Hinduism permits worship of God with name and form. Hinduism offers a variety of God forms suited to the taste and temperament of the worshiper, and the various forms, in reality represent one Supreme God. At the same time, Hinduism accepts God, at its ultimate reality, as one beyond name, form and attributes, beyond description, as Para Brahman.
If God is attributed with name and form, can you see God in one of His glorious forms that Hindus worship? If God is perceived to be formless, can you in some way unequivocally feel His presence? If you are a Christian and you believe that Jesus is the son of God and believe his words that the father and the son are one, can you see Jesus?
"Have You Seen God?" : Vivekananda’s Poser to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
For the 19 year old Narendra (later, the world-renowned Swami Vivekananda) this question – can one really see God – was an ever-nagging one at his heart. Whenever he got a chance to meet any saint, monk or any holy person he was never hesitant to put forth his question point blank: “Have you seen God?”
At Dakshineswar Temple (Kolkotta, India), as he was seated in front of the seemingly madman-like middle-aged Brahmin saint - Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, he put forth the same question: “Swami, have you seen God?”
For the first time in his life, Narendra got the straight-forward answer from Sri Ramakrishna: “Yes. I see him just as I see you here, only in a much more intense sense.” He continued: “God can be realized. One can see and talk to him as I am seeing and talking to you. But who cares? People shed torrents of tears for their wife and children, for wealth or property, but who does so for the sake of God? If one weeps sincerely for him, he surely manifests himself”.
That impressed Narendra at once.
In the above conversation, Sri Ramakrishna throws an important clue as to why people are not able to see God. It is their attachment towards the world, their beloved ones, money and wealth.
Hinduism states that God is Satchidananda -- Existance-Knowledge-bliss. Seeing God gives unequivocal bliss -- million times more pleasurable than sexual pleasure, according to Sri Ramakrishna. To acquire such a bliss, the effort one has to put and the sacrifice one has to make are also the greatest.
Sacrifice - in Worldly Pursuit and Godly Pursuit
Take a simple worldly pursuit for example. A girl wants to become a celebrity model. Think of the extent of sacrifice she has to make and the rigor she has to undergo to achieve her goal. She can’t eat what she loves; sometimes she may have to go starving; she has to do her exercises very regularly which may prove to be tough and taxing; she has to spend hours over hours in putting up and removing make-up, doing hair-style, skin care, etc.
Assuming that she becomes a super-model and a world renowned celebrity one day, does the status give her permanent happiness and bliss? She had to toil a lot to maintain her figure; As she ages, she has compete with upcoming and much younger models and perhaps lose out in competition; she may fade away one fine day from the limelight and exit the halls of fame. Later at life, she may even regret having wasted her youth in such an unworthy and transient pursuit.
If such an ephemeral pursuit itself involves so much of sacrifice and hard work, think of the Godly pursuit, which Hinduism says is the greatest goal and the very purpose of life.
Sri Ramakrishna prescribes three things as essential for having a God vision. One is sacrifice, the second is yearning and the third, divine grace. To know what sort of sacrifice and what an intensity of yearning are prescribed, read:
When can you really see God? (Part:2 of How to see God)
