Commentary on the text “Sri Siddhanta Shikhamani. Sthala: The Greatness of the Devotee”
“From the description of the greatness of the Teacher and the linga follows the greatness of the devotee (bhakta). And yet let us praise him. Those who serve the Great Lord, the Immutable One, the Paramatma, by means of their actions, mind, and speech—such people are renowned as devotees.”
Faith as the Foundation of the Spiritual Path
To be a sadhu means to believe in God, to be at least a deeply believing person. First comes faith, and then practice. It happens that people come to practice through hatha yoga and only later, after many years, begin to wonder: “What, then, is yoga? And for what purpose am I doing all these asanas?” And then, by the grace of God, certain Teachers, certain instructions come to them and say: “You are practicing the first stage of Ashtanga Yoga. But in general, its goal is Liberation. And Liberation is nothing other than union with God. And God exists.”
And the fact that God exists should deeply impress the soul; it should rethink its entire path in life, all its meanings, all its values. This is a fact that you cannot ignore; you must make a choice. As soon as you have learned that God exists, you must decide. As long as you did not know, did not think about it, you were like children—innocent beings who have a mother, a father, friends, society, and everything is fine. But God as the transcendental cause, the transcendental source, transcendental being, is always a challenge for the soul. And if it is an intelligent soul, it does not turn away from this challenge, does not brush it aside. That is, everything in the life of the soul must begin to change when it learns about God.
For example, a person who lived as a peasant without a father suddenly learned that he had a father. He had believed that there was no father, he had never heard of him, and then he was informed that he had a father. And he is not just a father, but a powerful king living in a neighboring state. When the peasant learns this, his whole life must change. And if it does not change, then he simply understands nothing.
Four Important Questions About God
The fact of God’s existence is a reason for the soul to immediately begin thinking:
- What is God?
- Where does He abide?
- What are His qualities?
- What are my relations with Him, and what is my connection with Him?
- How can He be known?
The soul must ask these four important questions, investigate them, and carry out Brahma-vichara until it receives clear answers, at least intellectual ones. And these answers must be received from an authoritative source, because if there is no authoritative source, you will not receive the necessary quality. It is like unlicensed products; you can get Chinese mass-market goods. Because someone will be found who says: “God is over there. Everything is fine, live as you are living.” Or there will be those who say: “God is such-and-such.” It is important to receive knowledge from an authoritative source. This is called pramana—something that can be trusted, something that is reliable knowledge.
For example, there is shastra-pramana (sacred texts)—prasthana-traya (the triple canon of the Vedic tradition). It turns out that knowledge of God is already contained in the sacred texts, and these sacred texts are sanctified by the tradition of saints and blessed. One may say that this is licensed knowledge.
Three Conditions for the Authoritative Transmission of Knowledge
In addition, it is also important to receive knowledge from a knowledgeable Spiritual Teacher who abides in the chain of disciplic succession (in the guru-shishya-parampara) and who possesses certain qualities. What are they? There are many qualities, beginning with patience, compassion, wisdom, and so on. All this is known. But the special qualities are shrotriya (knowledge of the sacred scriptures) and brahma-nishtha (personal experience of being established in Brahman).
When the qualities of the Spiritual Teacher and the sacred scriptures are combined, a third is still needed—the one who receives the knowledge. The third condition for authoritative transmission is that you yourself must be authoritative in the sense that, as a disciple, you must possess the qualities of an empty vessel. It is similar to how, if there is an iPhone, it must have the appropriate connector, and the cable must be plugged into the appropriate socket; that is, several conditions must come together. When they come together, charging the iPhone becomes possible. And the third condition is a disciple endowed with the proper qualities.
The proper qualities include:
- control of the senses
- self-discipline
- the capacity for an ascetic life
- strong will
- clear intellect
- vairagya (absence of attachments, sufficient detachment)
- mumuksha (the striving for liberation)
- viveka (discernment between truth and untruth in this world, that is, the ability to distinguish sat from asat, what is truth and what is untruth)
- the sixfold qualities of sattva: shama, dama, shraddha, titiksha, uparati, samadhana (calmness of mind, concentration, patience, the ability to endure various difficulties, faith, and steadiness in concentration on the absolute truth)
This is an authoritative disciple, licensed, genuine, not bought in China, but made by the blessing of Shiva, whom the divine power has led to the Guru. Of course, the Guru gladly accepts such a disciple, gives him diksha, and teaches him.
When all the conditions come together, this is an extraordinary state; all this is not so easy. It is not easy to preserve lines of transmission, it is not easy for Spiritual Teachers to appear, it is not easy for disciples to become disciples, it is not easy to cultivate the appropriate qualities. But when all these conditions come together, then the miracle of liberation becomes possible, then knowledge of God can be transmitted, then it produces the necessary effect.
