Does discipline help to focus especially when the mind is affected with worldly thoughts?

[Shri Balaji asked: Namaste Swami, Kindly clarify on the following queries:

Kindly mention the ways to intensify one's devotion towards God.

Many devotees follow a strict discipline of time in their spiritual practices, e.g. prayers exactly around sunrise, sunset etc. Does this discipline help to focus especially when the mind is affected with worldly thoughts/worries, and leaving it free until actual spiritual interest comes might be risky?

One atheist acquaintance commented that even though he does not believe in God's existence, he has observed that people following meditation or chanting practices have a bright, radiant face. Is this a minor reward from God to encourage their spiritual efforts even though it may just be blind practice without knowledge? Sincerely, Balaji]

Swami replied:- Love in the case of God is devotion. Interest on God is devotion, just like you have interest on worldly items. Devotion is the same old wine (love in the worldly life) in a new bottle (God). Love is always spontaneous and is generated from knowledge. Knowledge means to know all the details of God. As you know more and more, the details of an attracting personality, more is the love that is generated. Hence, devotion increases as the knowledge of God increases. If knowledge is set aside, the love generated may be spontaneous like a flash and would disappear immediately like lightning. The love generated from the knowledge of God is like the sunlight while the Sun is shining in the sky.

Cutting worldly bonds in the initial stage is required because you have to get some time to listen to spiritual knowledge from a Divine preacher. But, as you develop more and more devotion on God due to more and more learning of spiritual knowledge, you will reach a stage in which the worldly bonds need not be cut by effort, but they are thrown away spontaneously due to the increased love on God. Hence, in the final stage, there is no necessity to cut worldly bonds for the sake of devotion to God. You may cut worldly enjoyments for the sake of trials made to achieve divine nectar. But, once you achieve divine nectar and drink it, you will lose interest on worldly bonds in a natural way without any effort. This final stage is important where you need not put any effort to leave the worldly bonds.

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