04/30/2025
"Once you experience communion with God, even briefly, He will speak to you often. However, this journey is not easy. Forming a deep connection with the Divine requires dedication, because God seeks to ensure that your longing for him is genuine. He tests whether your heart truly desires Him or simply yearns for his blessings. God does not reveal himself to a heart preoccupied with material desires. Why would he?
His gifts are not meant to overshadow the greatest treasure, His presence. The essence of devotion lies in offering God the only gift he cannot claim without our consent, our love.
Life itself serves as a test of our priorities. Through our actions, we reveal whether we seek God himself or merely His favors. The Creator desires our love, freely given without expectation or coercion.
That is the ultimate secret of existence.
God yearns for our love, but it must come from a place of pure intent, until we give our love to God willingly, we cannot find lasting happiness. As long as we remain preoccupied with worldly desires, crying out for blessings, while ignoring the Giver, we stumble into the traps of suffering.
God, as the essence of our Being can only be fully expressed when we invite His presence into our lives. This is the ultimate truth.
We are inherently connected to the Divine, being a part of its essence, which is why true and lasting fulfillment cannot be found in material things. One cannot shelter oneself while ignoring the source of all shelter.
Until you find contentment in the Divine, no worldly satisfaction will suffice. The question often arises, is the divine personal or impersonal? Exploring this question can aid in deepening your connection with the higher power. Many people resist thinking of the Divine in personal terms, viewing such an interpretation as limiting. They prefer to see it as an impersonal force; boundless power, intelligent energy... responsible for the universe's creation.
But if the Creator were entirely impersonal, how could humans, who possess individuality, emotion, thought and will exist?
We have the ability to understand and respond to others, which must stem from a source that also possesses these qualities. Surely, the Creator is not devoid of the reciprocity present in its own creations. If we allow it, the Divine can establish a deeply personal relationship with each of us. Considering the impersonal aspect of the Divine often leaves an impression of distance, an entity that receives prayers without responding, a "silent observer" of all.
This interpretation, however, is flawed for the Divine encompasses both personal and impersonal qualities. As the originator of humanity, the Creator must also embody personal attributes. It comforts the human heart to imagine that the Divine can take a form to connect with us directly, to speak and share presence.
Why doesn't this happen for everyone? It has for many saints and enlightened ones who have experienced such divine communication. The Divine, though unseen and vast, can be drawn into form by unwavering devotion with deep prayer. You too can experience a personal manifestation of the higher power as saints like Francis of Assisi have. Such manifestations show that the Divine responds to sincere, heartfelt dedication.
Jesus was an embodiment of this declaring, "I and My Father are one." Other spiritual leaders like Swami Shankara, echoed this truth, "I am spirit, and so are you." We find affirmation in the teachings of prophets and sages that humanity is created in the image of Divinity.
This image is not merely physical, but spiritual.
The essence of humanity reflects the essence of the Divine. The Scriptures tell us, "In the image of God, He created man." While this phrase has been interpreted in many ways, its core truth remains. Man, at his essence, is spirit mirroring the eternal nature of the Creator. The human body consciousness and the motion within it are microcosms of the Divine. In our consciousness resides omniscience and omnipresence, a reflection of the vastness of the Divine itself. Through devotion, meditation and direct perception of Truth, this understanding can become a personal reality surpassing any worldly opinion. Truth revealed through direct experience will always endure and ultimately be recognized."
"How To Talk To God"
-Paramahansa Yogananda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKioQW1hIv0
