answering Swamiji's question

[Guest guest]

vish posted for Swamiji:

Namaste all family:Swami has asked us a question:How do spiritual practices enhance the presence of God in our lives?

 

Dear vish ~ thank for bringing Swamiji's question to us. I feel this is always an excellent opportunity to examine what we are striving for, with both heart and mind. The question seems so simple, so basic, yet it is full of implications. I believe I will be thinking about this for awhile, but will just give some initial thoughts.

 

Dear Swamiji ~ thank you for asking the question.

 

To me there is nothing more important than the Presence of God in my life. A few digests back I told of how I felt connected to the Presence of God, simply from walking by the river and noticing natural objects ~ a seagull feather, a piece of bark. It has been such a long time, and I have felt totally bereft, an orphan. Even though I realized that I lost this Contact because, getting lost in the ocean of objects and relationships, I had closed my heart to prevent further hurt.

 

I knew I was lost, and even though I continued to do japa and meditation, nothing seemed to help. I can't say why or how my heart opened up again. It was nothing I did consciously, but perhaps just the yearning for the Presence of God opened up my heart, a slight opening, like peeking out the door. It seems that was all that was needed because the Presence flowed into me. I don't mean to say I feel this all the time, every day, or that I ever did, but it was such a part of my life that losing it was unbearable. And perhaps the fact that, even though feeling lost, I continued to do japa every day, also played a part, as did coming back to the Digest and reconnecting with the Devi Mandir family. Jesus said, "where two or three are gathered in my Name..." The Digest is that two or three (and more).

 

I believe that a real discipline of spiritual practices, which is something I've never gotten to, would enhance the Presence of God in my life because laying my heart at the feet of my Gurus, and to the Gods and Goddesses, and having a regular practice, even though it might seem small to me in the beginning, could be the beginning of opening my heart to the Presence of God even more and would help keep me from getting lost again. I judge myself harshly if I can't do a lot of things right away. I need to examine that and to have some humility in the belief that even small steps are meaningful.

 

And I remain very grateful that you and Maa provide a veritable cornucopia of sankalpas and practices ... these make it possible for any one at any level, just starting where they are, to begin.

 

Thank you so very much. Jai Swamiji ~ LindaLooking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos.