The manifestation of God seems to be more available to us, more accessible, in some forms than it is in others. If we study the state of a man who has realized God, for example, we can make that very state a thing for practice. It does not mean just blind imitation. It is finding the essence, the heart, of what these knowers of God are. This is the reason why Arjuna asks Sri Krishna about the man of steady wisdom – ‘how does he speak, how does he sit, how does he walk?’ Repeatedly we are told about the illumined man, because there at least we are able to see God or Truth manifesting more clearly. These illumed souls are the teachers for us. They are our guides. Their lives are models for our lives. ‘The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman’, the Mundaka Upanishad tells us. They see only God. So if we have contact with someone who has known the Infinite, we too have in some degree seen what is meant by the Infinite. In the presence of such knowers our mind too are lifted up to a higher level.
Swami Shivananda once told a devotee that whenever he (Swami Shivananda) met a devotee he would first see the chosen Ideal of that devotee, and then gradually he would see the devotee himself. Imagine what a state of mind as if we are all in truth little manifestations of various aspects of God just waiting to be awakened. The knowers of God can see that. They actually see the chosen Ideal of an individual and therefore they can point out the easiest, most direct route for the aspirant on the spiritual path.