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Is God Formless or Does He have a Form
On the occasion of Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa Jayanti, here’s a snippet from the book, “Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa – The Devotee of Divine Devotion” by Sirshree.
Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa had a gift of explaining difficult spiritual lessons in simple contemporary language with everyday examples. Many people often came to meet Shri Ramakrishna to find answers to questions they faced in their quest for truth and to progress in their spiritual journey. One question the seekers often struggled with was, “Is God formless, or does he have any form?”
People want to perceive God like they perceive themselves and other humans – with their senses. They imagine God to have a similar form like theirs; only superior, such as God, must have the sweetest voice. They want to see God, hear God’s voice, just once, to be convinced of God’s existence.
The dilemma with being trapped in this imagination is that it not only impedes their spiritual journey but also undermines their devotion and weakens their faith. It is like a person saying, “Until someone convinces me that eating meat is not good, I will continue” – it not only stalls that person’s growth but eventually harms his body.
New truth seekers would often grapple with this question at the onset of their spiritual journey. Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa would patiently give a simple answer to such people, as one would explain to a child. He would say, “God is both – with form and also without form.” This would puzzle the seekers. He would then explain with a simple analogy – “Sometimes we wear clothes, and sometimes we don’t. When we are bathing, we do not wear clothes; we are naked. We get dressed when we are done. God is just like this analogy. Sometimes He wears the clothes of attributes; at other times He is without attributes, without any form.” Some people would not understand this and think that he has gone crazy. But Shri Ramakrishna would advise people to be patient while learning and that they will understand more about the Truth as their journey progresses each day. When we go to school, the syllabus starts with simple topics, not complex concepts. Similarly, Shri Paramhansa would tell the puzzled seekers that they should first attain God as a form, worship God as a form, and continue their journey of devotion with that understanding instead of grappling with doubts, as eventually they will progress to understand the formless God.
Shri Ramakrishna’s disciples would look forward to such question-answer sessions to learn from the exchange. Often, in the process of discussing one question, even some other questions visitors had would get answered automatically.
Once, a visitor named Upendra came to meet Shri Paramhansa. Upendra had a scientific bent of mind. He told the disciples, whom visitors had to meet first, that he had three questions to ask the master. The disciples were excited as they would now get to hear three answers from their master. When Upendra’s turn came, his first question was, “Sir, you say that God is with form as well as formless. How is that possible?” Shri Ramakrishna answered him with an example: “Water takes the shape of the vessel it is poured into. But when water is not contained in any vessel, it is formless. Water can freeze, and it can also steam up. Similarly, God is sometimes in a form, at other times formless.” Satisfied, Upendra left the room without asking any more questions. When a disciple asked him why he did not ask the other two questions that he came to ask, he said that Shri Paramhansa’s answer to the first question had already answered the other questions as well!
To truly understand God and completely grasp His grandeur and glory, one must get close to Him. From afar, the Sun and the Moon appear as mere discs. Only when you get closer to them do you see what they really are, and get wonderstruck. So is it with God. Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa helped people get closer to God with his simple yet profound answers and analogies to help them move forward in their spiritual journey. Everyone’s journey is their own. People walk their own paths to seek God. Some follow Hinduism, some follow Buddhism, while some renunciate; some get into tantra or mantra. Shri Ramakrishna used to say, “You can enter the house through any door, or any window, or chimney – all these paths will lead you inside the house. Similarly, no matter which path you follow, they all lead to the same God.”
Shri Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s teachings helped and continue to help millions in their search for God in their quest to understand the Ultimate Truth. Shri Paramhansa’s simple language and profound analogies are as relevant today as they were during his time.
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