If God is so real, then why do we not see Him? Sri
Ramakrishna says: You see many stars at night in the sky, but find them not
when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars?
God alone is the Master, and again, He is the Servant. This
attitude indicates Perfect Knowledge.
At first one discriminates, ‘Not this, not this’, and feels
that God alone is real and all else is illusory. Afterwards the same person
finds that it is God Himself who has become all this – the universe, maya, and
the living beings. First negation and then affirmation. This is the view held
by the Puranas.
A Bilwa-fruit, for instance, includes flesh, seeds, and
shell. You get the flesh by discarding the shell and seeds. But if you want to
know the weight of the fruit, you cannot find it if you discard the shell and
seeds. Just so, one should attain Satchidananda by negating the universe and
its living beings. But after the attainment of Satchidananda one finds that Satchidananda
Itself has become the universe and the living beings.