The Practice of the Presence of God

Most people when asked when they ever had an experience of God or felt close to God would tell you, that it was either at special occasions such as the birth of a child, a wedding, a great concert or at a low point of their life, the death of a close friend, a serious illness, the loss of a job or any of those moments when they felt trapped in their worst nightmares.

The experience they describe is a great sense of peace amongst all the turmoil.

This reminds me of Phillip 4:7

“The Peace, that passes all understanding.”

In my own experience, I too feel great peace after confronting inner or outer turmoil and I believe, that God expressing as soul in us is restoring us to wholeness.

It cannot be any other way, for it occurs without personal effort and whatever seemed to have troubled the mind is resolved.

This and similar experiences create an unshakable faith and trust in the Lord.

For many believers finding God in between sorrow and joy is more difficult.

Vedanta teachings inform us that all there is, is God.

There is only One.

But, where do people without specific teachings find an ongoing relationship with God?

From a Christian perspective, the experience of Brother Lawrence is often quoted.

He was born in 1605 and left the body in 1691.

He was raised Catholic, had a religious conversion at age 18.

He explained it this way:

“In the winter seeing a tree stripped of its leaves and considering that within a little time the leaves would be renewed, and after that the flowers and fruit appear, he received a high view of the providence and power of God which had never left the imprint on his soul”.

This personal experience of God’s sovereignty and power set him loose from the world, and kindled in him such a love for God that its impact never left him.

This may sound as a very ordinary experience to us, but awakenings are often just that, experiencing an event in an extra ordinary way.

Over the years Nicholas Herman as he was then called became dissatisfied with life in the world. He tried his hand at living as a hermit and when he was about age 50; he decided to enter a monastery as a lay brother and received the name brother Lawrence.

The Monastery was of a very strict order, but was somewhat reformed by St. Theresa of Avila.

Lay Brother

Being a lay brother meant, that he was part of the work force that allowed the rest of the community to study, teach, preach, and copy manuscripts.

As part of the monastery, the lay brothers, prayed and kept regular hours of devotion.

Brother Lawrence had come to the monastery to learn discipline. He thought that spending the rest of his life up to his elbows in dirty pots and pans seemed like a fitting venue for self - sacrifice. But he said years later, in this God disappointed him. Instead of being a life long penance, for his sins, over time the kitchen work brought him nothing but satisfaction.

Much to his surprise, slaving over a hot stove taught him to practice the presence of God.

For the first years Brother Lawrence did not like his work, in fact, he had a great aversion to it. He also anguished over the condition of his soul, convinced, that if there were any justice in the world, God should damn him (Despondency).

He was Miserable!

Finally he had a break through.

He evaluated his condition (Self analysis) to find out where he had gone wrong.

He learned to understand, that he spend too much time and energy worrying about himself, (negative ego response) so he decided to go back to basics and focus his life on loving God (Purpose).

Years later he explained it this way:”I engaged in a religious life only for the love of God, and I endeavored to act only for Him; whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. I shall have this good at least; that till death I shall have done all that is in me to love Him.”

(Total devotion – life surrendered in God).

This is what made all the difference in his life. From this time on, he found joy in his work. Even the most menial tasks took on a new meaning.

The people around him noticed that something had happened to Brother Lawrence.

When they asked him about it, he told them to practice the presence of God in life’s little duties. Always think of God when you perform your duties (ego less).

Over time people in and outside the monastery came to Brother Lawrence to learn about practicing the presence of God from him. Even religious leaders came to him for advice and other people wrote him letters asking for his spiritual council.

What he learned in the kitchen, he practiced until he died in Paris in his mid-eighties.

Brother Lawrence had always put God first. He would renounce everything that hindered him to come close to God. It was a love for God without any selfish motive. He also showed great faith when his mind was troubled, he consulted no one. He knew by faith that God was always present. He thought that to trust God in all his endeavors would elicit God’s Grace.

He suggested, that one should do ones business without any thought of pleasing men and only to please God and that all things are possible with God.

He prayed:” O my God, since thou art with me, and I must now; in obedience to Thy commands, apply my mind to these outward things, I beseech Thee, to grand me the grace to continue in Thy presence; and do this end do Thou prosper me with Thy assistance, receive all my works, and possess all my affections”.

Comment: Brother Lawrence practiced both Bhakti and Karma Yoga and probably never heard of these teachings.

Yogananda:

“Devotees purified by a holy life, during periods of intense worshipful devotion subdue their senses and attain a state of perfect mental calm by simple but wholehearted concentration on the Lord.

Mentally they plunge into the darkless dark, the lightless light, in which the indestructible spirit, the indescribable, unthinkable One exists as the Kutastha Intelligence (Christ or Krishna consciousness) in creation – omnipresent,

immovable, and unchangeable, the pure formless reflection (or Son) of the transcendental Lord.

Christian mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Theresa of Avila, and perhaps Brother Lawrence, experienced this Transcendental Consciousness.

Of this divine communion, St. Theresa declared,

“I have seen the formless Christ.”

This type of devotee (in effect, a yogi or one who has attained yoga or union with God) reaches the Absolute, but is not necessarily conscious of the intermediate scientific stages that have transpired within him to lead this consciousness to emancipation.”

In fact, not understanding the experience, many saints including St. Theresa suffered mental anguish”.

In another verse Yogananda describes it this way:

“Such a Yogi ever devotedly realizes God in duality as well as in unity. He attains fixity of the mind on God and remains ever united with Him. Rising above all material attachment as he acquires progressively elevated states of consciousness, he works for God through love and service to all beings, Knowing that in them the Lord is manifested. He worships the Lord with single-hearted devotion, realizing that God is the sole object and goal of his life. He is an example that all divine seekers can follow to re-ascend to God.

Shanti, Peace, Amen.