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
Nine; Section 2 Fruits of Love Divine; Modes of Approach to Bhakti
Here,
the Guru waxes fully lyrical and a single sutra conveys no less than eleven
ways to approach the Love Divine.
Gua[mahaTMyasi´-êpasi´-pUjasi´-Smr[asi´-daSyasi´-
sOyasi´-vaTsLyasi´-kaNtasKTya-Tminvednasi´-tNmytasi´-
prmivrhasi´ @k-xaPyekadzxa _avit.82.
Gunamaahaatmyaasakti-ruupaasakti-puujasakti-smaranaasakti-daasyaasakti-
sakhyaasakti-vaatsalyaasakti-kaantaasakti-aatmanivedanaasakti-tanmayataasakti-
paramaviharahaasakti
eka-dhaapyekaadashadhaa bhavati ||82||
Love for the glorifying of His qualities; Love for His
Divine Form; Love through ritual; Love through remembrance of Him; Love through
spiritual service;Love through friendship with Him; Love Him as your own child;
Love Him as your spouse; Love Him as the Totality; Love Him as yourself
(Oneness); Love Him as if in the pangs of separation. Love is One only,
expressed in eleven modes.
Straightforward?
Let us look at each in a little detail.
Glorifying
- exactly as Narada-ji has been doing throughout this text and he and many
other great sages did when they travelled around their country; talk only of
the Lord, chant his name regularly and loudly. Narada is known for only ever
chanting 'Naaraayana, Naaraayana, Naarayana…' everywhere and at every moment
when not engaged with others for purpose of teaching or transaction. In the
modern world, this might be viewed, at best, as eccentric and, at worst, lead
to incarceration! We can still live internally this way however. Watch your
thoughts and when they are not to be engaged with the purpose running life, let
them be only thinking upon the Higher.
Divine
Form - every Hindu home will have at least one murti (statue) of their chosen
form of the Higher; but we must build a murti within ourselves also and it is
to this that we can more readily attach our wandering thoughts. This is why the
Higher appears in a recognisable form for us throughout the ages - although It
Itself has no form. It knows we are weak
and useless critters if we do not have something to visualise!
Ritual
- the performance of puja is beneficial to help us feel closer to the Lord. We
can attend temple/mosque/church etc and have the priests perform the service as
an intercession on our behalf; but in sanaatana dharma, each household can, and
should, perform their own family pujas. This is why there is a murti kept in a
sacred space in each home.
Remembrance
- japa; the repetition of the many names given to the Higher; this is different
from the glorifying part, insofar as this is purely for the seeker and held
private, whilst the glorifying permits us to interact with others in the
process.
Service
- in the way of servant and master. This is where the karma-yoga comes in
handy! Let each act be as if offering it to a revered one; let there be purity
and sanctity in one's daily living, knowing that the Master sees all.
Friendship
- talk with your Lord; bare your entire being before Him… allow for His
answers.
Child
- many devotees find it easier to relate to Baby Krishna or Baby Rama and thus
pamper Him, with sweets and milk and fruits offered in puja.
Spouse
- it is understood that in the Lord, there is no gender, but also that if one
is male, then the female can be visualised and vice versa. Thus, if it suits
and it is the method which appeals most, Love the Higher in the form of
husband/wife; but not in the carnal sense. Rather, in the sense of familiarity,
comfort, solace and so forth.
Totality
- complete surrender before the Higher, but also being prepared to defend It,
is what is required in this concept of Love. Here, we can see the need for
jnaana-yoga emerging. To accept the concept of a Totality of Existence means we
have to have taken up the philosophical side of devotion and no longer wish to
simply perform blind ritual.
Oneness
- absorption into the Totality; now we find that Bhakti differs not from Jnaana
in the ultimate goal; absolute dissolution of the small ego and immersion in
the Sat-Chit-Aananda.
Separation
- have we not all, at some point in our life, experienced the pain of being
separate from someone we love dearly. A parent, a sibling, a friend… the angst
can feel like a physical pain in our hearts. If one is truly engaged to the
Lord, this is how we must feel at any moment we forget to chant His name or
look in His direction and give a smile.
In
this way Bhakti builds towards the very same goal as Jnaana; it is a process of
bringing our ego into line and replacing it with the Self which we must at
first recognise, in our limited way, as a physical God and which, through that
process and adding in knowledge, raise ourselves ever closer to Divinity, a
glorious enlightenment of our being-ness.
