By: BK Surya
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2444/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: May 17th, 2025

The Bhagvad Gita describes yoga as the union of the soul with the Supreme through a mental link. Its practice is said to empower the mind, enabling it to overcome weaknesses such as lust, anger, and ego, and acquire divine virtues like truth and compassion. The Gita dwells on the practices essential for yoga: considering the self an immortal soul and remembering our eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul.

But a variety of prevalent beliefs about God negate the possibility of the soul communing with Him.

One such belief is that God is omnipresent. This means that He is present everywhere at the same time, permeating everything. If that were the case, there would be no need for yoga, as the soul would be constantly in the company of God. We do not sit down and remember someone who is already with us. Nor do we yearn for a glimpse, or the company, of such a person. There would be no need for that if God were omnipresent.

One might argue that even if we do not sit down and remember someone who is already with us, we do communicate with them. But even that possibility is negated by the belief, held by some, that the soul and God are the same. Then who will have yoga with whom, and for what?

The soul remembers God in order to receive His powers and virtues. If God were omnipresent, or souls were similar to God, both would have the same qualities. 

The soul and God do share some attributes. Both have the same form: they are tiny, sentient points of light. Souls and God also have the same abode, from where they come to this world to play their part in the drama of life.

Regarding God as omnipresent diffuses our thoughts about Him, as there is no clearly defined entity to remember, and as a result we have no clear idea about what God is like or how we can connect with Him and receive anything from Him.

In fact, such a belief trivialises God and renders Him irrelevant, as anything that is commonplace would hardly attract attention, let alone inspire reverence. Is God present in the ground I am walking on, in the smoke belching out of a chimney, or in the water flowing down the drain? If this is what omnipresence means, how are we supposed to remember God?

When souls are under a negative influence, or face adversity, they remember God because He is free from any influence. He does not know fear, sorrow, anger, or hatred, and therefore is in a position to extricate souls from their difficulties. But the idea of an omnipresent God, or that souls and God are the same, does not allow this possibility. Can God face problems or suffer pain? Can the Almighty be like ordinary humans? If that were the case, why would millions of people worship Him?

Another belief that distances us from God is that everything happens by His will. In other words, it is futile for us to make any effort as only God’s will prevails. This idea makes us passive and demotivated.

This is how a variety of ideas about God confuse us and alienate us from Him. Our communication with God should be as easy as a conversation between a child and a father. Instead we have made it a complicated ritual in which we are not sure about who we are communicating with, and whether our message is getting across.

We can come close to God, talk to Him, and receive His love and blessings simply by recognising the fact that we are souls, His children. Like any good parent, God is there to help us. He does not frown on us or punish us when we go astray. We reap what we sow, and experience the consequences of our actions, as per the law of karma. God alerts us to this law and teaches us that the purity of our actions is the foundation of security and happiness in life. Our actions are the seeds: the more virtuous they are, the sweeter will be the fruit they yield. The power to remain virtuous comes from remembering God. Through this mental link, God’s virtues and powers flow into the soul, healing, enriching, and empowering us. We become conduits for spreading the fragrance of Diving virtues to other souls, helping and inspiring them to connect with God and become whole again.

BK Surya is a Rajyoga teacher 
at the Brahma Kumaris headquarters in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.