The Correct approach to God-1

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Dear Members,In this article the Writer Sri Swami Krishnanandaconverse with Ms.Sarah on the subject " The Correctapproach to God. There are 3 parts which will beposted on 3 consecutive days for easy reading. The 3 Stages in Religion Part-1Sarah: In Judaism, there is an idea that God makescontracts and pacts. What does that mean? Swamiji: Covenants. In the Old Testament there are plenty of covenants mentioned. Covenant means an

agreement with God. Sarah: But, if He is Absolute, how can there be acovenant? Swamiji: The Jews do not believe in God as theAbsolute. He is, to them, a Transcendent Being. He is above the world, and, therefore, you can contact Him

as you contact anybody in the world. The extra-cosmictranscendence of God is the concept of God in allSemitic religions. It is so in Judaism, inChristianity, in Islam, in Zoroastrianism, which are the four Semitic religions. Each one considers God as

extra-cosmic, which means to say, above the universe;therefore, you can have your agreement, contract,prayer or covenant, whatever you call it. You canapproach a big boss and have some kind ofunderstanding with him. God looks like a boss because

of this transcendence beyond the universe. You pray toGod looking up to the skies. Why do you look up to theskies when you pray to God? You have a feeling that He is not in this world. He is above and is not here. But there is nothing wrong with it; it is one stage ofreligion. In this stage of religion, God is envisagedas a transcendent extra-cosmic power to which you can look for help by surrender, devotion and submission.

But that is not the only meaning of religion. Thereare other stages where the distance between man andGod diminishes. In this concept of the transcendence of God as an extra-cosmic reality, there is a lot of

distance. You do not know how far God is-there is anendless distance in space and time. Afterwards, thedistance becomes less and less in the acceptance of God, not merely as a Transcendent Being, but also as

immanent in all creation, right here and now. God is not so far as you imagined Him to be earlier.He is also near; He is present in every atom. That is the second stage of religion. The third stage is where

you yourself cannot be standing there outside Him,because of the all-pervadingness of God. These are thethree stages of religion: transcendence, immanence and universality. All the three stages are valid; they are

good in their own way. These are developmental stagesof an ascent gradually from inadequate concepts tomore adequate ones. So, all religions are good. There is nothing wrong with them; they are all different

degrees of approach in an ascending order. Sarah: And the Jews have an idea that they are chosenpeople that they are a separate people from the restof the world. What is the meaning? Why do they even

come to that concept? Swamiji: It is also one stage of thinking. You are adevotee of God, and so you consider non-devotees asnot so equal to you. Suppose you are honestly a devotee of God and find others are atheists; don't you

think that they are a little inferior to you? Thoughyou are not supposed to think like that, you havesomehow a predilection to think that these non-devotee atheists are inferior and you are a superior person.

Whether you are justified in thinking like that ornot, it is left to you to judge. A holy man thinksthat unholy people are damned. Now, is he justified in thinking so? He may be or may not be; it is a point of

view. There may be some truth and validity in theirfeeling that they are chosen people because they arereally devoted to God; but whether they are justified in thinking that others are inferior, that is a

different matter. Sarah: But there is no idea that certain people arechosen for certain rules-they are all equal withdifferent rules? Is there any idea of that as truthful? Swamiji: Everybody has a role to play. It does not

mean that one is superior or inferior to the other. Sarah: But there are different rules? Swamiji: Different laws and different positions-each one is placed in different positions and stations in

life, and from the point of view of the particularstation in which you are placed, your work is decided.It does not mean that you are superior or inferior. You are fit for that, and others are fit for another

thing. You cannot say that a shopkeeper is superior tothe farmer, or a farmer is superior to the shopkeeper.They are doing different kinds of occupation in society, meant for the stability of humanity. Nobody

is superior, nobody is inferior. So, each one has toplay a role according to the circumstances in whichone is placed, and there is no question of comparison. Nobody is chosen, actually speaking; everybody is

chosen. If all are children of God, who is notchosen-unless you believe that some are not thecreation of God?