There God is! – Part 1

“Where is God?”
This question was placed before a Jnani (Realized Soul).
Several people visit a jnani—the learned and the laymen, the rich and the poor. It is difficult to even get a glance of a jnani. We always find a stream of visitors before a jnani, as people believe that a visit to a man of wisdom will bestow all good things in life on them. Is this not true?
Thus, numerous people had come to see this man of wisdom.
It was in one of his satsangs that the question was asked:
“Where is God?”
One day, one of his devotees went to him, “Swami! There are so many problems in my family. Please bless me so that I am relieved of all these problems.”
The mahatma replied, “All right. I will pray to God for your sake.”
Some come to seek jnana (Supreme Knowledge) and mukti (Liberation); some come with prayers to cure afflictions; some to clear their doubts.
It was in this way that the devotee asked him, “Swami! Where is God?”
The mahan, with a faint smile in his lips and his whole face exuding compassion, looked at the people present there and said, “Our friend here asks, ‘Where is God?’. Before I answer this question, you all tell me first. All of you are bhaktas. Those who have an answer for this question can come out with it.”
Many of them came forward to give an answer to this question.
“God is up in the sky!” declared one.
“God is in the Temple!” quipped another.
“God is in Sri Vaikuntam!” opined another.
“Oh no! God is within everyone!” announced yet one.
So it went on. Each gave his opinion in the matter.
Then they all said in one voice “Swami! We have all given our opinion in the matter. You must now give us your answer. Is God in Vaikunta? Or is He in everyone? Or does He exist as verily all? Or is He in a Temple? Where is God?”
The Guru smiled, cleared his throat softly, straightened himself up and gently spoke, “Where your head bows down, there God is…”
Where your head bows down, there God is!
What does this mean?!
It means that God is where one’s ego is totally submissive.
Only when the ‘I’—
‘I should be revered’, that ‘I’
‘I should be placed on a high pedestal’, that ‘I’
‘I come first’, ‘I know everything’, that ‘I’
—becomes submissive, the head bows down.
Bowing our head down is symbolic. This gesture conveys the thought, “I am nothing. You are everything. It is verily Your Grace that works through me.”
Recognizing this is real namaskara (prostration) to God. If we bow down before God in this manner, He pours forth His compassion on us.
Where the head bows down, there God is…