In the World, but Not Of It

TO LIVE IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT BE OF IT


This body has lived with parents, so you may call it daughter.

This body has served a husband, so you may call it wife.

It has prepared dishes for all, so you may call it cook.

This body has given birth, so you may call it mother.

It has done all sorts of scrubbing and menial work,

so you may call it servant.


But I see it all as serving no one but God!

For when I served father, mother, husband, and children,

I simply considered them as different manifestations

Of the Almighty, so I served them as such!


When I sat down to prepare food I did it as a ritual.

The cooked food was meant as an offering to God.

Whatever I did I did in a spirit of Divine service.

Hence, I wasn’t quite worldly,

Even though I was engaged in household affairs.

I had one ideal, to serve all as God!

To do everything for the sake of God!

I have never associated my Self with my temporal body.


Before I came to this earth, I was the same.

When my family made arrangements for this body,

To be married, I was the same!

And even when the dance of creation ends, I shall be the same!

And when I’m in the hall of eternity, I shall be the same!


Anandamayi Ma