The Age of Bhakti
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'' my hands are my heart'' G. Orozco |
(you'll be sooooo inspired reading this !Trust me!! A talk with Swami Satyananda Saraswati )
I have had a glimpse of the new millennium. Yoga will go backstage and
bhakti will take its place. Bhakti means devotion or love; it is an
expression of bhavana, a deep feeling from the heart towards God. Love
will become prominent, not as a belief but as a science. After all, you
may not know what antibiotics are, but they have been researched and
defined. In psychology, research has been done into brainwaves.
Similarly, scientists will investigate people like Mirabai. Mirabai was
given poison but it did not affect her. How did that happen? What
changes took place in her body? What waves were predominant in her
brain? Were they beta, alpha, theta, delta or something else? Christ was
crucified for three days yet he did not die. How did he remain alive?
BlissI had years and years of believing that God was without name or
form. However, those views changed because I have been convinced by my
personal experience, aparokshanubhuti. When I was at Bihar School of
Yoga, I always spoke about yoga and carefully avoided God. Most of you
must remember this. But now I can no longer talk about yoga, I can only
talk about bhakti. Now it is necessary to speak about God and it does
not matter whether it is done in a Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Hindu
way. Something transcendental has to come as a focus for the mind. God
has to be brought forth very systematically and scientifically, not as
someone mysterious. I never spoke about God before in my life, but
suddenly I am not able to speak of anything else.
The next
generation will get scientific proof of bhakti, not religious evidence.
What is said in the Ramayana is legendary evidence; it is not
scientific. No religious book is scientific evidence. When you say that
the moon is so many miles from the earth, there is scientific evidence,
objective data, today to prove it. Either my view is right or it is
wrong. It can't be both. If I am wrong, then I am crazy, but if I am
right, then what am I? You must find out. I am speaking about this very
frankly, although you may not understand it.
The new millennium
will see the renaissance of dharma and bhakti. If I am still alive, your
children and grandchildren will love me! They will say, “Papa, do you
know what bhakti is? In school we learned that a great scientist from
America says that bhakti has a very important influence on biological
matter and that he has measured it with different instruments. So you
must love God like you love your family.” You will say, “This boy has
gone crazy!” Then he will say, “I am not crazy; I am talking science!”
The time is going to come very soon for redefining bhakti as a part of
our personal lives and as a means of redemption from pain.
Lumbago is not the only pain that man suffers from, nor is arthritis. It
is true that there is pain, but there are many other problems in the
human mind, consciousness and psyche. If you were to search for an
individual cure for all of these problems, it would take a lifetime.
However, there is a common cure for them all in bhakti. Therefore, you
must practise kirtan, have satsang and read the lives of great saints,
whoever they may be – Mirabai, Ramakrishna, St Francis, Aurobindo, St
Teresa of Avila or St John of the Cross. Read the teachings of St Thomas
Aquinas, for example, and just try to live like that, but do not make
bhakti a religion or a sect. This will take time to develop because the
intellectual mind is a very hard nut to crack. Therefore, a devotee
should not take recourse in vain discussions. Aurobindo has said,
“Reason was the helper and reason is the barrier. Transcend reason.”
The culture of bhakti yoga
The twentieth century was the century of political culture. Politicians
were at the forefront of everything. Now people have understood that
the political culture will never save humanity, it will never solve
social problems, it will never bring an end to war. In the twenty-first
century scientists will change their focus. They have been working on
the dimension of matter and have developed the technology to prove their
hypotheses. In the new millennium, they will investigate feelings,
emotions, devotion and bhakti. The research will be streamlined and has
already started to happen in many countries.
It was the
scientists who proved the superiority of matter. Now they will prove the
superiority of mind and emotions over matter. The twenty-first century
will see this happen. There are many things which the last century
missed that the new century will pick up. If it misses them, then
disaster will follow because man has so much technological knowledge
that he has the power to destroy himself.
There is only one path;
all other paths are stepping stones. Karma yoga, raja yoga and jnana
yoga are stepping stones. Bhakti is the path, God is the destiny and you
and I are the travellers. This is the only truth. If there is any
philosophy other than this, it is illogical. We are born with only one
destiny. Man is an experiment, and the outcome of that experiment is the
experience of God. Many people in the past have had that experience,
but many more will have it in the future.
I can see clearly the
great changes taking place in different parts of the world, particularly
in the western hemisphere.