If, however, all these qualities are absent, then the necessary effect is also absent. For example, a Guru may go to the marketplace, sit down in the middle of the square, take out a text of Sri Shankaracharya and say: “Come here, everyone! I am now going to give you the teaching of Advaita Vedanta!” Perhaps someone will come up, but someone else will throw an apple, an egg, or a tomato, because they are unsuitable vessels; they do not want to study Advaita and have no intention of believing in it. For them, it is not a fact that God exists, therefore they are unsuitable vessels, and one must not preach among unsuitable vessels. That would be an aparadha. That is, by preaching among unsuitable vessels, one can create an offense against the dharma, become the cause of the accumulation of bad karma and the rebirth of these beings in hell. Therefore, traditionally it is verified to what extent the disciples are suitable vessels.
A Life Centered Around God
But when all the conditions are combined, knowledge of God can be transmitted. This is the most important knowledge, which forever and irrevocably changes the life of the soul. When we know about God, we can no longer live pretending that He does not exist. This is impossible. We cannot live on our own, be occupied with the same concerns, live as if everything were normal: “God is somewhere out there, He exists, but I have things to do, they are more important; I have a vegetable garden, I have a trip to the Maldives. And God seems to exist, but He will wait; He is probably needed only by monks. There are some priests, let them worship Him. I can even make a donation sometimes, but in general He is somewhere off to the side.” This is the mentality of a foolish soul, unprepared, immature, one that does not understand the meaning of its existence. Such people are called mudha (a fool, a donkey, donkey-like).
The reason for birth here on Earth is precisely to understand God, establish a relationship with God, and return back to the spiritual world. That is, the most important reason why we were born here is that we need to understand our relationship with God, for no other reason. All vegetable gardens, jobs, dachas, families, wives, relatives, children, lovers, football, volleyball, computers, dollars and euros, politicians, wars, histories, interesting teachings, shows and entertainment — all this is unimportant compared to this mega-super-task. There are very many seemingly wise, strong, and intelligent people who say with a serious look: “We have such tasks! Big politics, big money!” But in reality this is childhood.
Once, about fifteen years ago, we were holding a seminar in Berdyansk. There was some conference, and we were singing bhajans. Some person came up and asked: “Could you please not interfere? We are resolving serious matters. We have a conference on global warming.” The disciples laughed. In reality, it is precisely here that the most serious matters are resolved. There are no other matters more important than those resolved here. Neither at the UN, nor on the Board of Directors of Microsoft, nor in the Pentagon, nor in NATO, nor at Gazprom, nor anywhere else are more important matters being resolved. Here the greatest matters are being resolved, because the most serious matter is to clarify the relationship of the soul with God. Everything else is not fundamental; it can wait. One can do without everything else. For example, a thousand years ago there were no dollars, but somehow people lived. A thousand years ago there were no iPhones, but it was all right, people lived too. But without God, no one can live even for a millisecond.
Therefore, when we hear about God from a Spiritual Teacher, from the sacred scriptures, in the proper state of an empty vessel endowed with all the qualities, this is a very fortunate combination. And the disciple, hearing about God, must draw conclusions and dedicate his life to serving God, investigating God, and God-realization. This is the only thing worth living for a living soul.
Investigation and Service to God
Investigation of God means learning and practice in order to understand divine wisdom. To serve God is to perceive one’s personal connection with God and to manifest everything connected with divine energy and divine grace.
To serve God, one must understand: “And what is God?” For example, at the level of understanding at which we find ourselves, He is wisdom, purity, beauty, harmony, clarity, and enlightenment. And to serve means to increase enlightenment, wisdom, purity, beauty, and harmony in this world. And how can they be increased? Have you thought about this? For example, if a Coca-Cola factory is built, will enlightenment, wisdom, purity, beauty, and harmony increase? Hardly; that is, this is not service. If a five-star hotel is built with all amenities, bars, and restaurants, but there is nothing spiritual there, then this will not be service either. That is, enlightenment, purity, beauty, harmony, and the number of people living in samadhi will not increase because of it.
And we must think about how to serve God in such a way that divine qualities increase. It is obvious that this must be something directly connected with God, with service to God, when, as a result of our activity, the amount of enlightenment, divinity, spirituality, harmony, happiness, purity, and beauty will increase. This is service; everything else is not service to God. Everything else is either service to maya (illusion, ignorance), that is, that which increases ignorance, or service to the ego, that is, that which increases one’s own karma. Therefore we say: “To serve God is to serve only anugraha, only the enlightening power.” This is the principle of service.
