{"id":448,"date":"2019-05-16T08:50:22","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T08:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anandamonastery.org\/?page_id=448"},"modified":"2019-06-25T22:09:35","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T22:09:35","slug":"living-for-god","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/anandamonastery.org\/living-for-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Living for God"},"content":{"rendered":"

From The New Path<\/em>,
\nby Swami Kriyananda<\/p>\n

The worldly person asks first of life, \u2018What do I want?\u2019 The devotee is indifferent to questions of personal, egoic fulfillment, and asks only, \u2018What does God want?\u2019 Renunciation is an inner state of consciousness, not an outward act. All men, whether married or single, who love God and want to know Him must reconcile themselves to living for Him alone. The pathway of the heart is too narrow for the ego and God to walk it together; one of them must step aside and make way for the other.<\/p>\n

\u2018Living for God,\u2019 Yogananda said, \u2018is martyrdom\u2019: martyrdom of the ego; martyrdom of self-will and selfishness; martyrdom of all that worldliness clings to so desperately. But the true devotee comes in time to see that this isn\u2019t martyrdom at all, since its end is blissful freedom in the only true<\/em> Self: God. We are sons of the Infinite! Anything that binds us to a limited existence desecrates this divine image within ourselves. Renunciation is no abject self-deprivation, but a glorious affirmation of the universe of joy that is our birthright.<\/p>\n

As St. John of the Cross put it:<\/p>\n

In order to arrive at having pleasure in everything,
\nDesire pleasure in nothing.
\nIn order to arrive at possessing everything,
\nDesire to possess nothing.
\nIn order to arrive at being everything,
\nDesire to be nothing.
\nIn order to arrive at the knowledge of everything,
\nDesire to know nothing.<\/em><\/p>\n

The essence of renunciation is to relinquish the poverty-consciousness of a beggar, and the clutching attitude of a miser towards things, places, people, experiences\u2014in short, the limitations of this world\u2014and to offer oneself constantly at the feet of Infinity.<\/p>\n

Especially in the beginning of the spiritual life, Yogananda told us, it is better to mix little or not at all with worldly people. For it is essential that one\u2019s heart be strengthened to prepare it for making this heroic gift to God of every desire, every thought, every emotion. No weakling could even possibly make so total a self-offering. Cowards quickly fall by the wayside. None who enter the spiritual path for its superficial glamour alone can survive tests that have no other purpose than to assault the devotee\u2019s every natural inclination. The more completely one can identify himself with an attitude of complete self-surrender, the more likely he is to succeed in his spiritual search.<\/p>\n

This is as true for householders as for monks and nuns. Outward renunciation merely helps to affirm the inner resolve, necessary for all devotees, to seek God alone.<\/p>\n

In the Self-Realization Fellowship monasteries, Paramhansa Yogananda taught us boldly to claim our new identity as sons of God, and to reject all consciousness of worldly ties.<\/p>\n

\u2018Sir,\u2019 I began one day, \u2018my father. . . .\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018You have no father!\u2019 Master peremptorily reminded me. \u2018God is your Father.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m sorry, Sir. I meant, my earthly<\/em> father.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s better,\u2019 the Master replied, approvingly.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>