Do we need God?
All of you will have your own answers to this question. One thing that is evident, however, is that when we look around in the world, we see a growing trend towards disbelief. The youth of today, alienated from their cultural heritage, can be heard casually conferring that if God does exist of what relevance is that to us, and if He does not exist then what difference does it make? Whatever your belief system, this question is an age-old one and not merely the product of a misguided generation.
What an enormous list of needs people have today. When we go to the mall, we are literally bombarded with advertisements from all sides telling us what we need. There are physical needs, conventional needs, imaginary needs, and then needless needs, which in time become necessary needs (or so we are told). With so many needs, where is the room to need God? It is difficult to imagine in such a world how little we need to lead a content life. Instead, we blindly run in the same direction as everyone else, never pausing to consider where we will end up.
So where does God figure in your list? The stark reality for the majority is that because they do not know who God is, who they are and what the purpose of this life is, they are living a mechanical existence — eating, drinking, sleeping, and mating. Why did we come into this world and where do we go from here? Such questions related to the very essence of our being are covered by a thick shroud of material wants and desires. In this world that doubts God, our spiritual needs are withering.
Reconciling this conundrum, Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj explains that it is only divine science that can provide the answer. The Vedas declare that the same energy that propels this world and other planets and galaxies within infinite universes resides within us. It makes our heart beat and our lungs fill with air. This all-pervading energy is called God. We also learn from the Vedas, Upanishads and Gita that our incessant search for happiness through material objects and beings in this world is actually a misguided search for God, who is the embodiment of perfect happiness.
We are told that this search is natural or inborn to every living being because we are an eternal divine entity, a part of the Supreme Entity known as God. Not practically applying such knowledge, people remain steeped in the world and identify themselves as a material body. And yet, at a funeral every one of us can be heard saying that so-and-so has left his body? Due to God’s grace we all possess the spark of this truth but choose to suppress it or ignore it.
So, do we need God? The answer is an emphatic yes. To conclude, every soul is a part of the Supreme Soul known as God. Every part naturally seeks union with its whole. Being a part of God, who is bliss personified, we naturally search for happiness through our every endeavour at every moment. The desire for happiness stems from here. In this way, our search for perfect happiness that is permanent, ever increasing and infinite will never be filled through anything or anyone in this world. Our need of God is actually the rudimentary truth of our very existence.
Spirituality in Daily Living, Volume 1, p.31–34
Vedic knowledge revealed by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj and presented by Dr Vishakha Tripathi, president of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat.
https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/
https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/spirituality-in-daily-living-vol-1-4
