DISCOVERING GOD EVERYWHERE JOURNEY TOWARDS GOD-REALIZATION

DISCOVERING GOD EVERYWHERE JOURNEY TOWARDS GOD-REALIZATION T he universe is not silent. It speaks every moment, but its language is one of signs rather than words. The rising sun, the alternation of night and day, the falling rain, the growing tree, the vastness of the sky and even the beating of the human heart—all these contain a message for man. The message, however, is understood only by one who has developed the art of reflection. The Quran repeatedly invites man to observe the universe. It says: “Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for people of understanding.” (3: 190) The universe, therefore, is not merely something to be used. It is something to be read. There is a well-known story about a Sufi. Someone once asked him, “What is the proof of God?” He replied, “The leaves of a tree.” The questioner was surprised. How could ordinary leaves provide evidence of God? The Sufi explained that leaves and fruits grow from the same earth. They receive the same water and the same sunlight. Yet their results are astonishingly different. One plant produces sweetness, another bitterness; one gives fragrance, another medicine. Outwardly, we see only soil, water and sunlight. But behind these visible things there operates an extraordinary system. Who established this system? Who gave each seed its particular programme? Who causes one tree to produce mangoes and another to produce oranges, although both draw their nourishment from the same earth?