Every person, theist or agnostic or atheist has a desire to see God. But only a very few people in this world have claimed to have "ACTUALLY" seen God.
So why is that?
Is it that we have to become extremely exalted devotees of God in order to see Him?
Yes and no.
The very first example of seeing God comes in the form of the Bhagavad Gita itself. Arjuna who was the constant companion of Krsna and was regularly seeing him nearly every day, failed to see that Krsna was the Supreme Lord! Only after hearing the words of the Bhagavad Gita and Krsna displaying his Supreme form by giving Arjuna "spiritual vision" was Arjuna able to truly recognize that Krsna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead!
Therefore, even though Krsna had personally descended to Earth to see his devotees, his close friends and companions could STILL not see Him!!
So what does this mean? It means that we must "see the forest for the trees". When Krsna descended to this Earth, both non-devotees and devotees alike were able to view Krsna's material form! Krsna was so merciful that even demonic personalities such as Kamsa and Duryodhana could easily see Krsna on a regular basis with no special powers of vision or perception. Even though Krsna exists in this material planet, it is up to us for us to recognize Him. For the extremely fortunate, Krsna reveals Himself to them by providing them with spiritual vision, but many other can perceive Him with their very own material eyes/vision!
The same thing happened once again when Lord Caitanya appeared on Earth a few hundred years ago. Only a very few people could recognize Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Now that we have been given this information, are there any other obstacles or roadblocks in our path that prevent us from seeing God?
Of course! Even when we see Him manifest his power, we refuse to believe that we are worthy of receiving His mercy and attention! In some cases, we even outright deny that such a thing is possible!
Bhakti Sundar Swami narrates a story whereby a nightclub owner wishes to expand his property and despite protests from the nearby church is successfully able to build out and extend his nightclub. During this time, the churchgoers are vehemently praying to the Lord to not allow this to occur. Finally, when the nightclub is completely built out, a series of natural disasters completely destroy the extension! When the nightclub owner then takes the church to court and they are asked by the nightclub owner and the judge as to whether or not they prayed to the Lord to allow this to happen, the churchgoers once again vehemently deny that their prayers could have allowed this to occur!!
In this instance, a seemingly atheistic person believes in the power of prayer while the theistic churchgoers deny the power of prayer!
This occurs throughout the world. People regularly witness the power of the Lord, but always deny their observations. Nevertheless, we see terminology arise to describe this phenomenon such as chain reaction, domino effect and more meaningfully--butterfly effect.
In the example given above, the butterfly effect was triggered by the power of prayer which led to the eventual set of natural disasters that destroyed the nightclub owner's extended property!
An even more tangible example of why we cannot see the Lord is because we cannot see the Creator in His creations.
When someone holds an iPhone or an iPad, nearly everyone on the planet can identify this device as the creation of Apple or Steve Jobs. If someone uses a Windows PC, they identify this OS as a creation of Bill Gates.
However, how many people in the world have met or seen Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
Only a select few people in the world have seen or met these individuals. We may have seen them in pictures or on some websites or on television, but that is sufficient for us to believe that they exist. Why does nobody deny that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates exist or existed? Steve Jobs is now dead but how many people will deny that Steve Jobs ever lived? History books are full of people that have lived in the past and we regularly unassumingly accept that these historical figures have lived and existed.
When it comes to material creations, we can readily accept and see the creators in the creations. However, when it comes to God, we cannot do the same. We see pictures and illustrations of Krsna all over the world, yet we do not believe He exists. We regularly see all of the living beings Krsna has created, we see and learn about the vastness of the Universe and the planetary systems. We even see Him answer our prayers! So, why cannot we apply this same tenet to all of our beliefs rather than applying this knowledge one-sidedly?
When it comes to experiences related by others, we often accept the experiences of others without question. If someone states that they injured a limb or broke a bone, we simply nod our head in agreement. Yet, when someone has a religious experience such as a paranormal dream or a witness of events that seemingly defy common experiences and scientific knowledge, we are quick to dismiss these experiences. We only believe what we can personally see or experience when it comes to God.
Perhaps this is because we know that our senses can deceive us and therefore we inwardly lack faith in them. Many people have experienced mirages while driving on the road and seeing a non-existent puddle of water. In addition, hallucinations provide us with sensory perceptions which we know do not exist. If someone see or hears something that others cannot see or hear, the person is readily labeled mad or insane.
Even if we decide to discount a single user's religious experience, it becomes nearly impossible to deny similar religious experiences that occur throughout the planet for people of all different religious beliefs. If it is an isolated incident, it becomes easier to dismiss, but if it occurs time and time again throughout history, it becomes more indicative of an underlying thread of commonality that hints at the power of the Supreme Lord.
Consequently, it is not that Krsna has not "shown" Himself to us, but rather that we have either denied or refused to accept that we have seen Him. Krsna has been so merciful that he reveals Himself to all people of the world regardless of whether or not they choose to believe in Him. The only thing that remains is for us to take the leap of faith to understand that we are really observing Him through the course of our normal material human lives.
