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Sathya Sai Baba Center of Hong Kong
10/F, Block A, Burlington House, 92-94 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong Tel : 852-23674240, Fax : 852-27248000Email : saiorghk@i-cable.com |
"LOVE ALL SERVE ALL" "HELP EVER, HURT NEVER" Sai Baba |
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THE 9 STEPS TO DEVOTION
It is often said that birth as a human is a precious opportunity to improve oneself and to attain liberation. Of the many methods for achieving liberation, the path of Bhakti, or devotion, is the simplest and shortest way to experience the Divine. Bhakti lifts man to supreme heights. It is a Yoga. Yoga unites the bhakta with God.
Bhakti Yoga (the Path of Bhakti) is the DIRECT path to God. “It is the easiest way to reach me”, says Swami.
What is Bhakti?
Swami says Bhagawan + Anurakti = Bhakti.. Bhagawan means ‘That in whom all powers are inherent’, namely omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. And Anurakti means love. Thus, Bhakti is nothing other than love for that all knowing, all powerful God.
Bhakti comprises various feelings, emotions and thoughts relating to God. It includes gratitude, reverence, adoration, love, thanksgiving, even fear of sin. But ultimately all descriptions must fail for, in truth, Bhakti, or devotion, is only understood when it is experienced. The Lord is understood only by the bhakta, and the bhakta is understood only by the Lord. In Bhakti Yoga everything is seen as the manifestation of the Divine beloved.
Faith, Love, Feeling, Yearning and Surrender to the Lord are some of the key ingredients of Bhakti.
Faith is the cornerstone of Bhakti. When the Lord says He will take care, He certainly will. But there is a fine print attached and this is where faith truly enters the picture. What is that fine print? Swami explains:
“Rely on the Lord and accept whatever is your lot. He is in you, with you. He knows best what to give and when to give. When there is a problem and when we pray to the Lord for its resolution, we usually have some expectations of the outcome. But supposing the outcome is not as per our desire, then our faith in God should not slacken; instead we should have full confidence that whatever has happened is actually for the best.”
That is what true faith is all about, namely, that the Lord will never do anything that is not good for us. We should have that unshakable faith and trust HIS WISDOM in everything that happens. Why? Because He never makes a mistake. That is the fine print. We will always get what is our due. This is key to our devotion.
Bhakti Yoga is based on the belief that “Love is God and God is Love”. What is this love which Swami keeps talking about ever so often? Can it be defined? Yes. Swami has already done it. He says:
Love knows no hatred
Love is free from selfishness
Love is ever distant from anger
Love will never take; it knows only giving.
‘Love all’ is not a catchy slogan, it is rich in meaning. It implies that when one truly sees GOD, then one cannot help but ‘Love all’. Bhakti Yoga teaches us to grow in love for God, which amounts to saying it teaches us to grow in love for all, as the Lord is in all.
The life of the well-known Indian social worker Baba Amte is a good example of this. Baba Amte spent a good portion of his life working with lepers. One day a friend of Amte approached him and said: “You are such a good and kind man. You do so much to help the suffering. Why don’t you take just a few minutes off to go to the temple and pray? It would be the crowning glory” Amte smiled and said: “Why do I have to go to the temple to have the Darshan of the Lord when He comes here to my relief centre begging me for help.
An important element in devotion is feeling, or Bhava as it is known in Sanskrit. Clearly, one cannot love without feeling, which is why in relation to one’s prayer at an altar Swami says, “Don’t make God into a stone but make stone into God.” One must feel one is standing before God Himself and praying to Him, not an idol of Him.
Swami tells a story to explain that while worshipping the form of God one must put the right feeling into the worship.
Once there was a boy who was weak in his studies. Someone advised him to worship Lord Narayana. So the boy got hold of a picture of Narayana and started worshipping the picture for a whole year. But in spite of it, he failed. He was very disappointed and depressed. On one occasion a friend asked him what his problem was. When it was explained the friend said, “You have got it all wrong. The one who removes obstacles is Ganesha. You have been wasting your time. Get cracking and start at once to worship Ganesha; your troubles will all be over.”
Taking the advice to heart, the boy packed up the picture of Lord Narayana and stored it in a cupboard. He got hold of a picture of Ganesha and started worshipping it with much enthusiasm. But as ill luck would have it, he once again failed in the exam. Furious, he flung the picture of Ganesha into the cupboard (to keep company with Narayana) and sat broken-hearted, not knowing what to do.
Yet another friend came and said, “You fool, Saraswathi is the Goddess of Learning. Don’t you know that? Why have you been wasting your time praying to the wrong Gods? If you want results, you must go to the right counter. So try-again. The boy got a picture of Saraswathi and started his worship routine all over.
One day while he was busy with the worship, some of the smoke from the incense he was burning found its way into the cupboard through a narrow crack. Angrily the boy got up, flung open the door of the cupboard and shouted to the two pictures stored away there: “You two, what business have You to quietly divert the smoke from the incense towards Yourselves? I prayed so hard and You both let me down badly. And now you want to grab what I am offering to someone else?”
