 Who is God?
 by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
The sole purpose of yoga is union with God, therefore: “Who is this Lord Who is neither material nor an individual, finite spirit?” asks the great sage Vyasa in his commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. For how will we seek and recognize Him if we have no idea who He is? The word being translated as “God” or “Lord” is Ishwara which means the Ruler, Master, or Controller. Ishwara implies the powers of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. Ishwara is the Supreme Power, Parameshwara. It is toward this Ishwara that our life is to be directed if we would attain perfection in yoga, for in Yoga Sutra 1:23, Patanjali states that samadhi is produced by Ishwarapranidhana–the offering of one’s life to God. Obviously such a Being is altogether beyond any definition or expression. But since yoga is a practical matter, we need some workable or pragmatic understanding of the nature of God, however imperfect or partial it might be. And Patanjali supplies us with exactly the kind of definition we need: “Ishwara is a particular Spirit Who is untouched by the afflictions of life, actions and the results and impressions [conditionings] produced by these actions.”
The unique Being
First Patanjali assures us that God is a Person (Purusha) in the fullest sense of the term. Furthermore, He is a vishesha Purusha–a special, unique Person–not just abstract Existence or the conglomerate of Being or Beingness, whatever that would be or mean. Vishesha also means a particular being in the sense that God can be “picked out” or “singled out” from among all other things or beings. We are told by Patanjali that God is a “special” or vishesha purusha (spirit) so we will realize that, although we are always one with God, at the same time in an inexplicable manner there is an eternal difference between us and God. We are one with Him, but we are not Him. The ocean is the wave, but the wave is not the ocean–as Shankara has said. Vyasa asks: “Is He [Ishwara] then one of those who have attained liberation [moksha]? There are many who have done so. No; untouched by such experience is the Lord, Who is a special kind of Purusha. Others have attained liberation by cutting the three bonds, but for the Lord such bondage never was nor will come to be, as it will for one who has absorbed his mind into prakriti [matter–by entering into relative existence for his evolution]. But the Lord is ever freed, ever the Lord. His eternal perfection is from perfect sattwa.”
Though He is within all things and all things are within Him, yet He stands apart. For vishesha also means unique, implying that God is truly Ekam Evam Advityam Brahman: the God Who is One, Only, Without a Second. He is not one of many, nor is He even one of two. He is ONE in every sense of the term. God is neither conditioned nor confined in any manner. Therefore He is not touched or tainted by the afflictions or faults of life (i.e., relative existence), in contrast to us who live within them as though they were the very air we breathe and the basis of our existence. Nor is Ishwara bound or in any way affected by actions; therefore He is ever unchanging. Infinite Consciousness: Omniscience
God is the essence and the epitome of Consciousness, so Patanjali further states: “In Him is the highest limit of omniscience.” Commenting on this, Shankara says: “The all-pervading mind of the supreme Lord is in simultaneous contact with every object.” The omniscience of God is total and absolute; it can be neither contracted or expanded. If a human being knew all there was to know about medicine he would be omniscient in that subject. But if there were further medical discoveries, until he learned of them he would no longer be omniscient, and after he did, his omniscience would have been augmented or increased. The omniscience of God is beyond all such possibility because He is omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.
Then for the yogi Patanjali introduces a significant fact. He does not just say that omniscience (sarvajña) is in God, but that the seed of omniscience (sarvajña bijam) is in Him. Thereby he implies that within God is the seed or potentiality of omniscience for those who are united unto Him through their practice of yoga. For the accomplished yogi the divine seed or leaven expands until he comes to participate in the eternal omniscience of God. Omniscience here means not just objective knowledge, but infinity of consciousness–the Being of God Himself. God is the guru of all
In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says: “I am the Self existent in the heart of all beings.” And since God is eternal, it is from Him that all knowledge has come–especially the revelation of spiritual truth. As Vyasa observes: “His purpose is to give grace to living beings, by teaching knowledge and dharma [righteousness or religion].” “For all the kinds of knowledge arise from Him, as sparks of fire from a blaze or drops of water from the sea,” says Shankara. Therefore Patanjali concludes: “Being unconditioned by time He is Teacher [Guru] even of the Ancients.”
Vedic Religion declares that in every cycle of creation God manifests a form as Dakshinamurti and becomes the guru of the first human beings–those who were most spiritually evolved in the previous creation–teaching them the path to liberation (moksha). Furthermore, dwelling in the hearts of all, God continues to be the guru of questing souls. This does not mean that qualified spiritual teachers are not helpful to us, for Patanjali explains in Yoga Sutra 2:44 that those perfected in swadhyaya (self study or self-analysis) are guided by both God and perfected Masters. But ultimately the yogi must be guided by the Divine from within his own consciousness. And if an aspirant neither has nor desires an external guru he can still succeed in spiritual life. That this is so is proven by the fact that the twentieth-century Masters Shirdi Sai Baba, Neem Karoli Baba, Paramhansa Nityananda, Aurobindo Ghosh, Sivananda of Rishikesh, Om Baba of Delhi, Ramdas of Anandashram, and Ramana Maharshi attained enlightenment without the agency of an external guru in the accepted sense. Ramana Maharshi particularly emphasized that God is the guru of all. To objectively demonstrate this, Sri Ma Anandamayi gave herself initiation before beginning the practice of various yogas. She also often told others: “One thing is certain, the one Supreme Being is the only Guide for all.” Paramhansa Nityananda said: “He [God] is the One guru, the guru Who is in all, the guru of the universe. No person can be your guru, a person can only be secondary. The real guru is Guru of the Universe: Om, Brahma, Vishnu, the highest, the Absolute, Origin of all.” To emphasize this truth, Paramhansa Nityananda never gave initiation to any of his students or became their “guru” in any manner or sense.
