Some people, as soon as they enter into the spiritual field, feel that it is now the duty of God to immediately come and reveal himself to them. This kind of feeling actually reveals the ego of the devotee rather than his devotion. This is also because the devotee is far from analyzing the following question- Do I have the capacity or have I evolved enough for God to reveal himself to me?

Leave this aside. There are some who despite undertaking severe spiritual practices for many years are unable to understand the essence of God. They begin to think that there is some defect in them or in the methods adopted by them. Instead of leading to depression, if such thinking can lead towards Self-analysis, then it is laudable.

However, we need now to have a proper understanding on the subject of God giving his darshan.

The biggest mistake is to think that God will come from some other place and give his darshan. When it is described like this in the Puranas, the only aim is to explain the omnipresence of God, but it does not mean that God lives in some faraway place. God is only an experience. When that experience reflects in the heart it is termed as Bhagavad Shakshatkāra or having a vision of the Lord.

Heart is like a mirror. True reflection is its nature. However, even the best mirror, if it is shaky, full of smoke and dust or is kept far away, cannot give a proper reflection. It is therefore necessary to stop the disturbances or shaking of your mirror-like heart. This is called achieving absolute concentration.

Therefore, it is imperative to clear the smoke and dust covering the heart. This implies we should make attempts to surrender our ego. Next, we should try to get close to the mirror. It means we should reduce our desires. If these are done, then automatically the mirror-like heart will be clean. It will reflect God. That itself is having vision of the Lord.

Bhaktimala Feb 1994