The Difference Between Devotion and Emotion

[Dharma Nation]

The Difference Between Devotion and Emotion

 

Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.

(Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya)

 

 

 

"Of all Yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith,

worshiping Me in transcendental devotional service, is most

intimately united with Me in Yoga and is the highest Yogi of all."

 

Bhagavan Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita, 6:47

 

 

The central message of the Bhagavad Gita, the most important

scripture in all of Sanatana Dharma, is that bhakti, or devotion to

the Absolute, constitutes the most effective and highly recommended

path in all of the Yoga tradition. It is truly unfortunate, however,

that despite the almost universally held importance of bhakti in the

history of Yoga, there seems to have always been a good deal of

misunderstanding on the part of many about what the terms "bhakti"

and "Bhakti Yoga" actually mean. I've read even many supposedly

knowledgeable authors write that bhakti is the Yoga of "emotion", or

that it somehow precludes any involvement with jnana (knowledge, or

intellectualism), philosophy, or serious Yogic sadhana (practice).

Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

The word "bhakti" is derived from the Sanskrit verb root `bhaj',

meaning "to share in, resort to, experience, partake of, cultivate,

worship, go to", etc. The object of this "experiencing" or "partaking

in" is, of course, God. In this definition, we can begin to

recognize in seed form what the foundational basis of Bhakti Yoga

consists of.

 

Bhakti is a trans-emotional state of consciousness that we are meant

to cultivate and uncover as the natural essence of our soul, and

Bhakti Yoga is a complex and rigorous system of Yoga designed to

bring its adherent to a progressively deeper state of meditative

absorption (samadhi) in the Divine. Thus, the term "bhakti" denotes

both a state of trans-empirical perceptual awareness and

phenomenological experience, as well as a philosophical system and

praxis designed to bring about such a higher state of awareness of

the Divine.

 

Bhakti is meditation in its fullest and deepest manifestation.

Bhakti actually denotes devotional meditative absorption. Unlike any

other system of Yoga, bhakti stands apart from all other systems in

that it actually constitutes both a means (upaya) toward the goal of

God-realization (and thus it is a Yoga), as well as the end (artha)

of Yoga itself in the form of a spiritual state of pure egolessness

and God-consciousness. Bhakti is not only the most effective and

most highly recommended means of enlightenment, but bhakti IS

enlightenment.

 

"Devotion" in this correctly understood bhakti sense is radically

different from "emotion". Bhakti is a state of consciousness that is

transcendent in essence and which reflects the innermost, latent

nature of the atman (true self) as being functionally contingent and

ontologically sustained by the Absolute. Bhakti, or devotion in this

more phenomenological sense, represents the true functional nature of

our soul. There is nothing material, or emotional, or sentimental

about bhakti at all.

 

Emotion, on the other hand, is held universally by all the schools of

Yoga and Dharmic spirituality, to be a purely material-originated

phenomenon that arises from manas (mind), chitta (psyche), desire

(kama) and anger (krodha). Thus, materially-inspired emotions are

unreal, temporary and negative in the truest, spiritual sense.

Emotions that stem from materialistic likes and dislikes are akin to

phantasms that – while certainly experienced in a very real way when

we have them – are nonetheless not of lasting importance. This is

especially true of negative emotions that arise from our illusion of

being separate from God.

 

Material emotions, for the yogi, are to be transcended. Devotion, for

the yogi, is to be cultivated.

 

This being said, Sanatana Dharma does not teach that emotions are

inherently an evil or unwanted instrument. Emotions in and of

themselves are actually a neutral tool. They are a tool that can be

used for either good or for self-bondage. The emotive mechanism is

just as much a neutral tool as is our mind, body, intellect, etc.

Just as is true of our mind, body, and intellect, it isn't that any

of these tools are inherently either good or bad. Rather, they're

good if they are under our control, and bad if they're not under our

control.

 

When a person has an uncontrolled mind, they're considered to be

mentally disturbed. When a person has an uncontrollable body, then

they're experiencing some sort of physical illness. In the same way,

when a person has emotions that are uncontrolled, they tend to be

emotionally unstable and thus unpeaceful. And peace is the direct

manifest symptom of spiritual transcendence.

 

To have normal, reactive emotions toward things that happen in our

lives is natural. Emotions arise as a result of external things that

affect us, which we then perceive as either good or bad. Just like if

someone hits us, we feel physical pain, in the same way if someone

hurts us emotionally, we then feel emotional pain. Emotions are a

natural effect to external stimuli – or at least to our perceptions

of such stimuli.

 

But if we were to cry for the next week because we gently stubbed our

toe, then we would be overreacting to a very miniscule amount of

physical pain, and we wouldn't really be in control of our physical

reactions. In the same way, if we overreact and give in to a sea of

uncontrollable emotion with every incident that happens to us, big

and small, then we are not serving ourselves, but rather being slaves

of our uncontrolled emotions.

 

So the idea that is espoused in Yoga spirituality is not to

artificially repress, ignore, or stifle our emotions, mind,

intellect, ego, body, etc., but to see them in their proper place in

relation to spirit, our true self, and to then control and thus

transcend their power over us. It is a simple matter of having

control over our emotions, rather than allowing our emotions to have

control over us.

 

A prevalent misconception that many have is that God-realized, or

enlightened, people are necessarily emotionless people because they

have learned to transcend emotion. Nothing could be further from the

truth. God-realized people are certainly not emotionless. On the

contrary! They can be the most fun people to be with. God-realized

sages can laugh, can cry, and can even exhibit anger when

appropriate. God-realized people can be emotional; but such emotions

tend to be positive emotions that are used in God's service, as well

as spiritual bhava, or transcendent states of consciousness that the

unwise might mistakenly confuse with material emotions. God-realized

persons: 1) try not to be ruled by their emotions; 2) tend to focus

on more positive emotions (love, compassion, pity, joy, etc.); 3) and

ultimately the emotive states that they experience most deeply are

the transcendental mellows of love between themselves and God, and

not the lower, reactive emotions that arise from sense perception.

 

In the highest state of Self-realization and God-realization, our

material emotions are keenly surpassed and are subsequently replaced

by devotional ecstasy and states of rapturous spiritual elations the

likes of which nothing in our present perceptual state can

comprehend. To experience such bliss, we must practice Bhakti Yoga,

the Yoga of devotion. The greatest textbook on Bhakti Yoga is the

Bhagavad Gita. Beginning with devoted study of the Bhagavad Gita,

coupled with daily meditation upon the Absolute under the expert

guidance of an authentic spiritual teacher (guru), we can know the

bliss of love of God.

 

 

 

The Author:

 

Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D. (Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya) is an

American who has been practicing Sanatana Dharma for over 30 years.

He has a Ph.D. in Religious Studies and is recognized by the global

Hindu community as one of the leading Hindu Acharyas (Spiritual

Preceptors) in the nation. With a large international following of

both Indian and Western students, Sri Acharya Ji is especially

renowned for his highly authentic approach to Dharmic spirituality,

his authoritative and scholarly approach to teaching, and his clear

emphasis on serious spiritual practice and direct experience of self-

realization and knowledge of God. He has lectured on Sanatana Dharma

at such prestigious institutions as Harvard University, Columbia,

Rutgers, Cornell, Northwestern, as well as for such companies as Ford

Motor Corporation and Lucent Technology. He is the Founder and

President of the International Sanatana Dharma Society.

 

His primary websites are:

 

http://www.dharmacentral.com

 

drmoraleslist/

 

yoga-spirituality/

 

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=DharmaNation

 

 

 

 

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