Awakening

Live in such a way that your life becomes your prayer unto Him.
verything was going right with his life - everything. There was health, wealth, love, bliss he was living life to the hilt. In fact, his response to How are you? has become Flowing with life. Avyakta's life was absolutely spiritually aligned. However, his prayers were never a petition to his Lord asking for more or asking his god to alter something about his life. He would often say, I don't tell my god what He should be doing or what He should not be doing. Without god, I cannot. Without me, god will not. Doing the best is my job, and doing the rest is His job. However, that evening, he decided to visit a temple. With teary eyes,
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standing in front of the altar of his god, Avyakta's thought flow was You have given me everything and I want to give you something in return. I thought I would offer you flowers, but these flowers are already yours. Whose flowers can I offer to whom? I thought I would offer you fruits, but these fruits too are yours. Oh lord, you have given me everything and I want to give you something in return, but everything seems to be yours already. Why have you rendered me so helpless that I have nothing to give you? I thought I would at least pray to you in words, but the very air that I articulate is yours. You have given me everything my lord, but I have nothing to give you. In a state of complete gratitude and helplessness, where I have nothing

to offer to you, I drop this body of mine at your feet. Saying so, Avyakta prostrated before the altar of his god. With tears of overwhelming gratitude still streaming down his face, he sat in silence in an isolated corner of the temple. The senses had withdrawn themselves and Avyakta seemed to be in a state of trance he was not. His heart was in a state of communion, and his mind was communicating with itself. He was contemplating in his silent chambers. There was a parade of thoughts, and yet there was profound clarity in the flow of thoughts. Avyakta was still in control of his thoughts. He knew what he was thinking.

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February 2007

Av y a k t a w a s t h i n k i n g Coordinating the resources in a certain order to serve a specific function is called work. Bringing the fingers together in a certain order to hold a pen and then moving the hand in a certain order is writing. Directing the mind in a certain order is thinking. Mobilising the tongue in a certain order is speech. Coordinating the body, mind and emotions in a certain order is action. Coordinating action to serve a defined objective is work. So, work is effective management of resources in a certain order to achieve a specific, functional objective. Avyakta said to himself, While all the resources of my life are god's gift unto me, the work I create out of all these resources is actually my creation. True, the flowers, the fruits and the air I have to articulate to pray in words are all His. Even this very me is only His. But the work I create out of all these resources, including me, is my creation. The tears had by then dried on his cheeks. He gently opened his eyes and returned to the altar of his god. He prayed, Oh lord, all the work I do is my creation, of course out of your resources but it is my creation. From now on, I shall no more pray to you in words, nor perform any rituals. I will not offer you flowers or fruits. However, all the work I do from now on will be my offering unto you. Lord, because I offer you nothing but the best, all the work I do from now on will be nothing but the best. They say, everything that we have in life is your gift unto us. True, my Lord,

but I also say unto you - everything I do in life will be my gift, my offering, my expression of gratitude unto you. Avyakta then gently closed his eyes and added, If all the work I do is my offering unto you, then my very life becomes a prayer unto you. My life will be my prayer, my lord. An oft-repeated phrase in history is, A n d o n e d a y, e v e r y t h i n g changed In that sense, it was a h i s t o r i c d a y f o r Av y a k t a . Everything about his life changed on that day, in those few minutes. The disciple asked the Master, Now that you are enlightened, what do you do in life? The Master replied, I draw water from the well and chop wood. The disciple again asked, Before you got enlightened, what did you do? The Master again replied, I used to draw water from the well and chop wood. Puzzled, the disciple commented, There seems to be no difference in your life, before and after enlightenment. The Master smiled and added, There is no change in my actions, but the quality with which I perform my actions has completely changed. Right! In some ways, nothing of Avyakta's life had changed. But in one way, everything about his life had changed. The quality with which he performed his actions, and as a result, the quality with which he lived his life - everything had changed. Some people meditate in life. For some, life itself is meditation. Some people pray in life. For Avyakta, his very life had become his prayer.