If you wish to have the vision of the Lord, the first step is to develop a bond with God. God cannot be realised through the intellect, through book knowledge and words. God cannot be understood through words, though it is true, we talk about God only through the medium of language.
Whenever a tragedy occurs, or we go through a trauma, we cry out in anguish: where is God? The question is asked because we have not built up any relationship with God. We must create a relationship with God. We must know God: and knowing God is an experience very similar to that of knowing your own brother, your sister, your friend, your spouse. Did anyone have to formally introduce you to your mother, father, brother, or sister? Did you have to attend lectures or workshops on the importance of family relationships? Did you have to have lessons on building bonds with your spouse and children? These beautiful bonds came naturally to you, didn’t they?
Meditation awakens the hidden shakti within us and through this shakti we can feel and experience God. This does not mean that you abandon all your worldly duties and be engrosses in worship.
So, it must be with God. Make God real in your daily life. Otherwise, you will not be able to experience Him or find Him by your side. But to forge a relationship with Him we must surrender ourselves to Him. The act of surrender is very important. All that you have and all that you are, must be surrendered to God; we should think, and we should be convinced that we belong to God. This will build an unbreakable bond with Him and then God will become as real as the sun in our lives.
God is not to be found in scriptures, in books or in discourses. God is to be experienced. And this experience comes only when we build a bond with Him. By all means do your daily routine but find some time to meditate. Meditation awakens the hidden shakti within us and through this shakti we can feel and experience God. This does not mean that you abandon all your worldly duties and be engrosses in worship. God needs instruments to work for Him. He needs hands and feet to plough the fields. When we surrender to God, we surrender fully, hands, feet and all that we accomplish with our limbs, senses and minds. We live in this world, we perform our tasks, but with this sense of offering, arpanam: “O Lord, I am utterly dedicated to Thee. All that I am, all that I have and all that I do, are an offering unto Thee!”