Everybody knows one thing: God exists at the heart of every soul, no matter how fallen the soul is. But how many of us realise it seriously all the time? I guess many of us know this but have never realised or felt it seriously. For example, if you are from India, no matter where you travel, you will never forget that you are Indian. You always feel and realise you are Indian. If you are a male, then you never forget you are male and feel and realise it all the time. If you are a doctor, then you also feel it all the time. But when it comes to the fact that God exists inside our heart, we simply neglect it and do not feel it all the time.
We are constantly aware of our own soul. We say I have done this; I have gone there; I travelled here today; and I ate that food. We use the word I because we realise the soul all the time, but along with the soul is the god Shri Krishna, who is residing inside our heart. Unfortunately, we do not realise Shri Krishna inside our heart. The way we think about ourselves, that is, our soul, is the same way we must realise God inside our heart. I am not the only one residing in my heart; he, the god, has also been there since eternity, and he never leaves me alone for even a fraction of a second. He is always present in my heart, alongside my soul.
The soul resides inside the heart but has its effects over the whole body. It provides consciousness to the whole body. Similarly, God also resides within the same heart, providing consciousness to the soul. It is actually providing consciousness to the soul, which provides consciousness to the whole body. It is said in our sastras and vedas that there are two birds inside our heart. One is the soul, and another is God. The soul performs karma and gets the fruits of his action, while God just notes the deeds (karma) of the soul (jeev) and provides the fruits of his deeds. All the souls are free to perform any karma (deeds). We humans can do whatever we like, but the fruit of our action also contains consequences, and it is a compulsion that we must face the consequences. Everyone has to face the consequences as the fruits of their karma. Even the father of Lord Shri Ram had to die on the day he had to. It is fixed, as our death is also the fruit of our karma. It was fixed before our birth. It is determined by the karma (deeds) of our past lives.
God resides inside our hearts, and we perform karma. Some people say that it is God who compels us to do karma. So all the deeds we are doing are done by God. And people say that all their sins are also done by God. But it is totally wrong. The reality is that God only gives us the power to perform karma, but it is up to us what we do. God does not interfere with what we do but only gives us the power to do what we do. Every living soul is free to do whatever he likes, but he will also be rewarded with the fruit of his action.
Thus, God resides inside us all the time. Before we were even born, we were inside the womb of our mother, and God was inside us even at that time. After death, everyone will leave us, but God will never. He will reside inside us even after our deaths. Even though we are suffering in hell due to our bad actions, God resides with us at that time as well. After losing this human form, if we get the lowly forms of animals like dogs and cats, then also God will never leave us. There is not a single second in our lives when God leaves us alone. So be very sure that God is always inside us, noting all our actions. He is not like other people who are together with us only at the time when we are strong and rich. He also resides inside the one who is poor and weak.
God is the one who gives us consciousness all the time. Without the power of God, even the soul will not be alive. He gives life to all souls. If we realise that God is inside our hearts all the time in our lives, then it would even lead us to the realisation of God. There is no need for hard penance for it. But for that we need practice. Just after we think that God is inside us, it will not work because, due to our other works, we will easily forget. Thus, after 1 hour or 30 minutes, we must make a habit of reminding ourselves that God is inside us, watching us all the time. At first, it will take a lot of practice, but after practice, it will be very easy for us to realise that God is inside us all the time.
When we were small, we didn’t know from which country we were from, but with constant listening from people that we were from this country, we realised that we were citizens of that country. For example, an Indian child does not know he is Indian, but after continuously listening to people say that he is Indian, he finally realises that he is Indian. Similarly, we might not succeed in one day; it will take us time and continuous practice to realise that God is inside us.
Imagine a person who is the richest in his country. He might have billions of dollars. All his money is either secured in a bank or somewhere else. His money is not with him all the time, and his money can be stolen. But see that billionaire—how proud he is of being the richest in his country. He becomes very happy, and he feels very successful. Now realise that God, who is the master of all the universe, is inside our hearts. Such a powerful personality is inside our hearts. All the wealth in this world is actually the wealth of God. Thus, we must be more proud than that billionaire because God, the most powerful in the infinite universe, resides inside our heart. How fortunate I am. It is the reason that devotees are happy all the time because they realise that God is inside them all the time.