Swami Chinmayanandaji normally sat outside his cottage in the rose garden. Evening was his free time before his talks on the Gita began. That was the time when people cleared their doubts by asking questions. One such day a newcomer to the mission hesitatingly asked, “Swamiji, is there God? Did you see Him? If so, in what form?” This was a very common question, asked even by children, yet Pujya Swamiji never lost his patience and always answered very calmly. Swamiji explained, “There is God. There is no doubt about it. Yes, I have seen Him, but not in form. God is a state of consciousness. In order for the common man to conceive of the idea, a form is given. Our National Flag is not the form of our country. It represents our country. Similarly, God in various forms, whether it is the cross or the crescent or Krishna, represents a state of consciousness to be reached.”
Similarly, once a 10-year-old boy had asked him that no one has ever seen God, so how can one believe that if we truly do our sadhana with faith we can see or experience Him. Swamiji had asked him, “Do you see a beard or moustache on your face? But don’t you believe that at the time of your physical maturity it will in time manifest? Similarly, God is always hidden there inside you, but He will only manifest within you at the time of your spiritual maturity. Just as you do not see the hidden tree, its bark and its leaves and the fruits and flowers in a seed, but you know that they are all there potentially. You also know that they will all appear visually when the soil, the sun and the water are nourishing it. Just so is the manifestation of God.”
—Prarthna Saran, President, Chinmaya Mission, Delhi.
