Hari Aum.
I'm continuing to try to integrate spiritual life with my new life as a parent. My daughter is now about two months old and my life continues to be dominated by 2-3 hourly feeding and nappy-changing including at night! It is no joke I can tell you!
However, as my Guru Sivananda says, any task can be made into sadhana (obviously unethical acts are not included). It is the attitude with which one does it that counts he says.
During one of my recent night-shifts feeding the baby, I was reminded of the worship that people do during MahaShivaratri. During this auspicious night that is sacred to Lord Shiva, people usually remain awake throughout and perform worship. One popular form of worship is to perform puja of Shiva every two hours during the night which involves bathing His idol with milk, yoghurt, ghee and honey.
I was reflecting that, since God exists in all beings and things, if one can offer milk to Him/Her in an idol then one can certainly regarding feeding one's child milk as a form of worship to Him/ Her (as He/She exists in the child too). If one was waking every 2-3 hours at night every day for weeks and months to perform puja of an idol of God, we would say that is pretty intense tapas. So why not regard the feeding of one's child as tapas? In fact, Sivananda and other Gurus say that worship of God in human beings is more effective in pleasing God than worshipping Him in idols as He is more manifest in the former. This is the reason why people offer food to the poor as a form of worship in many temples in India (known as 'anna danam' in Sanskrit).
As caring for my daughter is taking up a lot of my time and making it hard to perform formal worship/puja, I have taken to doing this as worship of Narayana (as present within my daughter). I say 'Sarvam Sri Krishnarpanamastu' (meaning I offer everything to Lord Krishna) regularly throughout my day to convert all my daily activities into worship as far as possible. As Krishna Himself says in the Uddhava Gita (I am paraphrasing here)-- if you are going to work hard on this Earth anyway, do it as an offering to Me so that you become eligible for the highest spiritual gain and not merely some small Earthly result.
It is not the act that counts, it is the attitude that counts. The same feeding of a child as a parent becomes a form of the highest worship if one feels that it is the Lord to whom one is offering care not merely one's child.
Yes, as human beings, we cannot help but see the human element in others and respond to this. However, as yogis, we can remind ourselves that there is a divine element in us all (in fact, in reality this alone exists). Therefore, our interactions and service of our relatives, friends and society as a whole becomes nothing less than worship of Him alone.With this attitude, we will make rapid spiritual progress even in the most mundane of environments-- in our homes and at our workplaces. It is not necessary to live in a cave to attain God, one can do it in one's home too-- so says Sivananda in his writings for householders.
Sivananda says "See God in every face and in every object. Have a cool, balanced mind always. If you develop this changed angle of vision and Divine Bhava in daily life by protracted and constant practice all actions will become Yogic activities. All actions will become worship of the Lord. This is quite sufficient. You will get God-realisation quickly. This is dynamic Yoga. This is very a powerful Sadhana. I have given you a very easy Sadhana. Hereafter you should not bring your lame excuse and say, "Swamiji, I have no time to do spiritual practices." Even if you have a little practice of the above Sadhana for three months you will notice that you are a changed being altogether."
By the way, Krishna Himself advises this sadhana described by my Guru as the best way to attain Him in the Uddhava Gita.
See below for link to the full article by Sivananda:
http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/?cmd=displaysection§ion_id=472
His article on advice to householders:
http://www.dlshq.org/messages/householder.htm
I wish all those householder yogis who are striving earnestly on the path of self-realisation the very best. May God bless us with the ability to transform all our actions into tapas and may we all attain God in this very lifetime itself.
Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Om Tat Sat.
P.S. I have also recently taken to singing a bit of the Mahamantra (Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare) as a lullaby to my daughter at bedtime and also while nappy-changing. Singing the mantra appears to calm her down a bit, and even if it doesn't calm her every time, it certainly calms me and helps me cope if she is yelling the place down! ;) It's also a handy way to build some kirtan into one's life as a parent.
P.P.S. Purascharana four is currently continuing at a modest 7 malas per day. Even this is proving a challenge in the midst of caring for the baby, but I find that repeating the mantra while nursing is the simplest way to ensure that it gets done. The Swami at the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh with whom I have occasional online satsang also advised this as a good way to do sadhana and at the same time, exert a positive influence on my daughter. In time, once my sleep-deprivation improves, I plan to increase the malas back to 11 a day again.
