God can be perceived either as NIRGUNA or as SAGUNA.

NIRGUNA is eternal, all-pervading and omnipresent divine consciousness.

SAGUNA is God manifested in a form, in a concrete form.

The aspect "without form" and "with form" can be shown using the example of the sun: a celestial body is an aspect of the sun manifested in a certain form, sunlight is an aspect without form.

God manifested in form seems to be limited by concrete forms, but his presence is unlimited and all-pervading. There is nothing in which God is not present. He is perfect, omnipresent, absolute, complete.

God is in everything and everything is in God. It is contained in what we call "good" and in what we refer to as "bad". For God there are no boundaries, no dividing, no separation, no divisions. It is a perfect unity. Nirguna-God is pure energy, a living and conscious force operating in the universe. Nirguna-God is the Reality, the Supreme Self.

In the Kathopanishad it is written:

Paramatma is everywhere, in all worlds, in all planes, in the entire universe. Until you understand this, you will be born again and again. Paramatma remains the same in the past, present and future. It is the same in the being of the ant as it is in the being of the elephant. It is in all beings. It is the cause of everything.

But how is it possible to understand Nirguna-God? How is it possible to meditate on a formless God and unite with him? Our True Self is nirguna. It is formless, it has no form. On the other hand, saguna is the physical body that we will one day leave. In essence we are nirguna, but we are not aware of it.

Living beings exist in the universal divine phenomenon as tiny individual phenomena. Each of these phenomena has its own quality. The individual phenomenon (jivatma) is like a fragile, changing soap bubble. In the center of this bubble resides the Atma, the Self, surrounded by the five koshas. Atma is a tiny spark, the punishment of Paramatma, the Supreme Soul.

The relationship between jivatma, atma and paramatma and between saguna and nirguna can be clarified by comparing it to water. All leadership on this planet originates in the ocean, just as the atma within us originates from God. Waters distinguished by different ingredients can be compared to individual jivatmas and their personal characteristics. Pure water represents the superpersonal essence, atma. And just as the drops of water are part of the ocean, the Atma is an eternal part of God. Quantity does not matter. The essential thing is that both the ocean and the drop are of the same quality. Nevertheless, we cannot say that a drop of water is an ocean.

Water rising in fine droplets from the ocean is called "haze" or "fog". If it rises to the sky, we speak of it as a "cloud" or "cloud", and if it falls down, we call it "rain". The limited individual existence of the drop disappears after it falls into a lake, stream or river as rain, the river then flows into the ocean and the drop becomes the "ocean" again. And just as the individual drops that arose from it will be united again with the ocean, one day the individual limited being and consciousness will be united with the unlimited divine being from which it was separated. However, only what is the same can be united. As long as we are distinguished by personal characteristics and karmas, it is not possible to merge with the Divine. Realizing God in oneself presupposes getting rid of feelings, thoughts and qualities that are in conflict with God.

Our True Self is neither body, nor feelings or thoughts, nor intellect, nor personal qualities. I am energy, vibration – it is in constant motion. The difference between I and God lies in the view of the ignorant, who have not yet seen or known God. To realize what God is means to realize what I am. Self-realization is the realization of God in oneself. He who has not realized his True Self cannot know God, and he who has not known God does not know who he really is.

Our ultimate goal is to return to God. We are pilgrims on the road - and consciously or subconsciously every soul longs to return home, to God. Just as the earth's gravity pulls a flying stone to the ground, and just as every river goes to the ocean, so the basic force of attraction pulls us back to God. In fact, that drive is a part of us, but if we have not known it yet, we feel detached, lost in time and space.

Nirguna, God without form, is everywhere and in everything, but is incomprehensible to human reason, cannot be addressed. The highest goal of man is to unite consciousness with nirguna. The mediator who helps to achieve this goal is an incarnated, incarnated God – saguna.

The limited human mind is not capable of grasping and understanding the universal, eternal, omnipresent, omniscient divine energy. It is much easier to turn to a personified divine incarnation.

Saguna appears in human form, which we can approach more easily. In every age, divine incarnations show people the way to nirguna.

If we want to send a message in a bottle, it is most certain if we throw the bottle into the stream of the river. Then we can be sure that one day, sooner or later, our bottle will reach the ocean. And so the stream of divine incarnation - if we surrender to it - will take us to the ocean of nirguna. From love and devotion to the divine incarnation that we worship, nirguna-bhakti, the realization of the divine will, naturally develops.

