Recognizing Devotion in Spirituality
In my spiritual quest to experience the self, there has been many “landmarks.” Born in a Christian faith; I didn’t begin to really concentrate into Christian teachings until I left High school. It was convenient to believe what everyone believed. It was convenient to continue with that “tradition” for otherwise; I could be considered an “outcast,” a “devil,” etc.
It takes guts to follow your heart. It takes guts to be willing to learn through an experience and to move on following your own path and not through someone else’s. However, the phrase above could be misinterpreted (as it is typically the case) by many and pretty soon everyone will be following their own paths and thus, we will be in the same place as we are right now. 🙂
In order to follow our path, we need to reform the self. Without that “reformation,” there is no path to follow. If there is no recognition of our current state; there is no way to improve unless we recognize that which we need to improve, to heal, to nurture.
Brahma Kumaris appeared in my life as that source of knowing God in a different light. There was an experience but at the same time, there was a “body of knowledge,” which explained logically; what I was looking for.
That experience of the “Divine,” comes through many ways: a vision, feeling blissful energy, having “out of the world” experiences, etc. At that point there is the feeling of wanting to “belong” to God; to be close to Him; for those experiences mean that there is someone “up there” caring for us. That is when a Brahmin child is usually born or any believer of God in any other religion.
As time goes by, this admiration grows. It is about “singing His Praise.” It is about “doing what He wants me to do.” It is about “belonging to Him,” as if God was looking for followers, for someone to caress His “ego.” We do not realize that the “spiritual bait” has been thrown at us according to the Drama so we can reform the self, and that we have been “selected”… However, we misinterpret that opportunity to “die alive,” into sheer admiration for God, we become like artist’s “fans” rather than an artist itself. We begin to live through others.
That “high” in life of being a “fan” starts to move into higher “entropy” little by little. That “high” diminishes… then there is a need to add something to keep us going; that something has been historically the ingredients of “guilt and fear” rather than the environment or the knowledge to experience the self, to be “spiritual.”
Bhakti, devotion makes us oblivious of the true reason of spirituality; the “Know thyself.”
WHERE IS SOUL CONSCIOSUNESS IN BEING A “FAN”? HOW DO WE EXPERIENCE THE SELF IN ALL OF THAT “PARAPHERNELIA”? HOW CAN WE BECOME MASTERS OF THE SELF WHILE BEING DEPENDENT?
Perhaps that is what we need to ask ourselves.
Many claim to “know God.” Many claim to “know the truth,” or that they have the “truth.”
However, if someone tells you that they are “self- realized,” … it will be extremely easy to perceive the reality of that. Devotion is just emotional talk and doing things with that conviction. True spirituality is practical; it is BEING that which we know exists in us. In this we cannot fool others, but perhaps our own self.
Exploring the Depth of Living 
Dear souls,
Glad to know that the message is getting across.
Best wishes!
LikeLike
Dear Soul, it is becoming clear to me why i stumbled upon your blog. you are putting forth questions which i have been avoiding for a long time by becoming a “fan” like you described . i did kind of know that my “experiencing” is minimal but i have been fyng high on the knowledge intellectually. That has served me well for many years. Now i know that i can only fool myself” and not anyone else. Thank You for the mirror. For the first time i can look at myself and not just see the short comings of not living up yo being a “pakka bramin” but also the feeling that it is ok and that it is a process. i will transform and reach my goal of perfection.
LikeLike
Dear Avyakt7,
Thanks for sharing your experiences which helps this SOUL too, reinforcing the ‘self experience’.
“In order to follow our path, we need to reform the self. Without that “reformation,” there is no path to follow. If there is no recognition of our current state; there is no way to improve unless we recognize that which we need to improve, to heal, to nurture”.
SPIRITUALITY is a language which only a SOUL “In search of Reality” understands.
Om Shanti.
LikeLike