God Has No Specific Form

23 May 2002, Summer Course 2002, Brindavan

Published English.

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A tree can be fashioned without any twist and turn, A stone can be fashioned without any defect. Can we fashion the mind, without any defect? The word of is the word of truth. (Telugu Poem)

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The Three Embodiments of Love!

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OUR warden has asked me to talk about the three (infinities).

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“.”

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That which cannot be seen by the eye, or cannot be heard by the ear or cannot be expressed by words characterizes the realm of Akasha. It cannot be comprehended by the mind either. The sun and the moon, the clouds and the stars belong to the realm of Akasha. There are three : , and . The envelops the visible and the invisible phenomena. For example, some stars are visible in the sky; but there are many more that remain invisible. The distance between the earth and the sun is about nine and eleven miles. The spreads over an extent that is impossible to calculate. The sun is a star and there are countless numbers of other stars scattered in the cosmos. They match our Sun in size. Since they are so far away, they appear like tiny stars to us. Each star shines with the splendour of the sun. The light of these stars travels at an incredible speed of 1,86,284 miles per second! There are other stars whose light has not yet reached the earth.

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The light emanating from the stars is stupendous in its intensity. The brilliance cannot be withstood by anything or anyone on the earth. Our sun imparts only a portion of its radiance to earth. Neither the huge stars nor the sun and the moon are capable of generating this effulgence on their own. There is a fundamental power that is the basis of all this. Its is the basic illumination from which the rest of the brilliance originates. This primordial power is that of the . It allows the stars, sun and moon to shine.

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is a Reflection of All these mentioned above are encompassed in the . What is then? Since everything that is visible is , it cannot be argued that those invisible belong to . There is a power that is invisible, silent, imperceptible and eternal. This power is the . In is reflected or imprinted everything that is seen in . The span of the is very small and subtle. On the other hand, the gross and visible spans a terrific extent. Yet, the entire contents of appear in the as small blips! For example, you see a huge mountain. When you close your eyes after seeing it, you will be able to visualize the image of the mountain from the . Similarly, the stars and sky and all that is seen are permanently etched on the .

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The exact physical extent and dimensions of the have not been estimated to date. But something can be known of the . The entire visible creation is stored in in a subtle form. Every form and sound in the is a reflection of some entity in the . is physically perceptible. That which is mentally perceptible is .

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or Encompasses All The third is called . It is also called . has no form. It has no movement. (attributeless, pure, final abode, eternal, unsullied, enlightened, free and embodiment of sacredness). He who has seen this is one who has had the experience of . No educational qualifications, scholarship or special abilities are required to see . On the other hand none can see even the reflection or shadow of , however strenuous the effort.

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Scientists have made several attempts to investigate such a phenomenon. They attempted to reach the with their scientific examinations. All their efforts can take them at most till the only and not a step more. could not be adequately described even by the . Science too fails in its efforts. However, pointers are to some extent available from on . The reflection of is . That which reflects itself is . The relation between the three is explained as follows:

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The one you think you are, which is because it contains all that you see, hear and experience.

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The one that others think you are, which is the , because, it reflects in your mind’s eye whatever you contemplate on.

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The one you really are, which is the or the principle of – your true nature. It is Divine Bliss. Bliss, I, reflection of Divinity and all mean the same. ‘I’ is related exclusively to the . ‘I’ is a single lettered word. The declare “”. ‘I’ is the truth. It is interpreted in several ways by scholars. I may call ‘’ and the reply comes ‘I’. I may call ‘’ – once again the reply comes from the other side ‘I’. In this way I may call out the names of several of people; the reply is always ‘I’. This unity in diversity is ‘I’. It is the . It cannot be explained as being the sky or earth, etc. It is so infinitely expansive that it has no measure at all. Scholars therefore say, “.” There is nothing but empty space in which you may see a few stars and clouds. But, to what extent can you see them? Only upto a certain distance. Anything beyond that is invisible to your eyes. That which cannot be seen but only visualized is . ‘I’ also cannot be visualized. None can give its true meaning. However, always propounds unity in diversity through all its teachings. For instance the phrase “” translates to ‘I am ’. The word follows the single letter ‘I’. Any other word has to follow . Without the letter ‘I’ the word cannot appear. Therefore the letter ‘I’ signifies the primordial principle.

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The advises that though one may have read scriptures and texts, he should still make every effort to find out his true nature. He should repeatedly ask himself: ‘Who am I?’ This question cannot be answered with your scholarship or practical applications. When asked ‘Who are you?’ you reply, ‘I am ’. To whom is the name ‘’ given? Your parents have given that name to your body. What was your name before you were so named? There is no answer. Therefore all names are only given, none of them is born with you. They were all added to you at the time of your birth or later for identifying you in this material world. They do not establish your true identity. has no fixed name. It is its own identity. It has no other form.

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is Attributeless and can be discussed and studied upto some extent. However has no form or attribute. What form and name can you assign to the formless one? It is therefore its own identity. No one is able to comprehend the true meaning of the word ‘I’. (I) should not be confused with (ego). Ego has form, but not ‘I’. describes ‘I’ by negation. It is not ether, ego, sound or any such thing. A master once asked his disciple to find out who he really was. The next day the disciple appeared and said, “Sir, I’ve found the answer. My name is .” The master once again asked him, “Who are you?” After further enquiry, the answer came, “I am the son of and my mother’s name is .” These are all names of various bodies. None of them is your true identity because names relate to the body. They are useful for you to introduce yourself in the physical world. Only one name was born with you and not given. It is ‘I’. , ‘I’ all mean the same. Make efforts to realize the nature of ‘I’. That is true . There is nothing else you need to know further. There is no need for you to say, “I am ” when announcing your true identity. ‘I’ is itself enough. No other words need to follow ‘I’ to reinforce your identity. ‘I’ is unique and always single. Realising this is the secret contained in all of .

