Why do you put an unlimited God into the small box of a particular scripture, group or practice?
Podcast:
If someone says that God is unlimited, then why does one need a guru? Why does one need to follow a particular ritual? How do we answer that question?
Let’s begin with the implications of God’s unlimitedness and the idea that we should not confine Him or the path to Him within the boundaries of only one particular book or one particular path.
First of all, if God is unlimited, does that mean every path will take us toward God? For example, if someone is physically abusing a child—or worse, sexually abusing a child—will that take them to God? If God is unlimited, can we say such activities are “inside the box” of acceptable paths? Who are we to judge?
This will obviously appear reprehensible to anyone with a basic level of conscience. So clearly, God’s unlimitedness does not mean that every activity will lead us to God. Not any and every activity will take us toward Him.
So then, what activities will lead us toward Him?
Broadly speaking, the world’s theistic traditions agree that God is a spiritual being, and to attain Him, we need to spiritualize our consciousness. They may talk about different processes for spiritualizing consciousness, but the fundamental idea is that we need to spiritualize our consciousness.
If you consider climbing a mountain, the bottom of the mountain represents materialistic consciousness, and the peak represents spiritual consciousness. There are different parts of the mountain along the way to the peak, but not all parts of the mountain will take us to the peak. Some paths may be very rocky, slippery, marshy, or thorny. Some may even lead away from the peak into valleys.
Are those paths limiting the mountain or its peak by saying those paths are not parts of the ascent? No. Some parts simply are not meant to be paths to the top.
So if we consider God as the supreme reality residing at the spiritual level of consciousness, and we reside at the bottom material level, we need to ascend toward Him by following a path.
Now, there may be different paths, but once we start following one, we need to actually follow it with commitment.
Similarly, consider universities where someone can get an engineering degree. There are many universities, but whichever one you attend, you need to follow that university’s rules, commit to studying its syllabus, and satisfy the faculty to graduate successfully.
We can say there are different spiritual paths to attain God—they are like universities. Whichever path we follow, there has to be commitment.
Is that “putting God in a box”? In one sense, every path is like a box.
What is a road or a pathway essentially? If we looked from space, a pathway would also look like a box—it is limiting, but not in a negative way. It is focusing and directing. It takes us toward the destination.
Now, regarding the need for a guru, rather than arguing on a purely logical or philosophical level—which can be done in any field—consider that in every domain we need some kind of teacher. Even when there are “DIY” (do it yourself) kits, those guidelines are prepared by someone, and we learn from them.
The spiritual domain is subtle, and we need someone who has already traveled the path to help us travel it too.
A particular teacher, a particular text, and a particular set of practices are all part of the process for spiritual growth—just as when we join a university, there is a particular faculty, a particular set of textbooks, and specific protocols or etiquette.
So God’s unlimitedness does not mean that every way will take us to Him. Because He is unlimited, it does not follow that every way will lead to Him.
Some ways will bring us closer, and others will take us away.
How do we know which paths are genuine? How do we know that, say, ten, or a hundred, or a thousand different paths to God exist in various traditions of the world? How do we know which ones truly lead to God?
Just like in university, how do we know whether we are actually learning engineering? By objective criteria: Am I learning something? Am I becoming a better engineer? Are my misconceptions being removed? Am I developing engineering skills?
Similarly, when approaching God, two things happen if we are genuinely progressing:
- Our love and attraction for Him increase; our devotion grows stronger.
- Our capacity to remain unaffected by the world’s ups and downs increases—we become less consumed by material consciousness.
It is like ascending the mountain: as we get closer to the peak, its beauty becomes clearer and more evident. Floods or landslides at the bottom don’t affect us much because we have risen above them.
Similarly, worldly dualities affect us less; we become, relatively speaking, materially detached, and Krishna’s beauty—the Lord’s divine beauty—attracts us more.
We become spiritually attached and materially detached.
So if a path is doing these two broad things—drawing us closer to God and helping us become materially detached—then we can say that path is an authentic way toward God.
Whatever path we follow, that will be our “box.”
To say “Don’t put God in any box”—do we mean God cannot be approached through a box? But God is unlimited. Does He not have the power to make Himself accessible through a box as well?
The point is not whether there is a box. The point is whether the box is a dead end or actually a pathway.