The life of a sadhu, when he learns about God, gradually becomes centered in such a way that it is always built around God. Whether to call this Brahman, Shiva, or sahaja is a matter of tradition.
The Danger of a Rupture Between God and Liberation
Sometimes a person has an illusion, when he strives to follow the spiritual path, that God is not important, while Enlightenment and Liberation are important. But when we separate these two concepts, we make a great mistake. And then there is a great chance that the mind will invent some kind of its own “couch” enlightenment, some kind of its own bedside liberation on the nightstand, in the kitchen, its own small world consisting of illusions, which the ego will try to package and even put at its own service. Of course, this is a delusion.
It is impossible to attain Liberation and Enlightenment by personally bypassing God, without establishing a connection with God, without subordinating oneself to God, without surrendering to Him, without serving, without accepting Him as the highest transpersonal goal, without yielding to Him, without submitting. It is impossible to achieve this from the state of the ego, because the very principle of liberation implies: “Liberation in what, where, from what?” Liberation is only in God. There is no Liberation outside God. This is nonsense, a linguistic paradox. Likewise, there is no Enlightenment outside God. Why? Because our “I,” our selfhood, also does not exist outside the Absolute, outside God.
And when a sadhu understands this, his life is structured around God. Even at the level of the surface mind, even without having realized consciousness, contemplation, or samadhi, he begins to think: “How can I bring my life into unity with God, into accordance with God, into service to God?” Of course, one must purify one’s karma, practice contemplation, study texts, do sadhana, and much more. But everything we do must take place under the sign of faith, devotion, self-giving, and service. Then it will be correct, authoritative spiritual knowledge. If it does not take place under the sign of faith, devotion, self-giving, and service, then it will be an advanced form of occultism, esotericism, which may give experiences and various powers, but cannot give you any Liberation or Enlightenment. It will be rather painful to become an advanced psychic after forty years of tapasya and still not have known God. It will be very painful.
The Path of the Asuras and the Danger of Egoistic Practice
But very many people proceed in spiritual life, on the spiritual path, precisely in this way, because the opportunity to practice exists, but the opportunity to receive knowledge about God from a Spiritual Teacher, to establish a connection, to perform self-giving, and even more so self-recognition, does not. And sooner or later, observing such people, you see that somewhere the person missed the mark, and he missed it so far that it is no longer even easy to help him. He has become too firmly established in his error; he has placed great emphasis on the anava-marga, on the ego, and the ego has gone quite far along this path. Therefore, in order to return back, some great things are needed.
There is a Christian story about Simon Magus and some Christian saint. Simon Magus was a great sorcerer. He lived in Rome during the spread of early Christianity. Simon Magus performed various miracles (he could fly through the sky, raised the dead), but he could not know God. He possessed great occult powers, even greater than that saint. And at that time Christian saints were very respected, and therefore he wanted to be counted among the Christian saints as well; he wanted to bribe someone so that he would be shown the same respect. But that saint said that this was impossible if you do not open your heart. Then they even had a mystical contest. Simon Magus rose into the sky before the emperor and the royal family in order to demonstrate the power of his occultism. He flew through the sky, but that saint prayed, and Simon Magus fell from the sky.
When a person follows the path of ego and becomes an advanced occultist, there is a great chance that he will enter the path of asura-tapasya, asura-bhava, and many of the asuras have indeed succeeded in this. There are entire technocratic asuric civilizations of those who challenged God. Ravana, Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, various demonic beings — these are precisely those who developed magical powers within themselves, revealed shakti within themselves, advanced far along the path of mysticism and occultism, but did not develop self-surrender, faith, and devotion within themselves. And this, deepening from life to life, only increased their firmness in their path, but this path was egotistical, separated from God. And such beings always exist. Asura Loka (the plane of the asuras) exists. They perform much tapasya, work very diligently on themselves, accumulate merit, but their ego, instead of establishing a connection with God, surrendering to God, only becomes stronger in itself. This is not yoga-marga, nor jnana-marga, nor siddha-marga, but an advanced anava-marga, advanced personal growth; therefore they always challenge God and always wage war against the gods.
But Shiva, Vishnu, the higher Gods allow this. Vishnu’s logic is as follows: “Let the asuras exist. Deluded beings also have the right to exist.”
