Every religion in the world teaches us about how to walk the path of God and attain Him. Every religion and all Godmen, Saints, Gurus, Preachers and Teachers tell us to love God intensely. Each religion has its own teachings for the technique of attaining God.
We have many paths for attaining God: Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Japa Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, Kundalini Maha Yoga etc. Bhakti Yoga is the path of love for God where one sings the name of God and worships Him in temples and places of worship and performs traditional worship. Jnana Yoga is the path of the Intellect where one uses intelligence and logic to understand Divinity and merge with Him. Karma yoga is offering of all actions to God and accepting all results – good or bad as blessings from God and living in equanimity. Japa Yoga is systematic chanting of mantra – the name of God. The vibrations of the mantra cleanse and purify man and lead him to divinity. Dhyana Yoga is meditation and raising one’s level of consciousness and attaining God. Kundalini Maha Yoga is awakening of the Kundalini Shakti and it has the elements of bhakti, jnana, karma, japa and dhyana. Each of us is attracted to the path most suited to our temperament by virtue of our past karmas and present conditioning.
When we practise any of these methods, our love for God increases, our purity becomes more, our experiences and knowledge increases and over a period of time we move closer and closer to God. We can merge with God only when we are as pure as God. Only purity can merge with Purity. And that is going to take many lifetimes of hard and sustained work, dedicated to attaining God. Is there a way we can attain God instantly? YES!
A man wanted to know how to attain God and if He could be attained instantly. He asked many learned people the same question but none knew the answer. Finally he found a saint and presented him the same query. The saint said: God can be attained instantly by ardent desire.
The man asked: What is ardent desire? The saint replied: It is the feeling that you cannot live without God even for a second. The man could not understand and kept asking the saint to explain to him again and again. So the saint decided to show him what ardent desire for God meant.
The saint asked the man to come with him and they walked to the river. The saint and the man went into the waters to bathe. Suddenly the saint turned and caught the man by his neck and pushed his head down and held him down by force. The man spluttered and coughed and fought back. Then the saint released him.
When the man regained his breath, he said: Holy sire, why did you try to drown me? The saint said: Please tell me, at the time when you were fighting for your breath and life, who did you remember? Your father, mother, wife, son or your wealth? The man replied: O noble saint – I was drowning. The only thing I wanted was to breathe and live!
The saint replied: When you remember nothing else but God and that you cannot live without Him, the way you yearned to breathe and live – that is ardent desire. When we remember nothing else but God and with intense longing for Him, it pulls God to us. Even God does not have power to remain unattached in such conditions. And we can attain Him instantly.
We do not have the capacity to love God with such intensity. We are far too embroiled in the worldly activities and our relationships and wants. Our homes, family, work, hobbies, clothes, diet, weight, looks etc are always on the forefront and God mostly loses the race against them. Yet we have love for God and awareness that He is Supreme and ultimately we all need to seek Him and Him only. For us, the better way is to systematically practice the teachings of the Guru and do our regular japa and dhyan so that each day our love and intensity of bhakti for God increases and one day we will attain Him.
