Posted on: 19 Nov 2020
[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on October 31, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]
[Śrī Ganesh asked: Dr. Nikhil and I were discussing about the method taught by You to recognize a Human Incarnation of God. I said to Dr. Nikhil that the knowledge given by You (Swāmi) is excellent and perfect indeed. However, the major reason due to which I was able to conclude that this knowledge is coming from God was because You knew the question I had in my mind for a very long time and You answered it even without me asking You directly. This was a miracle. So, I told Dr. Nikhil that miracles also play a major role in identifying a Human Incarnation. I said so because an ignorant person cannot differentiate between the spiritual knowledge given by a devotee of God who also does small miracles and the special divine knowledge (prajñānam) of a Human Incarnation of God who does big miracles. Analyzing the knowledge is very tricky and I feel that one has to be a scholar to be able to do that properly. So, an ignorant person cannot differentiate between the two.
Dr. Nikhil replied to this saying that, even an ordinary person having the grace of God might be able to read the mind of another person. So, the miracle is not the deciding factor; it is only prajñānam. If one is finding it difficult to differentiate between the knowledge given by an ordinary scholarly devotee and a Sadguru, one should spend more time for analyzing the knowledge from both of them. It requires a lot of patience, but one can gradually see the difference. One should not be hasty in reaching a decision, especially in identifying a Sadguru (Human Incarnation). Swāmi, can You please explain to me how an ignorant person can overcome the difficulty in differentiating between the knowledge given by an ordinary person and a Human Incarnation?]
Swāmi replied: Miracles are not confined to God alone, so it is not possible to recognise the Human Incarnation of God (Sadguru) in a straight way, simply by experiencing some miracles performed by Him. Even demons perform miracles. Of course, they have attained those miraculous powers from God alone through their severe penance. God, as the divine Father of all souls, yields even to such demonic souls and grants the desired miraculous powers. Whether a miracle is performed by God or a devotee or even a demon, it is useful in proving the existence of the unimaginable God to atheists. Thus, the granting of miraculous powers even to demons is useful, in one way or the other. But God cannot be identified only on the basis of miracles since miracles are performed even by devotees or demons.
Spiritual knowledge is most important identifying factor in identifying a Human Incarnation of God. It is also of maximum importance to the devotee since it alone gives the right direction to the soul in both worldly life as well as in spiritual life. Spiritual knowledge is related to the aspect of God Brahmā. Miracles are also one of identifying factors, but one cannot conclude based on miracles alone. Miracles are related to the aspect of God Śiva. Apart from these two, the Incarnation’s love for devotees is an important identifying factor, which is related to the aspect of God Viṣṇu. The Human Incarnation, due to His extreme love for His real devotees, suffers the punishments of the sins of those real devotees upon His own body. Thus, He saves them from pain and disturbance so that they can proceed peacefully in their spiritual life.
God Datta, who is also known as the Father of heaven by other religions, is the first Energetic Incarnation of the unimaginable God. The unimaginable God is known as Parabrahman. Datta, the first Energetic Incarnation enters and merges with selected energetic beings to become Energetic Incarnations. He also merges with selected human beings to become Human Incarnations. An Incarnation results only by the will of God and not by the aspiration or effort of any soul.
For establishing the paths of worldly life (pravṛtti) and spiritual life (nivṛtti), God comes down as an Incarnation. Miracles are performed by the Incarnation whenever the God-component decides and not when the human being-component decides. It is completely the will of God. God performs miracles to rescue or help deserving devotees, so that they can proceed in their spiritual life without being disturbed by the punishment of their sins. We should not aspire for any miracle from God because a miracle performed means God undergoing the punishment of our sins. A real devotee never agrees to God performing a miracle to save him or her, due to the devotee’s extreme love for God. So, God performs the miracle for the devotee, without the knowledge of the devotee. He may also perform a miracle in the case of an atheist provided God has at least a little hope for that atheist’s transformation. God performs miracles in the case of devotees too, provided God feels that the devotee will progress on the spiritual path by experiencing the miracle. The entire decision to perform a miracle or not depends only on the will of God.
Mind reading may be done by some experts in worldly knowledge, but it does not mean that all such cases are only cases of mind reading. A particular mind reading observed by us might also be a genuine miracle. All mind readings need not be genuine miracles. But some mind readings may be genuine miracles of God. We have to distinguish between both of these with the help of other types of miracles performed by the God-in-human-form because a mind reader cannot perform other types of miracles.