"A devotee's work is a work of devotion."

We hear almost everybody talking in some way or the other about God, the soul and the mystery of the universe. But, if we are in quest of one who has realized God, or is acquainted with Him, we will probably find none such among them. This is the reason why there is constant feud among the representatives of different religions. They talk a good deal about God but inwardly they might be no better than a down-right atheist. They acknowledge His existence in words but at heart they seem to be totally unmindful of His existence. To them the only utility of God is when they are in distress or misery. They expect Him on such occasions to attend to their call to remove their troubles. They pray to Him chiefly for the supply of their wants. It is really far from the idea of true love and devotion.

A true devotee is one who loves Him not for any favour or worldly interest but merely for love's sake. He always remains in a state of complete resignation to His will. He is perfectly contented with all that is bestowed upon him whether good or bad, joyful or unpleasant. Joy or sorrow is meaningless to him. Everything is a boon to him from his beloved. Such complete resignation and unquestioning attitude in all matters is the highest form of devotion. Resignation does not, however, mean that he should remain idle, doing nothing himself and depending all the time upon God, thinking that God will send him all that he requires if he so wills. 'God helps those who help themselves' is a common saying which is literally true. We are failing in our sacred duty if we do not exert ourselves for the discharge of our responsibilities pertaining either to this or to the next world. The only thing which should be borne in mind is that we work in accordance with the will of God and feel contented with the result whatever it might be. When we come up to this level we may rightly think ourselves to be true devotees of the Supreme Master, and hence on the right path leading to reality.

The advent of Bhakthi [devotion]
I think the great revolution in the yogic techniques came about sometime in the ninth century, or the tenth century, when what is called the bhakti cult came into being. God should be not looked for, or sought for power and things like that, but God should be sought with love. That is why it is called bhakti. A bhakta is one who loves God, loves Him absolutely, loves only God. Now do not be afraid when I use the word only, because it does not exclude our normal human, shall we say, family life, social life. Because the bhakti path very definitely states that our love belongs to God. It is not a question of our loving God, you see, because He is the creator, He is the father, we are His children. The temporal, the worldly love is sort of a duty. In fact it goes, shall I say, very deep into the subject and says your heart should be given only to Him, though you can love here. And we have certain very great personalities of the bhakti marga as we call it, the way of bhakti, and I am sure some of you have heard their names, Ramanuja, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, people like that. Now it is a funny thing that, because it is the way of love, it has tended to remain closed. Because, in the Eastern tradition, one does not talk about love, one does not broadcast one's love. It is supposed to be a secret of the heart between the lover and the beloved.

That is why not much is known about this bhakti business outside India. Because if you take the great figures who came out of India and preached about Indian religion, Hinduism, they invariably spoke of Vedanta and that is a religious intellectual tradition, the greatest architect of which was Shankara. Shankara's philosophy is well known. It is often said that he was, perhaps, the greatest intellectual ever born in India. People forget that Swami Vivekananda was there much later, in our own times. And even though Swami Vivekananda achieved what he achieved by raja yoga, the way of meditation, because his master Shri Ramakrishna started life as a priest in a temple, worshipped Kali, the divine mother, there is a certain obscurity between the two paths. And it is assumed that Swami Vivekananda became a great saint because of his intellect. On the contrary, if you remember Ramakrishna's life, he was a temple priest. But by ascetic practices he had gained inner enlightenment and enormous powers.

It is said he was able to bring the divine mother into his presence and speak to her, play with her, talk to her. He was very happy with that, very content. But one day a yogi came and said, "What is this play that you are indulging in? Is this all that you want? Even a goddess, to play with her is of no use, it is not going to give you realisation." Ramakrishna was humble enough to say, "I do not know what more to do." And, it is said, this master of yoga took a bit of glass and hit him on the forehead and said, "Meditate on this point." It was only after that, that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was able to meditate, was able to achieve the highest states, which gave him the title of Paramahamsa. Before that he was also doing the traditional Hatha yogic practices of asana, pranayama and things like that.