The gods repeatedly suggested to Vishnu: “Lord Vishnu, why don’t You simply deal with these asuras in one fell swoop, so that they no longer trouble either us or people, and so that You do not have to fight them periodically. After all, You can do it!” Vishnu said: “All living beings have the right to life, to existence, even the deluded ones. And according to Brahma’s plan, the asuras have their own function; they are needed by this Universe.” Then the gods, in their naivety, asked: “And what are they needed for? What is their function?” Vishnu answered: “When you begin to grow lazy, squander your merits, and become mired in heavenly pleasures, forgetting about tapasya, liberation, and dharma, they will attack you. Then you will remember your path again. That is their function.” They are needed to maintain this nature according to the principle “that is what the pike is for, so that the crucian carp does not doze off.”
The Purpose of the Soul
Thus, the purpose of the soul is service to the Divine Will and the knowledge of Divine Wisdom. And when a sadhu learns that there is God, gains faith, he becomes a different person, a believer. A truly believing person lives around God, with God, only for God; he lives in God and does everything only through God. His soul resists doing what is not pleasing to God, what is not for God, not with God. And when we have gained such faith, we are sufficiently prepared to go further along the path of the mystery of knowing God.
“Truly, devotion to Shiva, which saves one from the fear of worldly existence, is rarely found. The one in whom it exists is praised as a devotee (bhakta). What is the use of the Vedas, the sciences, the shastras, sacrifices, asceticism, and vows, if embodied beings suffering from the disease of birth and death have no devotion to Shankara (Shiva).”
From Faith to Devotion
After faith has been gained, the next step is the attainment of devotion. It turns out that faith is the first step, only for beginners. It turns out that faith is simply a normal, ordinary state. Even strong faith is not the summit. When we were unbelievers and became believers, we changed completely. At first we had little faith; our faith was childlike, naive, superficial, based on the external. Or it was intellectual, based on philosophy, and we thought that philosophical convictions had some value in the world of faith.
Yes, philosophical convictions are right, they are good; we also study philosophy, but they must not be overestimated. In the world of faith they do not have decisive value; they are only a support for the intellect, so that we do not finally fall into incomprehension or unbelief. Philosophical reasoning cultivates viveka, the qualities that allow one to distinguish truth from untruth and to sustain faith. But, in general, having strong faith is normal. Strong faith that never wavers, that is steady and even, like an oil lamp. Strong faith that does not depend on circumstances, on someone else’s opinion, on whether the body is enjoying or suffering, whether the senses are satisfied or not. Strong faith that changes our goal-setting and our meanings, when we understand that our task is not to satisfy our own senses, but to live for God, when we understand that the chief enjoyer is God Himself, Shiva Himself, Dattatreya Himself, and that our life is intended not for enjoyment, but for fulfilling our duty: at the very least, for serving God, and at the most, for knowing God, obtaining divine grace, and God-realization. And this is the ordinary, normal state: to have unwavering, indestructible, even faith.
But in reality such faith is a problem in the modern world even for many religious people (Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, etc.). Because such faith is something very precious, like a jewel, like a diamond. Unwavering faith is when you are guided in your life exclusively by faith. This is not so simple, because if we are guided in our life exclusively by faith, then many questions immediately arise: “And what are you doing for faith? And how do you live? How do you spend your time? What are your actions? Where do you spend your money? Where do you spend your time? What do you talk about? What do you read? With whom do you associate? What establishments do you visit?” After all, now all of this must correspond to your faith; otherwise, words diverge from deeds. That is, the very fact that we have acquired faith already obligates us very strongly. “What do you live for at all? What are your meanings, values, and what are your goals in life? And most importantly, how do you embody these goals in actions?” Otherwise, if all of this does not correspond, then, as they say: “Faith not confirmed by deeds is dead.”
We cannot say, “I am a deeply believing person,” while at the same time doing something that contradicts our faith. We cannot say, “I believe in God so much, I serve God!” while at the same time being occupied with extraneous matters and investing most of our life, resources, and efforts into something completely extraneous. In worldly society this is called hypocrisy, that is, we declare one thing and do another. This often happens because, it would seem, in the subtle body a person wants this, but the karmas in the mind and body do not allow it. And he is divided; he is not whole, because there are still not enough merits. Therefore, believers often turn out to be very good hypocrites, unfortunately.
But our task is not to be hypocrites. Our task is always to look into ourselves, to educate ourselves, to work on ourselves, so that our faith truly guides us and inspires us to do what is needed for God, to serve God, to be devoted to God, to surrender to God, to study God, to investigate Him, to practice for God, to become completely devoted to God. And then all our methods, our spiritual life, will be successful. It is not easy to overcome this duality, because karma exists, and karma is the tendency to manifest something else, something different from God, to follow something else, something different from God. And if a person is not an Avatar but a simple mortal, everyone has such karma; it is precisely the cause of birth in this world.
