DEVOTION DECODED
SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP, LOVE & FEELING
On the Practicality of Devotion in Daily Life
Sri Sudarshan, Founder, SKYLIGHT YOGA™
On the Practicality of Devotion in Daily Life
Sri Sudarshan, Founder, SKYLIGHT YOGA™
There are five flavors of our relationship to Absolute Reality known as Rasa Kriya Bhava, or the love we have for the Divine Self in all expressions of life: Neutrality, Service, Friendship, Parental and Paramount. The derivations and incarnations of the One Absolute Reality are more abundant than waves in the ocean, figuratively. A life devoid of devotion to the Divine Self is like polishing the birdcage but the bird inside is starving. While we routinely clean our own skin, faces and hair, we also need to keep the inner layers of ourselves clean. A virtuous life of spiritual devotion leads to Divine Fulfillment and Communion with the Nourisher of the Universe seated in our own Heart.
The Indian devotional scriptures describe the relationships with "Source" in numerous ways, and refer to "It" by numerous names. One of the Puranas describes Krishna's skin as being so soft that when a leaf falls onto Krishna's skin it leaves a slight indentation. Devotees of "God" chant to Krishna with the feeling that Krishna and his Name are inseparable. They lovingly cry out for Krishna to come visit them and sit comfortably in their lap.
With the experience of separation from God, meeting God has new beauty. It’s a pain that is a dimension of love. Profoundly understood, the pain of separation from Source is higher than any pain of the physical world. If you study Raja Yoga, you will discover that even pleasures are a dimension of suffering. Look beyond the illusion and you will see the suffering, darkness and ills of the world-process. Suffering is part of the purification process. Right now you have the independence, free will and the choice to look at or for God or not.
If you have been driving for many years, as you are driving and someone cuts in front of you, your foot quickly moves to the brake. Because of your years of practice, it happened naturally. Even so, if you have been surrendering the ego, cultivating devotion or practicing Bhakti Yoga, the individual mind joins the Cosmic Mind in Its Abode at that powerful and spontaneous moment. The Ultimate Goal of Life is to practice Self-Realization in preparation for that most powerful moment of Liberation, with the understanding that living and dying are just the pastimes of the Absolute Reality.
Turning away from the true Self while fighting to support a false ego causes us to become spiritually deaf. The divine music is playing but we cannot hear it. We are too bound in the material world and are deaf to the spiritual truth. The spiritual ear is, in a sense, overcome by the fleshy ear - the spiritual body overcome by the flesh body.
The Rishis also depicted Krishna as having many flutes - some small, some large, flutes for many different purposes. In the storyline, one flute when played yields the beautiful sunshine and another when played results in loud thunder. Mystically, we want to be like the flute. Open. Receptive. Ready to be filled with the Voice and Power of Krishna. Let the Divine Music play through You.
Knowledge, which is called Veda in Sanskrit, is Eternal. Knowledge has no beginning and no end. The Supreme Lord has cast down a rope in the form of Yoga or Knowledge. If you take hold of that rope then you can be pulled out of Samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death, and into the spiritual bliss of Supreme Knowledge.
People approach God for four reasons: because they are suffering (Afflicted), because they want wealth (Materialist), because they are inquisitive (Spiritual Seeker) or because they want freedom from birth and death (Enlightened).
The world is temporary. Do not be attached to your relationships with other souls. The soul is eternal. The soul is independent of another soul. There cannot be any interdependence between souls - interdependence on the soul-level is impossible. The soul is unique. Relationship with another personality is like two sticks floating down a river, they can temporarily converge, but time and impermanence will eventually separate them apart. So who owns or rules over our soul? Is it our spouse or partner? The prime minister of the land or president of the country? The doctor who delivered you? The cremator after death? God owns the soul. So life should be in service to God.
There are some basic actions to avoid confusion and perpetuation of suffering, and those are Intoxication (destroys peace), Killing of Animals (destroys mercy), Illicit Sex (destroys psychological cleanliness), and Gambling/Speculation (destroys truthfulness).
Since God can grant you anything, what would you ask for? Health, love, happiness. Everyone on earth is like this. But who asks God what God wants? Devotees of God Who is the Highest Self ask, "How can I serve You?" When we serve the Absolute we are absolutely happy and eternally loved.