What is real Devotion?
We are always talking of love and devotion. Devotion means, to my mind, perfect performance of your duty. Therefore devotion is duty, perfect duty is devotion. Now, if I am devoted to my Master, it means perfection in the performance of the duty He has given to me, or which I have voluntarily accepted from Him, as nearly perfect as possible, growing in perfection. Now people ask, "How can something grow in perfection?" Well, every agriculturist knows that you have a perfect seed. You prepare a place to plant it as perfectly as you can. You have a perfect sapling, you have the possibility of a perfect fruit. We start with the seed. At each stage it is perfect. It is a growing perfection. It is a changing perfection, yet it is perfection which doesn't change. The object into which that perfection is put or associated with may change, but the perfection by itself doesn't change.
Therefore you can have a perfect diamond, a perfect piece of coal, a perfect seaweed. Anything is perfect. Philosophy says everything is perfect, because the Creator did not make anything imperfect. Now we are dealing with what the Creator felt was a perfect creation. And when we blame creation and say, "This is stupid, that is futile, this is ugly," we are criticizing the Creator. No mother likes to be criticized about her baby. You try telling a mother that her baby is stupid or ugly. She is worse than a tigress! So it is very true. I have tried it very often just for fun, to see the reaction! It is always the same reaction. "How dare you say my baby is this and this and this!" We have a saying in Tamil that, "To the crow, its baby is a golden baby." Every mother's child is perfect.
Therefore when we clean, we are removing these imperfections, and here in Sahaj Marg the perfection also, because the law says, "You cannot get rid of the duality of existence. You cannot remove imperfection and leave perfection behind." You take both or you leave both. Therefore when we take away all that is in you which is not created by Him, then remains that which He created, which is the perfect. So here there is no good, there is no bad, there is only the idea of perfection.
How does Devotion manifest?
Prayer is the sign of devotion. It shows that we have established our relationship with the Holy Divine. When the idea of Divine Mastership is established, our position turns into that of a serf. Now service is the only concern of the serf. Take for example the case of Bharata. He never allowed his heart to be contaminated with anything but the esteem, regard and devoted worship of the Master. This example must be kept in view for maintaining the relationship, which is the true form of devotion. This is the connecting link between the Master and the serf.
Everyone is familiar with the principle of telegraphy. When one end is connected to electricity, the message is immediately carried over to the other end. Similar is the case with the devotee, who makes himself known to the Master by the current of his own power. Now by effect of devotion, that which is with the Master begins to flow towards the serf through the medium of the connecting link set up between the two. Gradually everything of the Master begins to flow into the serf. In the beginning the devotee [servant] had only conveyed his own cognizance to the Master but subsequently by the effect of devotion, the Master began to adopt nearness to him, which went on developing till the thought of actual communion began to pervade within him. Divine revelation and Nature's commands then begin to descend upon him and the first phase of initiation thus comes into effect. Generally people think that devotion makes us slaves, but here the invertendo rule comes in again. The human concept never extended so far and the mystery remains sealed until now.
When devoted people speak about the Master, we seem to go into some sort of a Samadhi state, and I think that is how the original tradition of speaking, katha kalakshepa [discourses from Epics], arose - one of the ways of inuring the rest of the people with one's own inner condition, by reciting that or those qualities which we have fallen in love with, in the one whom we adore, whom we worship.
This is one of the ways of transmitting, I think. Even bhakti [devotion], that a bhakta [devotee], if he speaks in the sole consciousness of his prabhu [the Lord], is capable of creating some sort of a similar condition in those who listen to him, provided they are attentive. It is like this physics phenomenon of resonance: something vibrates, and if something else is in harmonious vibration with it, you strike this, and that vibrates. And the facility with which some of the great speakers - not intellectual speakers, because they don't generally convey much - but those who are able to speak with the fervour of love that is burning in their heart, it is amazing how much they can create in the hearts of a huge multitude, even ten thousand people, a hundred thousand people. Whereas the intellectual is struggling to impress, but often fails because he is demanding from the audience an intellectual reception. And if they are not trained, if they are not educated, they cannot respond. It is like badly tuned strings of a sitar - you may pluck for eternity but the other string will not resonate. That is why intellectuals speak to small, select, intellectual audiences. They cut no ice with the masses.

Whereas a man like Mahatma Gandhi, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, Swami Vivekananda, no doubt they were intellectuals, but they had thrown away their intellect as something like a boat with which they crossed the stream and then they now depended on the inner fires of their bhakti, their shraddha [faith], their love for divinity. And when they spoke, people heard; people not only heard, they listened. Otherwise it is like that forlorn cry of the Christian story, "We have eyes but we see not; we have ears but we listen not." But when we speak from love with bhakti we are able to evoke the attention of the people, whether they will or will not co-operate. It is as if something is pulled out of them, their attention is pulled out of them and hooked onto the speaker like so many intangible waves of influence.

