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Bhakti (spiritual devotion) Sutras
by Narada
Now, in a spirit of auspiciousness, we shall commence to expound on bhakti-spiritual devotion. The nature of spiritual devotion is the supreme love & its essence is the nectar of immortality. Obtaining spiritual devotion, a person becomes a Siddha, a perfected one, beyond death & fully satisfied. Achieving spiritual devotion, one becomes completely desireless; not grieving, not hating, not rejoicing in fleeting happiness, without passion for personal concerns. With a realisation of spiritual devotion one becomes spiritually intoxicated; one becomes overwhelmed; one comes to rejoice in the Self. Spiritual devotion does not arise from desire, its nature is a state of inner-stillness. This inner-stillness consecrates the performance of worldly & traditional social duties.Inner-stillness, furthermore, requires a single-hearted intention & disinterest in what is antagonistic to spiritual devotion. When one is single-hearted, one relinquishes seeking security in anything other than God. Disinterest in what is antagonistic to spiritual devotion means worldly & traditional duties are conducted in a manner supportive of spiritual devotion.
Let there be a firm commitment to maintaining an ethical code, even after the development of spiritual devotion, otherwise, there is the risk of a fall. In addition to worldly duties, one should perform activities essential for supporting life, but only to the extent of sustaining the body from death. There are various descriptions of the characteristics of spiritual devotion due to differences in point of view. Spiritual devotion may be expressed through intense longing to perform ritual worship. Spiritual devotion may be expressed through discussions on spiritual themes. Spiritual devotion may be expressed by perpetual delight in the Self. According to Narada, however, spiritual devotion is expressed by sanctifying all activities, & by supreme anguish upon forgetting the Beloved.
The four levels of worship of God are:
1 Worshipping state of mind
2 Praying state of mind
3 Meditative state of mind
4 Mind merged in God
Even the highest level of spiritual devotion, one should remain mindful & not forget the glory of the Beloved, in order to avoid degrading the relationship. If that mindfulness is forsaken, what exists is selfish passion. In selfish passion, one’s personal happiness is independent of the happiness of the Beloved. Spiritual devotion is superior even to the paths of service, wisdom & traditional yoga. The nature of these paths is to produce the fruit of spiritual devotion. Spiritual devotion is also superior because the Lord is drawn by love to humility & repulsed by egoism. Some assert that spiritual devotion can be developed solely by wisdom. Some assert that wisdom & devotion are both necessary. According to Narada, spiritual devotion is its own fruit. This is seen in the examples of a king, home, food & so forth. Not by wisdom is one made royalty, is one satisfied or is hunger appeased. Therefore, those who aspire to liberation regard spiritual devotion as the only goal worth attaining.
Great teachers sing of the means of developing spiritual devotion. Spiritual devotion is developed by relinquishing objects & relinquishing attachments. By unceasing worship. While in the world, as well, by singing & listening to the attributes of God. But primarily from the mere grace of God via the blessing of a great soul. But the companionship of a great soul is difficult to obtain. It is unfathomable & it is infallible. Only by God’s grace is their companionship even obtained. Because there is no difference between the grace of God & those great souls arising from that grace. Cultivate grace alone.
Negative companionship should be fully relinquished. Negative companionship is the cause of selfish desire, anger, delusion, forgetting one’s spiritual goal, loss of discrimination & loss of everything worthwhile. A swelling ocean is raised from the small waves of companionship. Who crosses the ocean of Great illusion? One who becomes ego free, who serves the great souls & who relinquishes attachment to others. One who resorts to solitude, who eradicates the bondage of the world, who becomes free of the 3 modes of nature (rajas, tamas & sattva) & who relinquishes the feeling that happiness is dependent on acquisitions. One who relinquishes the fruits of activity, who renounces egoistic actions, thereby becomes free of the pairs of opposites.
Renouncing even the scriptures, a complete, unceasing, intense longing for God is obtained. He crosses & he helps all the world to cross. The essential nature of love is inexpressible. Like taste for one who is mute. Love is manifest where there is an able vessel. This love takes the form of an intimate experience of exquisite subtlety, devoid of the influence of the 3 modes of nature, devoid of desire, a boundless, perpetual expansion. Achieving that experience one sees only love, hears only love, speaks only love & thinks of love alone.
Inferior types of spiritual devotion are threefold: of the various modes of nature or the various types of distress. Each subsequent type of spiritual devotion is superior to the ones that preceded it. The path of spiritual devotion is easier than others. The proof of this is self-evident, needing no other proof. It is the nature of peace & supreme joy. When one dedicates oneself to the performance of worldly & traditional social activities from a sense of duty, there is no anxiety about worldly losses. A lack of perfection of that anxiety-free state does not imply that interactions with the world are to be forsaken; rather, duties should indeed be performed as a means of developing that state, by relinquishing their fruits.
Stories about sex, wealth & worldly people should not be listened to. Egoism, arrogance, & other iniquities are to be relinquished. Performing actions only as a duty sanctifies all activities, even when selfish desire, anger, egoism, & other iniquities are present. Going beyond the 3 forms of spiritual devotion previous mentioned, one’s only duty is to love. One’s duty is to love. The aspiration naturally worships God, like an eternally loving wife or eternally devoted servant. Foremost amongst devotees are those who are one-pointed.
Conversing with each other with voices choking, hairs standing on end, & tears in their eyes, they purify communities & the earth. Their holiness establishes sacred sites, they render actions beneficent & their authority is the basis of sacred scripture. To them is the fullness of God. Their ancestors rejoice, divine beings dance & the world becomes endowed with a master. Among them, distinctions of ancestry, intellect, appearance, class, wealth, occupation & other social realities are irrelevant, since they belong to God.
Intellectual explanations should not be relied upon, they can go on endlessly without providing certainty. Devotional scriptures should be reflected upon & the practices therein should be performed, as they awaken devotion. Relinquishing happiness, sadness, selfish-will, worldly gain & other personal concerns, at every moment enthusiastic, not even half an instant should pass uselessly. Non-violence, truthfulness, purity, compassion, faith in spiritual teachings & personal integrity are to be cultivated.
Always. In all ways, worship God alone; be free of anxiety. Through sincere veneration, God swiftly becomes manifest in the awareness of devotees. In the threefold reality, spiritual devotion alone is of the greatest significance.
Spiritual devotion is singular, though it manifests as eleven forms:
1 Cherishing the glorious qualities of God
2 Cherishing spiritual forms
3 Cherishing ritual worship
4 Cherishing constant remembrance
5 Cherishing service
6 Cherishing God as dear friend
7 Cherishing God with parental affection
8 Cherishing God like a loving wife
9 Cherishing knowledge of the Self
10 Cherishing oneness with God
11 Cherishing the supreme separation
In similar ways great teachers of spiritual devotion unanimously proclaim, fearless of popular opinion. Whosoever fully believes & has faith in these divinely auspicious teachings decreed by Narada becomes endowed with spiritual devotion.
That one obtains the Dearest Beloved.
Come, join the courageous
Who have no choice
But to bet their entire world
That indeed, God is real.
"He spins & whirls like a golden compass,
Beyond all that is rational,
To show this dear world
That everything in existence,
Does point to God”
A golden Compass by Hafiz
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