It is not easy to follow God, because one must go against karma. Karma says: “Let’s sleep until eight in the morning.” And faith says: “You must get up and practice!” And so the struggle begins already at the simplest level. Such a dialogue, such a struggle, goes on constantly from morning until evening. A sadhu discovers that in order to maintain the standards of his faith, he must be very disciplined and win in these micro-sparrings, micro-battles.
If a sadhu is inexperienced, he can be greatly divided because of this; he decides to win victories by willpower, but in order for his faith to prevail, he begins to suppress some part of himself, to fight with himself. He gives rise to vira-bhava, but, fighting with himself, he constricts one part of himself and wants to open the other. Then he becomes very tense, because there is not enough viveka (discriminating wisdom), subtlety, or the art of winning playfully and easily. But in reality, even such faith, based on will, requires great effort. It is not a simple matter to be not hypocritical, but sincere, a true believer, to be guided by divine wisdom, divine will, and principles in everyday life, because the ego is constantly trying to jump out, the mind is constantly trying to jump out in the wrong direction, the senses and emotions are constantly trying to lead one somewhere, worldly desires are constantly trying to seize the soul.
A sadhu must be very vigilant. Self-discipline, constant self-discipline. But one day a moment comes when the sadhu acquires such self-discipline, and he feels that he is able to maintain his faith, able to overcome, able to hold on, and his faith becomes stronger. This is a small victory for the sadhu — the attainment of strong faith that does not waver. But then it is discovered that there are higher states and there is devotion.
Devotion means that there is joyful faith that does not struggle, does not overcome, but carries one away with its love and self-surrender. And then the sadhu thinks about how to attain such devotion, how to make faith happy and joyful through play, love, and self-surrender, and not only through will and self-discipline.
The Power of Devotion
“For a person who is devoid of devotion to Shiva, even a good deed bears no fruit. Even Daksha, having performed a great sacrifice, received the opposite result. But even an extremely sinful act is purified by devotion to Shiva. Thus, long ago, Chanda, who killed his father, became Shiva Himself through devotion. For a devotee of Shiva there is neither good merit nor sin, while those who are devoid of devotion to Shiva are bound by the fetters of karma. People who have taken refuge in Shiva have no connection with karma. How can the horses of the sun fear darkness? Karma cannot stop the devotees of Shiva, eternally free from bonds.”
Surya-deva rides in a chariot drawn by celestial horses. Surya-deva shines dazzlingly, and therefore it is said: “How can the horses on which Surya-deva rides fear darkness?” Surya-deva’s horses always race across the sky in dazzling radiance; they have no fear of darkness.
Thus, devotion means the next step on the path to God. Devotion means that we do not merely believe, and that our faith does not waver, and that we do not merely do sadhana, accumulate merit, and purify karma, that is, we are proper sadhus. Devotion means that we breathe God, that we cannot live without God for even a second, that our heart sings with love, rapture, and ecstasy for God, that our sadhana takes place under the sign of love and devotion, that our faith has transformed from something mental and obligatory (within frameworks and according to rules) into something greater: into love, happiness, joy, bliss, rapture, ecstasy, glorification. Devotion means that we have moved to a new level of relationship with God, that all our sadhana and contemplation take place under the sign of rapture, happiness, bliss, and love, that a great aspiration toward God has awakened in our soul. This aspiration is like a flaming heart that continuously directs us toward God. The question no longer arises that we practice for personal happiness, for personal Liberation. Take away our happiness, take away Liberation, but we will continue to practice only for God. We understand that without God all these things are meaningless.
When the time came to fight at Kurukshetra, Duryodhana and Arjuna came to Krishna, since Krishna had promised support to both of them. Krishna said: “Here am I, and here is my army. And during the battle of Kurukshetra you may choose, but only one gift.” Arjuna said: “I choose You.” Duryodhana said: “No question, I choose the army.” Arjuna was wiser.
In the same way, the soul chooses God without any question. In the state of devotion, it takes nothing else into account. When it is necessary to choose God or personal comfort, God or personal motives and goals, God or money, God or personal connections, God or relationships, the soul always impeccably chooses God. This is devotion. And when it chooses God, it receives everything else by default, because God contains happiness, comfort, relationships, liberation, and everything one could possibly think of. But when it makes a mistake and chooses not God but something else, for example, pride, power, relationships, worldly happiness, or happiness in a narrow egoistic understanding, it is deluded, suffers, and then loses what it mistakenly chose. In essence, this is how the entire population of Earth lives, all those who incarnate on Earth, because they chose a body in order to be born, but without God. Many samsaric Gods live this way — there are many samsaric pleasures and little God. They chose heavenly pleasures, but without God. The asuras live this way. All beings in samsara, except those who live in a liberated state, live this way. They chose something else.
