It’s obvious that we feel something/someone doesn’t exist when we do not get to experience the value or the presence of that thing. But it doesn’t mean that the thing doesn’t exist.
God exists, He was there for us, always, and He will be there for us for eternity. But He seeks a small effort from us, that we start seeking attention from Him.
For me having the presence of God in my life is not visiting temples and worshipping, or chanting mantras once or twice a day. I respect people who worship deities and follow rituals. But I never did that. I never fasted in my life. Because I never felt the need of it.
Since childhood, I was lucky to get the feel of supreme power within me. I started visiting a spiritual organisation where I used to meditate regularly. I literally didn’t know what meditation was, and how it’s performed but I used to sit for hours. Later on, with time, I started experiencing that being in connection with God is just to talk to Him and making him the companion of your life.
In prayers, you talk to God. In meditation, you listen to God. Meditation is all about having conversation with Him. About yourself, about what’s going on with you, about what you expect from yourself and from Him. And trust me, He replies. He talks to you. Because God is the Supreme Father of we all. And He cares for us all.
There’s nothing hoax about it, I am sharing this all, because He has helped me all my life.
Being in companionship with God, doesn’t mean you don’t get to encounter troubles, trauma. It’s all about experiencing His helping hands to rise again, every time you fall. Ultimately, it’s we who should make efforts. Remember, many times parents allow small kids to fall off, so that they get up on their own.
So, I believe, to start feeling the presence of God, you should start picking a few minutes for yourself and for Him each day.
For you and for all the people out there, here’s my all-time favorite story which I heard years back. I hope this will help you:
A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so many things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched the subject of God. The barber said: “Look man, I don’t believe that God exists as you say.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the client.
“Well, it’s so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain. I can’t think of loving a God who permits all of these things.”
The client stopped for a moment thinking, but he didn’t want to respond as to cause an argument. The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with a long hair and beard (it seems that it had been a long time since he had his cut and he looked so untidy).
Then the client again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber, “You know what? Barbers do not exist.”
“How can you say they don’t exist?” asked the barber. “Well I am here and I am a barber.”
“No!” the client exclaimed. “They don’t exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and a beard like that man who walks in the street.”
“Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to me.”
“Exactly!”- affirmed the client. “That’s the point. God does exist, what happens is people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”
Amen!
PS: The article was originally published on Quora in September 2017
(Cover image via Pixabay)