Remembrance is an Action
It is true that the guru should do everything; and that he unfailingly does. But we should examine if we are really worthy disciples. What else is required to transcend body-consciousness, except to abide by the word of the guru? If I reflect on the thought, 'I am not the body' I shall sometime transcend body-consciousness. Alternatively, I say, 'God is mine.' so that I forget body-consciousness.
I tell you on the authority of Samartha Ramadas, 'take care of your moral discipline, and whatever be the circumstances, do not forget nama.' He is a real devotee who says, 'Whatever I do is for God.' One has to become an excellent devotee for elimination of doership. To aspire for nothing other than God is the sign of an excellent devotee. That obstacle which holds God off from us is a true obstacle. That period which is spent in the remembrance of God is a happy period. Remembrance is an action and forgetting is a natural impulse. Remembrance is like an offering to the fire, and anhilitating ego is a complete final offering. The impulse must be submerged with God. We instinctively remember sense pleasures as they have taken complete possession of us. But remembering God has to be intentional. It is not so easy but not so difficult either. It is possible for human beings to do it.
Devotion to God is naturally achievable. It can be achieved by constant awareness of God. This awareness must be consciously maintained; then experience will come early. A sentry on duty is vigilant; similarly, if awareness of God is maintained consciously, worldly desires will be destroyed. There should not be the least slackness in this awareness; else desires will get an opportunity, like a thief.
Fever gives a bitter taste to the mouth, which remains even with rubbing sugar on. The bitter sense disappears only when fever is gone. Similarly, the sense of pain and sorrow leaves us only when we have unbroken awareness of God. So free yourself from the attachment to prapancha, then alone you will really enjoy family life. Just as a lamp kept on the threshold lights both sides, awareness of God throws light on paramartha as well as prapancha. Keeping God at the base of our attention towards prapancha is awareness of God or anusandhana.
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