The Importance of Starting Your Day with God
It is vital to begin each day by connecting with God's presence, even when disinclined, as this practice counters Maya's subtle distractions and strengthens one's spiritual resolve.
Going back to... you were saying before that some days we want to pray and some days we don't, and you said that you experience this yourself. I was sharing... no, can I say? Sorry, I know I'm cutting everybody's question today, but I just feel like to say these things is important because not everyone may have heard what I said the other day and it may be helpful to them. Like I was saying the other day, three or four days back, I just woke up and I was feeling so disconnected with the presence. I just felt like a fish out of water; I felt oppressive. So then I started to use the breath and pray, and 'Neti Neti' was happening and like that, but I was very impatient with it. I was saying, 'Okay, what now? I can't live without Your presence, so I have to do something.' Then just a Bhajan helped. I just played the soundtrack of Shrimad Bhagavatam. You never know at what point His light is alive in your heart again. So I know that most of us by now have become stubborn enough to not let Him go or stay with Him during the day. This waking up time—that's why it's so important. Don't start your day without meeting Him. Cancel all your meetings if you have to, but become stubborn about that. Grace will always find a way.
So you say that it does begin with prayer and with the presence of God, but then it goes on and nothing too challenging happens, but instead of choosing to be in silence and pray, I choose to watch a comedy on Netflix or something. And that goes on for a while. The question comes sometimes: should I force myself to stop? I don't need to keep doing this, but I don't, because it's one of those days that you mentioned where you don't feel as attracted to the prayer or to the scripture as you do the rest of the time.
So what to do in those times is to just play a Bhajan, whatever works in other times. Try. Okay, prayer is not working? Okay, this. And don't give up on the 'Neti Neti' like I told you. But it's not that prayer is not working; it's that in that moment I don't want to pray. Then you must force yourself to turn off Netflix. I wanted and I did not want to ask this question. It could be the last moment of your life! Or the mind attack, the hypnosis of Maya, could play out so that you never want to be with God again. At least... so how does it work? If you notice—I notice for myself—it starts off very simply. It doesn't say 'you have to leave God.' At least for those who are truly spiritual, it doesn't come and say 'leave God.' Initially, when some of you came, maybe it was saying that: 'leave all this, it's not for you, it's too difficult.' But now it doesn't tell you like that. It says 'take a break, just catch up on something.' All that I'm saying is from my experience. Something like that, then that ten minutes has gone, then it says 'okay, it's fine, just put on this also, put on that also.' And what you could easily have done instead is spend a few minutes, just return to His life, and then allow it to unfold from there. Because once you get into the mindset of not being in the presence, then it could keep giving you things. Something could happen, you get a phone call, you have to rush, then you get something else. You don't even know—you may forget about God for years. I know I'm exaggerating to make the point, but do we actually really know? So that risk is not worth it.
I noticed that one of the dangers of those moments are those 'should, shouldn't' thoughts, clinging to that. I don't think that's the answer either. Like, there is a voice of 'return to being empty for God' or 'be praying for God' in whichever way.
So if your mind is telling you, say 'I'm going to be empty.' The highest of Advaita is whatever you do, you come to the no-mind, unborn. In the unborn, through insight, it is palpable, it is apparent to you. So become... it's not about following the voice of so-called duty or anything; it's for letting go of everything for God. And there are times where this will seem like a risk. 'Our appraisal meeting with my manager, I'm getting late, my alarm didn't ring.' Father has said start your day with God's presence, come what may. What are you going to do? So these small things will test us. This is how Maya works. Maya is not going to come in some Apsara dancing in front of you; you don't have to wait for the Narada story to happen to you. It is in the small things.
Key Teachings
- Starting the day by connecting with God's presence is crucial to blunt the 'mind attack' or 'Maya's grip'.
- Even when not feeling inclined to pray, one must make an effort to return to God's presence, perhaps through bhajans or other practices.
- Maya subtly distracts us from God, often by suggesting 'breaks' or 'catching up' on worldly things, which can lead to prolonged disconnection.
- Letting go of everything for God, even when it feels like a 'risk' in worldly terms, is essential for spiritual progress.
From: Trust God to Unfold Your Life - 13th May 2024