The Method to Know God | How to Get Knowledge of God by Swami Mukundanand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=4s Full Text 1 We progressed to this point in the discussion that if we can get knowledge of God, where is He, who is He, what is He, what is our relationship with Him? Then on the basis of that we will develop faith, and through faith we will get love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=5 2 How then do we get knowledge of God? Whom should we ask, who is God, what does He do? Who will answer these questions for us? If we ask worldly people, they don't know for themselves. How will they tell us? That will be like (verse) the blind leading the blind. Let's say that in some place a lot of blind people gathered. One blind person said sir, I wish to go to the Radha Krishna temple but I am blind. Can you please take me someone? The other blind person thought I am blind but the blind man doesn't know I am blind. He said, "oh blind man, hold my hand I will take you. Now the two blind people, they started off. They did not reach the Radha Krishna temple. They fell into a ditch on the way. Similarly if we ask worldly people in the office, over a cup of tea, "my dear friends what do you think is God? What do you believe in and what is your opinion on life after death?" That will only be intellectual entertainment. It will have no pure spiritual value. So you can't get knowledge of God from worldly people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=31 3 What about the great God-realized Souls, the Saints? The Saints know God. From the Saints, we should be able to find out about God. But the problem here is how to find a Saint? Supposing 25 Swamis come from India to DFW area every year. How to find out which of them is a God realized Saint? And these Saints will not put any board like in India, if you wish to find a doctor, you just go around MG road seeing the board; every town has an MG road, right? so you check the market and see okay doctor Mukherjee, MBBS, MD, FRCS, London, heart specialist. Hmmm looks good, let me go and show him. So a Saint will not put up a board, "God realized, attained God." Somebody may be a Saint. But we will never know. So initially knowledge of God will not be from the Saints because you can't find a Saint, you can't recognize a Saint. Then what to do? Why not ask God Himself? if you want knowledge of somebody instead of going to a third party you go to that person, "sir, you please tell me about yourself." So in the same way if you want knowledge of God, rather than ask anybody else you ask God Himself. But how will God answer? God has answered. Where? In His Vedas. These Vedas are not a human creation. They are directly the Word of God. (verse) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=139 4 Whenever God creates the world, He manifests the Vedas. Just like you purchase a machine, and you get the manual along with it. So the Vedas are the manual. God has manifested His knowledge there and when He dissolves the world, He assimilates the Vedas back into himself. Historians say, the Rig Veda is one of the oldest books in the world. But in my opinion this word oldest is a misnomer. Don't say oldest. The RigVeda is eternal. It has always existed. Just like God is eternal His knowledge is also eternal. It doesn't have to be newly created in Stanford and MIT. Knowledge of God is His Shakti, His energy. Ever since a fire has existed, its heat and light have existed. Ever since God has existed, His Bliss has existed, His knowledge has existed. So God's knowledge is eternal. When He created our world, He first manifested the Vedas in the heart of the first born Brahma. Brahma passed the Vedic knowledge to his disciple, he passed it on to his disciple, he passed it on to his disciple. In this way the Vedic knowledge came through the parampaara, hearing it through the ear That is why another name for the Vedas is Shruti. Shruti means that knowledge, which is received through the ear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=271 5 However, 5,000 years ago, when the lord Himself took avatar as VedaVyas, he looked into the coming age of kali and he thought the people of Kalyug, which means us folks, we will not be shrutidhari. We will not have the capacity to hear and remember. In fact we will forget in three hours flat. Do this. "All right Swamiji." After three hours, "did you do it?" "I forgot Swamiji." What a fantastic memory you have, you forget in three hours. So VedaVyas could see all this. He decided now a book will be needed. He put that knowledge in writing and he divided the one body of knowledge into four parts, the RigVeda, YajurVeda, SamVeda, AtharvaVeda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=392 6 So he is called Veda Vyasa, the divider of the Vedas but nobody calls him Veda Rachayita or Veda Pranita, the writer. He is the divider. The writer is God Himself. So the Vedas are Sanatan (eternal) and the path, the science that the Vedas are teaching, the science of God realization is an eternal science. It is non-sectarian. That is why they call it sanatana dharma, the eternal path. The word 'hindu' doesn't come in the Vedas. That word developed historically. The mongals on the other side of the hindu kush, they said the people living on this side are the hindus. But the vedas are not teaching us Hindu dharma, they are teaching us Sanatan Dharma, the eternal religion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=452 7 Actually all religions are eternal, because they are talking