God’s Instrument

To be an instrument in the hand’s of God, one needs to stop identifying oneself with being the doer. What is the viewpoint to consider when engaged in day to day actions? In the following conversation with John Hislop, Swami explains:

Hislop: Swami says that God should be recognized as the doer of all actions and that we should not take it upon ourselves to be the doer. Further, Swami also says that instead of depending on limited human strength, we should call upon the strength of God. Since Swami says these two things in His discourses, then the instructions must be intended for everybody?

Sai: Take the viewpoint that God is working through you.

Hislop: What does that mean, Swami? How does that apply in the actual actions taking place each day?

Sai: You think you are engaging in the action, but it is your body doing so, or your mind, or your intelligence. But God is working through them. It is only the atma in you which is the source of action. The atma is God.

Hislop: Then, instead of considering that it is myself acting, I should tell myself—and appreciate—that “I” am just a word, and that all these actions and movements going on are not coming from “Hislop” but are actually God Himself acting?

Sai: God is using your intelligence, mind, and body as His instruments for doing that particular work. You write with a pen, or cut paper with scissors—but it is not those instruments that are doing the work—it is you who are using the instruments for the purpose of doing the work. Likewise, the instruments you call “yourself”—intelligence, mind, and body—are used by God for His purpose.

Hislop: Is that a practical thing to do, hour in and hour out? Tell myself that my mind and body, at any and every moment, are at that moment being used by God as His instrument? Is that a practical way to live and move through the day?

Sai: Yes. That is the fact, and it is practical.

“Conversations with Baba”
My Baba and I