Hari OM

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SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 13 MAY

NATURE OF BHAKTI

 

Bhakti is resting in God. Bhakti is the flow of

devotion like the flow of a river. Bhakti is

continuity of devotion, just as there is

continuity in the flow of oil from one vessel to

another vessel. Bhakti is the attraction of the needle

to the magnet.

 

Bhakti is love for the sake of love. The devotee wants

God and God alone. There is neither selfish

expectation nor fear. Is the son afraid of his father

though he is a judge? Is the wife afraid of her

husband? So also, a devotee entertains not the least

fear of God. The fear of retribution vanishes in him.

He feels, believes, conceives and imagines that his

chosen deity is an ocean of love (prema).

 

Bhakti transmutes man into divinity. It intoxicates

the devotee with divine love and gives him eternal

satisfaction. It makes him perfect, weans his mind

from sensual objects and makes him rejoice in God.

 

Emotional excitement is not devotion to God. Devotion

is pure love, Fanaticism is not devotion, but frenzy,

mere excitement. Bhakti is not mere emotionalism, but

is the tuning of the will as well as the intellect

towards the divine. It is supreme love of God, and

later blossoms into knowledge of the self. It leads to

immortality. Bhakti is the direct approach to the

ideal through the heart. Love is natural to everybody.

 

Bhakti can be practised under all conditions and by

all alike. Study of the Vedas (the revealed scriptures

of the Hindus, containing the Upanishads), learning,

austere penance and brilliant intellect are not needed

for the attainment of bhakti or devotion. What is

wanted is constant and loving remembrance of God,

coupled with faith. That is the reason why the path of

devotion is available for everyone.

 

Bhakti is easier than any other way of approach to

God. In jnana (self-knowledge) and yoga, there is the

risk of a fall. In the path of devotion, there is no

risk as the devotee receives full support and help

from God.

 

 

 

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