For getting devotion to God, confidence is necessary. Food is the start. The body is made of food. Without health, it is very hard to do anything. The stomach is of four parts: ¼ part air, ¼ part food and ½ part water. Too much food is taken nowadays; there is no room for water. In India, rice and wheat are standard. They are all right if taken in moderation. But people eat too much and get dull. Too much food results in dullness of the mind. Food in moderation does not result in sickness. Swami travels to various parts of India and does not get sick from food. Swami becomes sick only when taking on the sickness of a devotee, otherwise, never. Too much milk is bad. It is rajasika.
Food is important for the body. Even for being born, food is the reason. Mother and father have been nourished with food and then give birth to a child. The parents have been brought up on food; the whole body is a food bundle. The type of food you eat, that kind of thoughts will come to your mind. If you have Sattvika food, there will be a Sattvika effect; fruit, milk - everything that is cool and not hot such as strong onions. Meat gives the blood its effect like passion and similar qualities. Dirty thoughts come with fish. Although fish is always in water, it has a bad smell.
Meat is all right for those who concentrate on the body, and want to have strength, but for spiritual aspirants it is not good. With meat the body will get the proteins but the mental proteins will not be there. If you are keen on spiritual life, eating meat is not worthwhile; but if you are keen on worldly life, it is all right. There is another spiritual reason. When you kill an animal, you give him suffering, pain, harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give pain? Sometimes when someone beats a dog he cries, he feels so much pain; how much more pain then in killing. Animals did not come for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They come to work out their own life in the world. When a human being is dead, the foxes and other animals may eat it, but we have not come for that purpose. Similarly, man eats the animal, but the animal has not come to provide man with food. But, we have taken to eating meat as a habit.
Anything that comes from the cow, a little milk, butter, cheese is all right for the spiritual aspirant. There is no harm to the cow and it is of benefit to take it. In Dwapara Yuga before Kali Yuga 5680 years back, milk came into favour. Even thousand years is the full length of the Kali Yuga . (CWBSSB, pp. 24-26)
Rama said to Shabari, ‘Mother! Devotion is the thing I need; the rest is subsidiary. Other things like scholarship, intelligence, status social prestige, caste, I do not pay attention to them. They are of no value in my eyes. More than all the powers gained by spiritual discipline and austerities, I relish the sweetness of devotion saturated with love. I seek only that. A man who has no love in him is as barren as a cloud with no moisture, a tree with no fruits, or a cow yielding no milk; he is ever far from God and can never earn Grace. Of the nine ways of evincing and cultivating devotion, I only desire that anyone be followed constantly by man. (RKRV Part II, p. 75)
Devotion has to be un-intermittent, uninterrupted like the flow of oil from one vessel to another. (Prema Vahini, p. 54)
Today every young man has a small comb in his pocket and he also has a small mirror. Every young girl carries a huge basket and in the basket they have a whole market. Why do we carry all this paraphernalia? It is because we want to set right our face hair when it gets a little dishevelled. If our face needs a little touching up, we look after it immediately. We pay undue attention to our body, but we do not refrain our mind from following the crooked ways. It is our internal instruments that have to be set right so as to enable us to pursue the sacred path. In order to remove the entanglements that distort the right vision, you should cultivate devotion, love and wisdom.
We must understand how the unsophisticated Gopis and Gopala, who had not read the Vedas were attracted to the Lord and how they loved the Lord. While remaining immersed in the thought of God, they regarded Mahavishnu to be the chaitanya of the life prevalent everywhere. This realisation was possible only for the Gopikas, because of their intense devotion. Learning derived from various Shastras and all the Vedas is of no avail, if it does not help you to reach the feet of the Lord. (SSB 1973, p. 240)
Devotion should not be confined to the four walls of the shrine-room; or the few minutes you perform Dhyana. It is a full time Sadhana. Your devotion has to be expressed as worship of every one, as a living embodiment of Divinity. See God in everyone, even in person whom you regard as your enemies. Practise that broad inclusive type of Love. Devotion is like the head; Duty is the trunk; Discipline is the Feet. Let Devotion be linked with Duty and lead by Discipline then success is certain. (SSS Vol.7, pp. 158-159)
There are three types of devotion; the vihanga method, where like a bird swooping down the ripe fruit on the tree, the Bhakta is too impatience and by the very impatience he exhibits, he loses the fruit which falls from his hold; the markata method where like a monkey which pulls towards it one fruit after another and by sheer unsteadiness is not able to decide which fruit it wants, the Bhakta too hesitates and changes his aim much too often and thus loses all chances of success and the pipilika method where like the ant which slowly but steadily proceeds towards the sweetness, the devotee also moves direct, with undivided attention towards Lord and wins His Grace. (SSS Vol.1, p. 17)
Devotion increases only by spiritual sadhana. Only by directing the vision inwards do we discover Divinity. How should we hunger for Divinity?
