Summary: Teaches that the remembrance of God should permeate the sadhak and encompass all his activities.

At the back of everything that you do, at the back of everything that you speak, at the back of everything that you hear – remember God.

Let there be the thought of God, feel for the presence of God, feel for the nearness of God – feel to be one with God.

This thought of God should all the time be worrying you, bothering you, in fact. It must draw you through your heart to itself, this thought of God. It must be there all the time in your consciousness; even in your playfulness, it must be a priority.

There is life – and yet what is predominant is the thought of God, to reach to the Reality that is God.

Turn your heart to God; build up your prayer and meditation through that.

Create an atmosphere within your being remembering and keeping the thought of God all the time. That atmosphere then is created in your being and becomes continuous and from there it should draw you to meditation, it should draw you to prayer.

So the playfulness of life is not denied to you and yet the intensity to reach out to God must continue to increase: it must become a longing in the heart, it must become your consciousness, it must be the foundation, and the support of all which you do – in your moments of silence, in your moments of being alone, or even when you may be in a crowd.

Remembrance means prayer; remembrance means contemplation – so reach deeply through that into yourself. It is to bring feelings into your meditation, it is to bring content into your meditation – it is to bring heart into your meditation. So reach through your heart, listen to music – feel the music, the prayer, the chant. Let it awaken your heart, and through the heart reach to meditation and God. All your expressions, your playfulness, your life expressions, your life activities, the whole of your life must come from There, must reach to That. Let it encompass, embrace all your activities. Let it be there in your emotions, let it be there in your thoughts, let it be there in your passions, let it fill and be the whole of your being, even your dreams. So the continuity, the constancy of remembrance, the intensity is to be built up.

Really for a seeker nothing else matters. It is this concern that must be the basis, the ground, the over-thought, the under-thought – the in-between-thought for his and her life. All else is within it; nothing is to be in the way of that. And this would come through the intensity that would grow in you by continuous remembrance – through your heart, through your works, through your activities, through your loves. This thought must permeate, pervade and lift you, lift you bodily, lift you emotionally, lift you mentally, lift you spiritually. It must become your bread and your wine. It must become your food – food for your body, food for your mind, food for your heart – food for your life and soul. It must become your intoxication.

Allow your consciousness to grow into this remembrance, through the feel of it, through the heart of it – then it is prayer, it is contemplation, it is meditation. Let it abide throughout the day and so also in the night. Reach into yourself, feel through your heart. Be centred in this thought and let it become your consciousness, the whole of your being and from that to all your activities, from that to all your thoughts, to all your words. There is no other concern for a seeker – there must be no other concern.

This is concentration where you concentrate all your energies, whole of your consciousness, the whole of your being and turn it Godward, Realityward, to the awakening and enlightenment in God – a process that takes up the whole of your life, right from your head down to your toes.

Remember to remember always, remember when you are walking to the toilet, remember as you walk, remember when you are coming from the toilet, remember as you walk. Remember when you walk to your room, remember when you come from your room, remember as you go to the kitchen – remember as you cook. Remember, remember and remember. But remembrance is through your heart, remembrance is through the whole of your being. Let your consciousness awaken to this remembrance.

You start by remembering through the mind and yet you consciously bring in your heart, then it reaches deeper and deeper into yourself, it reaches into the deeper layers of your being, into the deeper layers of your consciousness until it touches the very core of your heart, the very core of your being and existence. Then you start to see through the eyes of God. Then you shall start to feel through the feel of God, then you shall start to speak through the words of God, then you shall will through the will of God.

So we deny you nothing and yet ask of you to reach with greater and greater intensity to build up your prayers, your meditation, your reaching to God, to God consciousness and to become one with it while through life you awaken to the process of enlightenment. There must be continuity; your each moment should be connected to the next, so there is a continuous link through the thought of God, through the heart that reaches Godward. So remember to feel – through your heart – this will build up your prayer, this will build up your meditation, your contemplation.

For a seeker, there is no other concern; all other concerns are within this, at the same time transcended by this, exceeded by this. Remember, all other concerns are exceeded by this and yet all that you do that concerns this or all that you do that goes through this concern or for this concern is a means, is a way, is the remembrance, is a prayer, is the worship. So all our acts that we have done through the feel of God, the thought of God, making God the supreme concern, that becomes the supreme act, it becomes the supreme worship, it becomes the supreme devotion. And each time, you will exceed yourself and this is growth.

Even in all your plays, even when you throw the ball over the nets, they can all be one with that supreme concern when you live with that consciousness, when you live in that thought, when you remember. You may begin by remembering at the start or at the end or in between, stopping in between until it is always there with you. This is how all the acts of life can reach to this supreme concern and stand completely transformed in Divine light and reach you to your own divinity, reach you to a continuous fulfilment in God. All of it is meditation, all of it is prayer. When you remember like this, you accumulate energy, when you do not remember like this, you lose energy. Accumulation of energy will build up your life, dissipation of energy will exhaust it, then each time you need to be rejuvenated and the rejuvenation is most complete through your meditation, through your prayer, through God. Participate in your own growth; when you start to participate and learn how to participate in your own growth, you can participate in another’s growth.

Do not approach life out of sluggishness and yet life is relaxation too. Life is play, playfulness, laughter – yet pray that all your laughter may abide in God, in the thought of God, in the remembrance of God – so also, all your actions. In this way build up your prayer, your meditation, do the kriyās – practices – sit down and do it, take the initiative, spend time with yourself, be harmonious and whole.

Learn to see and look for what is true behind everything, learn to watch your motives, learn to see through them to what is true and that way be true to yourself and therefore to the other and to the outside. And yet let your journey be joyful, there is no need and room for depressions. The whole journey is a joyful adventure that is reaching you to the Beloved, to God, the Reality. Rejoice through the whole journey, life is a rejoicing and yet one may pass through those moments that seem to be devoid of any joy. Therein is required your faith, therein is required your patience, therein is required your courage, therein is required your dedication – commitment, therein is required your poise, your centring – in yourself – in God.

Arya Vihar

28 Dec 1999