In the Bhagavad Gita (IV/7), the god Krishna says about saguna:

Every time that law disappears and lawlessness prevails, I appear in my material form. I come into the world in all ages to promote the good and destroy the bad.

From time to time, Divine Light, Power and Wisdom incarnate in human form. We call a personality that was born as perfect and self-realized an avatar, an incarnation of God. The Avatar descends to earth as a counselor and liberator, he comes to guide people to the knowledge of eternal truth and inspire them on the spiritual path. He is a satguru - a Divine Master.

God's incarnation lives in this world just like us. Outwardly, he does not differ from other people. The avatar's body consists of earthly elements and is subject to the laws of nature. However, his mind and consciousness stand above all the laws and limitations of nature. He is not born as a result of karmic law like other people, he comes by his own decision and is aware of his divine origin and his mission on earth.

The question worries people again and again: What is the meaning of the multiplicity of divine incarnations on earth?

There is only one God. It has no form or name. Only the human mind attributes various forms to it and tries to capture it in countless names such as God-Father, Allah, Isvara, Divine Principle, Divine Will, Cosmic Principle, Universal Consciousness, Love, Supreme Self and the like. There are as many ideas about God as there are people in the world. Each person expresses himself in accordance with his level of development and creates an image of God accordingly, and everyone also worships God in his own way.

A devotee, a person devoted to God, is never alone. He feels a constant connection with God, lives happily and contentedly, no matter what happens. He thinks about God, meditates on God, talks about God and avoids everything that could lead him away from God. Everything a devotee does, he does for God. And God takes responsibility for those who dedicate themselves to him.

The four main pillars of spiritual life are:

BHAKTI – devotion, devotion;

JNÁNA – knowledge, wisdom, knowledge;

VAIRÁGYA – renunciation;

SATSANG – spiritual community.

Pray to God to endow you with these four gifts. And if it seems immodest to ask for so much, ask for at least one thing: bhakti. Bhakti brings divine light and constant contentment.

A story from the Indian epic Ramayana is linked to bhakti:

Hanuman, a devoted devotee and helper of the god Rama, went to the island of Sri Lanka to find Rama's wife Sita. When he finally found out where she was and secretly crept up to her, he gave her Rama's ring as a sign of comfort and encouragement. Sita was overjoyed to learn something about her beloved husband and asked Hanuman what kind of reward he would like for the good news. Hanuman replied: "Mother, I have only one wish. Give me bhakti in every life.'

Hanuman returned to Rama and told him the good news: Sita is alive. Blessed Rama challenged Hanuman: "For this message, I will give you whatever you desire: kingdom, siddhi, treasures - just say, and you will have it." And Hanuman said again: "God, I wish for only one thing: bhakti."

When Rama and his army finally defeated the demon king Ravana and Sita was freed, they all returned happily to Ayodhya. Rama richly rewarded all those who stood by him in battle. When it was Hanuman's turn, Sítá took the pearl necklace from her throat and wanted to hang it around Hanuman's neck. But Hanuman refused: "Mother, you promised to give me bhakti." I desire nothing else.'

For Hanuman, bhakti was a thousand times more valuable than wealth, honor and fame.

There are two kinds of bhakti:

nirguna-bhakti and saguna-bhakti. Both are equally important. Until we worship both aspects of God and Master - both nirguna and saguna - until we understand and trust them, we will not reach moksha (liberation). We should realize, know both forms. Whoever doubts the saguna form of God will not know his nirguna aspect. Meditating on the nirguna aspect of God without carrying his saguna form in the heart does not lead to the goal.

Unfortunately, people's different ideas about God are often dogmatized and then bump into each other and stand against each other in rivalry. In the course of history, this resulted in countless so-called "holy wars". And to this day, these "holy battles" have not ended.

There is no such thing as a "holy" war. God created the whole world and loves every being equally. There is no religion that God prefers. A God who claims to be Christian, Hindu or Muslim is definitely not God. Division, division, separation is the work of man and causes only suffering in the world. God does not discriminate.

We often encounter a narrow-minded and fanatical statement: My faith, my confession, my God is the best. Everything else is fake. It's like when children argue about which of them has the best father. Of course, everyone's parents are the best. In the same way, the "best" for a person is the incarnation of God to whom he surrendered, whom he loves and worships. However, we should realize that there is only one God who took on himself different forms out of love for people, and this knowledge should lead us to tolerance and respect towards other religions. If we see God in each of our neighbors, we are on the right track.