As a calf bleats for its mother;
As a wife pines for her husband;
As a man craves for a good son,
As a starving man hungers for food.
So must one hunger for the Divine. That is how we should pray to the Lord, full of longing to realise union with the Divine. But our prayers are mostly full of hollow pomp and show. We feel in one way and speak in another way. True worship results from the harmony of thought, word and deed. Manasyekam Vachasyekam Karmanyekam Mahathmanam. Great souls are those who have achieved unity in thought word and deed. Have we this triple harmony? Our thoughts and words and deeds run in different directions. It is said: Manasyanyat vachasyanyat karmanyanyat duratmanam. Thoughts, words and deeds are at variance in the evil minded. We should try to purify our feelings. (SS April 87, p. 101)
Love and sacrifice (Prema and Tyaga) are the two most important ideals in life. Love all, even those who hate you. That is the index of your devotion. (SSS Vol.30, p. 18)
The criterion for true devotion is not proficiency in scriptures or routine performance of so-called spiritual practices, but the realization of the divinity in oneself as well as in all others, which can be attained only through steadfast adherence to truth, purity of heart and universal love. Where there is Citta-shuddhi (purity of mind and heart), there will be Jnana Siddhi (attainment of wisdom). One with Citta Shuddhi need not go to the forest or pilgrim centres in search of God. He will find God in himself and in others too. (SSS Vol.26, p. 123)
Devotion towards God goes ill with hatred towards fellow men. Fellow men and the World must be seen ever in the mirror of ‘Sat-cit-ananda’. Kinship based on this recognition will alone last. That is the Sai kinship. When you deepen that kinship, the true presence, the constant presence of Sathya Sai will be yours. Do not be led away by your fancies into the jungle of words and feelings. Be firm, true of your innermost nature. (SSS Vol.12, p. 94)
He must understand that the loss, suffering and worry are external, belonging to this world, and that Japam and Dhyana(m) are internal, belonging to the realm of love for the Lord. This is what is called Pativrata Bhakti, (Chaste Devotion); the other variety, where the Sadhaka selects one Name and Form and after sometime discards them for another Name and Form, is called Vyabichara Bhakti (Unchaste devotion). (SSS Vol.18, p. 122)
Six forms of devotion are Shantam (tranquillity), Sakhyam (friendship), Dasyam (service), Vatsalyam (maternal love), Anuragam (loving feeling) and Madhuram (ecstatic devotion). Bhishma,Arjuna, Hanuman, Yashoda, the Gopikas and Radha are examples of the different forms of Bhakti.
Bhishma manifested devotion in the Shanta form. Lying on a bed of arrows for 56 days, awaiting the advent of the auspicious moment for giving up the body, Bhishma devoted his thoughts to God with a serene sweetness and calm mind.
Arjuna is the exemplar of Sakhya bhakti. All his life he was devoted to Krishna, enjoying the relationship as brother-in-law, but always adoring Krishna as his divine mentor. Arjuna’s devotion was based on kinship. Krishna, for the same reason, protected Arjuna as a kinsman.
Hanuman’s devotion to Rama exemplifies Dasya Bhakti (service as a form of devotion). Hanuman’s only thought was to serve Rama always, be near to him and wait for his commands. Once Rama called Hanuman and asked him: ‘Hanuman! How do you love?’ Hanuman replied: ‘In terms of the physical, I look upon you as my Lord and regard myself as your servant. In terms of the mind, you are the object and I am only your image. Spiritually, You are I and I am you. I am experiencing you in these ways. As long as I have the body consciousness, you are the Lord and I am your servant.’ This is the attitude that prevails in Dasya bhakti.
