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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
Spirituality is actually a pursuit or a process, where our life is getting more and more enriched, empowered, and enlightened. Equally so it becomes more and more effective and sublime. All these can be condensed in one word. It becomes pure, purer, and purest. You can approach the subject by understanding what is life, what is purity, what is sublimity, etc. It becomes a study just like mathematics, physics, chemistry. Just like the other branches of knowledge, after gaining theoretically, have to be employed in the practical field, here also the knowledge gained initially will have to be applied to your own life. In applying them, what is the place where it is applied and how it has its effect? I think it is very simple to think about.
See, it has to be applied in your mind. From the mind, attitudes evolve, emerge. Aims and objectives also evolve; then reactions and responses. So, the changes or improvements to be brought about are in the attitudes of the mind, objectives of the mind, and the reactions and responses of the mind. Naturally you will have to know what is the higher, or the nobler attitude; what is the higher or the nobler objective, and what can be better and finer reactions and responses. All this will be facilitated provided you have a touch of devotion. And what is this devotion? I would like to put it as fostering a certain relationship with God. You may or may not know God but you can believe in Him and trust Him. Believing and trusting Him, you foster a relationship with Him. Relationship should not become a difficult word for us. We are born as a member in a family; means that we are son or the daughter of our parents. If they have given birth to other children or will give birth to other children, all of them become our brothers or sisters. Then as you grow, you get married. So, you have a married partner. Then you have your own children. These are the primary relationships. One is born of blood, another is born of matrimony, again giving rise to blood relationship. In the same manner you foster a relationship with God. It should be exactly a relationship of the other kind. When you have a certain relationship, say, with the father and mother, parents, what will you do? You think about it.
In the same manner you have to have a functional relationship with God. I would like to say a little further. The best will be if you foster fondness towards God. The moment your mind picks up fondness for Him, fondness by its very nature is an attitude which generates delight in the mind. So, if you are fond of God, you will equally become delightful. What will you do with the delightfulness? One requirement of the mind is fulfilled by being happy. So, if you are fond of your God and that fondness gives you happiness, is it everything of life? I don’t think it is everything of life. As a happy man, you will be living; you will be interacting, you will be doing many different kinds of activities. So, a question will arise – what will you do with the delight of fondness you have to God. I think, I would like all of you to think about it. That becomes a question. This question is actually springing from the intelligence, and the intelligence has to find an answer. So, that becomes the second part of devotion. I am fond of God and I am happy. I would like to know what God likes me to do and doing what, He will be pleased. I think our sastras have very specific statements to say about it. In the Bhakti yoga, Krishna says this kind of a devotee is very dear to me. He is most pleasing to me, etc. So, you can find details from our scriptures as to how a person who is fond of God will live and move in this world. If you can gain suggestions, lessons, and instructions from the scriptures, try to follow them, implement them and make them part of your life. As a summary, I would like to say, whenever you are fond of anything that starts growing in your mind. Being fond of devotion, you develop devotion. Being fond of devotees, you become a devotee. Being fond of devotional and spiritual values, they start growing in you. It is such a simple process. And they will grow in you delightfully, not strainingly, or producing stress. So, it is a very very simple process, develop a relationship with God. I always say, rather than indulging in ceremonies and rituals, talk to God, communicate with Him, as if He is present near you. You can talk anything that you want and every talk will only go to strengthen, sublimate and free. So, talk to Him, make Him a part of your life, tell Him things which you like, tell Him things which you dislike, telling things He may not be pleased with. Whatever is there in your mind, express and by expressing you will find you get purged, purified, and sublime.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.