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Volume - 1 : Issue - 3

Published : April - June 2002

Group : Spirituality
 In pursuit of the holy Question

– WHO IS GOD?

By Brahma Kumari Meera

assisted by Brahma Kumari
Chanda
Our knowledge tends to
comprehend things as per the
sense of sight, sound, tast, touch or
smell. Our life culture revolves
around the experience of ‘Seeing is
believing’ or on a ‘hands on’
experience and hanec are always
used to perceiving things through
the same way. And when we talk
about the Supreme Bieng, due to
the reason that we cannot see,
hear, taste, touch or smell HIM, the
question arises in our mind – Who is
GOD? In the following write-up, B K
Meera of the Brahma Kumaris
Institute attempts providing you
with a satisfying answer to the holy
question.
Man tends to develop a natural
curiosity to understand the
significance of God. Who is HE,
What is HIS form, What are HIS
attributes, Where is HE, What are
HIS acts or Where do I stand in
relationship with HIM, are a few
questions that certainly cross our
mind in trying to decipher the true
meaning of God. These are also a
set of questions that for the vast
majority remains unanswered and
therefore the experience of God
remains unfulfilled. There is an
endless stream of human theories
and concepts which appear to
create a confusion or an ill feeling
when opposed to each other, but
ultimately one must ask himself or
herself how far ‘He’ or ‘She’, the
individual, has had the experience
of HIS powers and qualities.  The
very basis of forming any
relationship with anyone is with the
knowledge of who they are, what
they look like, where they are from,
and what they do.
Similarly, when one sets out in
quest of the identity of the Supreme
Being, it becomes extremely
confusing, as at every direction, one
receives varied perspectives with
different answers. A multitude of
conflicting scriptures are thrust upon
our minds, and one reaches a
situation where on begins to
speculate on the very existence of
GOD. If any such question has ever
crossed your mind, then there is
only one answer, “YES, there is
GOD.”
Once an atheist was very keen in
proving the non-existence of God. In
the course of his lecture, he
provided all sorts of arguments
supported on the basis of mere logic
to prove that there is no God. So
much so that he had nearly
convinced everybody, that logically,
there existed no God. But during his
concluding speech to his willing
audience, he said, “Thank God, I
have proved that there is no God.”
When we tend to look more deeply
into this particular incident, we
realise that although the man came
prepared consciously to prove that
there is no God, in due course of his
speech he inadvertently thanked the
Almighty as he went onto express
his sub-conscious mind. This goes
on to say a lot about the fact that
though we consciously may not
believe in God, deep down
subconsciously everyone has faith
in the Supreme Power. Thus, we all
believe in God, who is the Supreme
Power, Supreme Energy or the
Supreme Soul and is certainly a
much Higher Being. Even in the
field of medical science, doctors say
that ‘I treat and God cures.’ This
eternal truth is that the existence of
God is a fact. He is the truth. If one
has nto seen America, one certainly
can’t say that America does not
exist. Similarly if one has not seen
or experienced God, he can’t deny
the existence of God. In fact, God is
beyond the perception of sense
organs and His exact nature can
only be known through the Super-
sensual faculty of intellect. God is
metaphysical – can’t be proved in a
physical laboratory but you can
realize God with your real eyes.
Spiritually, the definition of God is in
two simple words, “that which
is eternal and that which
is unchanging.” Though it is
universally accepted that God is
one, there are yet many
contradictory beliefs. There are so
many opinions that paradoxically, it
is these that have curbed us from
truly understanding God. God
being one, there can only be one
true concept of God. It is due to
the absence of a true knowledge
about God that so many divergent
faith have emerged.
We have until now all heard, read,
learnt some aspects about God but
the complete concept is yet not
clear. Remember the legendary tale
where five blind men in their attempt
at describing an elephant provided
varied responses depending on
what they felt. Though none of the
five erred totally, neither of them
was totally correct. Similarly, as we
cannot see God, we tend to express
Him depending on what we feel
about Him. The great Saints, Sages,
Gurus whosoever tried to be in
touch with God expressed what they
experienced. Suppose, if you ever
need an introduction of a person,
you can acquire it though his family,
friends, relatives or neighbours but
his ‘real introduction’ can only be
acquired from the person himself.
Similarly, only God Himself can
reveal His real nature. No human
being can perform this divine role.
Further in this article we will give
you the self-revealed introduction of
God. In our attempt to finding the
truth about the Almighty, we shall
move from the unknown to the
known. Thus, in trying to discover
the truth about the almighty, the
unknown is – Who is God?
Whereas the known are His
universal attributes such as, Him
being the Highest, Omnipotent,
absolutely Just, Supreme
Benefactor, Purifier, Saviour of
souls, Creator, Preserver, being
One and being the Light.
On the basis of these attributes, we
shall be able to decide whether the
form of God is Corporeal or
Incorporeal. A Corporeal form does
not possess all the above attributes.
It can’t be the Highest because they
come within the cycle of birth and
death can’t be All knowing because
the natural law is that a bodily being
can’t know the past and future, and
it can’t be a bestower because he
has his own needs to be fulfilled.
So why do people worship the
different corporeal forms? Who are
they? They are higher than a human
soul.
 Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Lord
Vishnu are known as Devatma
(Deity Souls)