Anuraga Bhakti (loving devotion) is exemplified by the Gopikas. Whatever work they might be doing, their thoughts were centred on Krishna and they were always yearning for Him. When work is done in this way, it is transformed into worship. Every action is dedicated to the Divine and is performed as an offering to the Divine. With this attitude, the Gopikas were prepared for any kind of trials and tribulations from husbands and mothers-in-law. They worshipped Krishna without any feeling of rancour and bitterness against those who treated them harshly. Krishna was firmly implanted in their hearts. This is known as Anuraga bhakti-the form of devotion in which the devotee is inseparably bound to the Lord in his heart.
(Yashoda adoring Bala Krishna)
Yashoda exemplified Vatsalya bhakti – loving the Lord as a mother loves a child. Despite the numerous miracles performed by Krishna and in spite of witnessing manifestations of his divinity in various ways, Yashoda regarded Krishna as her son and loved Him with maternal feelings. Even when Krishna showed to her all the fourteen worlds in His open mouth, Yashoda imagined that it was only her own imagination and Krishna was just a child. Even when Krishna was performing wonders in Mathura, Yashoda was worried about Him as any mother would and made anxious enquiries about her Gopala, when Uddhava came to Repalle.
In worshiping Krishna, devotees have their own individual partiality for certain names. Meerabai always hailed Him as ‘Giridhar Gopala.’ Sakkubai always called Him ‘Ranga! Ranga!’ Yashoda was attached to the name ‘Gopala’.
Radha is an example of Madhura bhakti. Radha completely identified herself with Krishna. Her devotion to Krishna was on an inseparable relationship. The Radha-Krishna relationship is that of Prakriti and Paramatma (of Nature and God). (SSS Vol.21, pp. 73-75)
Devotion alone bestows the supreme good; Devotion alone is the destroyer of the disease of the cycle of birth and death; Devotion alone is the means of recognizing Divinity; Devotion alone is the means of Liberation. (SSS Vol.29, p. 1)
One may be a scholar well-versed
in all scriptures, Epics and Vedanta,
One may be Emperor reveling
in lovely palaces with deep attachment;
One may be a conqueror of the world
having vanquished his enemies in the battlefield
One may be an unfortunate servant of
the goddess of poverty, undergoing great
suffering due to her ‘merciful look’;
If one is lacking in devotion, he is useless for everything.
A servant, who is an embodiment of devotion
is holier than a great Emperor lacking in devotion.
What more can I explain Oh! Men of noble qualities?
(M&IM, p. 21)
Man cannot express in human language that state of unbounded devotion. By outward signs, which can be cognized by the senses, one can feel that the devotee is in a high state of bliss, but who can gauge the depth of the joy? That has no relation with the senses of all Devotion has to be realised in your own experience, though great souls can illumine the path a little for you by their examples. Always remember that words fail when they approach the beyond. Consider these illustrations.
Maitreyi, one of the foremost devotees among women, compared the mind of a devotee to a still lake. That is to say when all agitation is stopped, the mind becomes inactive, ineffective, worn out into nothing. Kapila mahrshi, speaking of the same devotion, compares it to flowing stream. Streams and rivers like Ganga and Godavari flow uninterruptedly without rest or any other thought towards the sea; so, too, from the very moment of birth, the devotee yearns to reach the sea of the grace of the Lord. Devotion is the unbroken relationship. Whatever the task on hand, whichever road is trod, the mind dwells on the goal alone, the goal of attaining the Lord. Again, in Devi Bhagavatam, it is said that devotion is as the flow of oil from vessel to another. This image is more or less like that of the river. Sankara characterises devotion differently in the Shivanandalahari. Like the piece of iron that is drawn towards the magnet, the individual is drawn towards the Lord and attaches himself firmly to the Lord. All modifications of the mind become merged in the feet of the Lord.
