{"id":1267,"date":"2026-09-20T16:42:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T15:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/?page_id=1267"},"modified":"2026-09-20T16:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T15:51:24","slug":"what-is-god","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/what-is-god\/","title":{"rendered":"What is God?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.ap-story-page{--ap-ink:#17324d;--ap-muted:#49657e;--ap-teal:#08736e;--ap-line:#dde7ea;--ap-soft:#eef8f6;color:var(--ap-ink);font-family:Inter,system-ui,sans-serif;line-height:1.7}.ap-story-wrap{max-width:1060px;margin:0 auto;padding:8px 0 54px}.ap-story-kicker{color:var(--ap-teal);font-size:.78rem;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.14em;text-transform:uppercase}.ap-story-dek{max-width:780px;color:var(--ap-muted);font-size:1.2rem;margin:.45rem 0 1rem}.ap-story-subtitle{font-size:1.05rem;color:var(--ap-muted);margin:0 0 18px}.ap-story-grid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:minmax(0,1fr) 300px;gap:34px;margin-top:28px}.ap-story-main,.ap-story-card{background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--ap-line);border-radius:12px}.ap-story-main{padding:clamp(22px,4vw,46px);box-shadow:0 12px 28px rgba(16,52,80,.05)}.ap-story-main h2{font-size:1.8rem;margin-top:0}.ap-story-main h3{font-size:1.25rem;margin-top:2rem}.ap-story-main p{margin:0 0 1rem}.ap-story-main p:first-of-type:first-letter{float:left;font-size:4rem;line-height:.8;padding:.1rem .5rem 0 0;color:var(--ap-teal)}.ap-story-aside{display:grid;gap:16px}.ap-story-card{padding:20px}.ap-story-card h2{font-size:.8rem;letter-spacing:.12em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--ap-teal);margin:0 0 .7rem}.ap-story-card p{margin:.45rem 0}.ap-story-card a{color:var(--ap-teal);font-weight:700}.ap-story-source{background:#fbfcfc}.ap-story-teaching{background:var(--ap-soft);border-left:4px solid var(--ap-teal)}.ap-story-tag{display:inline-block;border-radius:999px;padding:4px 10px;margin:4px 4px 0 0;background:#e8f4f2;color:var(--ap-teal);font-size:.82rem}.ap-story-note{border-top:1px solid var(--ap-line);margin-top:24px;padding-top:16px;color:var(--ap-muted);font-size:.86rem}.ap-story-nav{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;gap:12px;margin-top:24px;padding-top:18px;border-top:1px solid var(--ap-line)}@media(max-width:760px){.ap-story-grid{grid-template-columns:1fr}.ap-story-nav{display:grid}}<\/style>\n<section class=\"ap-story-page\">\n<div class=\"ap-story-wrap\">\n<div class=\"ap-story-kicker\">Chapter 4 \u00b7 Life of Sai Baba \u00b7 Volume 4<\/div>\n<p class=\"ap-story-dek\">What is God?<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-subtitle\">How Baba answered the question through self-enquiry, gentle conduct and love.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Sai Baba<\/span><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Devotee experience<\/span><span class=\"ap-story-tag\">Volume 4<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ap-story-grid\">\n<article class=\"ap-story-main\">\n<h2>The chapter<\/h2>\n<p>People can describe charcoal, silver or food by their colour, weight, place and other attributes. When they try to describe God in the same way, the certainty disappears. The idea of God remains at the edge of thought rather than becoming an object that the mind can completely define.<\/p>\n<p>Narendra asked Ramakrishna whether he had seen God, and Ramakrishna answered yes. The Upanishads take another route and say that Brahman is not what the eyes see, the ears hear or the mind thinks as an object. Both answers point beyond ordinary perception.<\/p>\n<p>Baba answered a woman who wanted freedom from birth and death with the words, \u201cThink who you are.\u201d He also told people to stop barking at others, speak gently, bear reproach and break the wall between \u201cyou\u201d and \u201cme\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>His final answer is expressed through love. A small spark of love must be developed until the whole person becomes love. Such love changes the devotee and can soften even violent or degraded beings. God, in Baba\u2019s practical teaching, is not known by collecting definitions but by becoming loving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-story-note\"><strong>Editorial note:<\/strong> This page is a concise paraphrase for web presentation and does not reproduce the complete chapter. Please consult the original PDF for the full account and wording.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ap-story-nav\"><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/life-of-sai-baba-volume-4-chapter-3-babas-moral-teachings\/\">\u2190 Previous chapter<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/religion-and-commonsense\/\">Next chapter \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<aside class=\"ap-story-aside\">\n<section class=\"ap-story-card ap-story-source\">\n<h2>Referenced source<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Life of Sai Baba<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By <em>Sh. B. V. Narasimha Swami<\/em><br \/>Volume 4, Chapter 4: <em>What is God?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/life-of-sai-baba-volume-4-04-what-is-god.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View original chapter PDF \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/life-of-sai-baba-by-sh-b-v-narasimha-swami\/\">View the complete book \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"ap-story-card\">\n<h2>People and places<\/h2>\n<p><strong>People:<\/strong> Sai Baba \u00b7 Devotees<\/p>\n<p><strong>Places:<\/strong> Shirdi<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"ap-story-card ap-story-teaching\">\n<h2>Related teaching<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Love, compassion and equality<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This account may be read alongside Sai Baba\u2019s teachings on faith, patience, equality, love and compassion.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/teachings-and-parables-of-sai-baba\/\">Explore teachings and parables \u2192<\/a><\/section>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chapter 4 \u00b7 Life of Sai Baba \u00b7 Volume 4 What is God? How Baba answered the question through self-enquiry, gentle conduct [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1267","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1267\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/akshayapeeth.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}