Supreme persons are humble. Guru is humble. Devotees are humble. When a tree bears fruit, does it puff up its chest in defiance? No. It bows down, to give. The person of Knowledge greets you how? They bow down. Humility. Great persons are like the ocean. Through so much gain and so much loss, they remain the same. Monsoon season and drought season, the ocean stays the same. Great persons remain unchanged by the fluctuations in the material illusions of the world-process.
At the first instance of awakening to your purpose, the first place you should go is the Guru. The words and actions of the Guru or Master of Yoga are the same. For he or she enlightens your spiritual path with their illumining wisdom. Start crossing the ocean of the world-process by the Divine Navigation of the Guru. Body is the boat. Mind is the deckhand. God is the captain. Knowledge is the wind. Devotion is the sail. God or Guru is necessary to get you across the ocean. Those who are wise will engage in Yoga, devote themselves to spiritual love and will associate with transcendent souls.
There is one thing, and one thing only, that can bring us true happiness. That is surrender. To surrender to your highest goal - the Self - will alone bring your limited individual consciousness to universal or absolute pure consciousness.
Chanting the Names of the Absolute known as Mantra destroys desire for the world-process. In reality, the name, form and energy of the Mantra are not separate. Chanting the Lord’s Name or Mantra brings you to that pure and eternal love of God. Only that will satisfy you, because you are a spiritually pure and eternal being in a temporary material body. All of your suffering is born of desire for the world-process. Desires manifest by thoughts and actions, and in turn, thoughts and actions work on desires. This knowledge gives you the power to direct your life and realize that you are the real architect of your destiny.
We must have the mature understanding that from birth we are chewed up by the jaws of time. We call it "living” but it is really the "dying" or "diminishing" of that which we cling onto so hard. What can we take with us when we are forced to give up this body? Nobody wants to give up their things, their relationships, their body, their children and their parents. Death is a big inconvenience. Death is repeating itself because we are not living the life of the eternal soul. We are not actually "dying;" it is just giving up this body.
Sparkling embers fly out of the fire, land on the ground, lose their light and heat and eventually turn into a piece of ash that vanishes in the wind. If you ever want to know why we have this physical body, it is because we have left or removed ourselves from the fire- the Fire of God-consciousness. And for the spiritually-inclined and pure-hearted disciples, they ask why we should have to take another body and to suffer through it all again when there is a direct path to Enlightenment, Freedom and Salvation from suffering? Spiritual Love and Wisdom will lead the soul to its Source and there the Flame is one with the Universal Fire. Even so, love of God is the basis of every expression of your life. Even the urge to love is God. Every act that you do is an expression of your relationship with the Divine. Yoga, and enjoy a wonderful Divine relationship!
The Indian devotional scriptures describe the relationships with "Source" in numerous ways, and refer to "It" by numerous names. One of the Puranas describes Krishna's skin as being so soft that when a leaf falls onto Krishna's skin it leaves a slight indentation. Devotees of "God" chant to Krishna with the feeling that Krishna and his Name are inseparable. They lovingly cry out for Krishna to come visit them and sit comfortably in their lap.
With the experience of separation from God, meeting God has new beauty. It’s a pain that is a dimension of love. Profoundly understood, the pain of separation from Source is higher than any pain of the physical world. If you study Raja Yoga, you will discover that even pleasures are a dimension of suffering. Look beyond the illusion and you will see the suffering, darkness and ills of the world-process. Suffering is part of the purification process. Right now you have the independence, free will and the choice to look at or for God or not.
If you have been driving for many years, as you are driving and someone cuts in front of you, your foot quickly moves to the brake. Because of your years of practice, it happened naturally. Even so, if you have been surrendering the ego, cultivating devotion or practicing Bhakti Yoga, the individual mind joins the Cosmic Mind in Its Abode at that powerful and spontaneous moment. The Ultimate Goal of Life is to practice Self-Realization in preparation for that most powerful moment of Liberation, with the understanding that living and dying are just the pastimes of the Absolute Reality.
Turning away from the true Self while fighting to support a false ego causes us to become spiritually deaf. The divine music is playing but we cannot hear it. We are too bound in the material world and are deaf to the spiritual truth. The spiritual ear is, in a sense, overcome by the fleshy ear - the spiritual body overcome by the flesh body.
The Rishis also depicted Krishna as having many flutes - some small, some large, flutes for many different purposes. In the storyline, one flute when played yields the beautiful sunshine and another when played results in loud thunder. Mystically, we want to be like the flute. Open. Receptive. Ready to be filled with the Voice and Power of Krishna. Let the Divine Music play through You.
