The Spiritual Masters Say Love God With All Your Heart But When We Are Told To Love Something As Abstract As The Infinite We Don’t Know How To Do It What Then?
Forming a Meaningful Concept of God
In the beginning of one’s spiritual search, however, it is very difficult to conceive of God, let alone feel devotion for Him, without the intermediary of some concept or form on which to focus the attention. But, here we are in human form, so long conditioned to the idea of form that when we are told to love something as abstract as the Infinite, we don’t know how to do it. The great spiritual savants, saints, and avatars — whoever has found God — have interpreted their experience or realization in terms that could be understood by humankind.
Christ interpreted Spirit as Father, Krishna interpreted Spirit not only as the transcendental formless Absolute, but also as having a personal creative aspect, which devotees in India refer to as Mother. God is both Father and Mother, personal and impersonal, immanent and transcendent; He is all things to all men. This is why the Guru’s invocation to God addresses Him as “Heavenly Father, Mother, Friend, Beloved God.”
Sometimes devotees will say, “When I think of God, am I to think of a form, or any specific image” The Infinite cannot be circumscribed by anything finite. Truth is illimitable, so vast that it encompasses everything. Therefore, the devotee may pursue Spirit —It, Him, Her —in whatever form or aspect most appeals to his present spiritual need or inclination.
A true guru-one who knows God —is like a transparent window through which the attuned devotee can glimpse something of the otherwise abstract qualities and attributes of God. Deep reverence for the guru, the divinely appointed instrument of enlightenment, draws the devotee closer to God through the blessings he feels by contact with that one who knows God. From the teachings of P. Yogananda.
