Our Separation from God Is Purely Functional

God has endowed man with His own power, with His own soul. He has formed him from His own substance and being. His consciousness is omnipresent; everything exists in it and without it nothing exists.

An iceberg is drifting in the vast ocean. As long as it remains an iceberg, it is distinct from the ocean from which it is born, and by which it is supported and sustained. It places itself in contrast to the ocean and other icebergs. Its condition is limited and transitory, while the ocean is timeless, unconditioned, boundless.

As long as the iceberg identifies itself with this present state it cannot realise its oneness with the sea. It cannot comprehend that in its identity with the entireness of the ocean it is the preserver of millions of lives, that all icebergs are its own products, that it is of infinite expanse and its majesty is timeless, that nothing can dry it up, nothing can resist it, that its joy is without limits, its power inexhaustible.

The same is the case with the human being. Man is like an iceberg. As long as his inner consciousness dwells in the human existence, and is not touched by divine grace, not freed by the fire and force of divine wisdom, it is exceedingly difficult for him to understand the fact that he has dynamic relationships with the infinite Divinity, that there is an identity between his inner being and God, that the divine presence within him is identical with God Himself, and that, when God sustains the whole creation, it means that this divine presence within himself is the preserver of all creation.

How long does it take for the iceberg to overcome its limitations and merge with the vast ocean? It can do so within minutes. Within minutes the iceberg that is the ego can, through spiritual exercises and meditations, dissolve its limitations and unite with the infinitude and splendour of the divine Consciousness.

All that is valuable and wonderful in life on earth is directly related with the divine presence in the heart of the human being: the beauty of the flowers, the intelligence of the human mind, the light of the sun, the cool rays of the moon, the genius of human mind operative in great artists and scientists, the expression of love and goodness.

The whole problem of human life consists in its limitations. But these limitations are purely functional, without reality. They exist only as long as the human individual refuses to grow in realisation and love. Through persistence and ceaseless self-discipline man attains a state that enables his rapid spiritual progress and divine realisation.

The desire for God-experience is a gift of the divine presence in man. It is something that can never be suppressed. It is a constitutional necessity for us. We are made from God's own being, and a dynamic experience of the Divine can alone be the solution to the problem of our human existence.

There are many methods to attain this experience. Some make an effort to develop devotion, to grow in faith and love, to make life simple, to transform lower impulses, to devote all their thinking and doing to the all-merciful, omnipotent, eternal Divinity. They seek to widen their spiritual knowledge through the study of sacred scriptures and to develop saintliness through devotion and selfless service.

Others, who are of a markedly intellectual disposition, strive to grow through knowledge, through realisation of an inner intelligence. In studying the conditions of human life, they seek to arrive at a greater understanding of human virtues and weaknesses. In this manner they pursue deeper insights into the essence that enlivens human existence. They examine life and its circumstances; they minutely observe the mind and its nature; they watch and study themselves and finally realise the Truth.

We cannot have a direct experience of anything except of Truth, God, the Infinite. We experience objects through the senses. It is an indirect perception, and the deficiencies and limitations of our senses render such knowledge inadequate. Also the perceptions gained through deliberations of the intellect are indirect knowledge. The same pertains to the mind and the heart. Thoughts, feelings and emotions are indirect experiences.

We experience the body as something external. We can inwardly distance ourselves from the body and observe it. The same is possible in relation to our thoughts; they are objects of our experience and if the instrument through which we perceive our thoughts or the body is defective our perception will be faulty. Any knowledge gained through perceptive faculties is limited, indirect and therefore invalid.

But there is a Power of which we have an immediate inner experience and which can grant us a direct perception of all. Deep within us there is an Experiencer who is the basis of all our experiences. It is His light that makes possible all experience, subjective and objective. The senses that facilitate our recognition of inner and outer objects cannot enable us to realise this inner divine Experiencer. He is different from the thoughts. He is behind and beyond our thoughts. He is different from all that we know, see and feel, different from the senses through which we acquire our knowledge.

This inner Experiencer or Observer cannot be experienced through any agency. If our senses could behold Him, He would be an object of sense perception and thus limited and imperfect. He knows Himself through Himself. This is the only direct experience.

- Swami Omkarananda