Baktha Paradeema - This is one of the most important concepts I’ve ever run across, so I wanted to share Sri Bhagavan’s answer to the following question.

Question: Bhagavan, God is one, so why does the response of God vary from person to person?

Answer: The amount of grace you receive or the form in which God manifests to you depends on the relationship you have with God. That is why it is important that you do not have an image of a punishing god or an indifferent god.

If you thought that God would be angry with you for your thoughts or your life and you were therefore afraid, God would certainly punish you. If God to you were a lazy father that would only answer after endless petitions; that would be your reality. You create your God.

You have made a mess of your lives, unaware of the power and freedom you hold in creating your God. One of the greatest curses you could lay on yourself is to create a wrong kind of God—a defective God who could sit over you in judgment and punish you.

Remember, when I say creating your God, I do not mean creating a non-existent God through your own imagination. God is your creator; how could you create God? Creating your own God means to awaken to the power you wield. God is powerful, but you too being a part of God, are quite powerful, hence the problem. You have the freedom to design the kind of God you want.

It is like the potter, making use of the clay and creating master pieces. You are the potter and God the clay. Your God would then respond to you the way you want. That is why, we use the word “Elokthakari”—one who does as bidden.

Do not think it is presumptuous to design God. You have all along been creating your God unconsciously, only now you do it consciously and intelligently. God does not define himself or herself. Humanity defines God.

Create a God who is powerful enough to awaken you and also fulfill your desires. If you relate to God as playful, powerful and a compassionate friend who will respond to your needs instantaneously, that would be your God.

If on the other hand, if you define God as unapproachable, the doors of heaven shall not open because there would be a big board reading “No Entry.” If you say God is indefinable, that certainly would be your experience. You could choose to have a frowning God, a smiling God, a laughing God or you’re playing God.


Source: Van Tharp/Oneness