Wherever there is an excess of worldly
pleasure and materialistic aspirations, people have developed a feeling
of distaste, dispassion. The twentieth century has only shown us a
culture of indulgence and enjoyment, a utilitarian, consumer culture.
This culture now plays a dominant role in literature, music, art and
drama as well. The twentieth century has given us no path advocating
spirituality. Spirituality has only survived the onslaught of stark
materialism because great people like Swami Vivekananda, Swami
Ramatirtha and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa have kept it alive by injecting
some inspiration into it.
The age of bhakti is dawning. Bhakti is
a force which will influence the civilization, culture and
relationships of man. If you study history, you will find that there
have been revolutions brought about to promote awareness of bhakti.
These were the times when society was going through a transition period
and a feeling of instability prevailed everywhere, like today. It
happened in India as well as in Europe. Whenever a society passes
through a transition period, it experiences a social vacuum and people
begin to reject it.
Do you accept what is happening in your
society today? Do you accept the way people think, act and behave? Don't
you criticize these things? What does all this mean? It means you are
not satisfied with the existing state of society.
When a society becomes
dissatisfied with its own state of affairs, that situation is known as a
social vacuum. This has already happened in the developed western
societies, but they fail to understand it. Therefore, they are turning
towards spirituality. They are adopting bhakti marga, the path that
leads to God. This is the only way.
Bhakti comes from the heart
The twenty-first century will be the century of bhakti yoga for
everyone. Scientists will start to investigate human emotions because
emotions are more powerful than matter. By human emotions I mean
feelings. Bhakti is not religious doctrine, it is not a product of
intellect. Bhakti is concerned with your inner personal feelings, which
come from the heart. It is constant awareness. Just as you have a deep
feeling of terror, passion or enmity, in the same way, there is a deep
feeling of true love for God. Instead of directing your emotions towards
fear, anger and hatred, you have to direct them towards God. You must
direct your emotions totally in the right direction.
Bhakti is
present in everyone; it is an all pervading essence in all living
beings, not only human beings. The feeling for God is bhakti, the
feeling for one's enemy is revenge, the feeling for one's beloved is
passion, the feeling for money is greed. When your feeling goes towards
God, it is called bhakti. The same feeling from a mother for her child
is affection, sneha. When it is directed towards a friend it is
friendship. So, you do not have to be told how to develop your feelings
because they already exist. You only have to be taught how to channel
them. Bhakti is natural for everyone.
Only in bhakti yoga can the
human mind stabilize itself easily. Give some time to serving God and
the mind automatically becomes one-pointed. There has to be balance in
life. You have to have as much devotion to God as you have cravings for
enjoyment. Enjoy this world as much as you can, but side by side give as
much devotion to God as possible.
The most important thing that
you have to understand is that God is the centre of the universe. You
can only see God through the eyes of your heart. The heart is free from
selfishness, it is the source of sacrifice and selflessness. If you want
to have any connection or relationship with God, then intellect is the
barrier. You can discuss God through the intellect, but you cannot feel
Him. You express your feelings through the heart. Love, hatred, passion,
sacrifice and anger are feelings. You feel them; you do not see them.
Similarly you cannot see God, God has to be felt.
How can bhakti
be developed? This is a very important question and a very difficult
one. Everyone wants to love and be loved. You don't have to learn how to
love, but how to streamline this love from matter to spirit. How can
the love that you have for the material world be channelled towards God?
You have to discover and forge a relationship with Him. Is God your
father, mother, husband, wife, child, boyfriend, girlfriend, friend or
master? You have to be very clear about Him. There are two truths: one
is that love is natural to everyone, and the other is that everyone is
connected with God. So, you do not have to connect yourself with God,
you have to discover your relationship with Him.
Important aspects of bhakti
The foremost attributes on the path of bhakti are trust and faith.
Bhakti is an emotional quality. Faith and trust belong to your
psychological personality. Their effects can be measured in terms of
electromagnetic radiations. What is the effect of faith and trust on the
blood pressure and metabolism? Faith and trust are personal things. How
can I know how much faith and trust you have? Can they be measured if I
cannot see them?
We cannot see faith or belief, but I can feel
mine and you can feel yours. However, that is not enough. Objective data
needs to be produced. Trust and faith are the basis of bhakti and
cannot be seen with the eyes. What is that faith? Is it a blood flow or a
current of electromagnetic radiation? What is the form of bhavana? Is
it a vibration or a flow? It is a feeling and it definitely exists,
because when you are angry, you hate. The feeling of anger disturbs the
heart and blood pressure. You lose your appetite and the liver function
is impaired. In many people worries and anxieties cause the eyesight to
become weak.
