Q: Bhakti is engagement of senses in a favorable way, that is with attention to please Krishna with affection. But in the sadhana stage we don't have true affection for the Lord. True emotions will be generated in the bhava stage. So how do we practice?
A: The stayi bhava manifests in the bhava stage. There is an element of affection in the whole process from the very beginning. In other words what is our faith? We have faith in the process of pure bhakti. We don't have faith in karma yoga or jnana yoga or astanga yoga or whatever. If we have faith in bhakti then we have some attraction to the Supreme Lord and serving the Supreme Lord. That is a little bit of bhakti that we have. The seed of bhakti. And through engaging the senses along with that, directed towards Krishna, attraction for Krishna increases and increases until it becomes stayi bhava in the bhava stage. And simultaneously our attraction for material things decreases and decreases. And because our attraction and affection for Krishna is a little drop in the beginning, consequently our attraction to Maya is much greater. Nevertheless that is the foundation of our bhakti. That little bit of attraction to the Lord. If that's not there we don't practice bhakti.
But in the process of bhakti we shouldn't become too much absorbed in the process itself and then forget about the attraction to the Lord. The attraction to the lord is what we are trying to cultivate through the engagement of the senses. In other words we can't just chant and make our mouth move, and have no feelings for the Lord. That becomes a mechanical process. That's not Bhakti anymore. That's like an accidental bhakti like ajamil or something like that instead. We are trying to cultivate attachment to the Lord. Therefore when we are chanting we should think of the Lord favourably. Or picture of the Lord or service to the Lord. Something we have to do to show our affection for the Lord.
Actually chanting means kirtan and kirtan means to glorify. So we are glorifying the Lord by chanting his names. That's also a service in itself without doing anything. Just like if you like a person then you praise him that's also a service. Not that the person is proud of getting praised or whatever like that but we do it as a matter of affection, we try to express our praise for the Lord. Of course we can express using words or verses to praise the Lord, but since we are not so literate or poetic we can simply chant the holy names and that carries all the expressions of praise that we could have. And that's more powerful also. Therefore when we chant we chant with devotion, of whatever degree we have and through that process it increases.
An example is also given, in the material world, in order to achieve something you have to concentrate on your goal. You have to use your mind and intelligence to concentrate on your goal. But it becomes powerful if there are some emotions that go along with that - you really like that goal and when you achieve it you get some happiness out of that goal. If there's an emotion that goes along with the goal then you can achieve it much quicker. So the same with bhakti, it works even if there are no emotions or it is accidental, it has some effect, but if you add the devotional element the effect is much more powerful.
Excerpt from the lecture given on Siksastaka verse 5, October 23, 2019, Bhakti Yoga Center, Chennai.
A: The stayi bhava manifests in the bhava stage. There is an element of affection in the whole process from the very beginning. In other words what is our faith? We have faith in the process of pure bhakti. We don't have faith in karma yoga or jnana yoga or astanga yoga or whatever. If we have faith in bhakti then we have some attraction to the Supreme Lord and serving the Supreme Lord. That is a little bit of bhakti that we have. The seed of bhakti. And through engaging the senses along with that, directed towards Krishna, attraction for Krishna increases and increases until it becomes stayi bhava in the bhava stage. And simultaneously our attraction for material things decreases and decreases. And because our attraction and affection for Krishna is a little drop in the beginning, consequently our attraction to Maya is much greater. Nevertheless that is the foundation of our bhakti. That little bit of attraction to the Lord. If that's not there we don't practice bhakti.
But in the process of bhakti we shouldn't become too much absorbed in the process itself and then forget about the attraction to the Lord. The attraction to the lord is what we are trying to cultivate through the engagement of the senses. In other words we can't just chant and make our mouth move, and have no feelings for the Lord. That becomes a mechanical process. That's not Bhakti anymore. That's like an accidental bhakti like ajamil or something like that instead. We are trying to cultivate attachment to the Lord. Therefore when we are chanting we should think of the Lord favourably. Or picture of the Lord or service to the Lord. Something we have to do to show our affection for the Lord.
Actually chanting means kirtan and kirtan means to glorify. So we are glorifying the Lord by chanting his names. That's also a service in itself without doing anything. Just like if you like a person then you praise him that's also a service. Not that the person is proud of getting praised or whatever like that but we do it as a matter of affection, we try to express our praise for the Lord. Of course we can express using words or verses to praise the Lord, but since we are not so literate or poetic we can simply chant the holy names and that carries all the expressions of praise that we could have. And that's more powerful also. Therefore when we chant we chant with devotion, of whatever degree we have and through that process it increases.
An example is also given, in the material world, in order to achieve something you have to concentrate on your goal. You have to use your mind and intelligence to concentrate on your goal. But it becomes powerful if there are some emotions that go along with that - you really like that goal and when you achieve it you get some happiness out of that goal. If there's an emotion that goes along with the goal then you can achieve it much quicker. So the same with bhakti, it works even if there are no emotions or it is accidental, it has some effect, but if you add the devotional element the effect is much more powerful.
Excerpt from the lecture given on Siksastaka verse 5, October 23, 2019, Bhakti Yoga Center, Chennai.
So much faith awarding answer.... 🙏🙏🙏
ReplyDelete