Question: I'm a student. How can I study and still keep God before me?

Sri Chinmoy: It is very easy. You have to be aware of your purpose in studying. If you are studying to get a diploma, to be recognised by everyone and to make yourself feel that you are the wisest person on earth, then you will not be able to keep God before you. But if you are studying to please God, to serve God better, then with each line that you read, you must keep that idea in your mind. You have to feel all the time that there is someone watching you. While you are studying you have to feel that God is just beside you. You are a little child and your Father is watching to see whether you are studying or not. God is your eternal Father and Mother. He is always watching you invisibly.

Studying need not be an obstruction in the spiritual path; it can be a help. Studying demands discipline. If you want to do well in school, you have to discipline yourself. The capacity that you acquire in a few years of study you can also apply to your spiritual life. Discipline in any walk of life has to be appreciated and admired. Discipline is a divine instrument if it is applied to a divine purpose. Discipline is strength. In your student-life you have an opportunity to develop this strength which will be of great help to you in your spiritual life.

Study itself is a kind of service. From now on you have to take your study as a form of service to God. If you study well, if you get good marks and keep a devoted consciousness, then through your study in that particular field you are pleasing God. Today He wants you to study, and tomorrow He may ask you to do something else. In each field you have to please God in His own Way.