Why Doesn't God Just Appear so we Can See Him?

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His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the
Hare Krishna Movement

Why is it that God does not just manifest Himself? Wouldn't that end all the disbelief in the Lord? Wouldn't that end atheism completely? I am trying to comprehend this matter Wouldn't it be a billion times easier for everyone from devotee to doubter if the Lord just manifested himself today before us all? I am very confused on this matter. I am a believer from faith but am still confused. Your friend, Tom Madhudvisa dasa (01-15-08)

Dear Tom

Hare Krishna! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I have been well. Thanks for asking.

Your question is a very good one. Why does Krishna not just appear before us.

The thing is we do not have the eyes to see Krishna. Krishna does sometimes appear before us in the material world but only the devotees recognize Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. You may think it strange but when Krishna was present on this planet 5000 years ago in India very few people recognized Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He displayed so many pastimes impossible for any human to display. He lifted a great mountain when he was only 5 years old. He fought with and killed so many powerful demons, he was so amazingly beautiful that everyone was attracted by Him. But still most were thinking He was some extraordinarily powerful man, perhaps a demigod.

When Lord Caitanya appeared 500 years ago in India also He was not recognized by many as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He purposely did not manifest the opulence's of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and acted as a pure devotee of Krishna, not as Krishna Himself.

The problem is that if people see Krishna appear in this world they will imitate and claim to be Krishna also and mislead so many people into worshipping them as Krishna. So Lord Caitanya, although Krishna Himself, was acting as a devotee of Krishna and showing by His personal example that we should serve Krishna, not try to become Krishna ourselves.

Basically we are here in this material world because of our desire to imitate Krishna. Krishna has all opulence's in full. Krishna has all knowledge, all wealth, all strength, all fame, all beauty and at the same time, even though He possesses everything in full, He is completely detached. We are here trying to imitate Krishna, trying to get all the wealth, all the knowledge, etc. But it is not possible, Krishna is unlimited in every respect and we are limited in every respect. We will never be equal with Krishna, we will always be less than Krishna and our natural position is to serve Krishna.

Krishna is here, if you have the eyes to see Him. He is present in the form of the Holy Name, the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and if you can chant that purely you will experience Krishna dancing on your tongue. He is present in the form of the Deity in the Temple. He is present within all our hearts as the supersoul. His energy is causing everything to happen in the material world. Anything beautiful, anything powerful, anything extraordinary in this world is showing us a small hint of the opulence's of Krishna.

So a devotee when he makes some advancement starts seeing Krishna everywhere. He experiences Krishna in the taste of water, he sees Krishna in the light of the Sun and the Moon, he sees Krishna when he hears any sound. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita that "I am the ability in man," so when a devotee sees someone with a very special ability in any field he sees Krishna.

The bottom line is that to see Krishna one's eyes have to be purified. We can not see Krishna with impure eyes. And the process to purify our heart and our eyes is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra and to engage in the service of Krishna. Even if Krishna did appear personally before us today in the United States most would not accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Even if He performed activities that were not humanly possible. Still those whose eyes are not purified can not see Krishna. Even if He is standing right there in front of them in person.

It is not that they can not see Him actually, they see Him, but do not recognize Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Even Lord Brahma, when Krishna was on the Earth 5000 years ago playing as a cowherd boy in Vrindavana, became bewildered. He did not recognize Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, His lord and master, so what to speak of ordinary people?

It is great to hear from you again. If you have more questions please write.

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

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