“ I visit the temple daily, I am a devotee of Vishnu” says a person. “I am a follower of Siva says another. The third asserts that he is a devotee of the Goddess! Many say that they are the devotees of different preceptors! It is easy to call one self a devotee of God or Goddess or some Guru! Merely visiting the temples and worshipping Vishnu or Siva does not make one a devotee! There are many who think of their brand new slippers while inside the temple! There are others who engage a friend in conversation inside the temple! There are other women who come to the temple for gossip! The temple becomes the venue for many things for which it is not intended! Devotion is a sacred word which is more abused now a days! You have no right to boast that you are a devotee. It is the deity you worship or the preceptor that should certify that you are his devotee! Is that possible in this Kaliyuga? Certainly not! Devotion, in its ideal nature is pure, undiluted love for God which many of us in the present world do not possess.We have to coat the plain glass of our heart with the proper chemical, bhakti, or devotion to get the picture of God! Only then the image of the Divinity can be impressed on the heart!
Real bhakti or devotion is like the whole hearted devotion of a chaste wife for her husband! It is a rare thing. Pure bhakti is involved in the absorption of the mind and soul in God! It should create a ‘bhava’ in which he becomes speechless! Devotion to God is inversely proportional to the attachment to the objects of the senses! Maintain intimacy with God by constantly thinking about Him so that he will be compelled to yield to your prayers! What are the effects of bhakthi? The more you love God the more tasteless become the pleasures of the senses! Mere mention of the name of God should move you into tears! Devotion to God is compared to a tiger which swallows up the animals of lust, passion and other inner enemies! The Gopis of Brindavan are a testimony to this strong devotion to Krishna!
Is it absolutely necessary to forsake everything for the sake of God? The bhakta cannot resist the temptation to merge into God! Light has an irresistible attraction to the moth. It flies from darkness and loses itself in the light! In the same way the ant loses its life in the sweet syrup it enjoys! The Divine effulgence that draws the bhakta doesn't burn and cause death! It is like the radiance of a gem, ‘shining yet soft, cool and soothing’. On the other hand ‘it illumines the heart with peace and joy’. Even when the bhakta doesn't know the right path, his intense devotion to God and a desire to know Him directs and guides him to the right path! What are the other effects of bhakthi? It flowers into Viveka-right discrimination, renunciation, universal love, service, sathsang, truthfulness and other virtues!
What more qualities are needed for God-realization? The above-mentioned qualities eminently qualify him for that rare and coveted position! It is said that the magnetic rock under the sea attracts the ship moving over it and destroys it totally by drawing out all the iron nails, separating all the planks and sinking it! Similarly the magnet of God annihilates man's selfishness and his sense of individuality! “It plunges the soul into the ocean of God’s Infinite love”
Illustrious saints had achieved this state of realization. It Is not necessary to withdraw into the forest far from the madding crowd and perform penance! Intense contemplation on God at all times, though involved in the cycle of Samsara or family life, is capable of bringing in realization of God! Sant Kabirdas, Sant Tulsidas in the north and the Azhwars and Nayanmars in the south are all classical examples of perfect, pure, and lofty love for God! They thus loved and lived in God and merged into Him at the end! The effects of bhakti are more spiritual than material! They lift man from the mire of samsara and elevate the bhakta almost to the level of God head!!
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