Bhakti is Love for God. It is
an intense emotion where only Love and the Object of Love exist. When the
bhakta stands in front of his God, only Bhakti and God exist. So is bhakti just
a fierce overwhelming emotion? No. Bhakti is far more than that. It is a
discipline. It is spiritual practices. It is the training of one’s mind and the
will towards one goal and that is the overwhelming love of God. Love of God is
an intuitive realization. When we get
glimpses of God’s Love and His Care for us, there is a yearning in us to go
closer to God. Anyone who has tasted the
sweetness of Love of God will find it difficult to give it up. There is always
this yearning for just a bit more. Then
how does one increase love for God and be immersed in it?
Bhakti comes by association.
Good association is called Satsang. We can have satsang by being with devotees
of God or by reading good books. When we
read about God, hear about the miracles performed by Him during various ages,
about the miracles in the lives of believers, visit places of worship where
vibrations of faith are strong – it is satsang and our love for God increases.
This story is a fine example of Bhakti and Satsang:
Hiranyakashipu the demon was performing
austerities on a mountain when his palace was attacked by Indra the Lord of
Heaven and his allies. His wife Kayadu was pregnant. Narada the Divine Rishi
knew of this and took away Kayadu to his ashram. In his opinion Kayadu was
sinless and needed protection as she was pregnant and needed to be taken care
of. During her stay in the Ashram, Narada would sing about the greatness of Lord
Narayana and narrate about the glories
of God and His qualities. The baby in the womb heard the name and glories of
God regularly and when it was born it was already a great devotee of Lord
Narayana. The baby who was named Prahlad is one of the greatest ever bhaktas of
God. And he imbibed this love for God by just hearing about the glories of God
in the ashram of Narada when he was still in his mother’s womb.
Sri Ramanuja one of the great jagat gurus of India had prescribed eleven rules for increasing bhakti:
- We must do Abhyasa or practice continuous thinking of God. Where the mind thinks of God constantly,the love of God will be imprinted in our minds.
- We must practise Viveka or discrimination. It helps us to understand what is permanent and what is not
- We must cultivate Vimoka or freedom from everything else except longing for God
- Speaking truth – Satyam- and shunning lies
- Arjavam or straightforwardness in approach in life towards all is useful
- Love for God always means Kriya or doing good to others
- Kalyana or wishing well for all
- Daya or compassion for those who are in worse position than us
- Practise of Ahimsa or – the characteristic of not injuring anyone – is very important.
- We must give Dana or charity and share of what we are blessed with those who are less fortunate and needy
- Anavasada or cheerfulness and optimism is the outer recognizable sign of a bhakta of God who always trusts in the Divine Decisions and therefore is always cheerful.
God
is not visible. He cannot be seen. So we go to places of worship to see His
Form. God can be felt in the heart as Love, Compassion and Peace. The more
bhakti you have and more regular you are in your practices, the more you will
feel God within you. The love of God will color and change your thoughts and
your reactions to people and situations in life. You will feel and see the transformation
in yourself. We learn to accept the events of life as blessings of God and the
Will of God. We give our best to our work for all our work becomes worship of
God. We accept the results of the work we get as blessings
from God. There are no frustrations and tensions in life due to our acceptance
of Divine Will. Yet at the same time we work with full focus and concentration.
Do
your SitaRam Japa daily. Do meditation. Think of God and Guru at all times.
Read the Holy Scriptures. Read about lives of saints. Be in good company. Visit
places of pilgrimage and holy spots. Live life with constant awareness of the blessings of God. You will be
able to increase your Bhakti and live in the sweetness of Love of God.
