Summary: Explains the necessity of being present in the work and to bring about the remembrance of God even in activity; further that in this way work is transformed into karmayoga. Gives the example of Raidas and Kabir who attained God consciousness by repeatedly chanting the name of God. Teaches that eventually this connection to the Divine becomes the normal consciousness.

F. reads the sentence of the day: ‘The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity, as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.’ – The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence¹

This is the usual environment everywhere, people calling for things, clamour and clatter. It is quite common, it is not unique only here; it is the case with everyone, everywhere – ashrams, monasteries, homes, wherever you go. Wherever humans are, the situation will be the same.

F. continues: “Faith is not just some kind of belief; it is having worked with yourself and developed that inner strength and the nature that is only open to the Divine.” I think that this statement by You is connected to Brother Lawrence´s because You also say, “This is prayer – working with yourself and doing all works as worship – real dynamic prayer.”

Firstly, you would have to be with the work that you are doing, both physically and mentally and in spirit, and so you would have to be silent and centred in your work, because if you have your attention diverted here and there while you are only physically carrying on with the work, you are not present in the work, you are not present with the work. So that would be the first thing to do and that would be dignifying the work, because otherwise you are only giving a part of yourself, the physical, to the work. You are not there, in your faith and spirit and with your mind, because either your mind in its wanderings is thinking of something else or you are talking to somebody, or like some you may put on your headphones and listen to the walkman while cutting vegetables because it is not inspiring or are bored of the work.

So to be present there with the work, that would be the first step, and that would lead you to self-awareness, and then in that self-awareness you could bring about the thought of God, the feel for God in whatever you are doing, and that all is one Reality. God is in all things. God is in all: God is in me and God is in the thing that I am dealing with – this would be the prayer, this would be the remembrance, and then from there to become a living reality.

Initially it is a practice, an effort, because you have to do this, you have to apply yourself; because each time the mind will go elsewhere by force of habit, like talking to each other because it is not so inspiring just to be with yourself, or with the thing that you do, and you want to quickly finish with it so that you can then do something which you would prefer or while away the time doing nothing. For example, Brother Lawrence did not like cooking but ultimately he found that even in that activity he could be just as intoxicated in the thought of God, in the love of God as in anything else, or if he was without work, quiet and silent in his room – it was the same.

The idea is that when you become active it pulls your consciousness out, it pulls your awareness out, it tends to make you restless and agitated. In that energy, that vital energy that is required for the work, there is no remembrance, there is no wideness of awareness. As long as you are quiet and sitting you can be ‘in’ and even wide, but the moment you put yourself in the work, you are out, narrow and constricted in your awareness, in a rush to finish, and forgetful. And it is a habitual thing – it is the way you have always gone about it. But now this needs to change and be altered and get transformed – and the way to do it is to use your mind to begin with, to remember that you have to do it differently from how you have been doing so far, and to make it a meditation of being present; finally, to bring the remembrance of the Divine into it so that work becomes prayer and worship and an offering unto God. This is the way to go about your work and you have to keep doing it this way, it is a different way of working. Ultimately that becomes your consciousness which you live in all the time, like Brother Lawrence. Then even in rush it remains, but it will be the rush of the divine dynamism, unlike the rush of the ordinary.

If it is so required and in your spontaneity you need to speed up your action, you can still do so without losing this state of consciousness. Now it is easy when you sit for meditation, maybe you become quiet, but the moment you have to go to work or do something, immediately the mind comes in with all its reactions, likes and dislikes, and you lose your composure and poise. You are not able to carry your practice of meditation into your activity – you cannot! You lose it immediately. You become a different person. So you have to remember to observe yourself constantly to become aware of this and make the required application and practice. It is an ongoing process of working with yourself. Sometimes you may have it, sometimes you may not, so it has to become regular. Then it also deepens your meditation when you sit, and when you act you continue with your meditation unabated, so that the vital energy and outward movement also is taken up in the sadhana. Otherwise, to return from an agitated vital energy to the quietude of meditation is not only repeatedly difficult but the ‘schizophrenic’ split in your being and personality would continue.

You can read it once more.

(F. reading): ‘The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity, as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.’

