Hari
OM
Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!
The Narada Bhakti Sutra is our guide for a while… the
nature of Love (with the capital 'ell') and a full exploration of it. As
always, you are encouraged to seek out the full text from Chinmaya Publications
(links in side-bar); but for those who prefer e-readers, this version is recommended. Whilst awareness and interest can be
raised by these posts on AV-blog, they cannot substitute for a thorough reading
and contemplation...and practice!
Chapter
Seven; Section 1 - The Glory of The Sage; Glory of the Path
_a´a
@kaiNtnae muOya> .67.
Bhaktaa
ekaantino mukhyaaH ||67||
Devotees who make essential and single-pointed
devotion are primary.
Those
who choose to carry out devotion for devotion's sake and who see only Divine
Love everywhere, these are said to be the best of bhaktas and may be considered
as 'sage' (sadhu).
Remember
there are two levels of Love. That which is the Higher, Supreme Love - pure,
free of attachment, a total identification with the Divine; and that which is
the lower love for the Lord, which must be cultivated, raised to the Higher,
only then to experience pure bliss. In this suutra, Narada-ji refers to the
first of these. True and dedicated bhaktas who have practised all the
disciplines and are now soaring in the Higher. They alone can pursue the
Divine, live the Divine and portray the Divine. The rest of us can only attempt
to emulate them.
The
bhakta who as transcended the lower love is single-pointed; nothing is seen but
the Divine; all energies are directed to maintaining that contact with the
Higher. There is no distraction nor deviation from practice of bhakti.
At
this point, the bhakta will appear much as the transcended jnaani; there will
be almost constant meditation and when not in meditation, the glories of the
Higher will be praised. Everything which is said and done now will pertain only
to the Divine… even if it is perceived by those stuck in the lower as being
worldly. Often there are tales of eccentric behaviour, or actions which appear
to be contradictory from sadhus - but it must be remembered that once one has
crossed into the Higher level of functioning, the concept of 'world' is quite
altered and any actions do not necessarily have to be understood in relation to
it. Everything a Realised Master does will be in accordance with that
single-pointed focus of Love.
Thus,
in the first stanza, we are to understand that the sage who has transcended
sees the Glory of Truth and seeks only to remain within that Love; the Love
which is not even a means to an end and where there is no longer any longing
for liberation; liberation has been achieved and all that is sought by those
having live to out the body's praarabdha is to remain in that Unity with the Lord.
What,
though, is the glory of the sage to those around them? This we will see next
week.
