However there have been and are today , people who claim to have seen him. I am not talking who make airy-fairy statements like God is everywhere,You only have to have eyes to see him, as is more common now, God is within you. No X-rays of human body shows the presence of anything resembling God. God is truth, God is love, says many others did Bapu Gandhi. I think truth is the principle of social behavior and love as an emotion.
In India most people believe in God in human forms. There is of course The trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (Creator, Preserver and Destroyer) but there are more concepts of a divinity than visible people. To many Sri Rama is God, to others it is Sri Krishna. Many believe Sri Satya Sai Baba was Gods incarnate, others believe Osho was Bhagwan. All were and are mortals, some has gone, others on way out. Yet everyone insists that God is immortal. I am baffled.
For whatever they are worth, some people have given vivid description of looks of God and have even made his pictures. He is invariably portrayed as a patriarch with flowing white snowy beard, a man in 60s/70s. Did he aged with the years or came into being an old man? Perhaps by depicting him as an old man the artists mean to convey wisdom and experience
Some of the Old Testament prophets claimed to have seen God. Ezekiel describes him thus :Above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of the throne was the appearance of a sapphire stone ; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw the color of the Amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his lions even upward and from the appearance of his lions even downward. I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of fire and bow then is in the cloud in the day of the rain, so was the appearance of the glory of the Lord.
Prophet Daniel added his own description:The ancient days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fairy flame and the wheels as burning fire.
The painter William Blake painted God as the Father of humanity. Our sacred scriptures do not venture to depict God Even Sri Krishnas self portraiture in Bhagwat Gita extolling his omniscience and omnipotence does not describe his physical features. This one thing that all descriptions of divinity have in common is the light in its most dazzling form.
There is also a charming description of God in Bhai Bhulas Janamsakhi of Guru Nanak. This Janamsakhi(Life history) is discarded by scholars as spurious written much after Guru Nanak. It describes God as a long bearded old man draped in white clothes sitting on a charpoy(an ornate) surrounded by fat buffaloes bursting with milk an exact representation of a peasants concept of a rich Punjabi Zamindar(landlord).
For me:- There is no Sikh, Hindu , Mussalman, Christian or a Jew as Jesus lifts everyone and Guru Nanaks closest associates were a Bala(a Hindu) and Mardana(a Muslim). Guru Nanaks religion was not for the individual Sikh but for the multicultural society. As a witness to the misrule of the Lodhis and invasion of Babur, Guru Nanak realized the futility of warfare which he condemned as a manifestation of human cupidity. If I am to follow him or Christ then I have to stood the demolition of all castes because caste of a person is something what one does.
This shows I do not indulge in metaphysical abstractions or recondite analysis of various religious thoughts, which is somewhat true to an extent. Abhorins theological speculations, I do not renounce the world to live life of a recluse I emphasize that life has to be lived in this topsy turvy world and living a purposeful life.
However beautiful a sermon may be, it is not going to help anyone unless it is listened to and acted on. Like Christ and Nanak practiced what they preached in order to ensure its adequacy and its welfare. What could be better for the mitigation of caste consciousness than through the institution of Langar, where men and women irrespective of their caste and religion eat together. The concept of Langar cultivates among the people a strong bond of community consciousness, self help and service.
Before Nanak could be enough in complete surrendering him in worship of God he gave a basic dictum Kirat karo, Naam japo, Vand chakko!
Idle recitations of mantras for seeking Devine favor I abjured. Idol worship breeds ignorance and superstitious belief to me. I regard Love as the highest and greatest virtue for the happiness of mankind.
On 1st November (my birthday) a few friends rang me up, wrote and send greetings wishing me happy returns of the day. She was concerned about my continued disbelief in the existence of God, and what is consequences will be when I will come face to face with my maker.
On the day she asked , whether I had read Francis Thompsons The hound of Haven? I replied I had. She said read it again more carefully and do me one more favor, read Psalm 139 this morning. Thats what all she had to say me as for a birthday greeting.
The pertinent part of Psalm 139 reads "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I go from your flux? Or Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uppermost part of the sea, even there your hand should lead me and your right hand should hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night should light about me indeed, the darkness shall not hide me from you, but the night shines as a day, the darkness and light are both alike you." There can be little about Francis Thompson(1859-1907) was inspired the words of Psalm 139, when composing The Hound of Heaven. This will be an evident from the opening lines; I fled Him, down the nights and down the days, I fled Him, down the arches of years, I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways. Of my own mind and was the mist of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
These lines are about those people who refuse to believe in the existence of Divinity and whatever means of escape they can form from all embracing presence. The next verse explains their plight:
But with unhurrying chase, and unperturbed pace, Deliberate speed, majestic intimacy, The best and a voice beat. Most instant the feet All things betray me who betray thee.
I can say in my defense is that I have never fled Him on the contrary. I have sought him but not found Him.
She might have completed me but she left incomplete leaving me at a great precipice. I might not have powers of Shamans, if any but can try by holding her hand.
