What may be the reasons that meditation, samadhi and tapasya do give self realisation of God and even merger of soul in Him but not conscious meeting (face to face) with God which only gives full understanding of God’s majesty?

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If you treat God like an impersonal force, then the only way God will reveal Himself to you is impersonally. It’s really that simple, but not good enough for a Quora answer so let’s dig deeper.

The three techniques mentioned focus attention inwardly. Meditation inculcates a trance state, otherwise known as dhyana, the experience of which can lead to removal of inner blocks to boundless inner peace, called samadhi. Tapasya, or ascetic practice, is a different pathway to a similar goal.

Removal of modern distractions, hardcore physical discipline, force the mind into a restricted state that can feel like meditative trance, and bring about another kind of samadhi. The world was just as complicated in the Buddha’s day as it is today, despite being a master of ascetic arts, the Buddha decided that meditation was the key to enlightenment. Armed with this understanding, if one has mastered meditation, it’s easy to see how limited tapasya is in providing one with the ability to perceive maya and dukkha more clearly. Creating more dukkha in life at some point means adding maya, not removing it.

But the real issue with meditation is the constant inward focus. The self is made up of the flimsiest tissue paper, just like how tapasya creates more dukkha, meditation ultimately, by forcing you to look carefully at the illusion of self, creates more of that self! When you meditate trying to remove self so that God remains, you only create more self! All of the dhyanas, all of the samadhi, is just more self! Less dukkha, but more self.

Christians understand this dilemma. Not necessarily the terminology, but the mechanic. It’s why they’re always on you to go to church and get out of the self. One can practice and worship alone, but the experience is heightened when you can share it with others. There is a place for private revelation, but church is essential because it lets you ‘reset’.

There’s only one way out of self, and that is to connect with others. Your mind refreshes and is able to examine itself in a way that it can’t when you’re meditating all alone.

And the other truth that Christians insist on, in a personal God, one you can contact and talk to and treat like a person is also aimed precisely at providing the direct divine connection and opportunity to witness the true majesty that He is creating.

God may be the endless source of power and wisdom, and this might be the most natural way for some to conceptualize God, but He is also an agent with a mind, goals, and personality. And if you think about it, even a person can be considered a ‘mere’ source of impersonal things. Economics considers people to be parts of a money-generating engine.

Impersonal religion, and the forms of worship they engender, treat God the same way economics treats people. How in the world can you see a person’s full depth and capability if you only care about how he’s doing at the job you’ve given him? And how can God ever truly meet you and show you what His plan is if you’re stuck in a rut of worshipping the least-impressive qualities of divinity?