Bhakti and Jnaana

[Guest guest]

Dear Gokul,

 

Love and Love only.....

 

Many thanks for this wonderful posting. This is how one has to live. I take a

print out of this and keep it with me as a constant companion to check and

recheck my foot steps in the journey of this life. Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi

says that the one who is Bhakta is also Jnani. When one reaches the pinnacle of

one's sadhana, there is no difference between Bhakti and Jnana. They are one and

the same. Without Bhakti, Jnana is rasa-viheenam, i.e., without the juice in the

fruit and without Jnana the Bhakti is taste less. So, both together, one would

enjoy the real fruit of Self-realisation. Thanks once again for this wonderful

posting. May God bless you.

 

Recently, I had been to several pilgrim centres in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Probably you might have read my posting under " Hari Om " subject title.

 

Love and Love alone....

 

P. Gopi Krishna

 

Gokulmuthu Narayanaswamy <gokulmuthu wrote:

 

A spiritual seeker asked a question " How to unify Bhakti and Jnaana in life? "

Here is an attempt to answer the question.

 

First to start with, we have the example given by Sri Ramakrishna. " In the

infinite ocean of Sat-Chit-Aananda, by the cooling effect of the Bhakti of a

devotee, the ocean forms into an ice block taking the shape that is worshiped by

the devotee. Again, by the rising Sun of Jnaana, the ice block melts into the

formless water of the ocean. "

 

Always the worshiper and the worshiped can be of the same nature only. When you

are in a mood of Jnaana, you see yourself as the Pure Conscious Subject and

being so is the way to worship the formless attributeless aspect of God. When

you are in a mood where you are very much aware of your body and mind, you

worship the Lord also in the form of your Ishta with qualities like love,

compassion, etc. This is called Bhakti. Thus they don't contradict. They are

just different ways to worship the Lord.

 

When talking about Bhakta in Gita, Krishna classifies them as four types. (7.16)

The first two are lower types - aartha and arthaarti - seekers of worldly ends

by means of worship of God. The third is of medium type - jijnaasu

- one who seeks God as the Goal of life. The fourth is the highest type - jnaani

- one who knows God. Thus Krishna talks about Jnaana as the highest form of

Bhakti.

 

The Sat-Chit-Aananda that is " known " as the Self at the height of Jnaana is not

different from the Ishta. In Gita, Krishna tells this at several places. " I am

the string that runs through this wonderful maala of pearls that is the world. "

(7.7) " Know that I am the Self who knows himself as the Subject in all embodied

beings. " (13.2) Thus God is the Subject, the Conscious entity in you. This is

the ParaaPrakriti nature of God. Jnaana is the way to worship Him thus.

 

God also has become the manifested Object or Nature or Prakriti. This is the

AparaaPrakriti nature of God. Everything that you see as objects - living and

non-living - tangible and intangible - they are all the manifestations of the

Lord by his Maaya. Everything that happens is by this Maaya only. Krishna tell

this in several places also. " Everything is done by Prakriti by its Gunaas. The

egoistic deluded person thinks 'I am the doer'. " (3.27) One way to overcome this

egoism which is called Ignorance or Maaya is surrender to the

Lord. God is everything. vaasudevah sarvam (7.19) And everything that happens is

by His Will. Maaya is just another name for His Will. There is nothing that

exists other than Him. And everything happens by His sweet Will. This is a

variation of Bhakti where the Lord is worshiped as the world - Vishwarupa. The

world is seen as the manifestation of the Lord.

 

Now, how to live everyday life with this attitude? Having known the Lord as

everything, live a life treating everything and everyone as His aspects and

every incident in life as a manifestation of His Will. Swami Chinmayananda puts

it beautifully " Your life is a gift from the Lord. How you live is your gift to

the Lord. " Do whatever you do as an offering to the Lord. Krishna says " by

worshiping Him by doing your duty " (18.46). And take whatever happens as his

prasaada. This is also Bhakti - the Karma Yoga way. When you are outside the

puja room or temple, this is the way to worship the Lord.

 

When your mind is extrovert, see the Lord as the manifested world. Take a

position as the servant of the Lord, because the body and mind are His servants.

When your mind is introvert and when you identify yourself with the Subject, see

the Lord as the Eternal Conscious Existence that is your own Self. When your

mind is neither very extrovert nor very introvert, you worship the Lord in the

form of the Ishta with attributes. Thus depending on the identity you take for

yourself, your view of the Lord changes and the way of worship

also changes.

 

P. Gopi Krishna

 

 

Explore your hobbies and interests. Click here to begin.