Ramanuja explained that devotion, as well as meditation done through love (prema), are essentially the same. Though each interprets it differently, all interpretations are correct for they are all based on actual experience that cannot be negated. These statements do not exhaust the types; there are many more. For devotion is of thousand forms; it flows along a thousand streams, to reach the ocean of Lord’s grace. The goal of all the forms is the merger of the individual with God, an absorption that is an experience. (WLMG, pp. 261-263)
Rain water gets absorbed in sand. But it becomes sweet when it falls on clay. Similarly, devotion shines in a person depending on his deservedness. (SS Sept 12, p. 286)
Devotion to God is not to be calculated on the basis of the institutions one has started or helped, the temples that one has built or renovated, the donations one has given away, nor the number of times that one has written or recited the Name of the Lord. These are not vital at all, not even secondary. Devotion is Divine Love, unsullied by any tinge of desire for the benefit that flows from it, or the fruit of the action, or the consequence of that love. It is love that knows no particular season or reason. Its nature is such as the love of the soul for the Divine, the river for the sea, the creeper for the tree, the star for the sky, and the spring for the cliff down which it flows. It is sweet, in bad times as well as in good. (SSS Vol.4, p. 38)
True meaning of devotion lies in practice
Today people celebrate Rama’s birthday as a festival, but do not practise Rama’s ideals. Enshrine Rama’s ideals in your heart. Without it, there is no meaning in celebrating Rama’s birthday. You must follow the example of a noble and ideal person. This is the meaning of devotion.
People talk about devotion. Does mere participation in Bhajans constitute devotion? No. It is all a stunt. True devotion calls for the practice of at least one of the teachings that you learn. By following at least one good lesson, a man should lead an ideal existence. (SSS Vol.28, p. 94)
Sukha dhukhhamulu samamuga bhavinchi jeevinchute bhakti naku
(To consider pain and pleasure with equal-mindedness, with the spirit of equanimity, understanding that pain and pleasure are not different, That is devotion)
Kirti Apakirti okka murthigane
Bhavinchi brathukute Bhakti padamu
Kirti Apakirti okka murthigane
Praise and blame;
People may praise you or people may blame you,
To consider praise and blame with equal- mindedness is devotion)
Kirti Apakirti okka murthigane
Bhavinchi brathukute Bhakti padamu
To consider felicitation, humiliation,
Jubilation, elation, and blame all alike,
Is Bhakti Padamu, the path of devotion?
(Alarm Bells! Divine, pp. 153-154)
Extract taken from (Bhagavan, Bhakti, Bhakta and Bhagavatha: God, devotion, the devotee, and the scripture)
Devotion is the key to the spiritual path,
And vital for sailing across the ocean of life;
Devotion heightens the yearning for divinity,
And is the stepping stone for liberation.
This land Bharat has eloquently proclaimed through the ages the virtues of bhakti or devotion. Devotion does not merely mean the observance of rituals, the performance of penance, or meditation. (SSB 2000, p. 95) Devotion is not merely offering several types of worship or going on pilgrimage. Unalloyed and true love for love s sake alone constitutes devotion. True devotion is the love flowing from a pure heart unpolluted by selfish motives. Love is the intimate bond of relationship between the devotee and the Lord. (SSS Vol.28, p. 119)
Devotion really means sincere and intense love for the Lord. It implies pure and steady love, untainted by any selfish desires or action. Such love knows no boundaries and is beyond all regulations. The spontaneous outflow of selfless love from man to God is true bhakti. Love admixed with worldly desires cannot be called devotion. The only desire one must have is for God; all other desires must be set aside, and nothing must be allowed to come between oneself and God. The love coming from the devotee’s heart must flow unimpeded to God. Love for God must be totally impervious to the vicissitudes of life. (SSB 2000, p. 95)
All the 18 yogas mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita , such as Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Vibhuti Yoga etc., are contained in Bhakti yoga. There is nothing beyond this. (SSS Vol.28, p. 119)
Among all forms of Sadhana, Bhakti (devotion to the Lord) is the easiest and holiest. Bhakti is derived from the root ‘Bhaj’, with the suffix ‘ktin.’ It means Seva (Service). It denotes a feeling of friendship coupled with awe.
For one who is a creature of the gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas), to understand what transcends the gunas, an attitude of humility and reverence is required. ‘Bhaja sevayam’ (worship the Divine through Seva). Bhakti calls for utilising the mind, speech and body to worship the Lord. It represents total love. Devotion and love are inseparable and interdependent. Bhakti is the means to salvation. Love is the expression of Bhakti. Narada declared that worshipping the Lord with boundless love is Bhakti. Vyasa held that performing worship with love and adoration is Bhakti. Garga Rishi declared that serving the Lord with purity of mind, speech and body is Bhakti. Yajnavalkya held that true Bhakti consists in controlling the mind, turning it inwards and enjoying the bliss of communion with the Divine.