Knowledge, which is called Veda in Sanskrit, is Eternal. Knowledge has no beginning and no end. The Supreme Lord has cast down a rope in the form of Yoga or Knowledge. If you take hold of that rope then you can be pulled out of Samsara, the endless cycle of birth and death, and into the spiritual bliss of Supreme Knowledge.
People approach God for four reasons: because they are suffering (Afflicted), because they want wealth (Materialist), because they are inquisitive (Spiritual Seeker) or because they want freedom from birth and death (Enlightened).
The world is temporary. Do not be attached to your relationships with other souls. The soul is eternal. The soul is independent of another soul. There cannot be any interdependence between souls - interdependence on the soul-level is impossible. The soul is unique. Relationship with another personality is like two sticks floating down a river, they can temporarily converge, but time and impermanence will eventually separate them apart. So who owns or rules over our soul? Is it our spouse or partner? The prime minister of the land or president of the country? The doctor who delivered you? The cremator after death? God owns the soul. So life should be in service to God.
There are some basic actions to avoid confusion and perpetuation of suffering, and those are Intoxication (destroys peace), Killing of Animals (destroys mercy), Illicit Sex (destroys psychological cleanliness), and Gambling/Speculation (destroys truthfulness).
Since God can grant you anything, what would you ask for? Health, love, happiness. Everyone on earth is like this. But who asks God what God wants? Devotees of God Who is the Highest Self ask, "How can I serve You?" When we serve the Absolute we are absolutely happy and eternally loved.
Supreme persons are humble. Guru is humble. Devotees are humble. When a tree bears fruit, does it puff up its chest in defiance? No. It bows down, to give. The person of Knowledge greets you how? They bow down. Humility. Great persons are like the ocean. Through so much gain and so much loss, they remain the same. Monsoon season and drought season, the ocean stays the same. Great persons remain unchanged by the fluctuations in the material illusions of the world-process.
At the first instance of awakening to your purpose, the first place you should go is the Guru. The words and actions of the Guru or Master of Yoga are the same. For he or she enlightens your spiritual path with their illumining wisdom. Start crossing the ocean of the world-process by the Divine Navigation of the Guru. Body is the boat. Mind is the deckhand. God is the captain. Knowledge is the wind. Devotion is the sail. God or Guru is necessary to get you across the ocean. Those who are wise will engage in Yoga, devote themselves to spiritual love and will associate with transcendent souls.
There is one thing, and one thing only, that can bring us true happiness. That is surrender. To surrender to your highest goal - the Self - will alone bring your limited individual consciousness to universal or absolute pure consciousness.
Chanting the Names of the Absolute known as Mantra destroys desire for the world-process. In reality, the name, form and energy of the Mantra are not separate. Chanting the Lord’s Name or Mantra brings you to that pure and eternal love of God. Only that will satisfy you, because you are a spiritually pure and eternal being in a temporary material body. All of your suffering is born of desire for the world-process. Desires manifest by thoughts and actions, and in turn, thoughts and actions work on desires. This knowledge gives you the power to direct your life and realize that you are the real architect of your destiny.
We must have the mature understanding that from birth we are chewed up by the jaws of time. We call it "living” but it is really the "dying" or "diminishing" of that which we cling onto so hard. What can we take with us when we are forced to give up this body? Nobody wants to give up their things, their relationships, their body, their children and their parents. Death is a big inconvenience. Death is repeating itself because we are not living the life of the eternal soul. We are not actually "dying;" it is just giving up this body.
Sparkling embers fly out of the fire, land on the ground, lose their light and heat and eventually turn into a piece of ash that vanishes in the wind. If you ever want to know why we have this physical body, it is because we have left or removed ourselves from the fire- the Fire of God-consciousness. And for the spiritually-inclined and pure-hearted disciples, they ask why we should have to take another body and to suffer through it all again when there is a direct path to Enlightenment, Freedom and Salvation from suffering? Spiritual Love and Wisdom will lead the soul to its Source and there the Flame is one with the Universal Fire. Even so, love of God is the basis of every expression of your life. Even the urge to love is God. Every act that you do is an expression of your relationship with the Divine. Yoga, and enjoy a wonderful Divine relationship!
Sri Sudarshan Jyotirmayananda
Published June 29, 2021. Written June 24, 2021.
Copyright 2023 © SKYLIGHT YOGA™
Feel free to cite and share, Om!
Published June 29, 2021. Written June 24, 2021.
Copyright 2023 © SKYLIGHT YOGA™
Feel free to cite and share, Om!
