How can we understand the ‘Divine’?
What is the concept of the ‘Divine’, and how can we understand it? The Divine is the energy of the Universe; the same energy of which we are all made. It is a connection that we all have; we simply need to be aware of it. In a more perceptible manner, it is the crown chakra that envelops us: all encompassing, it is the ‘you’ within you. That is the Divine.
It is the spirit that lives and the spirit that is absolutely eternal. It is the same spirit in each of us, and it is the Oneness that connects all of us within that spirit. That is the Divine.
Even though we exist in the same spirit, our minds and bodies tell us that we are different from each other. Not just that, the mind even tells us that we exist separately from the spirit; that we have a different identity and the Universe is a separate entity. Which is why we tend to use the phrase ‘God made us.’ To say this is to say that we are different from the entity that we call God, or the Divine. Saying that something else created us is to say that we are not a part of that Oneness. In reality, we are all a part of the same spirit, which is the energy of the Universe.
Which brings us to the question ‘Why do we light candles or flames in holy places or in front of images of what we call God if we are the same spirit?’
If we look at the pictures of saints, they are all depicted with a hat-like golden flame on their heads. Each one of us has that flame on our heads. Somewhere along the way, the rishis, sages and priests discovered that and we now recreate that flame because the flame of a candle or lamp is exactly in the same shape: that of Divine light around our heads; in other words, a halo. This is the very same Divine energy that flows through each of our bodies. Lighting a lamp is a way of saying ‘Keep us illuminated just like the flame of a candle.’ We have misinterpreted this as paying obeisance to a higher power.
So instead of alienating ourselves from the Universal energy by saying we are different from the Universal spirit or God, let us honour the concept of the Divine by recognizing the Oneness amongst all of us.