Another view of Bhakti is concentration of the mind on God and experiencing oneness with the Divine. (SSS Vol.19), 18-10-1986
Basic characteristic of devotion is Love
Although many sages have expressed different views about the nature of Bhakti, the basic characteristic of devotion is Love. Love is present in every human being in however small a measure. The jiva (individual) is an aspect of the Divine, who is the supreme embodiment of Love. Man also is an embodiment of Love, but because his love is directed towards worldly objects, it gets tainted and he is unable to get a vision of God in all His beauty.
Ordinarily people regard offering worship to God, reciting His name and meditating on Him as constituting Bhakti. True devotion really means installing the Divine in the heart and enjoying the bliss of that experience. It is the mystic union of the individual soul and the Universal. When the devotee prays ardently from the depths of the heart and his love gushes forth, Bhakti is manifested. Winning love through love is the vital aspect of devotion. Prayer does not mean merely appealing to God for favours. It is a means of conveying to God one s troubles, desires and aspirations and offering all one s merits and the fruits of one s actions to God. The basic quality of devotion is the yearning for realising oneness with the Divine. (SSS Vol.19), 18-10-1986
Pure, unsullied Atma and the fickle mind
Recognising the Divine as Love, spiritual aspirants have been worshipping it as the Supreme Spirit. Because love is Divine the body is considered a temple. It is also regarded as a mansion.
‘Nirdosho nirmalo naathah: sadosho chanchalo vadhuh’ (The master or husband is immaculate and pure; the wife is fickle and prone to go astray). A husband who is pure and a wife who is fickle are residing in this body. When a pure husband and a fickle wife live together, how can there be peace in such a home? To ensure peace and happiness in such a home, either the husband has to follow the wife or the wife has to follow the husband. When these alternatives are examined it will be seen that it is not proper for a pure and immaculate husband to follow the dictates of a fickle and wayward wife. The natural course is for such a wife to follow the ways of the husband. In this instance, who is the husband and who is the wife? It is the Atma, pure, unsullied and steadfast, that is the husband. The mind is the fickle, wavering and wayward wife.
The effort to make the mind follow the pure, unsullied Atma is Bhakti (devotion.) Many names are attributed to this devotion. The Bhagavatha equates devotion with service to the Lord. ‘Bhaja sevayam’(Adore Service as worship). ‘Hrishikesha sevanam Bhaktiruchyathe’ (Service to Hrishikesha, the Lord of the senses, is termed Bhakti). In other words, devotion means directing the mind towards God. Leading a life with the vision of the Divine in view is Bhakti.
Leading a life with the body-consciousness is moha (delusion). Hence, the lovers of Vishnu, the worshippers of the Lord, are devotees; the lovers and adorers of the world and worldly objects are mere humans. (SSS Vol.22), 24-8-1989.
Devotion to God - the only path for salvation
For the sorrows of birth and of death which accompany you in this world, God’s name is the only solution. We can describe devotion as the promotion of a sacred mind, in a selfless manner, in the thought of God. The path of devotion will take you, along with your mind, body and action, towards God. As the river flows into the ocean, the river of your life should flow into the ocean of God. Human nature should have this as the sacred objective. Truly, having attained human birth, if we are unable to take ourselves towards God, it is useless attaining this birth. Although there are several paths of devotion, the Vedas have told us that there are three main ones amongst them. (SSB 1978, pp. 214-215)
Devotion is that free mobile flow of love of God. (CWBSSB, p. 88)
Devotion is as fire. Fire will melt iron. God is moved by devotion.(CWBSSB, p. 88)
Devotion is complete surrender. Grace is won by Sadhana and Sat-sila, Discipline and Virtue. (SSS Vol.8, p. 3)
Devotion to God is the only path to salvation. For the sorrows of birth and death, which accompany you in this world, God s name is the only solution. (SSB 1978, p. 194)
We can describe devotion as the promotion of a sacred mind in a selfless manner, in the thought of God. The path of devotion will take along your mind, body and action towards God. As the river flows into the ocean, the river of your life should flow into the ocean of God. Human nature should have this as the sacred objective. Truly, having attained human birth, if we are unable to take ourselves towards God, it is useless attaining this birth. (SSB 1978, p. 194)
