simple love of Yasoda he agrees to be bound. He cannot be captured or tamed except by love. Only unconditional, undeviating devotion. Nothing else can conquer the Supreme Lord.

Some try to know God by mental speculation. The attempt to stretch the ropes of their minds to the ends of the universe trying to know God. Others try for mystic perfections but become proud of their powers and fall away from knowing God. The Supreme Lord cannot be captured by microscopes or telescopes.

He is attainable only by unalloyed devotion. Love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, and soul. This is spiritual life. Not by stretching your body is so many ways. Not by building hospitals. Not by bodily depravation. There is no other way except to love the Lord.

One day a boy wrote to me from Australia. He is actually here in this audience. He said he reads scripture but only sees words, when he looks at the deities he doesn't see God, and when he chants he only hears sound. So he came here to Hawaii thinking that I can show him God. The problem is not that he can come to Hawaii from Australia and somehow he will see God. The problem is that his eyes are not tinged with love for God. Two people hear the name of the Lord, one experiences nothing, another feels longing for God. On the absolute platform it is all absolute. The name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are one. One will see the form of God in a painting or in the deities and see only paint or wood, another will see God face to face.

God cannot be attained except by one's heart becoming purified with tears of love for God. Your life must be one pointed, with one aim. Don't go chasing around looking for God. The problem is your lack of appreciation for God. Don't try to find God because this verse says He is all pervading. Everything is in Him, but he is also in His abode, the Kingdom of God. Try to fully comprehend the situation here. If He is everywhere, then He is not hiding. He is available to you at anytime.

The Supreme Lord appears as His name, as the deity, as words in scripture. He is in your heart, in every atom. Finding God is not difficult, it only requires cultivating the right appreciation. To see God means to love God. You should systematically cultivate love for Him. This is called the process of Bhakti. Therefore if you want God, take up this practice called Bhakti-yoga. There is no other way.