People often turn to holy scriptures in search of God — hoping that within the pages of the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, or any sacred text, they will find the divine truth. But here’s a paradox: you won’t truly understand the working of God by reading any of the holy books — unless you’ve first realised what God is.
This might sound counterintuitive. Isn’t that what the books are for? To teach us about God?
Yes, they are. But there’s a profound difference between reading about God and realising God. Reading gives you information; realisation gives you transformation.
A child can read about fire in a science book and memorise that it’s hot. But unless they’ve felt the heat — truly experienced fire — the knowledge remains theoretical. The same applies to God. Without some inner experience, some awakening, the words in holy books may seem poetic, philosophical, even powerful — but not personal.
And that’s the subtle truth: holy books are not the door to God; they are reflections in the mirror once you’ve already stepped inside.
The saints, sages, and prophets who wrote or inspired these scriptures weren’t theorising — they were expressing what they had experienced directly. Their words were not beliefs, they were testimonials of divine encounter. If we approach their writings without having tasted even a glimpse of that realisation, we might interpret them as rules, rituals, or history — missing the essence completely.
That’s why so many people can quote scripture yet live in fear, hatred, or confusion. And why others, who may never have read a single verse, radiate a deep peace and clarity — because God is not found in words, but in awareness.
So does this mean we should stop reading holy texts? Not at all. But we must understand their function: they are not manuals for finding God, they are echoes of those who already did. Read them not with the eyes of intellect, but with the heart of one who seeks. And more importantly, realise that without realisation, reading is like trying to feel the sun through a photograph.
To know God, don’t just read the literature. Become the experience. Only then will the literature begin to make sense.