Devotion without humanity, patriotism without morality will be of no use and bring harm to the community. (SSB 1979, p. 36)
Devotion to the Divine will give you Bliss, and Prosperity and Peace. It cannot inflict pain, perturbation or personal anxiety. It fosters Love and brings all together as one band of brothers. (SSS Vol.9, p. 113)
Devotion to the lord is only a form of discipline to reach the Goal. Karma which pleases the Lord is superior to the Karma which fulfils the yearning of the devotee. If all acts are felt as the Lord s, they will not be tarnished by egoism or the taint of ‘mine’. (GV, pp. 198-199)
True devotion must not get dispirited nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains. It must fight against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule, and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice. (SSS Vol.4, p. 266)
Devotion is not a uniform to be worn on certain days when you gather for worship and then be laid aside when the service is over. It must mean the promotion of an attitude that is ever present. It is the sustenance of the heart, just as food is sustenance for the body. (Golden Age, p. 29)
Devotion is something sweet, soothing, refreshing and restoring. It must confer patience and fortitude. (SSS Vol.2, p. 15)
Devotion is the expression of love. The emotion which is called love emanates from the Atma. Love is synonymous with Atma. Love has nothing at all to do with worldly feelings and secular things. Love, which is just another word for devotion, is the very name of Atman. This principle of love emanating from the core of the heart, must saturate every action, word and thought. This will happen when you think that everything you do, say or think is for the satisfaction of the Lord, alone. (DBG, p. 7)
Devotion bestows the highest benefits. Devotion alone is the means of Realisation. Devotion alone confers Supreme Peace. Devotion is the panacea for all ills. There is no Veda or Shastra superior to devotion. Divine love encompasses all sacred acts. To achieve oneness with the Divine, one will have to be prepared to sacrifice everything. (SS Oct 88, p. 284)
Devotion is the royal road to attain wisdom, in truth; it is the only path to the highest spiritual knowledge, The Lord proclaimed in the twelfth chapter of Gita. ‘The one who is devoted to Me is dear to Me.’ What is devotion? It is the steady flow of love towards the Lord. When love flows towards transient things it is not devotion, it is only a form of attachment. But when love flows towards permanent entity then it becomes devotion. Devotion starts with the attitude that you are the servant of the Lord, Dasoham.
Later, you progress to the stage where you identify directly with the Lord, and then you declare ‘Soham’, ‘I am He. The Lord and I are one’. In fact devotion can take two principal forms. One is the type of devotion which refers to the various worshipful activities and rituals engaged in by devotees, such as the traditional practice of worshipping the Lord with sixteen types of offerings, visiting various spiritual centres on pilgrimage, taking baths in holy rivers and so on. These are examples of the ordinary type of devotion. There is a much higher form of devotion, what can really be termed true devotion, which is associated with developing a flawless character and being constantly immersed in total love for the Lord. That is Para bhakti, the transcendental devotion.
There is a clear distinction, therefore, between Bhakti, the ordinary devotion, and Para bhakti, the supreme devotion. Ordinary devotion uses the things of the phenomenal, world to worship the Lord, such as flowers and leaves, for example. Where have these things come from? Have you created these flowers? No, they have all been created by the Lord Where, then, is the sacrifice in offering to the Lord things which He Himself has created? Such offerings can only be considered a very ordinary type of devotion. But to offer to the Lord the sacred flowers of your heart, which are not related to the world, and to offer these in loving worship to the one who is seated in your heart, that is Para bhakti, the highest devotion. That is the devotion you should aspire for. (DBG, p. 47)
Do Karma based on Jnana, the Jnana that all is One. Let the Karma be suffused with Bhakti; that is to say, humility, prema, karuna and ahimsa (love, compassion, non-violence). Let Bhakti be filled with Jnana; otherwise, it will be as light as a balloon, which drifts along any current of air, or gust of wind. Mere Jnana will make the heart dry; Bhakti makes it soft with sympathy and Karma gives the hands something to do, something which will sanctify every one of the minutes that have fallen to your lot to live here.