about the eternal God and the eternal soul. But they are giving limited knowledge, like the pocket dictionary and the complete unabridged Oxford dictionary. It is like ten blind man went to see an elephant; one grabbed the tail. Because he was blind, he gave his decision, "my dear friends this elephant is like a rope." The 2nd grabbed the leg. Again because of lack of vision, he decided the elephant is like a tree trunk. The third put his hand on the stomach. He said the elephant is flat like a wall. The fourth got the Tusk. he said the elephant is pointed like a spear. The fifth got the ear. He said, the elephant is like a fan. Now they all started fighting. Somebody with eyes came. He said, look there is no reason to fight. You are all describing the elephant, but you are describing a section/portion of the elephant. All this together is that elephant. In the same way, sometimes dharmas start fighting. My religion is right, yours is wrong . Mine is right and yours is wrong, and yours is so wrong that I need to kill you. But the Vedas say, look you are all right; please don't fight! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=525 8 But you are describing a section of the knowledge and the entire spectrum of knowledge from ABCD of spiritual knowledge till where it goes, it is all there in the Vedas. Those Vedas then are the authority. (verse) Any spiritual principle must be validated on the authority of the Vedas. See, if we do that we'll never make a mistake. otherwise everybody comes up with a new theory. And you say, where did you get this theory from? "This was told by God to my guru in a private room." God told your guru in a private room? And the Vedas are telling us something, and the same Vedic knowledge is given by Sur das, Tulsi das, Meera bai, Tukaram, Narshi Mehta Namdev, Shankar Acharya, Madhavacharya. "They are all wrong, and what my guru was told in a private room is right." So - beware of such things. Any spiritual principle must be on the authority of Vedic knowledge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=617 9 That Vedic knowledge was elaborated in the 2 Etihas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad Gita, the 18 puranas, like the Bhagavad purana, the Shad Darshan like Mimansa, Vedant Nyaya, Vaishesik, Sankhya, Yog, and the hundred Smriti texts, the thousands of Nivandhs. These are elaborating the Vedic knowledge. Hence they are called Vedic literature. So this entire body of Vedic literature. Just like there is the constitution of America, and commentaries written by lawyers. All these can be used to understand the Constitution. Similarly we use all the Vedic knowledge. So let's find out from the Vedas about God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9xBy22E_hI&t=705 Transcript 0:05 We progressed to this point in the discussion that if we can get knowledge 0:12 of God, where is He, who is He, what is He, what is our relationship with Him? Then 0:22 on the basis of that we will develop faith, and through faith we will get love. 0:31 How then do we get knowledge of God? Whom should we ask, who is God, what does He do? 0:43 Who will answer these questions for us? If we ask worldly people, they don't know 0:53 for themselves. How will they tell us? That will be like (verse) 1:02 the blind leading the blind. Let's say that in some place a lot of blind 1:15 people gathered. One blind person said sir, I wish to go to the Radha Krishna 1:23 temple but I am blind. Can you please take me someone? The other blind person 1:29 thought I am blind but the blind man doesn't know I am blind. He said, "oh blind man, 1:35 hold my hand I will take you. Now the two blind people, they started off. They did 1:43 not reach the Radha Krishna temple. They fell into a ditch on the way. Similarly 1:51 if we ask worldly people in the office, over a cup of tea, "my dear friends what 1:59 do you think is God? What do you believe in and what is your opinion on life 2:05 after death?" That will only be intellectual entertainment. It will have 2:12 no pure spiritual value. So you can't get 2:19 knowledge of God from worldly people. What about the great God-realized Souls, the Saints? 2:27 The Saints know God. From the Saints, we should be able to 2:33 find out about God. But the problem here is how to find a Saint? 2:42 Supposing 25 Swamis come from India to DFW area every year. How to find out 2:51 which of them is a God realized Saint? And these Saints will not put any board like 3:00 in India, if you wish to find a doctor, you just go around MG road seeing the 3:06 board; every town has an MG road, right? so you check the market and see okay 3:11 doctor Mukharjee, MBBS, MD, FRCS, London, heart specialist. Hmmm looks good. let me go and show him. 3:18 So a Saint will not put up a board, "God realized, 3:26 attained God." Somebody may be a Saint. But we will never know. So 3:36 initially knowledge of God will not be from the Saints because you can't find 3:42 a Saint, you can't recognize a Saint. Then what to do? Why not ask God Himself? if 3:52 you want knowledge of somebody instead of going to a third party you go to that 3:58 person, "sir, you please tell me about yourself." 4:03 So in the same way if you want knowledge of God, rather than ask anybody else you 4:11 ask God Himself. But how will God answer? God has answered. Where? In His Vedas. 