Dating the Divine

Dating the Divine

October 2014

What is your relationship with the Divine? Megha Bajaj urges you to give thought to this most important of relationships

There is a certain expectation that comes with each relationship, and most of us are expected to abide by it. Parents will choose a good school for their kids. Kids will be affectionate towards their grandparents. Lovers will date each other. Husbands and wives will share their lives. Every relationship comes with its tags, and most of us follow them. Nothing wrong with it – it simplifies roles, days and life.

However, there is one relationship that comes with no rules. No definition. And that is the relationship we share with the Divine. The name itself is your choice. It can be Krishna to me, Christ to you. Allah to him, Source to her. You decide what you want to call it. Even if you have been handed over preconceived notions, or born in a family which already decides the name for you – ultimately, it’s upto you what you go with. Freedom begins with the name itself.

And the freedom continues. How do you relate with your God? In the epic of the Mahabharat – Krishna is first seen as a child, then as a friend, then as a guide, and finally as God. How do you relate to your Christ? Your Allah? Your Buddha or Mahavira? For some it may be a father and the relationship may be a formal one of sharing and being accountable. For some it may be of a mother where you see the Divine as a nurturer. For some it may be a friend, for others a lover.

 The Divine does not care by what name I call it. It makes no difference.

You can see your Divine in any way that makes you happy and works for you. It is your relationship – and the most intimate one at that. Moreover, in each phase, this relationship continues to change. Sometimes you need a friend. Sometimes a guide. Sometimes a God.

A beautiful realization for me was that the Divine does not care by what name I call it, it makes no difference. The Divine does not care by what relationship I relate with it, it makes no difference. However, it makes all the difference to me. If I call it a mother, I become the child. If I call it a teacher, I become a student. If I call it God, I become a devotee. What do I want it to be, for now?

We humans have a tendency to think our lives through. From what we will have for dinner, to how much money we want to have in our bank accounts. From what we need to do in the next one hour to where we will be next month. And yet, this most important relationship of our life is left, for many of us, as a grey area, or one in which we blindly follow what has been defined for us.

Today, I ask all you fellow seekers to get creative. Dream up your God (if you don’t already have one). Think of the name you want to give to it. Think of the relationship you want to share with it and each day, like you would with all your other relationships, invest some time in this. For me, at the moment I see my God as a mother – so I visualize for some time each day that I am sleeping in her lap, and she is running her fingers through my unruly hair. Dance with it, date it, dote on it – but don’t miss the chance of truly building a beautiful relationship with your God. After all, it’s not a relationship. It is the relationship.

About the author : Megha is, above all, a seeker. These days she is attempting to find herself in the role of a teacher through the online writing course designed by her. You can know more about her on www.wonderofwords.org