From childhood we are taught to pray and love God. We learn by imitating our parents. We see our parents and elders bow in front of God at the worship corner at home and at places of worship. We also bow in the same way as we instinctively understand that what our parents and elders are doing is right. We see them worship God by offering flowers, fruits, milk and food. We also do the same. We hear the elders chant mantras, prayers and songs of adoration of God. We too learn to do the same. Love for God is natural in all of us. We learn the ways of practicing bhakti by looking at elders. Bhakti has to be learnt.
Our elders are not perfect in their practices. We also learn the same imperfect practices from them. God and His Nature are a great mystery and it is difficult for us to understand and love Him in the perfect manner. Until our vices melt away and our ego drops off, our love for God will not be perfect. Till then, all the bhakti we practice is not pure. It is pretentious! Meerabai, Kabir, Tulsidas, Jnaneswar, Shankara and other great saints practiced bhakti in its purest form. We have a long way to go before we reach those levels. Does that mean we stop our spiritual practices and stop loving God? No. We continue to love God and do the best we can. For every step that we take towards God, He takes a thousand towards us. By daily and regular practices of love for God, we reach the state of perfection some day. This story speaks of the blessings of even pretentious bhakti:
There was a shortage of fish in a particular area. A fisherman who needed fish to feed his family decided to sneak into a rich man’s estate and cast his net into the private lake which was in the woods. The estate was well protected with many guards. The guards heard the fisherman go in and cast the net and created a racket. The owner also came running out. They carried lighted torches and sticks and began searching for the thief.
The fisherman was terrified and ran to save his life. He could feel the others close in on him. He did not know what to do. As he was running, he saw the ashes of a fire under a tree. He dashed to the tree and smeared himself with the ashes and sat still pretending to be a holy man. The group of men chasing him passed him by and did not notice him. The next morning, the search began again and the rich man and his servants searched the estate everywhere. The thief could not be found but they found a holy man covered in ashes, meditating serenely under a tree.
The news spread like fire and all the village came to know that a wise sage was meditating under a tree in the rich man’s estate. People from the village came for his darshan. They saluted him and offering him fruits, flowers and sweets. Many offered him silver and copper coins and sought his blessings. His smile and hand lifted in blessings gave the people of the village immense peace and satisfaction that their prayers would be answered.
The fisherman was taken aback at the devotion expressed by the people. He thought: I am not a genuine holy man. Yet these people show such devotion and love to me. They offer me so much. When I practice true faith, how much more love and respect they will offer me! Wisdom dawned upon the fisherman and he became a genuine seeker of God. He practiced sadhana and realised God one day. He lived in supreme peace and wherever he went, people got faith and peace by just being with him.
If pretentious bhakti done to save his life brought the fisherman so much of spiritual awakening, we can imagine the effect of real sadhana on our lives. We have the benefits of a Paramguru to guide us, the Siddha SitaRam Mantra and meditation. We are guided by the teachings of the Guru. Let us make full use of the blessings bestowed on us and practice till deep endless love for God overflows us and merges us with Him.
