Remembering God Amidst Worldly Obligations

[Guest guest]

None

can ever dispute that devotion is the most sacred pilgrimage. Relying on this

eternal truth, saints keep reminding and exhorting humanity to dedicate every

thought current to God and He will make their life the saga of supreme peace and

eternal bliss. http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1780526.cms

 

Still we find people engrossed in worldly

affairs with little or no time for God, the giver of everything.

Despite divine utterances and infinite wisdom available to us in the form

of revered scriptures, the question which often finds expression on the lips of

almost all is: Does a worldly man really need to devote himself to God -

especially because man is heavily burdened in this age of intense competition?

 

This world is God's Creation. It is God Himself who has

granted us our parents, brothers, sisters, and other near and dear ones. Then

how is it that we need to snap ties with them to devote ourselves to God or to

break bonds with God to serve them? This indecisiveness is baseless. Both can be

performed simultaneously, but through a specific mental strategy.

Ancient wisdom tells us that there is nothing wrong in performing and

fulfilling worldly obligations. However, we need to be cautious not to get

attached to them. We have been granted body, mind and intellect to deal with the

world, but our attention is meant to be directed towards God and His service.

The faculty of attention or remembrance is a divine treasure given to us by God.

We are the trustees of this spiritual treasure. Our redemption lies in offering

it back to God. As a matter of fact, our mental attention is the only gift we

can present Him; for he is affluent enough in everything else.

Bharatrihari said,

"We come to enjoy the world but we are being enjoyed by the world".

This implies we may serve the world, deal with it and enjoy but be cautious lest

the world starts enjoying you. Let us dedicate our entire being to Him and look

upon worldly duties as His service. Senses are then reined in by the real self

within. Life becomes as sweet as nectar.

King Janaka is a classic example of how

we should live. Shukhdeva went to Janaka for initiation into Brahm Gyan. Seeing

the riches, a doubt crept into his mind as to his being a bona fide guru and his

ability to bless him with gyan.

Divining his thoughts through deep

insight, the king planned a divine sport. He gave him a cup filled with oil and

asked to go about his kingdom. Shukhdeva came back with the cup as it was. He

could do so by keeping his mind fixed on the oil cup. Then, Janaka told him that

he too performs worldly duties keeping his mind and soul fixed on the Lotus feet

of the Lord.

A devotee like Janaka, whose mind dwells on God, is

unaffected by miseries and woes in life's journey. Nothing can agitate the

serene composure of his focused mind.