#98 Devotion

From an abundance of devotion and a detached nature, an understanding of the Divine Energy is born. One should continuously be her. Then, Shiva.

Verse 121, Vigyan Bhairava Tantra

Path of Devotion

The path of devotion is a very noble path. It is found in most religions. Devotion in this verse simply means love. It is not love or devotion to a particular deity. Kashmir Shaivism is a non-dualistic philosophy. God is not a particular person, located at a particular place, and separate from all of us. God is everything, everyone and everywhere. God is all there is. Therefore, love here is to be used in a wider sense. One has to love everyone because God is in everyone. The verse also stresses detachment. One has to have an abundance of love and a detached nature. What this means is that one has to love unconditionally. One’s love should not be given only in certain situations to certain people. Instead, it should be given freely, all the time, independent of the events of one’s life, or the external world. This is possible only with a detached nature. If you do not have a detached nature, then your love will be conditional, not unconditional. Then_ you will love life only when it brings things you enjoy. You will not love life when
it brings things you do nqt like. True love is always unconditional. Conditional love is a poor substitute. Love is infinite and free. When you limit love only to a particular person, place or event (or events), you miss the essence of love. If you put a bird in a cage, you limit the freedom of the bird. You may build a beautiful cage, but you will still miss the majesty of watching the bird in flight. Similarly, when you limit your love and make it conditional , you miss the full majesty and beauty of love. What does it mean to be unconditionally loving? A few examples are given in spiritualism to explain this. To be unconditionally loving means to be like the sun. The sun shines equally on everyone, irrespective of their race, color, gender, religion, caste, nationality or personality. In the same way, one should love people of all types. No moral judgements should be passed. One should love all equally people who society calls good and people who society calls evil.

Krishna explains in the Bhagavad Gita, (5:18) that one should have the same evenness of love for an upper caste brahmin, a dog, and a man who eats a dog. The breath is also used to explain the concept of unconditional love. We breathe spontaneously throughout the day and night, irrespective of the circumstances we find ourselves in. Whether we are being loved, attacked, rebuked or praised, we continue to breathe. We breathe during every possible situation or event that occurs in our lives. We need to love in the same way- during each and every moment in our lives. It does not matter what is happening to us, or to our world. We must love at every moment, just as we breathe in every moment. That is the meaning of unconditional love. It does not depend on any condition. It is given freely. Even when we are attacked, we give love. Even when we are made to look foolish, we give love. Love is our response to every situation in life. an understanding of the Divine Energy is born. The Divine Energy is the Goddess. What is the understanding? The understanding is that the Goddess is love. Some verses in this text say that God (and the Goddess) is joy, and others, like this one, say God is love. Love and joy can be used interchangeably. They mean the same thing.

One should continuously be her. One should continuously be love. At every moment of the day. It is important to understand that what we are being does not necessarily have to be in response to an external event. Usually we react to the external world. If some events that we dislike occur, we become upset or angry. If events that we enjoy take place, we become happy. However, it is important to realize that what we are being is within our control. It does not have to be in response to the external world. It actually depends on our decision. If we decide to be love or peaceful, we will be. Even if events occur that we term as undesirable. It is our inner reaction that is important. External events are not always in our control. But our inner response to them is always in our control. That is what a master is. A master is one who has mastered himself (or herself). They have control over their emotions. They decide what they want to be .in response to every situation in life, and they remain that, no matter what. There may be certain situations in your life that you do not enjoy. It could be something simple as taking out the garbage, or preparing your tax returns, or meeting a particular individual. The next time you face these situations in life, decide to experience them in another way. Choose to love them, or choose to be love while experiencing them. Then, you will discover one of the greatest secrets of life – you can experience life in any way you choose. You do not have to react to the external world. To experience love, simply choose to be love. Even when you are experiencing pain choose to be love. Then the pain will disappear and you will experience love

One of the greatest masters who showed this was Jesus Christ. There are three things people fear the most – death, pain and loss of wealth. Christ experienced two of these at the same time. He was tortured to death on the cross. He was experiencing pain, and he was dying. Yet even in that moment he had nothing but love. He made that famous statement on the cross – “Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus Christ was a fully enlightened saint. He performed many miracles, and could have stopped what was happening to him at any time. But through the last moments of his life, he sent a very powerful message to the world – that even in your darkest hour you can love. This is a message he gave through the example of his life and his death. “Come, follow me”, he said. There is no better way to follow him than to be like him. To be love, through every moment of one’s life. To practice this meditation, one needs awareness. In fact, without awareness, no meditation can be practiced. Become aware of what you are being. Change what you are being so that you are being love, or loving. Remain aware of what you are being throughout the day. If you find yourself being something else, change that into being love.