Appearance of God in the Life of Saints

Hindu Scriptures and biographies of its saints and sages are replete with experiences of God in many ways. Devotees have testified to relating to God on Earth, having God appear in dreams or in visions, experiencing miraculous events that are attributed to God's Grace and so forth.

One of the best ways to learn about how God appears to devotees is to read the biographies of saints and sages. It is better than the study of myths because the story of saints and sages are derived from recorded history that are evidenced from records written by them or eye-witnesses or from monuments such as temples that are dedicated to the history of the saint or sage. These evidences lend credibility to the stories of the saints and raise them from the status of myths to occurences that are historical. Thus these stories are not make-believe but recorded true events.

In the 'Stories' section that can be found in the 'Hindu Lessons Homepage,' you will find find biographies of saints from the various Hindu traditions. In this insight we will look at some of these stories for evidences of how God can appear to devotees.

We start with Pusalar's story. (Read Pusalar's Story) Pusalar's story is testimony to one of the most common experience of devotees have of God. This is through meditation and dreams. In the story God first appears to the King Raja Simha Pallava in his dream. Such dreams can appear to anyone as God chooses. These dreams are very special and should not be considered imagination. They are blessings from God. If God gives any instructions through these dreams they should be heeded.

The other appearance of God in Pusalar's story is the sight of the Holy Face that was a psychic or meditative experience, experienced by all the attendees at Pusalar's temple of the heart, kumbha abhishegam. Such experiences occur when one is in deep meditation or in deep state of prayer. These are visions of God that a devotee sees in his or her mind as a psychic vision. It is a vision that God grants the devotee. Many a times devotees question whether the visions they have of God is real or just their imagination. The telling factor is the powerful or overwhelming emotions that the vision stimulates. One may feel profoundly peaceful, or heartily happy or intensely inspired. Intense or overwhelming emotions are usually not stimulated when one is imagining God.

In Kanappan's Story, God appears in the dream of the sage Sivakochariya and later as an apparition above the Shivalingam. Needless to say if one experiences God as an apparition it is an awesome experience as God chooses to reveal his form that can be seen by one's  physical eyes. Testimonies of such sightings of God though rare are reported now and then.

Kanappan's story also shows how God can let His presence be physically known through temple deities or images, even through pictures. Though in this story the example is rather unique (the bleeding eye of the Shivalingam!); a more common experience of God through images that devotees give testimony to is in the change of appearance, usually in the facial expression of the deity, during the climax of the puja ceremony. Some devotees also report spattering of sacraments such as kungkumum or vibhuti miraculously materializing on a certain picture of God that they have in their shrine room.

Even more rare is the appearance of God in physical manifestation. In the story 'The Divine Play,' God appears as the guru for Saint Manickavasagar and then appears again as the lazy and playful labourer that the King hits with his cane. Saint Manickavasagar's entire life story is recorded in two temples, the Audaiyar Temple in Thiruperunthurai and the Chidambaram Nataraja temple where the Saint spent his final days giving credibility to truth of the occurances of God's manifestations in Manickavasagar's life. God's guised appearance as a person did not only happen in ancient times but still occurs. Devotees have testified to seeing or meeting a person who helped them through a crisis after which there was mysteriously no sign of them. Based on how God appeared in Saint Manickavasagar's story it is plausible to conclude these appearances as direct physical manifestations of God or perhaps a Mahadeva.

In the story 'The Swami and His Samadhi,' there is another mode through which we can experience the presence of God. In the story the King feels the overwhelming presence of God when the Swami enters the state of samadhi. This is not a direct manifestation of God because technically God does not come into the body of the person in the state of samadhi. Rather the person in the state of samadhi, through his mastery of the meditative process tunes his or her awareness to the vibration of God, that the personality or individuality of the person becomes totally transparent allowing the inherent presence of God within the soul of the individual to shine in all its Glory through the person. This is why it is considered a blessing to be meditating with a Self-Realized guru. This is because when the guru enters the state of samadhi God's presence can be felt by devotees around. While in the state of samadhi (and only during the state of samadhi) disciples equate their guru as God's manifestation.

These are some of the ways we can have direct experience of God. Who God appears to is God's prerogative, though gurus say that it has to do with Grace as a result of good karmas of the devotee. Needless to say we can certainly pray for God to bless us with His or Her Presence–after all this is what Hinduism is about; that is to encourage its followers to seek for personal experience of God.

It is recommended for devotees to keep a record of any experience one may have of God; be it through visions, meditation, deities and so forth. Write in as much detail about the experience, recording the time of the event and circumstances surrounding it, the feelings the experience generated and any instructions God may have given. This special diary will be every devotees personal Scripture. It is useful as a tool to strenghten faith and a wonderful source of inspiration whenever needed.