The sages say that one has to attain constant remembrance of God in order to be able to attain Him. This is not at all easy, whether or not one lives one's home-Ashram or a formal Ashram.
I have been considering how to make my mind pause in the midst of 'worldly' activities (working, cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving etc) and think of God. I am doing one hour of sitting-down japa a day, but the remainder of the time, I am busy with other things and I forget God for many hours at a time.
Swami Chidananda Saraswati (disciple of Swami Sivananda) has written a beautiful and inspiring article on constant remembrance of God.
http://www.energyenhancement.org/sivananda/Sri-Swami-Sivananda-The-Path-Beyond-Sorrow-Chapter-9-Yoga-In-The-Home-7-Dynamic-Spirituality-Remembering-God.html
He basically says that if you are immersed in worldly activities for most of the day, at least pause every hour for 2-3 minutes and contemplate God and repeat His Name. In this way he says the transformation that takes place within one is no less than a contemplative monk. Most inspiring.
Excerpt from Swami Chidananda's superb article:
"During your lunch hour, try to snatch fifteen minutes for silent interior prayer and inward meditation. Get away by yourself, and if conditions are such that you cannot do so, then try to get behind a newspaper in a corner somewhere, and while pretending to read the paper, contemplate upon God for those moments. Or pretend to take a nap, close your eyes and go into prayerfulness—but do not actually take a nap! Forget the world, forget life, work, body, everything, for that time, being wholly intent upon God. This is a dynamic process. If you dip into your innermost being now and then, say twenty times a day, or once in every half an hour, for just one minute, that is enough. It is a great life-transforming process. It is dynamic spirituality and the transformation that will come upon you will in no wise be less than the spiritual transformation in a contemplative monk, for you are doing a task which is even greater than his, for he has all the proper facilities and, therefore, it is natural and easy for him to go into God. But with everything against you—when the whole atmosphere, your whole environment, all the factors that go to make up your life are totally material, externalized, and grossly secular—if, in the midst of all that, you have this thought of interiorness once in a while, then the token of your love for God is so earnest, so deeply genuine, that the return for it is tenfold, one hundredfold. Therefore, try to have little minutes of deep and intent God-thought periodically during the course of your busy day. Somehow or the other, connect everything with God. Whatever you do, do it for His love, and try to speak to Him in and through your activities."
I am thinking of investing in a watch with an inbuilt alarm, and set it for every 1-2 hours to remind me to pause and practice this dynamic spiritual practice advised by Swami Chidanandaji.
Om Namo Narayanaya
I have been considering how to make my mind pause in the midst of 'worldly' activities (working, cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving etc) and think of God. I am doing one hour of sitting-down japa a day, but the remainder of the time, I am busy with other things and I forget God for many hours at a time.
Swami Chidananda Saraswati (disciple of Swami Sivananda) has written a beautiful and inspiring article on constant remembrance of God.
http://www.energyenhancement.org/sivananda/Sri-Swami-Sivananda-The-Path-Beyond-Sorrow-Chapter-9-Yoga-In-The-Home-7-Dynamic-Spirituality-Remembering-God.html
He basically says that if you are immersed in worldly activities for most of the day, at least pause every hour for 2-3 minutes and contemplate God and repeat His Name. In this way he says the transformation that takes place within one is no less than a contemplative monk. Most inspiring.
Excerpt from Swami Chidananda's superb article:
"During your lunch hour, try to snatch fifteen minutes for silent interior prayer and inward meditation. Get away by yourself, and if conditions are such that you cannot do so, then try to get behind a newspaper in a corner somewhere, and while pretending to read the paper, contemplate upon God for those moments. Or pretend to take a nap, close your eyes and go into prayerfulness—but do not actually take a nap! Forget the world, forget life, work, body, everything, for that time, being wholly intent upon God. This is a dynamic process. If you dip into your innermost being now and then, say twenty times a day, or once in every half an hour, for just one minute, that is enough. It is a great life-transforming process. It is dynamic spirituality and the transformation that will come upon you will in no wise be less than the spiritual transformation in a contemplative monk, for you are doing a task which is even greater than his, for he has all the proper facilities and, therefore, it is natural and easy for him to go into God. But with everything against you—when the whole atmosphere, your whole environment, all the factors that go to make up your life are totally material, externalized, and grossly secular—if, in the midst of all that, you have this thought of interiorness once in a while, then the token of your love for God is so earnest, so deeply genuine, that the return for it is tenfold, one hundredfold. Therefore, try to have little minutes of deep and intent God-thought periodically during the course of your busy day. Somehow or the other, connect everything with God. Whatever you do, do it for His love, and try to speak to Him in and through your activities."
I am thinking of investing in a watch with an inbuilt alarm, and set it for every 1-2 hours to remind me to pause and practice this dynamic spiritual practice advised by Swami Chidanandaji.
Om Namo Narayanaya
