Bhakti and Self

[Guest guest]

Namaste all!

 

It seems to me that we are missing something in this

discussion of Bhakti ... namely the Self. Let me explain.

 

In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is clearly emphasized

that God is 'other'. So when they say to 'love God' there can be no

mistaking that loving 'another entity' is implied. There have been

some mystics, sufis, etc. who had a Vedantic understanding of God as

the inmost Self, but these were really a minuscule minority from a

historical point of view.

 

Now contrast that with the well-known Vedantic principle that

'God' is indeed our inmost Self, which is also the Universal

Consciousness and Source and Sustainer of all Being. The difference

is really quite immense.

 

So 'Bhakti' ... in any Vedantic sense ... entails love of the

Self, which is a radical departure from mere devotion to a God in

any mundane sense. We should really think about this. This very

idea in itself has the seeds of Jnana in it. In other words, Bhakti

(the love of the Self) is already a rather 'abstract' idea and in

that sense contains an element of Jnana, in that it defies and

contradicts the notion of devotion that guides most of humanity.

 

Also, we should think in what sense 'love of Self' is

different from mere selfishness. Of course, I realize that 'Self' is

entirely different from 'self' ... the size of a single letter makes

all the difference in the world! We are supposed to see all 'others'

as our 'Self', and this is quite a challenging and abstract notion

from the point of view of common sense. So even the 'Dvaita Bhakti'

of certain list members is a challenge to ordinary thinking and can

only really be understood from some 'transcendental' or 'mystical'

point of view, whatever those words might mean.

 

Om!

Benjamin