16 Feb 2025
[Ms. Amudha asked: Paadha Namaskaram Swami, Thinking of the greatest and most devoted servants of the Lord—Hanuman, Adi Shesha, Garuda, Prahlada, the Gopikas, and many others—I am reminded of the many devoted souls I see in this lifetime who are truly dedicated to You. Also, we should not aspire to be close to You in the way that Swami Vivekananda was to Shri Rama Krishna Paramahamsa, for it is God's will to bless one with such a relationship. Seeing these devoted souls, I feel unworthy, as I lack their qualities. Moreover, I feel that I am not doing anything daily that truly pleases You. Reflecting on all of this, the following questions arise in my mind. Swami, please guide me and forgive me for any mistakes in my words.]
1. How can I become a good devotee?
Swami replied:- Suppose you ask a question “How can I become rich?”. The answer will be “By earning money”. Similarly, the answer here is “By loving God”. The word ‘love’ applies to all worldly items whereas the word ‘devotion’ applies to God. Hence, devotion means love only, which is like the old wine in a new bottle. When the love is in all angles of the divine personality of God, it is the climax of devotion. Such love shall be based just on the divine personality of God. The internal personality of God is all His auspicious qualities (Kalyaana Gunas) and this is the main eternal essence of the personality of God. Except the attraction to His divine personality, there shall be no other attractions like the attraction to the fulfilment of a worldly desire etc. Such an attraction towards the total personality is seen in the case of fan devotion in which a fan becomes mad of a cinema hero or a political leader so that when such hero dies, the fan commits suicide! The fan is not getting any trace of benefit from the hero and in fact, he is losing money from his pocket only for the arrangement of the functions for the hero. In these examples of cinema hero and political leader, the personality projected is not true, but in the case of God, the projected personality is totally true.
2. What are the daily responsibilities of a devotee?
Swami replied:- In divine love, responsibility is not felt. Whatever is done by the devotee to God is due to the climax fascination of the devotee to God. In responsibility, there is force but in love, there is full freedom.
3. In thought, mind, body, awareness and action, how can I serve God in all aspects?
Swami replied:- When your attraction to the total divine personality of God is in all angles, then automatically your thought, mind, body, awareness and action get totally involved without any effort. When the soul itself is totally dedicated to God due to climax devotion, what is there that is not involved in the service of God? The Gita says that a devotee shall surrender to God in all angles (Tameva śaraṇaṃ gaccha…).
4. How can I take a step closer to You each day, Swami?
[At Your Divine Lotus Feet, Your Servant, Amudha]
Swami replied:- Here, the step shall not mean the physical sense of walking towards some goal and it shall not mean that you can walk a few steps every day towards Me from Chennai! The step here actually means the daily progress in your spontaneous attraction to God. This cannot be taken in the sense of military training in which one progresses to become a more and more talented soldier. This is purely connected to theoretical and practical devotion. Both psychological and practical activities bring the fullness of devotion. In fact, devotion is the only path to become close to God (Bhaktyā tvananyayā śakya… - Gita) and such devotion shall be in both theoretical and practical phases. The details of the personality of God in spiritual knowledge generate and promote such two-sided devotion.
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