TWO LEVELS OF REALIZATION OF GOD
THE realization of God is connected with man’s very being. Man has been fashioned as a creature who possesses free will. One definition of man is a creature with the capacity for conceptual thinking. Conceptual thinking is an ability that no other creature possesses. For man, the realization of God is based on this special ability. In this sense, for man, the criterion for the realization of God is the self-discovered realization of God. It is this that is man’s actual test. Man must develop his thinking power until he becomes capable of discovering his Creator at the level of self-discovery.
Two Levels of Realization of God
There are two levels of this discovery of God. The first level is discovering the Creator at the level of common sense. The second level is discovering the Creator at the level of science. For the last thousand years, man has desired to use his common sense in an unadulterated manner and obtain the conscious realization of his Creator at the common sense level. There was only one condition for this discovery─and that was honesty. If a man is honest in his approach, common sense will be sufficient for him to discover God.
The second level of realization of God is scientific─recognizing the signs of the Creator hidden in nature and then, through this observation, arriving at the rational realization of the Creator. For the scientific realization of the Creator, man needed to have sufficient supporting scientific data about the creation to reflect and ponder on. This scientific realization of God is not possible through mere abstract intellectual thinking. It is possible only when the supporting data of science is available. The means to acquire this scientific data is knowledge of the laws of nature. In ancient times, man did not have an adequate understanding of the laws of nature. That is why the scientific realization of the Creator was not possible for man then. However, in today’s age we have this knowledge. The only thing needed from us is to be seekers of our Creator.
