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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
Almost all people in our land are devotees and bhaktas. Bhakti is extremely common. Such a common pursuit and practice like bhakti must also be able to bear its fruit at least in a much larger number of people than what we find today. Why is it that it does not bear fruit?
Bhakti is actually a kind of a creation, development in the inner being, inner personality of man. What is this inner personality? - Consisting of mind, intelligence and ego. The first factor is the mind. We feel that we must be devotees, we must practice devotion. So devotion is something that completely rests upon the human mind. If that is so, it is for us to rear devotion, to intensify it to the desired extent so that we are happy and contented; we also feel fulfillment and others also are happy about our devotional interest and pursuit.
Incorporating others in our mind in all that we do is an important devotional trait. As are me, so are others. This feeling you should always have. Unless the devotee takes up introspection, vicāra, because devotion is an offshoot of the mind, it is not going to increase. What is that practice by virtue of which mind devotion will increase, if you ask me, the practice also has to be mental. It is that mento-intellectual part of devotion that is missing in us. What is that?
In Vivekachudamani, Sankara says very well.
In the matter of things which would be helpful in gaining liberation or moksha, bhaktirēva garīyasī, devotion is of paramount importance. Of all the factors that will help you in gaining liberation, devotion is the most paramount one. And what is this devotion? There comes the difference.
Svasvarūpānusandhānam, enquiring after oneself - means what? The Self in one. What is the Self in one? That is what you refer to as ‘I’. Everybody makes a reference to ‘I’. Without this reference nobody can live, move, speak or think. But what is that item or presence you refer to with the word ‘I’? That is what we call the Self.
We started saying ‘I’ right from the young age and even at ninety and hundred, the same person will continue to say ‘I’. But if you take a photograph of his every year, every month, you will find his personality has been changing completely. In spite of the fast changing nature of our personality, body etc. how is it that the ‘I’ is retained? So this is something that calls for enquiry. This ‘I’ is really the God whom you are seeking.
Our śāstrās, Srimad Bhagavata particularly says that words like God - bhagavan, parabrahma – supreme reality are only synonymous of the Self ‘I’.
That non-dual knowledge is the supreme truth and this is the one referred to as ātma, brahman and bhagavan.
So enquiry into the Self alone will give true shape to your devotion. Svasvarūpānusandhānam bhaktirityabhidhīyate, this part is missing in devotees. Sooner or later, the devotees should start thinking about one’s own inner personality, what is that factor which remains in us so constantly and un-negatably that I refer to it without even experiencing it we are referring to it as ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’. That reference is to something within the body. So you cannot escape it. You cannot say it is too distant. It is the closest, closest, closest, nearest, whereas the God that you refer to is perhaps at an infinite distance. This is something very, very important.
Focus your enquiry on the Self understanding that God is no other than a synonym of the Self. Brahman and ātma are also different names of this ‘I’. Whenever we refer to God, all the devotees will say “Have you seen God?” “No. How can we see? We have to struggle and strive for thousands and thousands of births and maybe my this birth is the second or third.” Nobody is prepared to say, “Out of the thousands of births, this birth of mine is the last and I will realize my God.” In other words, it means the devotee is not interested in a fulfillment of his devotional pursuit. The whole picture will change when you start enquiring into the ‘I’, considering that God is only a name, another name given to the Self. What a great, important proposition is this!
In Srimad Bhagavatam which is the supreme authority on devotion you will find everywhere in the discussion, whenever they refer to the Lord, the next word will be ātma, the Self.
Even that prostitute, famous prostitute Pingala of Mithila, one day when she was disappointed that nobody came to her she started wondering and she entered into a mood of introspection and enquiry. And she said, “I will no more be after these men who never gave me what I wanted on the other hand inflicted upon me all kinds of misery in the form of grief, repentance, disease to the body and what not! I will pull all my energy and focus on my own antarātmā.” She describes him as suhṛt preṣṭhatamo nātha ātmā cāyaṁ śarīriṇām. Suhṛt - he is the most benefactor friend, preṣṭhatamah - the most beloved, nātha - the Lord of the universe, ātmā cāyaṁ śarīriṇām – at the same time he is the Self of all beings. This is the beauty of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Never miss God, he is the presence you refer to as the ‘I’. Never think of remembering Him, never think of forgetting Him. You can neither remember Him nor forget Him. We remember Him because we forget. Is there any time when you forget yourself? When somebody becomes unconscious, he gets up and then says, “I became unconscious. I was not conscious. I went into sleep. There was a blackout in me, I had a blackout.” The ‘I’ part is never suspended, distanced or forgotten. Other things are forgotten.
So this ‘I’ is the unforgettable presence in you. Understand that, that presence is really God. Then you will know that you cannot forget Him or get distanced from Him. This you will be able to understand provided you introspect using the mind. This vicāra part is missing. That has to be installed and preserved and strengthened.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.