how to know God

To know God is not so difficult. All we have to do is enquire about God with some sincerity and common sense. Keep in mind folks, I am talking about people who seek God which means they start their search with a fundamental hypothesis that God exists.

The first and foremost principle towards search for God is open-mindedness. If we bring our previous conditioning in deciphering knowledge, we will be (no doubt) misled. Therefore, just like any objective scientist – we should not bring in our own values while getting to know the subject matter of God (for that matter any field of knowledge). So with an open mind we have to approach this knowledge.

So with this open mindedness let us read further

Any research into any subject matter requires a strong methodology (depending on time and resources). Before we determine a research methodology, we need to understand the nature of the problem we confront. In other words we have to do a literature review of that subject we would like to enquire more. So in the subject matter of God, we need to know some basic rules.

God by definition means the supreme authority (just as sugar is sugary because of its sweet taste). For example, if there is beauty on this earth, then by definition of supremacy, God should be the most beautiful. Like this, we can define the position of God as most knowledgeable, most powerful, most wealthy, most renounced and most strong. Like this, there are many qualities that God should possess in full if we accept that God is the supreme authority. This automatically puts God in a position that no human mind or intellect can comprehend simply because of His supreme position. In other words, since God is the supreme authority, God by definition is in a position that is so up, beyond and above us. God is supremely independent that He can do what He wants when He wants it. With this preliminary understanding we have to approach the science of God.

click the above picture for an enlarged view

The reason I compared human with God is because human beings are trying to ascertain God so from our vantage point we need to establish the relationship between the two.
One thing is very clear, just by the plain definition of God (supreme authority); we can safely conclude that God is transcendental to mundane reality (in which we humans live).

So the first question we should ask ourselves is what method of scientific enquiry will work to understand God properly. Obviously He is beyond any human interpretation and therefore trying to incorporate commonly practiced scientific methods will NEVER work in our quest for God.

As common citizens of any country, one can never know the inner movements of the president of that country. In other words, for security purposes and by the free choice of the president, we can never know the full schedule of the highest authority of the state. However, the closest aid of the president will surely know the movements. So if we somehow know the closest aid, then from him/her we can confidentially understand the inner dealings of the president. This is a valid scientific method we use in qualitative research such as in the field of sociology or observational type research (non-experimental research); surveying and collecting data from key informants will help inform the nature of the problem. Using this technique, we have to search for that informant who will reveal to us the nature of God proper. In Sanskrit, we call this informant – Guru or spiritual teacher/master.

Just as in modern scientific qualitative research where we follow proper protocols to survey an informant similarly there are certain protocols to follow when we survey a Guru. Krishna Himself reveals that protocol

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaḿ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
BG ch 4.34

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.

To the degree we realize the above statement; to that degree we can realize God. But unfortunately in today’s world we do not care to love God, we only use God as our order carrier and hence go to temple, church, synagogue or mosque just to make sure we maintain our current assets (gross or subtle) and desire for more (gross or subtle). In other words, in today’s definition, God/religion is nothing but an extension of our own false-ego and nothing else. As long as we approach God with this mentality, rest assured we can never know Him and what to speak of loving Him. Hence it is very very important to follow the above protocol of proper enquiry only then can we gain the knowledge of transcendence.

One thing is for sure, if we go back in time to the list of informants, there should have been the first informant (Guru) to whom God revealed Himself. The first informant (Guru) transfers the knowledge to informants after Him and so on and so forth. This is one way to test the authenticity of the current informant (Guru) is to see if he/she follows a disciplic succession starting from God Himself.

What is that knowledge we are looking for from Guru?
1.What is our relationship with God (sambandha)
2.What is the process of establishing that relationship (abedheya)
3.What is the use/result of that relationship (prayojan)

Many people have many dealings with God for many reasons but the ultimate purpose to know God is to love Him without any personal motivations and without interruptions. Just as our highest dealing with the people we care about is to show love, our dealing with God should be to love Him unconditionally and any religion that teaches us to love God unconditionally is true religion.

sa vai puḿsāḿ paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokṣaje
ahaituky apratihatā
yayātmā suprasīdati
SB 1.2.6

The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.

Hare Krishna