But devotion means that we choose only God and want nothing else but God. Therefore, devotion is above all. Where there is devotion, there is jnana. There is no jnana without devotion, and no devotion without jnana. When we choose devotion, devotion itself gives us everything else we may desire. When we do not choose devotion, what we have may be lost.
Devotion Is Above Social Distinctions
“How can a chain made of lotus roots stop an intoxicated elephant? Whether one is a brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya, shudra, or even a person of the lowest social position, if that person is a devotee of Shiva, he is revered as Shiva Himself. When devotion to Shiva overflows, where can the idea of social distinctions arise from? When firewood has burned in the fire, what significance do differences in the species of trees have?”
As long as our faith and devotion are not strong, various samsaric toys are very important to us: nation, religion, status, money, race, culture, gender. We are subject now to hatred, now to fear, now to shame because of all these distinctions, and society successfully manipulates us thanks to all these distinctions. Maya successfully manipulates us. Whatever we may be doing, it very insinuatingly, stealthily says: “You are this and that. Your nationality is such and such. You are a man. You must do this. You have such and such a status.” And behind all this we constantly forget God, because these distinctions are highly valued in the relative world, and they become determining factors for us. It is precisely on the basis of these distinctions that we form our life policy, our goal-setting; geography, place of residence, nationality, race, and culture become important to us. Look at modern society. The rights of various beings, gender stereotypes and their destruction, Western culture, Russian culture, the battle of cultures, the battle of ways of life. Very important distinctions, and because of them wars are constantly being waged. Why? Because all this is overvalued, all this seems important. But when there is devotion to God, none of this matters. And what matters? Only God. In the state of devotion, only God is important. Therefore, samsaric existence is when God is underestimated.
There is a story about a saint who came to a feast held at the royal court. And when all the important guests in embroidered robes had entered, while he was in a simple robe, he was not let in. He did not look very presentable; he did not resemble those who had been invited to the royal feast. He lingered around for a while, found a beautiful embroidered robe from someone, put it on, and came again. The second time he was admitted, he sat down at the table and found himself among the honored guests; he was recognized and seated next to important Teachers and officials. And he was a little holy fool, but a saint. Then he took pieces of food and began to feed his robe. Everyone said to him: “What are you doing?” But he wanted to give them darshan in this way, so he replied: “What do you mean? I am feeding the robe; it is very important. I myself am not important, but the robe is important! Without it, I would not have been allowed in here. Here it is all about the robe; it decides and determines everything here: where I should sit, what signs of attention will be shown to me.” Later many recognized him, apologized to him, and asked his forgiveness.
That is, the state in which we overvalue material reality and distinctions and underestimate God is precisely the state of avidya, samsaric ignorance. Sometimes saints act as if they are playing along with maya, avidya, but only in order to help other living beings. This is called vidya-maya—conscious illusion, conscious support of illusory notions. I will tell you that any Guru also often does this. If he does not manifest vidya-maya, contact with disciples will be impossible; the disciples will simply run away very quickly. But the three most devoted ones will remain, those who have nothing left to lose anyway. It is impossible to make contact if you do not support a certain illusion of ego, the illusion of relationships, concepts, logic, comfort in life, social stereotypes, support of the world, samsara, and everything else. This is vidya-maya. And it is necessary at a certain stage for the advancement of the Teaching, for its dissemination, and for helping disciples.
But in general, the state of illusion (ignorance) means that God is underestimated, while material distinctions are overvalued. Devotion, however, corrects this terrible mistake. It is precisely this terrible mistake that makes souls whirl in the ocean of samsara. When devotion arises, it corrects this; therefore, on the path of dharma one should seek devotion. Devotion removes everything that hinders; it removes all barriers between the soul and God, between the soul and the Guru; it removes all misunderstandings and various states. It says: “None of this matters!”
If there is no devotion, we overvalue our ego. For example, someone offended us, did not show us respect, spoke to us with the wrong words, and that is it — we walk around with our mood ruined for the entire evening, while the residue remains for a whole month. We also try to sort out the relationship. It becomes a whole problem. But if there were devotion, we would not even pay attention to it, because devotion lives by the principle: “Spit in his eyes, and he will say, ‘God’s dew.’” Do you understand? Devotion is turned in an entirely different direction. Whatever happens: “Namaste! The mercy of God!”
