The finite and the infinite
God is at once finite and infinite.
He is space. He is measured. He can be measured. He must needs be measured.
He is beyond space. He is measureless. He is boundless. He is infinite.
God is infinite Consciousness, infinite Bliss, yet he can also assume a finite form. He is infinite, He is finite; and at the same time He transcends both the infinite and the finite. He is life, He is death; yet again He is beyond both life and death. When I say ‘Supreme’, I am referring to the infinite, the Eternal and the immortal. But when I see Him, I see Him face to face the same way I see you. But in fact God is boundless and in the field of manifestation He takes all forms, from that of a tiny insect to that of a large elephant. Many people cannot agree with the idea that God can be finite. But let us think of one of God’s divine qualities called Omnipresence. According to our human feeling, when we think of Omnipresence we immediately think of vastness. True, He is as vast as the world, but because He is in everything, God can also be finite. Again, God is omnipotent. Where is His Omnipotence if He cannot become a small child, a tiny insect or an atom? At our sweet will we can do practically nothing. But just because God is omnipotent, He can do anything He wants to do at His sweet Will: He can be vast, He can be infinitesimal.
As human beings we are evolving towards our transcendental Perfection. We are aspiring towards the infinite. Right now, we feel that this is God’s creation, but that God has His own separate existence. But this feeling is wrong. Just as the soul is inside our body, God is inside His creation. Otherwise the creation cannot exist. When the soul leaves the body, we will die. Similarly, if God left the creation, the creation would also come to an end. God the infinite has entered into us, into these finite bodies, which last for fifty, sixty or seventy years. The Infinite gets the greatest joy only by making itself finite as well. We have to know, we have to feel and we have to realise this for ourselves; only then will we see God in His creation. Otherwise, we will think that God is in Heaven and, although we are His creation, we have no connection with Him.
Finite and Infinite, according to our outer understanding, are opposites of each other. But in God’s Eye they are one; one complements the other. The finite and the infinite always want to go together. The finite wants to reach the Absolute, the Highest, which is the Infinite. The Infinite wants to manifest itself in and through the finite. Then the game is complete. Otherwise, it will only be a one-sided game. There will be no true joy, no achievement, no fulfilment. In and through the finite, the Infinite is singing its song of unity. In and through the Infinite, the finite is singing its song of multiplicity.
God is everything, but each person has to feel for himself what God is for him. He can be infinite Light, infinite Consciousness, infinite Power, infinite Joy, infinite Bliss, infinite Compassion, infinite Energy. He can be personal, with form; again, he can be impersonal, without form, just as water has form when it is ice but no form when it is in the liquid state. At times we get joy when we see God with form; at times we get joy when we see God without form. We can see Him in His impersonal aspect as a vast expanse of Light. In his personal aspect He can appear as a luminous human being with two hands, two eyes and everything else that we have. He will be the most illumined Being here on earth and there in Heaven. When he appears as a personal Being, we can have all kinds of intimate talks with Him face to face.
- Sri Chinmoy, The Vision of God’s Dawn
