
Spirituality: The meaning of ultimate devotion
Lord Krishna pointed out two stages in the programme of devotion: jñānyogena sāṅkhyānāṁ karmayogena yoginām. Karma-yoga is worshipping īśvara manifest as the universe. Jñāna-yoga is knowing īśvara as your own self. That is the ultimate and true knowledge of īśvara.
Ramana Maharshi says, “bhaktiruttamā, the uttamā, most exalted bhakti, devotion, is bhāvaśūnyasadbhāvasthitiḥ, when īśvara is realized as my own self, without duality.” He also says, “bhedabhāvanāt so’ham ityasau bhāvanā’bhidā pāvanī matā. When we worship the Lord, rather than having the attitude that I am different from him, the best attitude is so’ham, in reality, he is my own self.” Ultimately, īśvara has to be recognized as my own self. Then alone does this quest come to fulfillment.
The ultimate devotion is knowing that I am īśvara.
What is the obstacle to experiencing myself as īśvara? What denies me the happiness that I am? The ego, rāga-dveṣas, and insecurities deny me the happiness that is my nature. Either I retain my rāga-dveṣas intact and struggle for happiness, or I let go of the rāga-dveṣas and let the happiness manifest. Those are the two ways of living life. One is to retain my rāga-dveṣas and struggle to find happiness where it is not. The other way is to undertake a whole programme, where the rāga-dveṣas are given up to manifest the happiness that is Me. Call it happiness or call it God, it is the same. God is sat, cit, ānanda. Bringing to manifestation the happiness is bringing to manifestation īśvara.
Thus, through this process of surrendering, of letting go of rāga-dveṣas, ego, and demands, I am doing myself a favour. By not making demands upon īśvara, I am not obliging him; I am only doing a favour to myself. By giving up my rāga-dveṣas, I am giving īśvara an opportunity to manifest as myself. I become free by creating conditions where happiness or īśvara, which is my nature, has an opportunity to manifest. The more he manifests, the less my needs and the less demanding I become. When he completely manifests, I become free from all needs and free from all demands.
Then people ask the question “If everybody becomes satisfied, what will happen to the world? When you’re satisfied, you don’t demand and therefore you don’t consume. When there is no consumption, there is no production. What will happen to the economy then?” They are all worried about the world.
Why are you worried about what will happen to anybody? What do you want to happen? Consumption? Production? More money? More waste? Do you want this cycle to go on? After all, what is the purpose of all that happening? The purpose of all the happening is ultimately our happiness and our satisfaction. Is that not so?
You are already the happiness you seek
Here is a story that examines the purpose of progress: A rich businessman lives in a big city and has a home at the beach, where he goes from time to time on vacation to relax. When he goes there, he cuts off all contact—no cell phones or internet. He relaxes. He wakes up on his own time and strolls along the beach, relaxing. He is happy and free.
One morning when he was strolling like this, he encountered another fellow who was also strolling along the beach. The other fellow appeared to be a man of very modest means. When their paths had crossed two or three times, this wealthy businessman stopped the other man. He was curious and asked him, “Who are you?” The other person replied, “I am a fisherman.” The wealthy man asked, “What are you doing?” The fisherman replied, “Just strolling.” The businessman asked, “You have nothing to do?” The fisherman replied, “No, I have time.”
The businessman then asked, “How many hours do you work?” The fisherman answered, “Two hours a day.” The businessman expressed surprise at so little work time. The fisherman assured him, “That is enough for me.” The businessman questioned him, “What if you work for four hours a day?” The fisherman had never thought about it. He replied, “Then my income would double.” The wealthy man continued, “You know if you do that for a period of time, you will have enough money to buy another boat.” The fisherman agreed. The businessman continued, “Then you can hire somebody. Now, since you have two boats for four hours each, you will be earning for eight hours a day. You can save more money and buy more boats, then save more money, and buy even more boats. Pretty soon, you will have a fleet. You will catch a lot of fish.” The fisherman asked, “Then what do I do after that?” The businessman replied, “Then you create a fish-processing plant and package the fish. You can export it and make so much money.”
“Then what do I do with that money?” asked the fisherman. Replied the businessman, “See what I am doing? You can live in a palatial home in a big city, instead of this crummy place where you live. Like me, you can also have a beach home, where you can come from time to time to relax.” The fisherman asked, “How do I relax?” The businessman said, “Look how I am relaxing. I am strolling.” “But I am doing that already!” replied the fisherman.
People worry about what will happen to progress. The real question is, what is the purpose of all that progress? We want progress to be happy. If this life of bhakti and surrender makes you happy, then what is progress for?
…to continue
*Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati has been teaching Vedānta Prasthānatrayī and Prakaraṇagranthas for the last 40 years in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Throughout the year, he conducts daily Vedānta discourses, accompanied by retreats, and Jñāna Yajñas on Vedānta in different cities in India and foreign countries.