When Francis of Assisi came to the Vatican to the Pope with a request to register his monastic order, he met with the Pope, but he was dirty and did not look very presentable. The Pope said to him with dislike: “You look as if you have come straight from the cattle yard. Go and live there, then come back.” Francis went to the cattle yard and lived among pigs and cows in the cowshed for a whole month. A month passed, and he came to the Pope again and said: “I have fulfilled your wish. Let us continue our conversation.” And the Pope was amazed that this man had faith, had strength of spirit. Perhaps there was shakti behind him. And the Pope, as a religious politician, thought: “If I give him the opportunity to register his Order, it will bring the Vatican considerable influence. Perhaps it should be allowed.”
Which of you, for the sake of faith, could spend a month in a cowshed or pigsty? This is a big question, because we are not ready for that. But if you are devoted to God, then there are no problems: you do not pay attention to all these things, you take them lightly, you pass through them playfully, because your faith does not allow you to descend to that level. For you it is some kind of child’s game, childish mischief. That is why they say: “One who has strong faith and devotion has a single taste.” Any clothing — you are happy, any food — you are happy, any role in service — you are happy. You are always happy. And why are you happy? Because you are nourished by your devotion. Devotion is nourishment, it is the light that warms the soul more strongly than many social things, stereotypes, power, wealth, connections, and worldly relationships. Devotion truly inspires and nourishes the soul.
Serving the Devotees of Shiva
“Those who are pure, observe vows, have dedicated the fruits of their actions to Shiva, and worship Shiva — such people should be regarded as the lords of Shiva’s retinue.”
When you find such people, they are devotees of Shiva. Through connection with them, communication with them, reverence, offerings, and service, you yourself receive this spirit, this nectar of devotion. In the “Periya Purana” it is said that serving Shiva’s devotees is more important than serving Shiva Himself. Why? Because Shiva’s devotees are Shiva Himself, only still possessing a physical body.
You cannot so simply establish a connection with Shiva without a body, without attributes, qualities, gunas, and categories, that is, with Shiva of the first or second tattva. It is very difficult to meet Shiva of turiya; it is difficult to be devoted to that which one is not first capable of perceiving. It is very difficult to be devoted to that which you have not seen, have not heard, cannot even conceive of, but can only reason about philosophically or guess at. For the sake of philosophical reasoning, no one will sacrifice the comfort of their life. There were, of course, such philosophers in Ancient Greece (for example, Diogenes), but they were few.
But Shiva’s devotees are Shiva Himself, embodied in a body, and when you communicate with them, establish a connection, show signs of respect, do something for them — this is in fact a blessing. And then, through connection with such devotees, you yourself can become the same kind of devotee of Shiva. It is like an infection; it is transmitted. A spiritual infection. “If you yourself have been infected with devotion, pass it on to another.” And the Spiritual Teacher acts as such a carrier of spiritual infection.
Taking Refuge in Shiva
“Through the search that leads to the realization of the greatness of the Guru, the linga, and the jangama, a person comes to the complete taking of refuge in Shiva. This state is called ‘one who has taken refuge’ (shanara). The power of Brahma and other Gods is temporary. When a person, having realized this, seeks refuge only in Shiva, this state is called sharana. Shankara — the Lord with the crescent moon in His hair — is the sole refuge of all living beings. One who relies upon the Lord with all his soul is called ‘one who has come under protection’ (sharanagata). One who is free from the thirst for pleasures, who is indifferent to other Gods, and who asks Shiva for liberation is called ‘one seeking protection’ (sharana-arthin). For those people who have taken refuge in Shiva with their mind, speech, and body, what benefit is there in rituals and worship of other deities?”
Shiva is the Absolute, Brahman Himself, who includes all the gods. Worship of other deities may be performed; there is no problem. Various rituals may be performed, but if we are in the right state of mind, we are in devotion to the Absolute, in devotion to God. Through our Ishta-devata we can worship any gods. “Shivasya hridayam vishnur-vishnoscha hridayam shavah.” This is said in the tantras and the Upanishads: “Vishnu is in the heart of Shiva, Shiva is in the heart of Vishnu.”
There are Vira-Shaivas who do not greet Vaishnavas and hate going to Vaishnava temples where Vishnu is worshiped; they believe that Shiva surpasses Vishnu, and that this should end the discussion. There are Vira-Vaishnavas who consider Shiva a demigod, never enter Shaivite temples, and regard Shaivites as simply not understanding and worshiping some kind of tamas, because Shiva is the lord of tamas, while Vishnu is the lord of sattva, and therefore He alone is worthy of worship and is God. But the views of the saints refute such a narrow opinion. This is how those called “kanishtha-adhikari” think, that is, beginners with limited thinking. When we study Advaita Vedanta, our perception of God is beyond names and forms; it includes any gods. Through any god we can worship Ishvara and cultivate devotion to the Absolute.
