Is there a game of hide and seek between God and souls?

[Shri Bharat Krishna asked: Swāmi, life seems to be a game of hide & seek between God and souls. This entire earth is filled with hints that help us find You. But unfortunately, many do not even realize that it is a game! With Your immense blessings, I am starting to find more and more hints, and I am happy to find them. I am starting to see different ways in which God is involved in my life. Everything seems to be a pre-designed plan and it is most perfect. You keep giving hints to every soul until they know You exist. Once a soul discovers You and starts coming too close to You, ignoring everything else, You start hiding and the game starts! This hide & seek is a little different. A soul has to play it so well that God does not want to hide anymore from the soul. The trick is to develop pure devotion towards God. Then God cannot hide anymore.

Am I thinking correctly? If so, I like this game so much. Please bless me that I may find and also understand each and every hint or clue that You are giving me, without fail. Sorry for writing so much Swāmi, I want to explain my doubts in detail. Thank You so much for Your immense love and blessings Swāmi.]

Swāmi replied: What you told about the hide & seek game is the hour of the examination in the examination hall. The answers are hidden since you have already studied them while studying the spiritual knowledge from the Sadguru. The game you said is the last birth of sages as the Gopikās, which is the actual examination. Even though God knows that you deserve the salvation-fruit, He has to conduct the examination for the satisfaction of all the other devoted souls. It is an inevitable procedure. Hints are given during the academic period, but not at the time of the examination.

Keywords:

| Shri Datta Swami | Is there a game of hide and seek between God and souls? | Gopikas Gopikaas

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