Therefore, the bhaktas, the sadhakas [spiritual practicants], the great saints have relied on speech. It is, of course, in a way transmission. Transmission of one's inner condition, not of the verbal content of what one says, but of what one has inside. That is why katha kalakshepa even when it is done, even by an ordinary kalakshepi [one who does katha kalakshepa], it has its own asar, as we say in Hindi, its effect. Therefore, it is always nice to speak of love; it is even nicer to hear of love, even at the very mundane level. That is why love stories are so popular - romance. All the world loves a lover, and if a true bhakta loves his prabhu with that intensity that he remembers nothing, sees nothing, hears nothing except his prabhu, I dare say that the world must love such bhakta.

Where does Devotion culminate into?
In my opinion, no yoga, whatever be its name, can have a successful culmination in the abhyasi's spiritual adventure unless the yoga culminates in bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga here does not mean what it normally means in religious circles, i.e., bhajan, sankeertan, emotional dances and what not, but the real love in the heart of the abhyasi which very often is not apparent to anyone else except the Master himself. This love for the Divine Master is something which has no outward emotional content in it, which does not have to be expressed in tears of anguish on separation or tears of joy on reunion; but wherever the Master be, it continues to quietly simmer in the heart of the abhyasi who is now the lover longing for union with the beloved.

I remember Master once explaining to me what this devotion really means. He told me of an abhyasi of Samarth Guru Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj known among us as Lalaji Saheb. This abhyasi was so devoted to the Grand Master that often he used to prepare coffee in his home and take it to the court and Lalaji Saheb would tell him that he had been longing for coffee at that time. This abhyasi also used to wake up by himself in the night and be ready with a bath towel and water anticipating Lalaji's visit to the bathroom. This is the degree of devotion that we should try to create in ourselves. There can be no question of real progress in spirituality unless we love our Master so much and so deeply that we evoke in Him a Divine love for us. This then is the culmination of sadhana where, having done all we can, by giving our total love to the Master, He is in a sense compelled to take us up from there to complete our journey to the goal.

Dedication means so many things, but to me it means doing His work in His consciousness, for His sake. This is dedication. I hope you would all do your work, even on yourself, in that spirit. When we do it thinking, "I am going to become a Yogi, I am going to become a Master", you know we are destined to destroy ourselves. Even what I become, it is for His sake. Often I think of a bride, you see, who dresses herself up superbly for his sake, not for her sake! Isn't it? Suppose a bride dresses up and sits in front of a mirror and looks at herself, you know, she is a narcissist! The husband will say, "Come." She says, "No, no; I am admiring my beauty." "It is for me to admire your beauty, that you have dressed up so much! What is your beauty for? It is for me!
So, let us remember, that even our spiritual growth, even to the highest level, is for His sake, not for our sake. Because we are not here to become Rishis or Munis or Masters or Gods. Forget all this nonsense. Master says so many things to encourage us: "I make Masters." Yes, but for whose sake? He did not say, it is for His sake; so that His work may be furthered, His work may be strengthened, His plan may be fulfilled. We build a house not for the sake of the house. It is for us that we build it. Isn't it? Suppose the house says, "Yes, you have built me, now get out." Or suppose your son says [which many fathers have to face unfortunately]: "Yes dad, you have done enough for me, now let us say goodbye." Increasingly we find these things, you see. How hurt we feel: how much our heart is broken! The son thinks that we did it for him: but we did not do it for anybody - it was the natural thing. I did my duty to him out of love for him; and it is not for him to betray me. It is for him to also recognise that there is a reciprocal flow from him to me! If that is dammed, the connection is cut.
So, in that sense Master's work on us is for His work. He makes us, so that we may serve Him, and in serving Him, serve the purpose of the Almighty or Nature, whatever you wish to call it. So please remember, we are here, not for our personal aggrandisement. Our growth is for His sake, our ennoblement is for His sake, our spiritual elevation is for His sake; and if at all we are ever going to be Divinised, that too is for His sake.

Some pearls to pick

• A devotee is one who loves his Guru intensely. He always keeps himself internally connected with his Guru. Men of this type possess all those qualities that should be present in a disciple.
• We practise Bhakti or devotion in order to achieve communion with the Supreme Master.
• We should practise devotion without our eyes being fixed upon any worldly object or without caring for the satisfaction of our desires.
• There is a difference between the submission of slavery and the submission of devotion. A devotee is not a slave, though he submits.
• Devotion to the Master, love for the Master means to be like a baby who wants to be nowhere except in its mother's hands.
• Service may be taken as the stepping stone towards devotion.
• Spirituality is a very easy thing, and its achievement does not take much time. One should only increase faith and devotion. And devotion is generated by remembering again and again.

"Devotion means connection with the real Being."