Hare Krsna!
So why is that?
Is it that we have to become extremely exalted devotees of God in order to see Him?
Yes and no.
The very first example of seeing God comes in the form of the Bhagavad Gita itself. Arjuna who was the constant companion of Krsna and was regularly seeing him nearly every day, failed to see that Krsna was the Supreme Lord! Only after hearing the words of the Bhagavad Gita and Krsna displaying his Supreme form by giving Arjuna "spiritual vision" was Arjuna able to truly recognize that Krsna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead!
Therefore, even though Krsna had personally descended to Earth to see his devotees, his close friends and companions could STILL not see Him!!
So what does this mean? It means that we must "see the forest for the trees". When Krsna descended to this Earth, both non-devotees and devotees alike were able to view Krsna's material form! Krsna was so merciful that even demonic personalities such as Kamsa and Duryodhana could easily see Krsna on a regular basis with no special powers of vision or perception. Even though Krsna exists in this material planet, it is up to us for us to recognize Him. For the extremely fortunate, Krsna reveals Himself to them by providing them with spiritual vision, but many other can perceive Him with their very own material eyes/vision!
The same thing happened once again when Lord Caitanya appeared on Earth a few hundred years ago. Only a very few people could recognize Lord Caitanya as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Now that we have been given this information, are there any other obstacles or roadblocks in our path that prevent us from seeing God?
Of course! Even when we see Him manifest his power, we refuse to believe that we are worthy of receiving His mercy and attention! In some cases, we even outright deny that such a thing is possible!
Bhakti Sundar Swami narrates a story whereby a nightclub owner wishes to expand his property and despite protests from the nearby church is successfully able to build out and extend his nightclub. During this time, the churchgoers are vehemently praying to the Lord to not allow this to occur. Finally, when the nightclub is completely built out, a series of natural disasters completely destroy the extension! When the nightclub owner then takes the church to court and they are asked by the nightclub owner and the judge as to whether or not they prayed to the Lord to allow this to happen, the churchgoers once again vehemently deny that their prayers could have allowed this to occur!!
In this instance, a seemingly atheistic person believes in the power of prayer while the theistic churchgoers deny the power of prayer!
This occurs throughout the world. People regularly witness the power of the Lord, but always deny their observations. Nevertheless, we see terminology arise to describe this phenomenon such as chain reaction, domino effect and more meaningfully--butterfly effect.
In the example given above, the butterfly effect was triggered by the power of prayer which led to the eventual set of natural disasters that destroyed the nightclub owner's extended property!
An even more tangible example of why we cannot see the Lord is because we cannot see the Creator in His creations.
When someone holds an iPhone or an iPad, nearly everyone on the planet can identify this device as the creation of Apple or Steve Jobs. If someone uses a Windows PC, they identify this OS as a creation of Bill Gates.
However, how many people in the world have met or seen Steve Jobs or Bill Gates?
Only a select few people in the world have seen or met these individuals. We may have seen them in pictures or on some websites or on television, but that is sufficient for us to believe that they exist. Why does nobody deny that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates exist or existed? Steve Jobs is now dead but how many people will deny that Steve Jobs ever lived? History books are full of people that have lived in the past and we regularly unassumingly accept that these historical figures have lived and existed.
When it comes to material creations, we can readily accept and see the creators in the creations. However, when it comes to God, we cannot do the same. We see pictures and illustrations of Krsna all over the world, yet we do not believe He exists. We regularly see all of the living beings Krsna has created, we see and learn about the vastness of the Universe and the planetary systems. We even see Him answer our prayers! So, why cannot we apply this same tenet to all of our beliefs rather than applying this knowledge one-sidedly?
When it comes to experiences related by others, we often accept the experiences of others without question. If someone states that they injured a limb or broke a bone, we simply nod our head in agreement. Yet, when someone has a religious experience such as a paranormal dream or a witness of events that seemingly defy common experiences and scientific knowledge, we are quick to dismiss these experiences. We only believe what we can personally see or experience when it comes to God.
Perhaps this is because we know that our senses can deceive us and therefore we inwardly lack faith in them. Many people have experienced mirages while driving on the road and seeing a non-existent puddle of water. In addition, hallucinations provide us with sensory perceptions which we know do not exist. If someone see or hears something that others cannot see or hear, the person is readily labeled mad or insane.
Even if we decide to discount a single user's religious experience, it becomes nearly impossible to deny similar religious experiences that occur throughout the planet for people of all different religious beliefs. If it is an isolated incident, it becomes easier to dismiss, but if it occurs time and time again throughout history, it becomes more indicative of an underlying thread of commonality that hints at the power of the Supreme Lord.
Consequently, it is not that Krsna has not "shown" Himself to us, but rather that we have either denied or refused to accept that we have seen Him. Krsna has been so merciful that he reveals Himself to all people of the world regardless of whether or not they choose to believe in Him. The only thing that remains is for us to take the leap of faith to understand that we are really observing Him through the course of our normal material human lives.
Hare Krsna!
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