Shankara, commenting on Vyasa, discusses the reaction that the awakening person has upon learning about the possibility of liberation from his present state of bondage: “Meditation on his own being, which is the cause that should lead to liberation, begins of itself, caused by karma of a previous life or else by steadfastness in renunciation in this present one. And it goes on of itself, without instruction from a teacher.” He does not mean that the aspirant should not have an external teacher, but that he can successfully meditate even if he does not have such a teacher, for he will be guided from within by the ultimate Guru.
In his commentary on Yoga Sutra 1:25 Shankara says: “There is no other [but God] to give the teaching which is a boat by which they can cross over the sea of samsara [relative existence], and He teaches knowledge and dharma to those who take sole refuge in Him.”The aspiring yogi can then feel safe and assured, for God will be his guru, just as He has been for all the enlightened throughout the ages.
1) Actually, Purusha, “Person.” [Go back]
2) Kleshas: ignorance, egotism, attractions and repulsions towards objects, and desperate clinging to physical life from the fear of death. See Yoga Sutras 2:2-9. [Go back]
3) Karma. [Go back]
4) Yoga Sutras 1:24 [Go back]
5) “O Lord, though in truth, when all duality vanishes, I am Thine, yet Thou art not mine; to the ocean belongs the wave but not the ocean to the wave.” (Hymn to Vishnu) [Go back]
6) The three bonds are the three levels of relative existence: physical, astral, and causal, and also past, present, and future. [Go back]
7) Yoga Sutras 1:25 [Go back]
8) Bhagavad Gita 10:20 [Go back]
9) Yoga Sutras 1:26 [Go back]
10) “Only the Supreme Self, which is ever shining in your heart as the reality, is the Sadguru. The pure awareness, which is shining as the inward illumination “I,” is his gracious feet. The contact with these [inner holy feet] alone can give you true redemption. …hereafter, with an inward-turned mind, cling to that inner awareness that is your own real nature. This alone is the proper way for the removal of bondage and the attainment of the supreme truth.…Within the Heart of each devotee the gracious Guru is giving darshan in the form of consciousness.…Jnana is given neither from outside nor from another person. It can be realized by each and everyone in his own Heart. The jnana Guru of everyone is only the Supreme Self that is always revealing its own truth in every Heart through the existence-consciousness ‘I am, I am.’” (The Power of the Presence, pp. 116, 117) And what form does this Guru take for our liberation? The answer is simple and direct: “The One Syllable–Om–shines for ever in the heart as the Self.” (The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi, sixth edition, p. 145) [Go back]
11) She also demonstrated by this the fact that all spiritual life is self-inititated, that we are both guru and disciple as Krishna and Arjuna symbolize in the Bhagavad Gita. [Go back]
12) Nitya Sutras 105 [Go back]
13) Swami Premeshananda, whose words on Om will be found in a later chapter, once said: “We have presently become inundated by this ‘guru doctrine.’ The purpose of the guru is to lead us to the realization of God; but God has been left behind, and the guru has become the latest fashion. So it is not safe to talk about a particular person. If one places a powerful personality before others, they will hold on to him instead of to God.” Swami Yatiswarananda, President of the Ramakrishna Mission, wrote to one of his students: “We really are not gurus. We bring the message of the Guru of gurus. What all service you can get from me you will. But please turn to Him for light and guidance, for peace and blessedness. As you yourself are finding, human beings are not good enough. The Lord, the Guru of gurus, alone can give us the shelter, the illumination and the bliss we need.” That sums it up very well. [Go back]
14) “The mind will eventually turn into your guru,” said Sri Sarada Devi. (The Gospel of the Holy Mother, p. 340). Sri Sarada Devi, “the Holy Mother,” was the virgin-wife of Sri Ramakrishna, and a great teacher in her own right, considered by many to be an incarnation of the Mother aspect of God. Swami Brahmananda, the “spiritual son” of Sri Ramakrishna, in speaking about the role of an external guru said: “Know this! There is no greater guru than your own mind. When the mind has been purified by prayer and contemplation it will direct you from within. Even in your daily duties, this inner guru will guide you and will continue to help you until the goal is reached.” (The Eternal Companion, p. 120) [Go back]
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