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Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru.
I would like you to understand the unity in the various spirituo-religious and non-religious approaches to the subject of spiritual wisdom. I said that spiritual wisdom in our country was a sequel to the religious and ceremonial life but the spiritual subject can be approached in a non-religious manner also. The difference between spirituality and religiosity is; in religion the sole focus is on a distant and invisible God; in spirituality the sole focus is on oneself and the different levels of our personality.
What you have to understand is, whether we approach it from the religious, ceremonial or devotional points of view or philosophical and spiritual points of view; in reality there is no difference because by any kind of a practice what we propose to bring about, achieve is our inner personality refinement, attunement etc. This important point none of you should miss. You may believe in God or not believe in God. What really matters is - with your belief in God - are you really a happy person and are you really a model person? Do you really have virtues, moderations, values and other things? That is why you will find, apart from discussing God, his excellences, glories and the like, Srimad Bhagavatam repeatedly speaks about the wise people, the lofty devotees and the like. As important as are the descriptions of God, so important are the descriptions of the devotees.
In Srimad Bhagavatam particularly, you will find a very beautiful synthesis of all this. In the 12th chapter of Bhagavadgeeta, after exposing what Bhakti is, Sri Krishna spends quite some time towards the end in describing "which is the devotee whom I like most". In describing the devotee he would like most, all the devotees' character, the devotees character, behavior, interaction, everything is detailed there. Now, all those descriptions you will find tally with the sthitaprajña, the sthitadhī description, the guṇātīta description. Always you will find. So don't be unnecessarily deluded by either devotion or non-devotion.
Srimad Bhagavatam says it is not necessary that you extend one emotion alone towards God - for example, love. People who want to love God, let them love God! Those people who want to respect him; let them respect! Those people who want to fear him, let them fear! Those people who want to be jealous of him, they can also do!
Narada tells Yudhishthira,
गोप्यः कामाद् भयात् कंसो द्वेषाच्चेद्यादयो नृपाः ।
सम्बन्धाद् वृष्णयः स्नेहाद् यूयं भक्त्या वयं विभो ।।
gopyaḥ kāmādbhayātkaṁso dveṣāccaidyādayo nṛpāḥ|
sambandhādvṛṣṇayaḥ snehādyūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho | |
(Srimad Bhagavatam 7.1.30)
The Gopis had a passionate clinging to Krishna. Kamsa had a fearful clinging to Krishna. Shishupala and the others had stark anger, hatred and intolerance towards him. The entire Vrishnikula dynasty, they had a sense of svajana bodha
– "Krishna is a member of our family" – that kind of a clinging they had. And Yudhisthira, you and the others, you have a fondness for Krishna and people like us have Bhakti for him.
Are you sharp enough to understand, to catch the point?
Then in another shloka he says, how fast a devotee who is angry about God will attain God - so fast the other devotees cannot. Anger, by itself is a powerful emotion. So, it has got a powerful effect and fast also. See, what are these explanations, why don't you spend some time thinking about it? So, when I speak, approaching the subject from various angles you should only get enlightened, and not confused or frightened.
I would like every one of you to talk to God in your manner. Don't wait forworshipping him in the pooja room. Talk to him from the bathroom, from your bed, from your office, from anywhere and everywhere. And you can talk to him a little loudly. Others need not hear. Otherwise they will say that this person is mad. So you talk to him. You can register your resentment, doubt. "My dear God. I don't think you have done well. Your fame will be affected. Better rethink your position”. Any kind of a talk you can make. One is a stuti you offer or perform when you are alone in a pooja room in front of lit lamps etc. Another is a free talk, conversation. sakhya bhava, it is called. And finally comes a stage where you get reconciled with anything that comes and goes. Devotees will say, “It is all given by God and taken by him. I have nothing to say because I rely upon him. I am fond of him. If something God has done, I accept it.” In that sense of surrender or sense of wholesome attunement that the devotee or the person feels, you will find the mind is most peaceful, stable and poised. It is the poise of the mind that matters. A good devotee who relies upon God exclusively will not even think about meditation, samadhi and all that.
तुष्टे च तत्र किमलभ्यमनन्त आद्ये किं तैर्गुणव्यतिकरादिह ये स्वसिद्धाः ।
धर्मादयः किमगुणेन च काङ्क्षितेन सारंजुषां चरणयोरुपगायतां नः ।।
tuṣṭe ca tatra kimalabhyamananta ādye |
kiṁ tairguṇavyatikarādiha ye svasiddhāḥ||
dharmādayaḥ kimaguṇena ca kāṅkṣitena |
sāraṁ juṣāṁ caraṇayorupagāyatāṁ naḥ||
(Srimad Bhagavatam 7.6.25)
The devotees who are singing constantly the praise of God, they don't need anything else.
What the jeevanmuktas get by virtue of their vedantic thinking and absorption, the devotees get from their wholesome surrender and attunement to the indisputable God!
The sameness you should understand, don't miss it! What is this sameness? Whether it is the approach of devotion, approach of meditation, approach of wisdom, approach of saankhya, or anything else, the factors to be touched and improved are your own mind and intelligence. And what are the ultimate benefits to be had by the mind and intelligence? Mind has to be peaceful. It should not have any craving for anything. We will explain it in the 6th chapter of Bhagavadgita. No craving at all! Even with your spiritual life, spiritual attainments, whether I have got it not, is it sufficient or not, such doubts will not be there. It is a full poise, contentment and fullness. You can achieve it through devotion, you can achieve it through karmayoga, you can achieve it through saankhya, you can achieve it through some of the yoga methods also. Ultimately it is a question of a transformed and divinized human who will be able to move in this world peacefully, joyously, contentedly and fulfilledly.
Harih Om Tat Sat. Jai Guru. Jai Guru.
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