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God is Formless – an Analogy has nothing to do with reflections, reactions and resounds. It is beyond all the three. It cannot be identified or comprehended with any name or form. At one point of time, in , there was a bangle seller on the banks of river Ganges. One day a radiant form emerged from the Ganges and asked him, “ Sir, will you please sell me some bangles?” The bangle seller complied and taking out some bangles for her size, he made her put them on. She said, “ I don’t have the money for these bangles with me. However, I will give you an address and directions to reach the house. Go to the person and collect the money from him. He is my father. Tell him that money is kept in the locker.” The bangle seller then asked her, “Mother, what is your name? I will need to identify you at your house for collecting the money.” The form replied, “You can tell them that my name is ” and then vanished.

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As directed, the bangle seller reached the house and told the owner that he had come to collect the money due to him from the owner’s daughter to whom he had sold some bangles. The astonished house owner replied, “I am not even married. How can I then have a daughter and how would she buy bangles?” The bangle seller replied, “ The lady was certainly telling the truth. How else could I have discovered and found my way to your house? She even identified your name for me. Is this your name or not?” The person agreed that it was so. The bangle seller argued, “ If all this is true, the lady certainly was not lying.” The house owner did not even know that he had the amount with him. He searched in his locker and was astounded to find the amount there exactly as predicted.

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’s Dilemma Divinity always assumes the form that a devotee visualizes and prays for. None can actually fix and estimate what Divinity looks like, because there is no form at all! too had a similar experience. He was staying at . He was gripped by a strong desire to have of Goddess . Unable to bear the pain of separation anymore, he attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the Ganges. Surprisingly, however far he walked into the river, he found that the water came only up to his knees! He prayed, “O’ Mother of the universe! Why are you testing me so? Why do you not reveal your form to me? Why do you not allow me to merge in you? I am unable to bear this tortuous pain.” The mother Goddess replied, “Son! I can show you my form if I had one in the first place! I have no form for you to see. My only form is that of . So, contemplate on the principle of . You can see God in any form that you think of. All the forms that you attribute to God are products of your illusion. None of them can be taken to be the true identity of Divinity.” Be Attached to You say that or or has appeared before you. Several people make such claims. These are all figments of one’s illusion (). As long as you have you will be far away from (Divinity). On the other hand if you have realized , can come nowhere near you. The need of the hour is therefore to overcome this illusion. Get rid off the body attachment. Cultivate attachment to the instead. Your true identity is . It has neither a name nor a form. It is the embodiment of bliss. is therefore described as, “” (God is the embodiment of eternal bliss, He is wisdom absolute, the One without a second, beyond the pair of opposites, expansive and pervasive like the sky, the goal indicated by the , the eternal, pure, unchanging, the witness of all functions of the intellect, beyond all mental conditions and the three of , and ).

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These are the various names and descriptions of the . However, it has no form. Hence do not aim to see the form of God. Instead consider all the forms that you see to be that of God. Do not fix various forms as unique to God.

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Atmic Bliss Alone is Eternal The feature of is that, it encompasses the sun, the stars and all the galaxies in it. Do not take these to be the permanent attributes of God! They will all perish someday, pass on or change forms. They will withdraw themselves and disappear from creation itself at some point of time. There is only one thing that will always be with you, in you, around you, above you and below you and that is bliss.

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Bliss has no form. There is only one way to know it. People think that bursting out into laughter is bliss! Even laughter should not be a guffaw. The bliss of divine personality is expressed by a delicate smile. No sound accompanies this smile. It is not a guffaw; but it confers plenty of joy to those who see it. Loud laughter is called a “” while the soundless smile is called “”. God always smiles and never indulges in loud laughter. What you see in cinemas is an exercise in histrionics that is passed on as laughter. Seeing this, people imagine that God too must be laughing like this!

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Once, there lived a devotee of Lord who spent his time ceaselessly contemplating on ’s name. But he had a problem! was depicted in various ways in different pictures. Which form to select while contemplating on Lord ? He could not decide. These photographs are artificially created ones. It is said, “” – God is in the human form. The crowns and jewels in the pictures are additions provided by artists; they are not his true form. His true nature is that He is ever smiling and is always making others smile! He is always blissful and presents bliss to others. That is the true hallmark of Lord . ‘Be happy; make others happy.’ It is a give and take philosophy! Give bliss and accept bliss in return. That is the only true form of gratitude you can express to God.

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Merge in Today, you worry about your mother, father, kith and kin. How do you expect to attain happiness with so many worries? Who are your parents? They are the ones who gave you a physical body. Whose body is it? It is only a physical entity. Forget the body. Contemplate on Divinity instead. This is true devotion. Ignore entirely, though it is what you actually see. can be relied on to the same extent. Once you assimilate everything in , you will reach . Hence, develop the capability to completely merge in .

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How will you visualize and merge into ? I shall explain it in detail later. In this world, several scholars and experts explain Divinity quite extensively. However, Divinity that can be explained is not the true Divinity! These are only descriptions and pointers to Divinity. They can easily make you happy or even delude you. But you must go beyond these and aim to see the reality that is ‘’. ‘’ – Thou Art That. ‘Thou’ means ‘this’. ‘That’ is ‘’. Both should therefore become one.

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In response to ’s prayer, I have explained the three of , and to you. True ‘Akasha’ is ‘’ – the heart. is vital and ultimate. Every attempt should be made to know its nature.