 Abraham, Christ, Buddha,
Shankaracharya are known as
Dharmatma (Religious Souls)
 Gandhiji was known as Mahatma
(Great Soul)
Until today we have worshipped /
remembered the Deity Souls,
Charitable Souls, Great Souls, Pure
Souls, Religious Souls, Spiritual
Souls but not the SUPREME SOUL.
We have forgotten the message and
started remembering the image of
the messenger. Because thes Souls
possess some attributes of God, we
consider them as Gods and
Goddesses. They are like God but
not God. They are the messengers
of God; they are the children of
God. Any soul can be like God but
not God because God – the
Supreme Soul is only One. The
word Supreme itself signifies only
One.
God’s form is extremely subtle, it is
the form of the Supreme Soul.
Mystics throught the ages have had
visions of God as ‘light. In a self-
introduction, the Supreme reveals, “I
am Incorporeal or Nirakar.” Many
people misunderstand the word
‘Nirakar’ as formless, but in reality,
anything that exists certainly has a
form. Though, attributes or qualities
are formless, the quality to which
these attributes or qualities belong
cannot be formless, however subtle
the form may be. For instance,
fragrance has no form, but the
flower from which  the fragrance
emanates must possess a form.
Similarly, God’s attributes such as
love, peace, bliss and knowledge
may not have a form as such but
God who is the Possessor and the
source of all these attributes cannot
be formless. He certainly has a
form, which is entirely different from
any corporal or subtle form that one
knows of and ‘Nirakar’ (Incorporeal)
is relative term.
The Almighty is considered as
‘Nirakar’, only in comparison with
objects having gross or subtle
physical form. Incorporeal (Nirakar)
only means that  god neither has a
physical form (body) like human
beings nor a subtle form like astral
deities. In English terminology, the
equivalent of the word ‘Nirakar’ is
incorporeal or non-anthropomorphic
i.e. one who does not have the form
of a human body or limbs and is
bodiless. Thus God is Bodiless but
not Formless. His form is an
infinitesimal, indivisible, invisible
point of golden red light and All –
EFFULGENT.
When a lamp is lit or a candle is
burning, the form of the light emitted
is in the shape of an oval, i.e. Shiva
Linga. God is a Divine Flame; He
has a form, which is subtler than the
subtlest. We can’t see it with the
physical eye. It needs the divine eye
to see it. Even seeds and eggs, i.e.
all creators also have oval forms.
So, God, who is the Creator of his
Human world – also has an
extremely subtle and minute, seed
like form, i.e. He is an oval point of
light. The incorporeal image of God
has been universally recognized in
almost all religions of the world. The
concept of God as a form of light is
universal in character. You may
have observed that all religions and
faiths have images, idols or
memorial that represent this form of
light.
The connotation of this ‘form of light’
in different religions can be
understood throught the image to
the right. For instance, in the Old
Testament, Moses had a vision of
light as a “burning” bush in the
desert. Paul had a vision of light
while on the road to Damascus.
Jesus referred to God as light. In
some Christian ceremonies, during
the proceedings, an ostensorio is
held up. It is a golden ball with many
rays emanating from it. Perhaps it is
a symbolic representation of God.
The worship of fire God as
advocated by Zoroaster, the prophet
of Parsees. That ancient Egyptians
worshipped the sun as God. The
Jews have the Menorah which when
lit is a memory of this form. Guru
Nanak, the founder of Sikhism
called Him “Ek Omkar”, the one
Incorporeal Being.
Speaking further on the oval-shaped
image, we realise that in India,
God’s form of light is worshipped
and known as ‘Shiva Linga.’ The
twelve famous Jyotirlingams (self-
luminous Lingas) are spread all over
India. The ‘Sanskrit texts’ of Sir
Williams Jones depict that the
Absolute God or the Supreme Soul
is venerated in Egypt in the name of
‘Osiris’ and ‘Ishis’ which are only
modified form of God’s name in
Sanskrit – ‘Ishwara’ and ‘Ish’. There
also used to be a bull before the
Ling ‘known as Osiris’ as we have
‘Nandi’ in India before the
Shivalinga. A Buddhist sect in
Japan namely Shintoisim preaches
to focus the mind on a small oval
shape. They call it Chin-Kon-Seki, a
peace giver. Muslims believe God
or ‘Allah’ to be ‘Roohani Rooh’
(Supreme Soul) who is ‘Noor’ (light).
In Mecca, where Muslims go for
“Haj” there is a holy stone called
‘Sang-e-Aswad’, the holy shrine of
Islam kept at ‘Khana-e-Kaba.’ The
Jews used to worship Bailfego in
the form of Shivalinga similar to the
name of Shiva as Baleswara in
India. There is enough ample
archaeological evidence to show
that the ancient Egyptian,
Phoenicians, Arabs, Greeks,
American, Indians and Indonesians,
worshipped the Oval shaped stone.
The fact that so many of our ancient
traditions seem to be pointing to the
same being entire race of humanity
together as one. We have all been
worshipping and trying to discover
the same God. ‘There is only one
God, and His form is light.’
Now that we know that God has a
form, and that of Light, we know that
He must also have a name.
GOD’S NAME IS UNIQUE. In the
case of human beings, it is the body
that bears a name, which changes
from birth to birth. God is beyond
the cycle of birth and rebirth. Human
names are labels for the perishable
body, but His name is eternal,
unchanging and is based on His
attributes and divine acts. Our
names do not speak of our qualities
and actions; they are simply proper
nouns and are not attributive
names. His self-revealed attributive
name is ‘SHIVA.’
The ancient names of God such as ‘Shiun’ in Babylon; ‘Seva or Sevajiya’ in Syria, Egypt and Fiji;
‘Sibru’ in the land occupied by the progeny of Ahraham ‘Jehovah’ to Moses and his followers, and so
on, seem not so different and dissimilar from the Sanskrit word ‘Shiva’ which according to few
scholars, is the confluence of two phonetic parts, ‘Shi’ and ‘Va’ which mean ‘redeemer’ and ‘liberator.’

