Baba says, “Stay constantly in front of the Sun of Knowledge and your shadow of fortune will always be with you.“

When God is my world, when He is #1, then everything else works out. When I instead chase after many different things, I feel tired, there is a lot of effort and very little reward. There is no joy. Sometimes, I’m not busy chasing but I am busy taking care of things, shouldering responsibilities. It’s as if my yoga is with the various responsibilities rather than with the Father. I lose my energy, my peace and joy because I feel like I am alone carrying all the weight.

“Put God first“, says Baba. I get that intellectually but how does that work when there is a sick child to take care of or work deadlines hanging over my head. Forget giving extra time to meditation, I don’t feel able to even do as much as I used to. First, Baba has not asked me to sit down in one place and meditate, He is my Father. A child remembers its father naturally, it does not meditate on him. “You are a karmayogi“, He reminds me. I continue to shoulder my responsibilities but I do it while remaining connected to the Father. He becomes my constant Companion, guiding me at every step. Then I don’t feel the burden or the weight of the responsibility, I feel light. There is no labor, I feel as if my strength has been quadrupled and that I am able to face whatever comes my way.

In other words, God is not asking me to put Him first in a long list of priorities- God, sick child, job, myself…no. Instead if I think of my 24 hours as a pie chart with a slice for a different responsibility or commitment, then God is asking me to make Him the hub or the center of that chart such that His influence is present in every slice of my life. Then, as circumstances change, God Himself will guide my steps and lead me to reallocate the right amount of time to the right slice of my life. He empowers me to shoulder my responsibilities with ease.

To put God first, therefore, means to love Him more than anyone or anything else. It means I choose my thoughts, words, attitude, responses with Him in mind. It means that when someone asks me to do something, I run it by Him first. It means to have a deep intimate relationship with Him where nothing is hidden from Him. He knows and is involved in everything about me. I invite Him to guide and empower me. I belong to Him as a child belongs to its father. And so Baba’s #1 shrimat is “Manmanabhav! belong to Me alone in your mind.” If I can do this, then everything becomes easy.

It’s easy in the world of Ravan to allow myself to be consumed by worry, and anxiety. I worry about the health of my family, about my finances, I get anxious over meeting a deadline. I even worry about getting enough sleep or what to wear. To put God first is to make Him my only concern and let Him take care of all the rest. It’s also easy to be swept up by many different opinions- my child thinks I should be a certain way, my spouse expects me to be a certain way, my in-laws expect something different and then there is the boss at work who has expectations too. They all want my time, my attention and expect me to make them my top priority. Intense effort is to guard my heart such that no one and nothing can take my heart-throne other than the Father. If I try to be a ‘do it all’ and try to please everyone, I end up pleasing no one. Instead if I stay true to the One, He then guides my interactions. This is what Arjuna did; he chose One over the vast army which comprised of his uncles, teachers, brothers, friends and all the rest. Its great when everyone understands and cheers me on but it’s not a requirement. All I have to do is stay on the side of the One and allow Him to guide me to victory.

Sometimes, I substitute service for closeness to God. I get so busy in service activities that it inadvertently distances me from God. Then I think: I do so much and yet why do I feel empty inside? Its because I’ve put service on my heart-throne. Yes, it’s good to serve, God Himself asks me to serve but He asks me to maintain a balance between remembrance and service. It’s not possible or recommended to simply sit in one place and remember all the time nor should I be so engrossed in service that I forget to be Manmanabhav. When I perform activities as a true karma yogi, then I don’t feel tiredness or emptiness, I find myself humming a tune, I find myself smiling as I remember that special experience I had with Baba the other day or I sense Him helping me out with my task, giving me that idea.

Keeping God first requires intentionality. It doesn’t just happen, it requires practice. Throughout the day, Baba says, practice checking your thoughts. Especially when I’m busy, let me practice pausing right in the midst of the activity and checking if I’m connected with the Supreme Companion, with the Beloved. If I can learn to keep God first in my life then I won’t have to chase after happiness or try to make my fortune, my fortune will come chasing after me.