This means that the effect of bhavana or feeling on
the human body is tangible. Although you cannot see faith or trust, the
effects can be felt on the body. Therefore, you can know the cause
through the effect. Bhakti yoga will be the next topic of scientific
research. Until now scientists have only carried out research into
matter. They won't investigate the soul, the spirit, atma, because they
say it does not exist, but they can certainly research feelings, faith
and trust.
Forms of God
God has two forms, the
transcendental and the immanent. God is beyond everything, beyond time,
space and matter, and God is present in all beings. We have to accept
both concepts of God. God exists in many forms, from the microbe to the
towering tree, from the limited mind to the universal mind. God is the
person who needs your help, God is in the animal that needs your
protection. A complete idea of bhakti has to emerge in such a way that
society will be regenerated, then people will enjoy life.
One can
worship God in any form one likes. In this Kali yuga, samkirtan, the
singing of God's name, is a divine path. The other path is helping
others. If every single person were to light one candle for another, how
many candles would be lit? With this chain reaction every house would
be lit with a candle. The last century did not support bhakti, it
supported politics, materialism and the fulfilment of petty desires.
International peace can only be achieved if every human being is
peaceful.
The times are changing. The winter of materialism is
going and the spring of bhakti is coming. People are really frustrated
and disappointed with this culture. Wouldn't you prefer a simple life
with peace of mind? For achieving mental peace two things are necessary:
one is acceptance of one's situation in life and the other is bhakti,
love for God. Where there is bhakti there is peace of mind, no worries,
likes, dislikes, love, hatred, anger or lust. Peace means acceptance.
Inspiring others to lead a divine life
The preliminary groundwork will have to be done by a number of people
who have realized this divinity in their own lives. That will be the
first step. The twentieth century did not have such people with the
capacity to inspire others to lead a divine life. There were many
preachers who spoke about God, but unless God is in you and works
through you, that is not enough.
The second point is that in the
new century people will be as scientifically-minded as they were in the
last century. Scientists will work, not only in education, but on many
other fronts. God-realized saints on one side and scientists on the
other will have to work together. Bhakti is not only a philosophy or a
religion. Bhakti is a science which can transform the individual and
change his thinking pattern. The generation of the 21st century will
belong to the bhakti yoga culture because mankind has developed its
feelings and emotions during the present era and these expressed
feelings have to be redirected or streamlined.
It is necessary to
lead the future generation onto the path of bhakti. Try to inspire your
children to take a new direction. You do not have to tell them to eat
or to get married because these are natural drives. You have to teach
them how to devote more time to God, how to be spiritual, how to make
some time in the morning and evening for remembering God, for singing
kirtan. The yoga of the next generation will be samkirtan because people
everywhere are crazy about music. People all over the world,
irrespective of nationality, culture, colour and creed, will enjoy
singing God's name on a family or community basis.
The future of science
In the twenty-first century scientists will turn their attention
towards bhakti and they will conduct research into the human psyche in
the same way that they did research on matter, electronics, nuclear
physics, computers and satellites in the twenttieth century. Technology
was the outcome of science in the last century. Bhakti will be the
outcome of science in the new millennium.
Scientists will
discover the impact of bhakti on the human mind, behaviour and
constitution, and its effect on society and civilization. How does
bhakti effect the electromagnetic waves of the human brain? How does it
influence the enzymes? How does bhakti improve the cardiovascular
system? What is the effect of bhakti on universal consciousness? It is
clear that the scientists of the twenty-first century will have to work
very hard. Spiritual discipline then will not be known as religion or
faith, but as a science of life. Just as we have been able to deal with
space communication through electronic mediums, similarly we will have
to deal with the idiosyncrasies of humanity, with its complicated mind
and its strange behaviour, which I do not think science is able to
control.
Nobody has control over the human mind and behaviour
today. This should develop when scientists realize that things are going
wrong. Once they start to think about it, there will be a revival of
religion. But which religion should be revived? The religion which is
based on logic and reasoning and which has a pragmatic approach. So,
scientists will give up experiments on matter and they will work on the
influence of devotion to God and its effects on the chemistry, behaviour
and experience of the human body and mind. It will be a wonderful thing
and it will happen. This is the inevitable destiny of mankind in the
new millennium.
Swami Satyananda Saraswati