Living in His Presence

The mind has been described as rain that keeps falling when the sky has cleared. It does what it has always done, no matter what the situation. Even at advanced stages of meditation, we are told the mind resists stillness, resists concentration and strives to maintain movement.

Every moment is a moment of truth. Those of us who are not spiritually evolved tend to separate our lives into a spiritual component and a worldly one. We dedicate a small portion of the day to spiritual practice, then get back as quickly as possible to business as usual – to normal life. Whereas meditation is quiet concentration, our normal life is distracted activity.

Of course, it is wrong thinking to compartmentalize life into meaningful and trivial elements. It is all critically important. If we cannot be totally focused in the moment, we can at least attempt to carefully observe and actually be aware of what is going on in our lives: what we do and say and think, how we react; how we deal with anxiety, what we find humorous or uplifting.

This kind of self-monitoring can become unnerving though, and it will remain so until we allow the Master to occupy a more permanent place in our moment-to-moment existence. When this happens, when we become centred in the awareness of his presence, then we start to understand that every moment is a moment of truth.

How would I behave in a specific situation if Master were there? Very differently from the usual impulsive, emotional, judgmental and careless way that has characterized my behaviour thus far. The Master is, of course, present at any given moment, so even if we cannot actually experience that reality in the fullest sense, we can develop an awareness of his presence simply in the knowledge that it is so.

This is partly faith, partly effort and partly his grace – the three pillars on which our spiritual progress is built. The objective is not merely to be a better-behaved person, but rather to be more spiritually conscious.

Maharaj Ji has urged us to allow the atmosphere generated during meditation to extend into our entire day. This means that our calmness, our focus and our longing should permeate our so-called normal lives. Our Master is with us not only spiritually but also mentally. In this way, sustained awareness becomes an ever-growing consciousness, which in turn, eventually manifests as the experience of living in his presence.

As the physical body gets more involved in outside pursuits, the mind should be kept absorbed in simran. Listen to the Shabd-dhun every day – even if you do it only for ten minutes, it should be done every day. And understand undoubtingly that one day the Satguru will take you to Sach Khand. Read daily from the sacred writings, even if you read only one verse.
_{Baba Jaimal Singh, Spiritual Letters}