1) We are all parts of Jeev Shakti.
Our goal is to attain Divine Love, a power under which God Himself is in. Ved Vyas says you can attain bhakti/devotion
by practising devotion!
2) Be practising, you can attain siddh
bhakti. What is that? There are two kinds of bhakti: sadhan bhakti and siddh bhakti.
3) To repeat: Bhakti can
be classified under two sub-divisions: sadhan bhakti and bhaav bhakti. When bhaav bhakti reaches a climax,
you get prema bhakti.
4) While sadhan bhakti is marked
by practice, siddh or bhaav bhakti is characterized by yog.
5) How can one do sadhan bhakti?
How does one engage in it?
Sadhan bhakti calls for certain
conditions.
-
a) This bhakti must be done constantly;
-
b) establish a relationship with God
not based on fear but five factors (shaant bhaav, daasya bhaav, sakhya bhaav, vatsalya bhaav and madhurya bhaav);
-
c) have single-minded devotion to God,
and not in scattered, varied ways;
-
d) sadhan bhakti has
to be done under the guidance of a guru; and
-
e) one has to meditate with God's form
in mind.
6) To elaborate, "Bhakti must
be done constantly" (first condition): Sri Krishna says, "Think of me always" (nitya smaran). Like the magnetic compass
needle that always points to North, one's mind has to always point toward God, whatever the situation, whatever the circumstances.
7) This poses a tricky question: if one
thinks of God always, how can one go about performing one's worldly duties (karm) day after day? How can the mind think
of two or more things simultaneously?
8) Remember, Arjun was a warrior on the
battlefield, facing his kith and kin in the enemy camp (the most challenging and adverse situation that one could ever
face), and yet succeeded in accomplishing karm yog.
Lord Krishna deliberately chose the battlefield
to deliver the Gita to Arjun, so that it can set an example for the rest of the mankind.
No one must ever complain that he or she
can't think of God always because he or she has "no time", that he or she is "very busy" due to "hectic schedules" and "appointments"
to keep, or "targets" or "deadlines" to meet. Devotion can be done in the most pressing situations.
9) In the context of karm, one has
to understand that there are two kinds of works: 1) where we engage mind and intellect but without attachment; 2) where
we engage mind and intellect but with attachment. So attachment is the key.
10) For example, food cooked by wife for
her husband will have added value and perhaps better taste (than food prepared by a cook) because it will be laced with
attachment. But the food made by a cook for his master, even though tasty and wholesome, may not give complete joy to
the master, because the cook has no attachment to the master; the cook's attachment is toward his own family.
11) So, it's possible to think of God always
if we work like the cook. Do your worldly duties, discharge your worldly responsibilities, but do not develop any attachment
to them; your attachment should be only toward God and no-one/nothing else. This is the way to think of God always, irrespective
of situations/circumstances.
12) If you have attachment to things or
persons other than God, all you have to do is to merely transfer such attachment from them to God. This is simple. We don't
have to learn anything new. This is not rocket science.
13) This feeling of "I" is always with
us. To this, we've to add one more line, and keep it with us always. That line is: "The God is with me always; I'm not alone."
14) Once you do that, you will become humble. In the spiritual path, humility
is the starting point, the first step, the foundation. Always remember, God is seated in you, within you, and keeps track
of not only your deeds but your thoughts as well.
You may think dangerous thoughts but behave
in a polite, civilized manner externally. The world may get fooled by your etiquette, manners, looks, physical appearance
and superficial good deeds.
But the God within you is aware of your
impure, dishonest thoughts, selfishness and vested interests. And He will make you accountable for your actions as well as
thoughts.
Good thoughts lead to good actions. So
it is essential to have good thoughts always. Bhakti is the way to have good thoughts always in mind.
15) Do not lament in this world even when
faced with reversals, disappointments, failures or adversity. Take even the setbacks, any result in fact, as a grace of God.
It's not necessary that you should attribute only perceived success as a result of grace of God.
Even failures should be seen as grace of
God because failures teach you invaluable lessons that will help you for the rest of your life. So you should thank God for
teaching you such great lessons, potentially your stepping stones to success.
16) Do not harbour any hatred, anger or
ill-will toward anyone. If there's hatred, the mind will run toward the object of hatred, taking it into the past, depriving
it of the energy and time in the present that should be devoted to God in the normal course.
So, if you have hatred, you are unwittingly
granting your inner space and time (which are meant only for God) to others. In other words, you are giving preference to
the people you hate over God; you are elevating them to heights higher than God Himself. Do you really want them to feel more
important than God Himself? So steer clear of hatred.
17) Learn to see the hand of God in everything
at all times -- that's the only way you can cope with successes and failures with equanimity, calm and poise.
Click here for the salient points of the (final) discourse on Day Eleven