In this context, one must not

associate the word Shiva with the
religion of Hinduism. The word
Shiva has a universal meaning. Also
“Shiva” refers to Incorporeal God
and is not to be confused with the
figure of Hindu Mythology who is
also called “Shanker” , who is subtle
deity, a corporeal being.
Shiva means, the Benevolence,
Benefactor and Benign. In the
Jehovah of the Old Testament
‘Shiva’ means the Benefactor. Only
the Supreme amongst all, the
Father of all Souls, the Father of
deities, angels and prophets can be
given this title. Because being
completely enternally perfect, only
His acts are of absolute
benevolence for others, without any
motivation for the self. “Shiva”
means ‘Doer of good.’ God always
does well to all and therefore is
called Shiva. Shiva also means
‘point’ a reference to His eternal
forms. As we know in mathematics,
it is said that a point does not have
an dimensions, similarly, when we
describe the Supreme as a point, it
connotes that He has no
dimensions. Shiva is also
considered as a seed, just as in
seed is the creator of the whole
tree, a point in geometry is the
creator of the circle, likewise God,
who is a point is the creator of the
whole universe.
When we turn our minds to God,
wherever we may be and form
whichever culture, the first thing we
normally do is to close our eyes in
order to go beyond the world of
people and objects. Intuitively we
know that God exists beyond
matter. If we ourselves are souls
and not bodies, our real and eternal
existence is on another plane. It’s in
this dimension that God exits. It
doesn’t mean that He is millions of
light years away from us. One can
reach Him through one’s thought,
just as a dialed phone call connects
instantly. He is only one thought
away from us.
It is also through Meditation, which
is a Link of Love that one can
connect with God. The main
purpose of meditation is to be able
to communicate with God in order to
be able to experience a relationship
with Him. If one makes the effort to
take one’s consciousness away
from worldly things, then one is able
to start receiving from the Supreme
Soul. The experiences are not just
of filling the self but of self-
transformation. The idea of God as
the absolute source is very
appealing. In meditation, the
awareness dawns that one is in
connection with the source of love,
who shall never expect anything in
return. He is the only soul who has
not need! God shares knowledge
which gives the understanding of
love and hatred, happiness and
sorrow, and victory and defeat, but
He does not make our choices for
us. God’s love is to strengthen the
will of the soul to free itself from the
poverty caused by the vices such as
greed, anger, lust, ego and
attachment. The soul is free to
choose – ‘to be or not to be’, ‘to love
or not to love’. God’s power is to
help the soul recognize its highest
potential and to aim for perfection
by practicing the art of living. This
practice brings a change in the
whole of humanity.
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