4:24 These Vedas are not a human creation. They are 4:31 directly the Word of God. (verse) Whenever God creates the world, He 4:41 manifests the Vedas. Just like you purchase a machine, and you get the 4:47 manual along with it. So the Vedas are the manual. God has manifested His 4:55 knowledge there and when He dissolves the world, He assimilates the Vedas back 5:01 into himself. Historians say, the Rig Veda is one of the oldest books in the world. 5:12 But in my opinion this word oldest is a misnomer. 5:17 Don't say oldest. The RigVeda is eternal. It has always existed. Just like God is 5:28 eternal His knowledge is also eternal. It doesn't have to be newly created in 5:36 Stanford and MIT. Knowledge of God is His Shakti, His energy. Ever since a fire 5:44 has existed, its heat and light have existed. Ever since God has existed, His 5:50 Bliss has existed, His knowledge has existed. So God's knowledge is eternal. 5:56 When He created our world, He first manifested the Vedas in the 6:03 heart of the first born Brahma. Brahma passed the Vedic knowledge to his 6:11 disciple, he passed it on to his disciple, he passed it on to his disciple. In this 6:17 way the Vedic knowledge came through the parampaara, hearing it through the ear 6:25 That is why another name for the Vedas is Shruti. Shruti means that knowledge, 6:32 which is received through the ear. However, 5,000 years ago, 6:39 when the lord Himself took avatar as VedaVyas, 6:44 he looked into the coming age of kali and he thought the people of Kalyug, 6:51 which means us folks, we will not be Shrutidhari. We will not 6:57 have the capacity to hear and remember. In fact we will forget in three hours 7:03 flat. Do this. "All right Swamiji." After three hours, "did you do it?" "I forgot Swamiji." 7:12 What a fantastic memory you have, you forget in three hours. So VedaVyas 7:18 could see all this. He decided now a book will be needed. He put that knowledge in 7:25 writing and he divided the one body of knowledge into four parts, the RigVeda, YajurVeda, 7:32 SamVeda, AtharvaVeda. So he is called Veda Vyasa, the divider 7:39 of the Vedas but nobody calls him Veda Rachayita or Veda Pranita, the writer. He is 7:47 the divider. The writer is God Himself. So the Vedas are Sanatan (eternal) and the 7:58 path, the science that the Vedas are teaching, the science of God realization 8:05 is an eternal science. It is non-sectarian. That is why they call it 8:17 sanatana dharma, the eternal path. The word 'hindu' doesn't come in the Vedas. 8:25 That word developed historically. The mongals on the other side of the hindu 8:32 kush, they said the people living on this side are the hindus. But the vedas are 8:38 not teaching us Hindu dharma, they are teaching us Sanatan Dharma, the eternal 8:45 religion. Actually all religions are eternal, because they are talking about 8:51 the eternal God and the eternal soul. But they are giving 8:56 limited knowledge, like the pocket dictionary and the complete unabridged 9:02 oxford dictionary. It is like ten blind man went to see an elephant; one grabbed the 9:11 tail. Because he was blind, he gave his decision, "my dear friends this elephant 9:17 is like a rope." The 2nd grabbed the leg. Again because of lack of vision, he decided the 9:25 elephant is like a tree trunk. The third put his hand on the stomach. He said the 9:31 elephant is flat like a wall. The fourth got the Tusk. he said the elephant 9:36 is pointed like a spear. The fifth got the ear. He said, the elephant is like 9:42 a fan. Now they all started fighting. Somebody with eyes came. He said, look 9:49 there is no reason to fight. You are all describing the elephant, but you are 9:56 describing a section/portion of the elephant. All this together is that 10:05 elephant. In the same way, sometimes Dharmas start fighting. My religion is 10:12 right, yours is wrong . Mine is right and yours is wrong, and yours is so wrong that I need 10:17 to kill you. But the Vedas say, look you are all right; please don't fight! But 10:27 you are describing a section of the knowledge and the entire spectrum of 10:33 knowledge from ABCD of spiritual knowledge till where it goes, it is all 10:41 there in the Vedas. Those Vedas then are the authority. (verse) 10:51 Any spiritual principle must be validated on the 11:00 authority of the Vedas. See, if we do that we'll never make a mistake. 11:06 otherwise everybody comes up with a new theory. And you say, where did you get this 11:12 theory from? "This was told by God to my guru in a private room." God told 11:20 your guru in a private room? And the Vedas are telling us something, and the 11:25 same Vedic knowledge is given by Sur das, Tulsi das, Meera bai, Tukaram, Narshi Mehta 11:30 Namdev, Shankar Acharya, Madhavacharya. "They are all wrong, and what my guru was told in a 11:35 private room is right." So - beware of such things. Any spiritual principle must 11:45 be on the authority of Vedic knowledge. That Vedic knowledge was elaborated in 11:53 the 2 Etihas, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata including the Bhagavad Gita, 11:59 the 18 puranas, like the Bhagavad purana, the Shad Darshan like Mimansa, Vedant 12:07 Nyaya, Vaishesik, Sankhya, Yog, and the hundred Smriti texts, the thousands of Nivandhs. 12:12 These are elaborating the Vedic knowledge. Hence they are called Vedic 12:17 literature. So this entire body of Vedic literature. Just like there is the 12:26 constitution of America, and commentaries written by lawyers. All these can 12:34 be used to understand the Constitution. Similarly we use all the Vedic knowledge. 12:41 So let's find out from the Vedas about God. Standby link (in case youtube link does not work) The Method to Know God How to Get Knowledge of God Swami Mukundananda.mp4
