This week’s spiritual Sadhana (homework), taken from Pantajali’s yoga surtras, is Bracmacharya — to walk with sacredness or have ethical conduct like God: relating to self and other with unconditional love and integrity, without malice or manipulation. The essence of the practice of Brachmacharya is specific in noting that this invitation extends to all areas of our lives, including our intimate relationships (sexual and platonic) through purity (saucha), non-harming (ahimsa) and truth (satya).

To fully understand this sutra, one must first inquire about one’s personal truth of “God.” What does God mean for you? Brachmacharya is the invitation to ponder beyond the social cultural conditioning of family, nation, race, schooling, etc, our personal experience of God? Whether we are Catholic, Christian, Jew, Atheist or any other religion, the practice of Brachmacharya (walking with God) is a contemplative choice beyond ingrained social conditioning and family heritage. It is an act of conscious reflection and personal choice.

The practice of Brachmacharya invites a deep personal inquiry into one’s truth of God. Inquiry of one’s personal truth requires much courage and honesty, but reaps many blessings. As we unravel the knots of bondage from anything that ties us to untruth, we discover our true and sacred relationship with God.

If we agree that “God” (however we name God) created us, and we also agree that God is the all expansive, all encompassing, life propelling force of Love that created all that IS, then we too are an intrinsic part of the unfolding and expansion of that all encompassing Love. With this understanding, to walk with God is, in reality, a sacred unveiling of the truth of God as the essence of who we are at the core of our sacred existence.

After experiencing God in terms of our personal truth, then the invitation of Brachmacharya is to “walk with God,” or bring the sacred into everyday life. Imagine taking each breath as a sacred breath, each step as a sacred step, each thought, intention, word and action as a sacred movement of God moving through all of existence–which includes you.

All movement of the universe is the movement of God, the movement of Love, but when we become conscious and present of this movement then God (the endless multiplicity of Love) is experienced in truth as all encompassing Love, kindness, compassion, and the joy of all existence with no boundaries and no limits.

The beauty of the practice of Brachmacharya (Walking with God) is the unveiling true freedom and light, beyond all seeming darkness and despair.

As we consciously move out of the ordinary into the profound, out of the mundane into the sacred, all the normal trappings of life fall away and we come closer to the truth of our existence – Love.

If this message touches a truth within you, I invite you to join me this week in this sacred Sadhana as we practice Brachmacharya and “walk together with God.”

As many times as you remember this week, bring the sacred into the ordinary. Move out of the mundane and into the profound with consciousness. Make you existence matter simply by remembering that at the core of your existence, and all existence, is a boundless expression of sacredness and Love – no matter what shows up.

Ultimately, Brachmacharya is the sacred invitation to choose to see the light of God even in the midst of seeming utter darkness.