Where Does God Live?

There was a man who wanted to see God. He went on many pilgrimages and read many scriptures but nothing seemed to be able to satisfy his quest. He wandered from place to place in search of God.

On a cold winter evening, he sat watching an old woman stirring the logs in a fireplace. After every little while, the coals were covered with ash. The woman picked up her poker and stirred up the ash to expose the red hot embers. He kept watching the woman as she cleared the burning logs of ash from time to time. Each time she shook the ash away, the fire burnt brighter than before.

The following day he sat under a tree resting his tired limbs and watched the sun shining brightly. He said, “Oh sun! You watch over the whole world, surely you would know where God lives. Where is He hiding? I have looked for him everywhere, but I cannot find him.” Just then a passing cloud covered the face of the sun and hid it from view. After some time the cloud passed away and the sun shone; bright and clear again. The man sighed and said to himself. “Will I ever be able to find God?”

He walked along a pond that was almost choked with green moss floating over its surface. Some villagers were busy clearing the pond of algae and the water seemed to be beginning to breathe again. The man asked the villagers, “Who put this dirty moss into the water?” The villagers said, “No one. It grows of its own from within the water. It seems it is there in the water. If the water remains stagnant for a long time, algae start growing in it. But now we are clearing it away. Soon the pond shall be clear and clean again.”

The man pondered over all this. The moss had come from within the water. But it covered the water so densely that it had to be physically pushed away to see the water again.

The clouds were formed by the sun’s heat. But they were able to cover the sun so as to block its rays from view. When the strong winds pushed them away, the sun was visible again.

The fire was the cause of the ash being formed. But the ash covered the fire so densely that it almost went out. When the ash was stirred and displaced, the fire was visible and danced merrily again.

In each of these, the water, the sun or the fire were all there. They were not born anew, but they had to be found by making a little effort!

As he blinked to clear his vision, the truth dawned on him and he understood it all. The cataract in his own aging eyes had been formed from within his eyes; it had not been outwardly placed into them. So too, Man is born of God. He comes from God, but because he covers himself with the blanket of the world, he forgets where he came from. If we cast this blanket aside and look into our heart we will find God!