Why I Am Not God

Published in India Opines

A well-known spiritual speaker thundered, “I am here to tell you a very astonishing secret which will change your life.” The audience waited with bated breath to known the life transforming secret. The speaker after a long pause roared, “You all are GOD. It is just that you have forgotten that you are GOD.” The revelation charmed the hearts of the listeners and they greeted him with thunderous applause.

5000 years ago at the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when Krishna told to Arjuna that I have spoken this imperishable science of yoga to sun god Vivasvan (Bhagavad Gita 4.1) then Arjuna questioned how could it be possible because the sun god is very senior to you by birth?(Bhagavad Gita 4.4). Krishna said, “Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot” (Bhagavad Gita 4.4).

We may wonder why?

It is because Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Arjuna is just a living entity. Brahma – Samhita describes that Lord never forgets Himself and so is called acyuta (infallible) but the living entities like us are prone to forgetfulness.

So the logic given by some spiritual gurus that “We all are God and we have just forgotten that we are God” is not supported by the Vedic scriptures.

Vedic books very clearly delineates as who God is.

isvarah paramah Krishna – “Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead” (Brahma-samhita 5.1);
Krishna tu bhagavan svayam – “Lord Sri Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.38).
“Devaki’s son [Krishna] is the Supreme Lord” [Narayana Upanisad (4)].
Even Krishna speaks about His supreme position: mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya – “O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me” (Bhagavad-Gita 7.7).
Arjuna too accepts that Krishna is the Supreme Lord: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa conﬁrm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. (Bhagavad-Gita 10.12-13)

We desire to be the controller and the proprietor and so we feel elated when someone comes and tell us that we are God. Some spiritual charlatans share some secret mantras assuring us that by chanting these words we would become God. Some tell us that by performing yoga or certain type of meditations we will merge into God and become God.

Krishna did not chant any mantras or perform any yoga or meditation to become God. He was God before he decided to enter into the womb of Devaki and after coming out of the womb he was still God. And since the moment he appeared he performed many extraordinary miracles which a living entity cannot perform.

When little Krishna opened his mouth in front of mother Yashoda then she saw the entire universe in Krishna’s mouth. Is there any spiritual guru or his disciples who can show the entire universe in his or her mouth? The answer is: NO.

We need to understand that we are not God and we can never become God. God is always God.

Some false gurus decorate themselves with the ornaments of scriptural knowledge and renunciation and mislead their followers by making them believe that they too can become the Supreme Being. To buttress their point they even misinterpret the scriptures.

So, we need to be very cautious whenever we approach any spiritual teacher. Whatever he teaches we should always vet it with the Vedic books. If it matches with the Vedas then he can be accepted else rejected.

As Krishna says in Gita, “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly” (Bhagavad Gita 4.11) which means we get what we desire in this world. If we desire cheaters we will get cheaters who will take us away from God. And if we desire genuine spiritual knowledge then we will be directed towards those who are dedicated devotees of the Lord selflessly serving the people by bringing them closer to God.