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yo maam pashyati sarvatrasarvam cha mayi pashyatitasyaaham na praNashyaamisa cha me na praNashyati |
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He who perceives Me everywhereand beholds everything in Me,never loses sight of Menor do I ever lose sight of him
(Bhagavad Gita VI-30) |
The experience of one who, not knowing
this great truth about the omnipresence of God,
searched for Him in many places and missed Him - is vividly illustrated below:
The man whispered: "God,
speak to me"
and the meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear!
So the man yelled: God, speak to
me.
And God rolled the thunder across the sky.
But the man did not listen!
He looked around and
said:
"God, let me see you."
And a star shined brightly.
But the man did not see!
And, he shouted, "God, show
me a miracle."
And a life was born!
So, he cried out in despair: "God, touch me."
Whereupon, God reached down and gently touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away ....
and walked on, disappointed.
He could not see God anywhere,
because he could not see Him everywhere
and in all beings.
Knowing this Truth,
the realized person experiences God in many ways:
in the chirping of the birds,
in the roll of the thunder,
in the twinkling light of the stars,
in the miracle of the birth of a child,
and in the soft touch of a butterfly.
He sees God everywhere
and experiences God in everything.
He sings in tune with the Isavasya
Upanishad mantra:
Isaavasyam idam sarvam
Chinmayananda said:
He is present everywhere --
as the raga in the music, or
the canvas in a painting.
He is the warp and woof of the entire tapestry of life,
as the thread in a piece of cotton.
We must have
the ears to listen to the raga,
the understanding to see the canvas, and
the knowledge to recognize the thread in the cloth.
The
hurried existence of busy experiences
diverts our attention, and we consequently
fail to see, hear, or know Him. ……….
We can do no better than sing in chorus with Hans Denk:
'Oh my God,
how does it happen in this poor old world thatThou art so great and yet nobody finds Thee,
Thou callest so loudly and nobody hears Thee,
Thou art so near and yet nobody feels Thee,
Thou givest Thyself to everybody
and yet nobody even knows Thy name?Men flee from Thee
and say they cannot find Thee;Men turn their backs
and say they cannot see Thee;Men cover their ears
and say they cannot hear Thee.'
The Upanishads speak of Satyakama Jabala who told his Master that
when he was all alone in the forest tending to the cattle
he was
taught by a bull, a swan, a bird, and the fire.
The guileless boy heard the voices, no matter where he was
and became enlightened!
The Lord is constantly attempting to
communicate with us in many ways.
We have to still the constant noise we create in our mind
to be able to hear Him speak to us.