Dear John,
A friend shared with me a delightful remark she’d heard recently. She was reading the Bhagavad Gita when another devotee walked by and commented, “That’s a really good book. It’s a mystery, you know, but I’ll tell you how it ends: God did it!” In talking with others, we’re often asked the question, “I hear that we should feel God is the Doer, but how can I actually do that?” This is a subtle concept to grasp, for it seems as if we are the ones who need to make the decisions, and put out the energy to accomplish our goals. Interestingly, however, men and women of outstanding accomplishments often have a sense that a greater power is working through them. Swami Kriyananda is a good example. The sheer amount of his productivity—books written, music composed, lectures given, communities founded—hardly seems humanly possible. Yet everything he did was produced in such a flow of energy and grace that he really had no sense of personal achievement. The secret of his creativity was an intense self-offering of his life and abilities to his guru, inner non-attachment, and a humble appreciation for what God had done through him. Once we were showing a visitor, Swami Shankarananda from Rishikesh, around Ananda Village, and he commented, “At first I couldn’t see how Swami Kriyananda was able to accomplish all this. Then I realized he didn’t—God did it!” How do we transfer the sense of “I am doing this” to “God is doing this through me”? Here are two points that may help you. 1) To feel God acting through you, be willing to give more of yourself than you have before. Jyotish and I recently returned from an intensive five weeks of travel, sharing Master’s teachings throughout India. It often happened that we had big public programs with little time to prepare or rest beforehand. All we could do was meditate and inwardly pray that God give us something meaningful and inspiring to share with those attending. Invariably, the inspiration and thoughts came in our moment of need, and we became aware that God was giving us what needed to be said. 2) Try to offer all of your thoughts and actions up to God. The more we can surrender self-will to God’s will, the more we will feel His grace and power flowing through us. While in India, we had a weekend program for Master’s Mahasamadhi at a beautiful retreat center outside of Bangalore called “The School of Ancient Wisdom.” The grounds were filled with lovely gardens and inspiring quotations posted throughout. One particularly caught my eye: Speak each word, perform each action, face each situation before an inner altar where you kneel in uttermost adoration and self-surrender, under the sign and seal of your highest Self. The more we offer our lives wholeheartedly, the more we will feel, as Master put it, that God is “the sole activating power.” In divine friendship, Nayaswami Devi The post How to Feel That God Is the Doer appeared first on Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi. | 