Complete Self-Surrender to God
“The reward for all sacrifices is heaven (Svarga), which is not eternal. Only the one who relies on the Supreme Lord obtains an inexhaustible result. Is there anything unattainable even for a sinful embodied being who has completely surrendered to the mercy of Paramatman, the Existent, the Wish-Fulfilling Tree?”
On the path of dharma, our task is to surrender completely to the mercy of God. But in fact, this is not easy. Someday it will happen, but we must desire it. And to begin with, we must simply learn to give God what we can give. For example, attachment has arisen — give it to God; anger has arisen — give it to God; greed has arisen — give it to God; envy has arisen — give it to God; joy and happiness have arisen — do not cling to them, do not appropriate them for yourself. Because it turns out that I give anger, greed, and avarice, but keep happiness for myself; happiness will come in handy. Many think this way: “God is already happy, what is there to give Him? And I have not had so many happy moments. I’ll save it.” This too is a position of greed.
One must give God everything, whatever comes to you. A deep experience of clarity has come, an experience of wisdom — give it to God, do not appropriate it for yourself, because this is a form of selfish greed. “I will be wise without God.” This is ridiculous! An experience of bliss has come — give it to God, do not appropriate it, because God is the source of bliss; in truth, He sent it to us and gave us the opportunity to experience it, because all bliss is precisely His manifestation, His energy. Even when emptiness, non-duality has come — still give it to God, otherwise you will become pralaya-kalas.
Who is a pralaya-kala? It is one who experiences emptiness but does not wish to give it to God. He clings to emptiness; he creates from emptiness a certain form, a certain object to which one can cling and hold on. It is so attractive that a subtle attachment, a subtle clinging arises; therefore he cannot rise above maya-tattva (to the fifth, fourth, and further), he stops.
And total self-surrender, surrender to God, is preceded by this kind of surrender in parts. We must learn gradually to give God everything we have. Give your concepts and ideas to God as well; before God, all of them are unimportant, all of them lose their significance. Give your plans to God; give your family relationships to God; do not be afraid: with blessing, your family relationships will not worsen, but will only improve and be purified if you give them correctly. Give material resources, greed, and attachment to God. Give your philosophical convictions to God; through this they will only deepen, and you will truly understand your philosophy. Until you give them up, you will simply be a bookworm, a bookish person, an encyclopedia, a kettle that carries water all its life but does not know its taste.
Thus, devotion means that you give everything to God. If you have any duties, authority, shakti, power, status — give all of this to God without doubting for even a second, because everything that comes (all happiness and pleasures) comes from Him. And if this is not given away but appropriated, it means that from the very beginning we do not understand how everything in this world is arranged. But what does it mean that we give everything away? It does not mean that we completely lose what we give. By and large, God does not need anything that we give; we need it. When we give something to God, it is purified, it changes its charge, changes its structure. And when we use it again, it returns to us, but already from a completely different angle, from the angle of sacredness, faith, devotion, and self-surrender.
But that which has not been given to God is the cause of our births in the next life, the cause of our karma, ignorance, and suffering. That is, everything that brings you suffering is a sign that you have not given it to God. For example, if some situation brings you suffering, what does that mean? It means that you have not given it to God. That which has not been given, not offered to God with complete devotion, always inevitably brings suffering. If some thought, some feeling is troubling you, it means that you have not given it to God; you have appropriated it, been greedy. If some connection, attitude, ideology, spiritual experience, or concept disturbs you, this is a clear sign that it has not been given to God; you are clinging to something. Give it to God, and it will stop disturbing you; it will cease to be your karma.
And here the question arises: “But how do I give it to God? I try to give it, but it doesn’t work.” We must understand how to give to God. Some spiritual experience that has not been given to God can also become a cause of ignorance. Therefore, to be a sadhu means to learn always and in everything to give to God. This is the spirit of devotion.
The Fruitfulness of Human Birth
“Only in the case of those mature beings who have taken refuge in Mahadeva is birth truly birth. This cannot be said of the others, who were born in vain. Human embodiment, birth as a human being, which is a means of attaining knowledge, is rare. Whoever has not known the lord of the gods (Shiva) has incarnated in vain. Verily, when a person’s mind is fully dissolved in Shiva, not striving outward, then that person’s lineage is eternally pure, and his life is fruitful.”
Bhagavan Shiva Mahadeva ki — jai!
Sri Guru Dattatreya Avadhuta ki — jai!
Sri Guru Brahmananda ki — jai!