This is why Bhakti is referred to as upasana, dwelling near, feeling the Presence, and sharing the sweetness of Divinity. The yearning for upasana prompts you to go on pilgrimages, to construct and renovate temples, to consecrate images. The sixteen items of upachara (honouring) with which the Lord is worshipped satisfy the mind which craves for personal contact with the Supreme. All this is Karma of a high order; they lead to Jnana. First, you start with the idea, ‘I am in the Light;’ then the feeling ‘the light is in me’ becomes established. This leads to the conviction, ‘I am the Light.’ That is the supreme wisdom. (SSS Vol.3), 7-7-.1963
yoga-sthah Kuru karmani
Sangam tyaktva dhananjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutva
samatvam yoga ucyate
(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 48)
‘Samatvam yoga ucyate’ (equal-mindedness, equanimity, sense of balance, unaffectedness is what yoga means). We can distinguish five fields in the attainment of this Samatvam (equal-mindedness). (SSS Vol.18), 7-9-1985.
Having regard to the environment in which the ordinary man is placed and to his duties, both secular and spiritual, samatva has been found applicable in five different ways. We, accordingly, cognise samatva in relation to prakriti or nature, samaja or society, jnana or knowledge, Karma or action, and upasana or worship.
Bhakti samatva (equanimity in devotion) consists in the realisation of the truth that Ishvara pervades the entire universe and that He is everything, the refuge for all. Tvameva sarvam mama deva deva is the cry of the person endowed with equanimity in devotion.
It is only when his Bhakti (devotion) is constant, enduring and unwavering that the devotee can attain Bhakti samatva. The flow of love for God should always remain the same and be steady. Krishna declared in the Bhagavad Gita:
ananyas cintayanto mam
ye janah paryupasate
tesam nityabhiyuktanam
yoga-ksemam vahamy aham.
(Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, verse 22)
‘I shall look after the material welfare and the
spiritual well-being of those who worship Me through
one-pointed devotion and are ever attached to Me.’
True Bhakti means that there must be a transformation in your behaviour. God is within you, around you and in you. He is omnipresent. Recognising this truth, you must arrive at the result that you and God are one. This is the truth that you must realise. (SSB 1978, 1978)
By dhyana, you develop Jnana (spiritual wisdom) and by Japam (recitation of God s Name) you develop bhakti (devotion) and by both, you cleanse your heart of the canker of ego. (SSS Vol.11), 5-1-1971
Beginning with the path of action, progressing towards the Bhakti Marga (path of devotion), one should ultimately achieve Kaivalya (Self-realisation) by the Jnana Marga (the Path of Wisdom). ‘Jnanadeva tu Kaivalyam (Realisation is only through Wisdom), declares the scripture.
The entire life should not be spent on only worldly duties. One must progress spiritually from stage to stage. Karma-Upasana-Jnanam (Action-Devotion-Wisdom)--these are the three steps in Self-Realisation. (SSS Vol.29), 3-10-1996
God does not need anything from a devotee except devotion and complete surrender. He expects from him sacred body, sacred words, sacred vision and selfless actions. When devotee offers these things, God gives Himself to that devotee. Man’s body, mind and actions should always be pure, so that God is attracted towards him. (SS Oct 05, p. 289)
True devotion consists in offering all your thoughts and actions to God and yearning for His grace. Bhakti has been described as the state of non-separation from God. Regardless of time, space or circumstance, one should feel closeness to God – that is true Bhakti. Nowadays devotion is confined to the brief spell spent in the puja room (shrine) or in a temple. During this period devotion appears to swell within you and you feel you are at peace. But once outside, the peace is lost and anger takes its place. This cannot be called devotion. True devotion transcends the limitations imposed by the daily routine and obligations of life. It should not be subject to changes in time, place and circumstance. Love for the Divine should be present in any situation.
‘Satatam Yoginah’ (Always remain as Yogis), it is said. You must strive to cultivate such love and experience the joy of sharing that love with others. Occasionally one s devotion cools off when one s desires are not fulfilled. This is not a sign of true devotion. Devotion should not be related to physical needs. It is concerned with the heart and should not be affected by vicissitudes relating to the body and the mind. Devotion transcends the concerns of the body. Such devotion has been described as Parabhakti (Supreme devotion). It may also be described as Ananya Bhakti (one-pointed devotion). Only such one-pointed devotion can get rooted in the heart. Our love should not vary from time to time. (SSS Vol.22)