Question: Babaji I would like to know a little bit about what God is like.
Babaji:
See God, it is impossible to explain God as it is. A little bit clues only can be given. Just like if you ask me what space is? It is impossible to show the space as it is. It is simple all-pervading. However, when we were kids in our school our teacher said that the place in between these two walls is called space. As we grew up gradually we understood the same space existed everywhere. That's how the knowledge grew. Suppose if I had not gained that knowledge today sitting here if I insist the space exists only in the class room of my birth place that's all. Then you would all be laughing. That's how it happens.
Suppose if I say that this is God. We show an idol, we show a photo and we try to explain God is like this. So your mind shall visualize and start loving and becoming devoted. Gradually if you practice meditation and practice the devotional thing then your mind becomes conscious of the same God as everywhere.
One basic clue is your mind. You see, you cannot show your mind to anybody that this is my mind, this is the colour, this is the shape. Based on the thoughts you recognize your mind. My mind wants to think like this, my mind wants to eat, it wants to go there. All these things you recognize. If all the thoughts are removed what remains is the pure consciousness. So ultimate truth of this mind is recognized as God. That's what God is. So if you resolve through any form of God so then God can manifest in the same form, in a physical form. He can come in front of you and give darshan. That is also possible. You can see God as if you are seeing Babaji sitting here now. The same way you can see God if you do tapas. God can come in any form. That is what my Guru said “You can believe God in any form or in any formlessness. Simply do not condemn others beliefs." Honour other's beliefs. That's how God is. He is all-pervading simply. So if you can use your intelligence, see what is it that is all pervading, that is God.
InYoga Vashista, Sage Vashista used another important clue. All-pervading is very common to everyone. Every scripture, talk, very often you would have heard in the lectures of saints and teachings so on that God is everywhere. Vashista says that it exists in itself. So now you all try to understand. Here for example, there is the space and there are so many objects matters. This microphone, this table, this dais, this carpet, this wall all these things are here. All these items including our physical bodies all these exist in the space. This cannot go beyond space. You cannot escape and run away that I am going to go out of space, where there is no space. There I will go. It is not possible, because space is everywhere. So the space exists in itself. It does not require anything that is here, including oxygen also, for its existence. But every other item requires space for its existence. Today all over the universe the struggle is for need of space.
So much research is being done on the universe but one important thing to understand is that space exists in itself. It does not depend on anything. If you remove every object matter from here still the space will be as it is. This is what Vashista talks. That is what is God, means. The Divine exists in itself.
Even there is another beautiful incident. Adi Shankara, the great sage, he was going for a bath to River Ganges when he was camping at Kashi somewhere. So the legend says that a little bit of ego had occurred in him so the Divine came in the form of an untouchable man with an earthen pot on his head which contained some country-made alcohol. He was like a Chandala. So Adi Shankara was going, he said, "Give way to me, get out of here." He thought him to be an untouchable person. Then he said, “Is there any place out of the Brahmanda?” (Brahmanda means the space. That's what they meant in that terminology. Brahmanda means 'which hold the universe' that is what it means) So he asked that, “Show me if there is any place beyond this space? In the same space that you also live, in the same space that I have also to be there.” So when he says this, Adi Shankara suddenly realizes if you have this knowledge you are not an ordinary person. And you are equal to my Guru. Thus saying Adi Shankara prostrates to him. The legend says thus he disappears. Then Adi Shankara realizes that, that was none other than Lord Shiva, The Kashi Vishveshwara. Vishveshwara is the presiding deity of the pilgrimage town of Kashi. That is what the Divine came and showed him that the Divine is all-pervading.
So if we all can understand this phenomena all of us belong to the same Infinite Space, there can always be universal brotherhood, love and consideration to each other. Suppose you go out of this country somebody tells that I am from England, how much love it generates within your heart, “Oh you are from England, ma'am I am also from England." In the same way, you are also from the same space and I am also from the same space. How can we be different? We are all brothers and sisters to each other means we are all related to each other like one beautiful family. That's when the consideration can happen. So how can we hate each other? We love automatically each other. This is what God is.
