At some stage in life every person thinks about God. Even the atheist has to be thinking of God while trying to negate His existence. The concept of God is different in different religions but the common man of almost every faith has come to believe that He is a person and has the same attributes as a man. That is reflected in the fact that we invariably use the pronoun He. Every religion puts emphasis on reaching or finding God.

But how do we find God? The word find implies a search. In searching for something one has to know what he is searching for. Otherwise how would one recognize the object of search? If God is a particular person, how do you recognize a person in a multitude of millions unless you have seen the person before? Added to that is the assumption that as a person God lives in heaven; so it is impossible to encounter Him while living in this world. This is the unfortunate part, since it forces most religions to postulate life after death.

There is also the basic question as to what one means by finding God. Obviously this depends on the concept of God that one has. To find an object is one thing and to find a non-material entity is something else. Philosophers and scientists alike have been trying to find the truth behind the existence of the universe from the dawn of civilization. Anything intangible like truth is a concept that cannot be found in the literal sense; it can only be realized. So when we talk about finding God it is only in the sense of realization and that is what great mystics of all ages have succeeded in doing.

We often encounter people who say that they are out to find themselves. They may not realize that, but if they are sincere in their motive, they are in effect searching for the truth in the same way. If and when the realization comes, it is not the end of the search, because in this search there is no beginning and there is no end. The path itself becomes the goal.

We are in the era of self-help books with experts in every field. So we also have books on how to find God. When we see a self-help book it is natural to assume that the expert author has had first hand experience; in this particular case it would mean that the author has found God. Of course, no one could find Him in the real sense of meeting or seeing. Maybe it was a case of enlightenment as can happen to realized persons in deep meditation. But the attainment of that stage implies complete dissolution of ego. Enlightenment and ego are mutually exclusive. A truly enlightened person will have no desire or inclination to write books and give seminars.

The truth is that no one can help me find God. I have to find Him on my own. God lives within me (as in everyone and everything in the universe). If I cannot find Him within, the search in the external world would be futile. We do not have to completely abandon the concept of God as a person but need to modify it and then we can find God here and now.