October 17

Will You Make a Good Babysitter?

Question: We have been very busy lately and we haven’t been able to meditate or do pujas anymore. Even while at school or while playing we seem to forget about God. What can we do to bring God back into our lives?

Sri Gurudev: The easiest way is to know that whatever you do is worship. Anything that you do anywhere, even if you wash dishes to help your mama, it’s a puja. Puja doesn’t mean only sitting in front of an altar and doing something. The kitchen is an altar, the house is a temple and God is in you. When you go to sleep, you are putting God to sleep. When you walk around, you are taking God in a procession. So we have to get into the habit of thinking that way. Whatever you do each day should be done as worship. If you know that, then you won’t say, “I don’t have time to do puja.” That doesn’t mean that you should never do puja as puja. When you have the time, do that kind of puja also.

God didn’t create us to sit and talk about God’s glories. God sent us to do some work, to serve humanity, to take care of everything and everybody. In a way, we are all God’s babysitters. Each being is a child of God. Everything is God’s creation. That means your puppy is a child of God. Your pussycat is a child of God. So God has created you as a babysitter for all God’s children. You say, “Oh, I want to please You, God.” But if you forget about all God’s children, and sit and praise God while the children cry, will you make a good babysitter? A babysitter is hired to take care of the babies. Likewise, we are created to serve everyone.