Practicing the presence of God is one of the cornerstones of spiritual life. This singular tenet, when faithfully followed, is a guaranteed path to internal transformation.

Shree Krishna assures us that we will attain Him if we always remember only Him.

tasmāt sarveṣhu kāleṣhu mām anusmara yudhya cha mayyarpita-mano-buddhir mām evaiṣhyasyasanśhayam

– BG 8:7

“Therefore, always remember me and also do your duty of fighting the war. With mind and intellect surrendered to me, you will definitely attain me; of this, there is no doubt.”

ananya-chetāḥ satataṁ yo māṁ smarati nityaśhaḥ tasyāhaṁ sulabhaḥ pārtha nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ

– BG 8:14

“O Parth, for those yogis who always think of me with exclusive devotion, I am easily attainable because of their constant absorption in me.”

Sage Narad mentions in Sutra 36 of the Narad Bhakti Darshan that one must continually perform sadhana or bhajan in order to preserve one’s spiritual wealth.

Avyaavritta Bhajanaat

But how can one remain continuously in a state of sadhana or bhajan? Swami Mukundananda explains beautifully in his lecture that continuous bhajan can be achieved by practicing the presence of God.

Our consciousness of the living presence of God is often limited to the idols in our temples and household shrines. It thus happens automatically that we halt our negative thoughts and actions around these areas. However, once we exit to the material world, we resume our old ways. There is a subconscious presumption that God is not watching us outside of His shrines.

The Vedas beg to differ:

Dwasuparnaa sayujaasakhaayaa

Samaanamvriksham parikhasvajaate

Here, the Vedas compare the human body to a tree. In this tree are two birds – one is the soul that is us, and the other is the Supreme Soul that is God. The soul tastes the fruits of its karmas, unaware that God is seated inside and watching quietly. Shree Maharajji mentions that our presumption of total privacy with regard to our thoughts is what destroys us. Every thought we have in the absence of God consciousness will create a karmic bondage and is therefore sinful. Not only is He within us, He is without everywhere!

“This whole world is the temple of God. He is always with us – he is always watching!”

 – Swami Mukundananda

If we could absorb this one gem of spiritual knowledge completely, all our actions would become God conscious. Over time, this would lead to a tremendous transformation. As Swami Mukundananda mentions in his lecture, we must realize that we are not one; we are two – God and the soul. When it finally dawns on us that the Lord of infinite universes, the all-powerful God, is seated within us as the soul of our soul, we will be immersed in an indescribable joy that nothing can shake. Not only will we grow in devotion, we will also perceive the presence of God in every living being and bear compassion towards all. In addition, we will realize that all our accomplishments are actually the fruit of God’s labor, and not our own, and the damaging sense of pride that grew from those accomplishments will fade away.

However, for the moment, our minds are still preoccupied with the business of living, and so this continuous awareness of God is not there. Nor will it come immediately. Shree Maharajji prescribes a simple way to make it so. While doing anything during the day, stop every hour to acknowledge the presence of God. If necessary, set an alarm on your phone or computer to remind you. Over time, reduce this gap to half an hour, then fifteen minutes and so on. In time, the awareness will become constant. The ideal to aim for is “Tailadhaaraavatvichinna” – our awareness must be unbreakable like a stream of oil.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection was a Christian devotee who implemented this strategy wholeheartedly in his life. His invaluable experiences were recorded in his letters, which were posthumously compiled into a book called The Practice of the Presence of God.

“I still believe that all spiritual life consists of practicing God’s presence and that anyone who practices it correctly will soon attain spiritual fulfillment.”

– Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God.

God is nearer to us than we can imagine and always available to us. Let us turn inward to His loving presence today and never look back!