At that instant, both Lord Narayana and Lord Ganesha appeared before the boy and said “We wanted to test whether you looked upon the picture as a mere picture or as God. We now know that you feel. Don’t worry! You have our blessings and you will pass the exam this time with flying colours.”
In the ultimate analysis, it is all about one’s attitude, which can be either positive or negative. For the one who treats the picture of the Lord as a mere work of art it will appear only as a picture, but for the one who sees God in the picture, he will surely experience God.
True devotion comes only when there is an intense yearning for God. The Gopis yearned for Krishna, Radha yearned for Krishna, and Meera’s heart ached for Krishna.
In defining the term ‘yearning’ Swami says we have to cry the same way a calf cries for its mother who has left and gone off with the herd. To use another simile, we have to cry out in the same way a childless couple plead with God for a child.
Clearly, Bhakti cannot be a casual affair! Unless one has deep yearning and unless God becomes priority number one, one cannot expect to behold Him within.
Bhakti should eventually lead to complete surrender to the Lord. By surrendering to the Lord we achieve true oneness with Him. Complete surrender means a devotee lays down his body, mind, heart and soul at the Lotus Feet of the Divine Master. In other words, the bhakta accepts whatever happens entirely as God’s will, be it favourable or unfavourable.
Devotion to the Lord practised with sincere faith, love, feelings, yearning and total surrender can behold the Lord. Indeed with intense devotion, the Lord can be held a prisoner in the bhakta’s heart!
Swami tells a beautiful story to bring out this point. Once Sage Narada asked Lord Narayana which was the biggest thing of all in the Universe. Lord Narayana told Narada to think for himself and come out with a reply. The conversation proceeded as follows: -
Narada said: “The earth is the biggest of them all, my Lord.”
The Lord replied: “Is that so? What about the sea?”
Narada answered: “Yes my Lord, the sea is bigger because it covers the earth”
The Lord said: “But, Narada, surely you remember that Sage Agasthya once drank up the sea!”
Narada answered: “Yes my Lord, I forgot that. Clearly, Agasthya is bigger than the sea.”
The Lord then said: “But you seem to have forgotten that currently Agasthya is only a tiny star in the sky.”
Narada answered: “Yes, of course, my Lord. That makes the sky the biggest of them all.”
The Lord continued: “Narada, have you forgotten that in the Vamana Avatar, I covered the entire sky with but a single step.”
Narada answered: “Oh my God! Today seems to be a bad day for me. I am getting everything wrong. Sorry my Lord! I should have known right in the beginning that there can be nothing bigger than you.”
The Lord (sighs): “Narada, I wish what you said is true!”
Narada replied: “Why not my Lord?”
The Lord said: “Because there is something even bigger than Me!”
Narada said: “How could that be ever possible, my Lord! If there is such a thing, what is it?”
The Lord declared: “It is the heart of the devotee. With his devotion, a devotee can hold Me in his heart. Therefore, I am smaller than a devotees’ heart!”
The awesome power of God can be bound by the power of love. So, even God is within the control of each one of us. Therefore, in this path of devotion we can tie up the Lord Himself and keep Him locked up in our hearts!
How do we start on the path of Bhakti Yoga?
We can all love God in our own way. There is no one relationship with the Lord which is suitable for all devotees. The question arises: “How many different stages of Bhakti exist?” Basically, Bhakti is a state of mind involving the Lord and the devotee; understandably therefore, the classification scheme depends upon how one views the Lord and worships Him.
One person may assume the attitude of a child toward its parent. Another may see God as a companion or close friend. Any positive type of relationship or attitude enables us to draw closer to God. All forms of devotion are accepted by the Lord when expressed with Love.
What is declared in the Bhagavatha as the 9 paths of devotion, has been explained by Swami as the 9 steps leading higher and higher towards God. They are:
1. Sravanam – Listening to the glories of the Lord
2. Kirthanam – Singing His glories
3. Vishnusmaranam – Chanting His name and remembering Him
4. Padasevanam – Serving His lotus feet
5. Archanam – Worshipping Him
6. Vandanam – Paying obeisance to Him
7. Dasyam – Considering oneself His servant
8. Sakhyam – Considering Him as the best friend
9. Atmanivedanam – Total Surrender
The first step is Shravana , hearing His glories. We have all come to Swami because we all first heard about Him, about the wonderful things He does for His devotees. With each step the devotee’s love for his Lord is growing until the devotee himself merges in that love (Atmanivedenam).
There are instances in history of great personalities, including sages and kings, who attained perfection by practising these 9 forms of devotion. The final entry into the Infinite, i.e. the final jump from manhood to Godhood, is possible only through Atmanivedenam. A seeker may predominantly come to practise a particular form of devotion but the other steps too are practised by him.
Meera Bai is well known for Keertanam but she also came in the Lord’s fold through Shravanam. Because of her love for the Lord she contemplated on Him and she served the community in whatever way possible. She worshipped Him, she paid obeisance to Him, she developed a relationship with Him, and finally merged in Him. But throughout she stuck to Keertanam and that is why she is an exemplar of that form of devotion. And so are the other saints who are known for the other forms of devotion.
Let us all seek Swami’s grace and blessings to reach our potential through these 9 forms of devotion.
JAI SAI RAM