When most of us refer to God, we are either referring to an idol, a picture, sometimes a lamp lit with oil in it, or a candle or a burning flame or something material. At times, the broadminded among us identify God with a tree, a flower, a butterfly or something similar. But the more important question is this – what is it that makes us identify God the way we do? Who is it that teaches us to identify God as such?
It is our mind, our consciousness, which teaches us so. It is our mind which interprets a particular idol, a specific picture, a commonly used symbol such as a lamp or candle or a flame as God. Does it really mean that God exists in that particular material thing, maybe it does, maybe it does not. But what matters is that our mind believes that it does.
What is critical here is that the mind does not create God for you, what it does is just associate God with something that already exists. The material object already exists in your life and the mind just assists you with identifying and associating God with it.
Now that it has been established that it is indeed your mind which perceives God in some material object of your choosing, we all need to train ourselves to expand our horizons. We should put in efforts to ensure that we associate God with everything we see. If we train our mind, exercise our senses in this regard, then we will truly see God everywhere and in everything.
We will then start identifying God everywhere around us, we will start seeing the earth as God, the moon as God, the sun as God, the oceans as God, nature as God and the endless space as God. And what better joy can one have than being with God all the time.
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This post has been written for The Write Tribe : Hemingway This Wednesday prompt where we had to use one of the famous author’s quotes “There’s no one thing that’s true. It’s all true” from For Whom the Bell Tolls.
While my post doesn’t necessarily use the quote verbatim, I would like to believe that the concept presented regarding seeing God everywhere is an apt analogy given that there is no “one true God” given that God is everywhere. The entire world is a manifestation of the “all true” God, isn’t it.
Mahabore's Mumblings 
Very true. Well done with the prompt. 🙂 It is all true. 🙂
@Jyothi, thank you, am glad you liked the post 🙂
Bingo 🙂 well put….totally agree…
@Preethi, 😀
Lovely Jairam. So beautifully put… There is indeed no one God but omnipresent, all true!
@Aditi, so true 🙂
Very well-written Jairam. Whenever we see a gopuram from far , immediately we do a ‘namaskara’ but when we see an aeroplane or a ship we just see it.That’s the difference.
@Kalpana, wow, that was quite an insightful comment, but you hit the nail right on the head so to speak, the whole thing lies in the perception of the beholder, right!!! 🙂
Well written post. I was just reading another post on omnipresent. Good use of the prompt.
@Sugandha, glad you liked it 🙂
Jairam – this is awesome. Remember the so call ‘tribals’ – they seemed to see God in all things, while we ‘educated’ people need to be told what God looks like. I think when we see God in all people and all things we will fear Him less and love Him (She/It?) more.
@Corinne, that was absolutely the point of this post :D, the fact that we constrain ourselves to idols and places of worship when God is present all around us and we don’t appreciate His/Her creations anymore is sad, isn’t it?
Hi Jairam. Very well written. I used to have some worthwhile discussions with my uncle who also happened to be a staunch communist. He would give some wonderful insights. Once when we were discussing about the different interpretations of God, he had this very interesting thing to say. He said god is like i=squareroot(-1), which is completely imaginary, but on the other hand it makes life easy for a lot of mathematicians in the form of complex analysis, complex numbers etc….In a similar fashion in the name of god lot of good things are happening and life seems less complicated. I kind of loved the analogy. What do you say?
@Paddy, you know me well enough to know that I didn’t quite get the significance of the mathematical analogy 😦 but at the same time, you also know me well enough to figure out that I would appreciate something that makes a lot of sense and if you have put it up as a comment, I am sure I agree with the analogy as I trust your math skills enough 😉 Glad you enjoyed the post 😀
If I may say…like the analogy? …love it!!!!..that is an amazing explanation. Brilliantly put. 😮 may I please share it 🙂
PG, your uncle explained it so well!
If people do good things in the name of ‘God’, how does it matter what their interpretation of ‘God’ is?
On the other hand, if people do bad things in the name of ‘God’, …..?
Well said …
I too believe that God is everywhere and the most important prayer you can offer is with one’s actions and good thoughts.
@Pixie, well said 🙂
Well said. I also believe God is everywhere and can be found if you look. ♥
@Kathy, absolutely 🙂
It may be simple to say so, but it is very difficult to see God in everything. Nice post.
@Diwakar, it is, it takes an extremely open mind and heart to see God everywhere and in everything 🙂
That was such a wonderful post Jairam. I loved your take on the prompt. I liked your perspective of viewing God in different things like the oceans, moon, nature itself and the earth as a whole. It’s such a beautiful thought. I believe God is everywhere especially in things/people that are good and pure.
@Diana, absolutely, God is present in all of us and everything around us, it’s just that we choose to see Him or not, glad you liked the post 😀
I could have never thought that this quote could be extrapolated to God and his existence. And I believe that defining God itself is restricting his concept. It is something that is transitional, and can never be encompassed in words or things…
Richa
@Richa, so true, and that is the absolute truth isn’t it, the fact that we cannot try and define God.
That’s such a wonderful interpretation of Hemingway’s quote. Loved your perspective. Oh yes, God is omnipresent and omniscient!
@Shilpa, thank you, glad you liked the post 🙂
I wish everybody followed this, ….
If wishes were horses, …! 😦
@Proactive Indian, so true, if wishes were horses 😦