Meditation Yoga
Chapter 6, Verse 31
sarva-bhūta-sthitaṁ yo māṁ
bhajaty-ekatvam-āsthitaḥ
sarvathā vartmāno’pi
sa yogī mayi vartate
The yogi who is established in unity, worships Me dwelling in all beings; he abides in Me, howsoever he may live.
The devotee, the bhakta who has realised God, actually perceives himself as God. When I say that the bhakta perceives himself as God, this doesn’t mean that he is arrogant or proud. It may sound like he is very arrogant and proud. No! In this context, a bhakta is devoid of arrogance and pride! He is devoid of greed and of all negative qualities! The bhakta’s mind is always focused on the Lord Himself! Such a bhakta has realised God and sees everything as God Himself, perceiving that it is only God in the core of the heart of all.
“The yogi who is established in unity, worships Me dwelling in all beings.” Here Krishna says that once the bhakta has realised this oneness with Him, he sees that there is no difference anywhere, and worships the Supreme Being in all. How does a saint see? He first perceives the Supreme Lord, the Lord of lords in his own being. That’s a true bhakta! A bhakta doesn’t only see God in the outside reality or in the deities’ statues. You constantly carry Him within your heart. Wherever you are, whatever you do, you are always absorbed in Him and He is absorbed in you. The yogic ethical precepts of Yam and Niyam – ʻyou should do thisʼ, ʻyou should not do thatʼ – are not for the bhakta who is completely surrendered! When one perceives the Lord within
one’s own Self, there is no place within one for pride or arrogance. There is only place for humility. In one’s body, mind, and speech, one is doing everything only in relation to God. In such a state of complete surrender, whatever action is performed by the bhakta is perfect! Even if outwardly the action appears imperfect, even if it appears very atrocious or terrible, it is sanctified.
A realised soul perceives that there is no difference anywhere, so when he is engaged in service to others, he is rendering service to God. Christ says in the Bible, “Truly I tell you, whatever you do for even the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it for me.” This also means, “I am this Eternal Soul which is manifested in everything and in everyone. There is no difference.” Normal, worldly people only see the differences, they only see the limitations, but in reality there are no differences. Everything is this cosmic Christ! Everything is this cosmic Reality! It is this Christ Consciousness, or Krishna Consciousness, which pervades everything. The one who finds the Lord within one’s own Self, sees in others the Supreme Lord that one has seen inside oneself. One knows no difference between oneself and others. One is piercing the duality and seeing the Supreme Lord everywhere, in every being. So one is free in one’s action, one is free in whatever one does! In such a state, one is also beyond the scriptures, beyond the ‘dos’ and the ‘don’ts’. As long as one has a limited, worldly mind, one must follow certain rules and injunctions; but the devotee, who is completely surrendered to the Lord, rises above that.
You see this very often in the lives of the ‘fools’ for God. Here I mean the ‘fools’ for Christ, the ‘fools’ for Krishna, the ‘fools’ for Allah. If you read about their lives, you see that they have reached the state of oneness with the Divine. Even if outwardly they act in a very crazy, mad way, they are free from karma, because they are always seated in the wisdom of God Consciousness within themselves. This kind of saints appear in all the religions of the world. They have completely surrendered to God. For them, there is no judgement! There is only the Love of God. They perceive that there is only God who is playing different roles and that God dwells in each person. You will notice that no matter which part of the world they are in, they are very similar to each other. One can be in India, another can be in Egypt, another can be in South Arabia or Russia, yet they all speak one universal language, because there is only One Reality. They don’t have any judgement of others because God is speaking through them. God is acting through them and they are fully aware of that.
In such a state of Realisation, when such a realised one worships, for instance a Krishna deity, even if it is made of stone, He becomes alive in the stone. When one gives water to Him to drink, He is drinking, and when one offers food to Him to eat, He is eating. Paramahansa Ramakrishna was feeding Mother Kali. Meerabai was feeding Krishna and was singing to Krishna. Krishna was dancing around her, because He was constantly dancing in her heart. Like that, one perceives beyond the external reality and sees the Truth, that it is only God Consciousness pervading everything. In such a devotee, there is no trace of attachment to the outside reality. Whatever he does, he always does it in accordance with the Will of God. However he lives his life, wherever he is, whatever he is doing, walking, eating, drinking, or sleeping, he is ever free.
Bhagavad Gita
