BELIEF IN GOD

If one eats an apple, but detects no flavour in it and receives no nourishment, then it might be considered of the person not to have eaten an apple at all, but only something which looks like an apple. The same is true of one’s realization of God. A man who has truly discovered God will blissfully savour the essence of the experience. Anyone who claims to have discovered God without this accompanying sense of elation has certainly made no such discovery. He has only discovered something which he mistakenly thinks is God. He is like the man eating a fake apple and deriving no satisfaction from it. God’s world is a collection of atoms. In its elemental form, it all consists of one and the same type of inert matter; but God has moulded this matter into countless diverse forms: light, heat, greenery, flowing water. He has also invested lifeless matter with the properties of colour, taste and smell; and everywhere, He has set things in motion, having carefully controlled this motion by His laws of nature. Discovering God who has made such a world is much more than just acquiring a dry creed; it means filling one’s heart and soul with the radiant glow of divine light and opening one’s mind to incredible beauty. When we eat delicious fruits, we get a great sense of enjoyment. When we hear beautiful music we are quite entranced by it. When a handsome child is born to a couple, their joy knows no bounds. Then what of our experience of God, who is the source of all beauty, joy and virtue? On discovering Him, can one remain unmoved? This is hardly imaginable, for such a sublime experience—like coming close to a source of dazzling radiance—must surely leave its mark on one. Having endowed things with their unique qualities, God Himself must have qualities that His discoverers' may savour. To discover Him, therefore, is to experience Him like a fragrance, a taste which excites, a texture which is a joy, a melody which touches the heart. To come close to Him is to live in an everlasting garden of brilliant colours and delicate fragrances. It is to hear such music that one might wish its enchantment to last forever. The Creator of all light, God Himself is the most resplendent of all beings. He is the light of the Heavens and of the earth, shedding His radiance on the personalities of all who discover Him. His is the greatest treasure house of all true wisdom. He is the greatest repository of all Discovering God who has made this world means filling one's heart and soul with the radiant glow of divine light and opening one's mind to incredible beauty.