LIVING WITH GOD

LIVING FOR GOD

LIVING IN GOD"

Man since times immemorial has been in quest of God. Man has been in search of happiness from the beginning of this creation. He wanted to know where God is. He wanted to describe Him. He probed to find out "Who is God?" The answer is simple. At one time he said, "God is Wind - Vayudeva." At another time he said, "God is Fire." Later, the question arose - Who is God?

You cannot define God. You cannot know. God cannot be analysed. God can only be realized. God cannot be experimented upon. God can only be experienced. "That which cannot be comprehended by the mind, that which cannot be understood by the mind. That cannot be narrated, that which cannot be described - that is divinity. Thus who is God? Only experience. But we are of the modern age, the computer age. Bhagavan gave the answer: "God is Love. Love is God. Live in Love.

Now the point is this. When you love anything want to possess it. When you love anyone you want to be near that person. So love leads to nearness or proximity. This is the first aspect of the topic - living with God when you love God you want to live with Him. What do we mean by living with God? It is not an ordinary thing, Baba Himself put it - it is like living with fire.

Living with God is not just physical nearness. Bhagavan says that one has to dear and near. Thus spiritually speaking, living with God means being so dear to him. One has to endear himself to Bhagavan.

How can we live with him spiritually? Jesus Christ said :'I am the Truth, I am the way and I am the Life.' Baba says: "Follow me." We should follow the Master. Master  stand for truth . If you want to follow the Master, you should hold on to Truth, follow the path of righteousness.  This is living with God. The meaning of living with God is that you love Him intensely, much more than family and property.

So long as you hold onto your comforts, properties and families, giving them priority, and God next, we say that we are living with God. Living with God is sacrifice, God first, the world next, and you last. Thus living with God is detachment, intense love, control, discipline, surrender, dedication. You have to obey all His command unconditionally. Whether or not you gain and whether or not you attain victory spiritually it means following His messages following in His footsteps and following His command.  

Living in God is only possible through compassion.  The heart with compassion is the temple of God.  You should have the spirit of sacrifice too.  So living with God is one of bhakti-yoga. Once you have bhakti you should serve him.  It is no use saying , "I love you, but I won't work for you."  Living for God is karma yoga.  Karma yoga will make us receive that acknowledgement.

Living for God means sacrificing everything for God.  We are selfish truly.  We love our son, our wife our husband only because of our own selfish reasons.  Even those that say they are working for Swami are not right because Swami's work will go on whether you do it or not..  You are working for selfish reason and not in a dedicated manner.

The third one is 'Living in God.' This means that there is nothing other than God. Whatever man does, talk or think is only divine. When he bathes it is an abhisheka, when he talks it is a namasmarana. Everything he does is spiritual. This is called 'jnana yoga' - or 'path of wisdom.' wisdom is that you are one with God, the Cosmic Consciousness. You are allowing the divine Cosmic Consciousness to pass through. The spirit of awareness is Consciousness. Some feel God's presence in their work, meditation or bhajans. 

Once we live for Him, it is nishkaama karma. When I live for Him it is selfless. When I am in Him, there is neither self nor selflessness, there is only absolute state of Bliss. God is Love. Live in Love.

(EXTRACTED FROM - DIVINE DIRECTIONS - WRITTEN BY ANIL KUMAR KAMARAJU )