What is the measure of your devotion? Wonder what kind of a funny question this is? No! You truly have your devotion measured out for you.
You have seen people go to places of worship or holy places to pray and get fulfillment of their deepest desires. You have seen people do fasting to such an extent that you think they would die. Or you have seen people roll on the ground or pierce sharp weapons in their bodies too. Sometimes you have seen people bleed from wounds like the stigmata.
Now we come to some other types. People who sing devotional songs, those who dance for God or write songs for God. These people are also having a type of devotion for God in their own way. Then there are those wanderers or who live a nomadic type of life. Living in holy places and moving to other holy destinations.
Back home we have people who stay at home, do their house work or work outside, living and devoting their time to God. Singing, dancing, cooking, working, eating, offering, etc..to God. These people have a different method of devotion. They celebrate birthdays and passing away days of their ista or divinity they believe in. Sometimes the saints or holy men they pray to. Then there are those who believe in their spiritual Masters and consider them as God. They pray to such people and give offerings too.
Then there are those who believe in their country and state. Their ruling parties are considered as supreme. They get their jobs, salaries, housing and every other benefit from the political ruling parties. These are believers of another kind. Then there are those who believe in their own self as the ultimate doer. They have a firm understanding that they have worked hard for whatever they got. They do not believe in some strange being as God.
Lastly there are those who renounce and go to some cold place, holy places, ashrams, seminary, sanghas, etc. and believe they will find their God. Some believe acts of extreme devotion can be got by ill treating the body, begging, torturing, doing all sorts of exercises called yoga in common parlance, learning special yogic activity called kriya and so on. There are so many varieties of devotion that you cannot imagine. So now ask yourself which kind do you fall under? There is surely one category above that fits your bill. Right? So tell yourself how great a
Devotee you are.
NONE OF THE ABOVE IS TRUE DEVOTION!
Have you noticed that devotion is divided into three categories? One is the doer, act and the object of devotion. There are three distinct things that define material worldly devotion. Now humor me for one minute and listen to my simple explanation.
If you consider God as the ocean, you are the small fish swimming in it and doing all those things done by a small fish. That would be eating, drinking, swimming, hunting, hiding, running away and doing every other stuff that you do. Having a firm idea that you are just a part of the whole, the ocean is the one which makes you do that, pushing you by its waves, moving you all the time, pulling your food towards yourself, your spouse and houses towards you. Driving things towards you including your children and their future. The ocean or God is pulling everything towards you and plonking it in your life. In and around you. Your life breath IS dependent on that alone. You life and every other thing IS the ocean alone. Got that now?
Now ask yourself, do you even acknowledge the ocean? The power it wields over you which is unseen or unheard of. Yet, being part and parcel of this life.
So first knowing that everything is God alone and the next is being the most important tool of His. When this knowledge seeps inside you will have no individuality, no separation from God, you can never see anything as yours or own anything including your own body and mind, have no sense of doer ship, will live in whichever way you are given to live, whether it is poverty or richness, have no idea about clothes to wear, have no clue about food you eat!
You don’t own anything , not even your clothes. Your body becomes just a tool in Gods hands, you own nothing at all and have no possessions too. You just do what you are programmed to do. Your spiritual Master is your guide alone. You do what is your true calling or what you have been placed in this world for. Whichever position you are given or thrown into, places you are moved to, homes or homelessness you are thrown into, food offered or not, praises given or derision thrown towards you, hated or liked by the world, nothing at all affects you since you do not believe you have any individuality of your own.
This devotion which makes you the best tool in the hand of God is the ultimate devotion. You are just a machine and God is the operator.
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