Seeing God In Everything

We avoid the dangers of life and its evils by seeing God in everything. What makes us miserable? The cause of the miseries from which we suffer is selfish desire. You desire something for yourself, and when the desire is not fulfilled, the result is distress. If there is no selfish desire, there is no suffering.

The solution is not that you should not have property, not that you should not have things which are necessary and things which are even luxuries. Have all that you want, and more, only know the truth about property and wealth, that it does not belong to anybody. Everything belongs to the Lord. Knowing this, have no idea of proprietorship or possessorship. Instead, see the Lord in everything. God is in the wealth that you enjoy. He is in the desire that rises in your mind. He is in the things that you buy to satisfy your desire; He is in your beautiful attire, and He is in your beautiful ornaments. This is the line of thought. All will be metamorphosed as soon as you begin to see things in that light. If you put God in your every movement, in your conversation, in your form, in everything, the whole scene will change, and the world, instead of appearing as one of woe and misery, will become a heaven.

Thus do your work. Desire to live a hundred years; have all earthly desires, if you wish; only deify them, convert them into heaven. Have the desire to live a long life of helpfulness, of blissfulness and activity on this earth. Thus working, you will find the way out. Work, says Vedanta, putting God in everything and knowing Him to be in everything. Work incessantly at holding life as God Himself.