I think the most important virtue needed is the
renunciation of self-will.
If you offer the Beloved everything you are and have, without holding back, then he will fill that void with Himself and you will be one.
"All for you and nothing for me"
That for me is the gateway to
awareness of union.
It is not truly union for the first time. We come from God and return to Him. We are in exile from our homeland in God. Knowledge of ourselves and of creation teaches us that everything has its origin in Him. All matter, all forms, all creatures exist in and with one another. When the appropriate time comes, they all return to their roots. Their bodily components to the earth, their spirit or whatever one calls the incorporeal aspect of man, returns to God. All creation lives and breathes and moves in Him. It will also be returned to Him again one day. It will ebb back to Him just as it flowed out from Him like the tide of the Sea, the ebb and flow of the waters on the shore - only that God is an inexpressible Sea without a shore, infinite. We participate in that infinity so much as we open ourselves to Him and His presence in our lives.
You are already united with God in the essence of your soul. You see Him there at all times: image to image, eye to eye, spirit to spirit. You commune with Him there at all times.
Nevertheless, you are unaware of this connection because of what Indian writers call the
ego and Western writers
sin. If you give yourself to God holding nothing back and remember Him at all times, this false self will drop away and your pure essence united to God will shine.
We must enshrine the pure love of God in our hearts. Thus we need continual remembrance of God. We must fasten his name on her hearts, not only on our tongues.
When we wake up and lie down, the Name must be with us. When we rise in the morning and go to work, the Name must be with us. Our whole life, every compartment of it, must become imbued with His Name. In this way we come to perceive God in every aspect of our lives. He becomes our companion, our touchstone, whatever we do. In fact
He does whatever we do. We come to realize that we are like actors in a play, with God acting in us and everyone else, manifesting Himself in us. All our deeds are done in Him.
We must remember Him at all times and live always in His presence. Thereby we identify ourselves with Him.
This is a sure path to becoming
aware of our union with God IMHO.
As
Findingmyway explained above, in spiritual terms the Granth symbolically holds every single person, male or female, to be the Bride of God.
"...In ancient times, the wise referred to the soul as feminine. Even her nature is female. She even has a womb [spiritually rather than literally speaking]...."
- The Exegesis on the soul (third century AD)
The Granth exhibits this same tendency to metaphorically envision the soul as feminine. It seems to be a natural affinity in human religious thought.
“Her Husband Lord is Beautiful; His Body is forever fresh and new. The True One does not die, and shall not go. He continually enjoys His happy soul-bride; He casts His Gracious Glance of Truth upon her, and she abides in His Will. ||4|| The bride braids her hair with Truth; her clothes are decorated with His Love. Like the essence of sandalwood, He permeates her consciousness, and the Temple of the Tenth Gate is opened. The lamp of the Shabad is lit, and the Name of the Lord is her necklace. ||5|| She is the most beautiful among women; upon her forehead she wears the Jewel of the Lord’s Love. Her glory and her wisdom are magnificent; her love for the Infinite Lord is True. Other than her Beloved Lord, she knows no man. She enshrines love for the True Guru. ||6||” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.54)
“The women come and sing the songs of joy. Meeting with their Beloved, lasting peace is obtained. ||1|| I am a sacrifice to those, whose minds are filled with the Lord. Meeting with the humble servant of the Lord, peace is obtained, and one intuitively sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord. ||1||Pause|| They are always imbued with Your Joyful Love; O Dear Lord, You Yourself come to dwell in their minds. They obtain eternal glory. The Gurmukhs are united in the Lord’s Union. ||2||” (Guru Granth Sahib, p.798)
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