23 July 2014 - QA 9

How do I see God in the face of a stranger?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

It is actually the other way around, you can’t see God in people you are familiar with. In a stranger, you might think that maybe God is like this because you don’t know their bad qualities or good qualities. If you don’t know their bad qualities, it is easy for you to see God in them. People whom you are familiar with, you know their bad qualities and weaknesses, and you will ask me, 'How do I see God in them?'
If I say, 'Forget seeing God in anybody, see God in yourself', you will say, 'I can’t see God in myself'.
Then I would say, 'Never mind, be a communist and don’t see God anywhere'. So it is your choice!

What do you mean by God? God means love. Can’t you see the other person as made up of love?
One would find it easier to see God in a stranger than in someone familiar. Have you heard the saying, familiarity breeds contempt? But I don’t agree with that. There are many cases where people are very centered. The more close you go to them, the more charming and loving you will find them. But familiarity breeds contempt is also true to some extent.