Devotion cannot be limited by time or space and is not just the act itself
Devotee praying (Photo: AP)
In Tulsidas’ Ramayan, Lord Ram tells his younger brother Lakshman that “the thought and feeling behind any action that touches and melts the Lord’s heart becomes devotion.” Yet, devotion cannot be limited by time or space and is not just the act itself. All of us want to experience devotion in our hearts. Love for the divine alone becomes the prime motivation, and this type of devotion fills the entire consciousness of the devotee. Devotion being the basis of all actions, the unconditional love that arises from it finds its own fulfilment.
We try to develop the feeling of love (prem) for God, even though our minds feel uninvolved. Then, slowly, the attitude of love begins to guide all our actions naturally.At this stage, our sadhana or vaidhi bhakti becomes prem bhakti. Indeed, the address of the Lord is in the heart of a devotee who lives with:
- Ears — “like the ocean” — endlessly listen to the glories of the Lord
- Eyes — “like the chataka bird” — thirst for the vision of the Lord
- A tongue — “like the hamsa bird” — speaks only of His divine virtues
- An accepting attitude, receiving everything that life brings as His gift
- Faithful hands that serve the Lord and a head that bows in respect to the teacher and the learned
- Feet that travel to sacred lands and a mind immersed in the Lord’s name, prays with the family
- The heart that becomes a temple
- Words filled with truth, love for all, and an unruffled mind that takes refuge in Him
- A heart so pure that it celebrates others’ joys and suffers at their sorrows
- Their entire being sees the Lord as mother, father, teacher and all
- A reputation for a life of dharma, forgiving others’ faults
- Humility that his virtues belong to God, and the faults are his own ignorance
- A spirit of renouncing his worldly identity before the Lord in his heart, ever remaining His in thought, word and deed
In essence, devotion asks for nothing, and the devotee surrenders his all to the Lord with a joyful, effortless ease.
Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and a storyteller
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