BHAKTI OR DEVOTION

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Posted by: " Uttishthata " uttishthata

Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:07 pm (PST)

 

BHAKTI OR DEVOTION - Swami Vivekananda

 

A disciple went to his master and said to him, " Sir, I want

religion. " The master looked at the young man, and did not speak, but

only smiled. The young man came every day, and insisted that he

wanted religion. But the old man knew better than the young man. One

day, when it was very hot, he asked the young man to go to the river

with him and take a plunge. The young man plunged in, and the old man

followed him and held the young man down under the water by force.

After the young man had struggled for a while, he let him go and

asked him what he wanted most while he was under the water. " A breath

of air " , the disciple answered. " Do you want God in that way? if you

do, you will get Him in a moment, " said the master. Until you have

that thirst, that desire, you cannot get religion, however you may

struggle with your intellect, or your books, or your forms. Until

that thirst is awakened in you, you are no better than any atheist;

only the atheist is sincere, and you are not.

 

A great sage [sri Ramakrishna] used to say, " Suppose there is a thief

in a room, and somehow he comes to know that there is a vast mass of

gold in the next room, and that there is only a thin partition

between the two rooms. What would be the condition of that thief? He

would be sleepless, he would not be able to eat or do anything. His

whole mind would be on getting that gold. Do you mean to say that, if

all these people really believe that the Mine of Happiness, of

Blessedness, or Glory were here, they would act as they do in the

world, without trying to get God? " As soon as a man begins to believe

there is a God, he becomes mad with longing to get to Him. Others may

go their way, but as soon as a man is sure that there is a much

higher life than that which he is leading here, as soon as he feels

sure that the senses are not all, that this limited, material body is

as nothing compared with the immortal, eternal, undying bliss of the

Self, he becomes mad until he finds out this bliss for himself. And

this madness, this thirst, this mania, is what is called

the " awakening " to religion, and when that has come, a man is

beginning to be religious. But it takes a long time.

 

All these forms and ceremonies, these prayers and pilgrimages, these

books, bells, candles, and priests, are the preparations; they take

off the impurities from the soul. And when the soul has become pure,

it naturally wants to get to the mine of all purity, God Himself.

Just as a piece of iron, which had been covered with the dust of

centuries, might be lying near a magnet all the time, and yet not be

attracted by it, but as soon as the dust is cleared away, the iron is

drawn by the magnet; so, when the human soul, covered with the dust

of ages, impurities, wickednesses, and sins, after many births,

becomes purified enough by these forms and ceremonies, by doing good

to others, loving other beings, its natural spiritual attraction

comes, it wakes up and struggles towards God.

 

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Volume 2 [ Page : 45 ]

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

I fervently wish no misery ever came near anyone; yet it is that

alone that gives us an insight into the depths of our lives, does it

not? In our moments of anguish, gates barred forever seem to open and

let in many a flood of light.

- Swami Vivekananda