How are we to best utilise our daily life in order to make it a form of spiritual practice?

Ans : In whatever environment and situation we have been placed by the will of the divine, the factors present in it are necessary for us at this given time and place to enable us to work towards our perfection. For, each one of us has many things to be overcome, renounced and discarded; and a particular situation is given to us as an opportunity for liberating ourselves from that which is holding us back from progressing towards our divine destiny. If we thus understand life with a true spiritual vision, then our entire reaction to things that come to us day by day will be a creative reaction: "God has given this circumstance with a definite plan and purpose. In what way can I gain from this situation, benefit myself and surge ahead? It does not come without meaning." Each situation comes because that is the need for that day.

Our outer life and our inner spiritual life of japa, meditation, introspection and concentration have a close, connection and are necessary for each other. Our inner spiritual disciplines need to be tested for their authenticity each waking day. Daily life is an opportunity provided for us to exercise the spirituality gained during our inner studies, reflection and meditation. It is the testing ground, so that each day our progress is really ours. We have made it our own by having tested it, proven it and possessed it. Until it has been tested and proven, it is not our own, it does not become part of us. Every spiritual step forward becomes assimilated into your nature when it is thus exercised. That which is exercised actively becomes firmly grounded, permanently and truly your own. Thus there is an indispensable connection between your daily sadhana and your daily life.

It is in the context of daily life that you are able to actively exercise and test your spiritual progress. It is in the context of your daily sadhana that day by day the quality of your daily life is enhanced and enriched-it becomes further elevated to higher dimensions of refinement. Ultimately this process culminates in a total divinisation of your being and doing, your actions and reactions. May we thus see this unified nature of our inner and outer life and not see them as two separated aspects. They are not two; they are one integrated and unified process of spiritual evolution. One who perceives this becomes a totally balanced individual. He becomes truly possessed of the knowledge of the art and science of living life as one unified process of evolving day by day spiritually. May the grace of the divine enable us to see ourselves as what we are and to see our life and our environment for what they are. Thus, may this dual knowledge become a means of your steady spiritual progress and evolution into ultimate illumination.