He has not only entered the inner consciousness but is experiencing the divine state of consciousness as a result of his prayerful practice. His prayers have been answered and no application is required anymore, it is always there as his consciousness. That is why he can carry on doing things and not be affected by the outside. This requires practice, repeated practice over a long period of time and then you achieve that state of consciousness wherein prayer becomes a living thing, not affected by any situation, what Aurobindo calls the psychic transformation. It is to enter into your heart, the heart that we call the heart of prayer; once you have entered that consciousness, then you can deal with anything and everything, and it will not affect you the way it ordinarily affects one in the outer vital consciousness. Even your vital consciousness, the external consciousness, is subordinated to the inner psychic consciousness; so it is the opening in the heart that is required.

When one does anything one can keep remembering God, can keep remembering the Divine, the Reality – keep that connection through the mind while being present in body and mind. Ramakrishna says, “Be attached to God and nothing else while you continue to do whatever is required to be done with your body and mind.” So be attached to God while carrying on doing things physically, as an offering unto Him, mentally being present. But ordinarily what happens with activity is that you completely lose your objectivity and wideness of awareness and get totally involved mentally in some thought or the other like wanting to finish with the work as quickly as possible. There can be swiftness of action as long as you remember how and with what attitude you must take up any work. That is how you have to begin first, these are the first steps: you have to begin by remembering, and take a moment or two in between every so often to remember. Until, of course, you become such an expert that you can do many things and multitask while your inside is connected with That; that is very advanced.

So, we can read once more, both today’s sentence and Brother Lawrence’s realisation. (F. reading)

One can use a mantra; one can use the name of God, any name of His, and use that while one is working. It will keep you in remembrance and focused, rather than getting involved in gossip. Through practice in this way you can unify body, mind and spirit through whatever you do. There have been many who have achieved to the Divine consciousness, God consciousness through work, through their activity. Like Lawrence, Raidas, who was the Guru of Mirabai too, attained to God consciousness through his work. He was a cobbler by profession and while repairing and making shoes for the people he would be constantly chanting: ‘Ram, Ram, Ram,’ and in this way remembering God. Having attained to God consciousness he carried on as before with his work but what before was sadhana and prayer has now become divine inebriation. And so it was with Kabir. He was a weaver. While working and weaving he would be chanting: ‘Ram, Ram, Ram,’ remembering God. The inner chant, inner prayer and inner remembrance would continue while he continued working physically in the outside. This is karmayoga. Work became a means and a vehicle for reaching to Yoga and connecting to God for both Raidas and Kabir and they are exalted. Ramakrishna used to say, “Use the hands and feet, work physically, while with your mind present dwell within in remembrance of the Divine.” This is karmayoga of the Gîtâ. So you need to anchor yourself to God through your mind while you work physically. Initially though you may have to take moments of break in between to remember to be present. For example, while cooking, make two chapatis, then stop for a moment, take a moment to yourself – remembering; then make two more and have another break of remembrance, and so on, gradually joining the breaks of remembrance and making it continuous even while in action. You can do it in this way, then that becomes your way of working unlike what it was before: clatter, scatter, rush. Centre yourself, take a few deep breaths, remember – and then begin again. Carry on for a while and then do it again, and then over time you will see, you can continuously work and remember at the same time.

This is the progression, and then you will start to taste what is called rasa, you will start tasting the rasa of God intoxication, you will start liking it in the inside and you will find a special energy coming into your actions, into your activity. Then there may be noise in the outside, clatter and clamour, but it will not bother you, it will not divert your attention, you will not lose yourself to it. Your meditation becomes dynamic, you will see. You are with yourself, you are present and you are connected to the higher existence, deeper existence, and then it can become a way of life with anything, while you speak, while you talk to each other, doing things. And when you sit or when you are quiet and by yourself in concentration the focus and effect is even more. This is how one develops work as meditation, meditation as work; this will enhance your meditation sittings and prayer, which should be regular too.

So, instead of simply being on the internet in the night, you can be in the ‘innernet’, an innernet of conversation, communication and communion with the supreme Reality of which you are a spark, as the Vedas and the Upanishads say. Then your actions, your work, becomes a service unto the Divine, unto yourself, unto all – it becomes a whole different action.

Arya Vihar

18 Sep 2010