God Is Seeing Me

Add as a preferred source on Google

Vedanta Kesary 1992 April p.122-125

Sometime in the 1950s a Swami of the Ramakrishna Order was on a pilgrimage to Sri Kedarnath, the ancient Siva Temple nestling among the snow-clad ranges of the Himalayas. On his way from Gaurikund to the Temple he saw an old village-woman in her seventies, trudging along at a snail's pace with her hand on the shoulder of a young boy who was guiding her up the 14-km-long, steep, winding and narrow bridal-path. Scores of pilgrims young and old, men and women - a few on horseback and dandis, but most on foot-were on their way to the temple. So the sight of an old woman going up the path shouldn't have been extraordinary but for the fact that she was stark blind.

The swami highly appreciated the old woman's determination and devotion. He was a little curious too. He asked her respectfully, 'Mother, what draws you to the Temple? You've undertaken this long, arduous journey, but at the end of it you won't be seeing Baba Kedarnath.' She seemed a bit surprised at this question. Then she smiled. With folded hands raised to her head and eyes filled with tears of devotion, she said in a throbbing voice, 'It's true I cannot see Him. But, surely, Baba Kedarnath will see me when I am there.' The swami stood there, stunned. What a revelation it was to him! He was on his way to have the Darshan of Baba Kedarnath..(1. She spoke in Hindi. These were her words:)

It was obvious that Kedarnath too would see him. But he had never thought along that line before! It came to him like a flash now: 'I shall see the Lord only when I reach the Temple. But He is seeing me right here, this moment!' The swami knew there and then that his pilgrimage had borne fruit through this message from the Lord: 'I am always seeing you.' This message has remained with the Swami ever since. It has been to him a constant source of inspiration, security, and strength.

No devotee needs to be told that God is seeing him always. It's so obvious, and yet, how very often the obvious eludes our attention! The devotee tends to forget that whether or not he sees God, God on His part is always seeing him. Whether or not the devotee hears God's voice, God is always hearing the devotee. Whether or not the devotee touches God, God is always touching him. 'But what's the use of it all if I don't feel God seeing, hearing and touching, me? And because I don't feel it, I can't remember it,' the devotee may say. But then 'remember' is precisely what he ought to do. He must 'remember' God's presence because he is not able to feel it. Once he begins to feel God's presence, 'remembering' is not at all necessary.

What happens when a devotee makes conscious efforts to always remember 'God is seeing me"? First and foremost, his occasional moods of loneliness and depression take leave of him. Initially when the devotee tries to draw his mind away from the distractions of the world he finds it an uphill task. To some extent it becomes easier if he withdraws into solitude, whenever possible, to think about God. But even in solitude he carries with him the same troubled mind and directing the mind Godward continues to be a pretty tough job. Physically-and to some extent even mentally, if he tries hard enough - he may be able to cut himself off from worldly distractions, but establishing a living contact with God usually takes time.