TAOSHOBUDDHA MEDITATIONS

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THE SECRETS OF BHAKTI

[AN EXCERPT FROM SECRETS OF BHAKTI BY- TAOSHOBUDDHA - A STERLING PAPERBACK]

-iKt inrakar se inrakar ka imln hE

smSt b

 

BHAKTI IS THE UNION OF FORMLESS TO FORMLESS!

BREAKING ALL BARRIERS OF FINITENESS WHEN LOVE ATTAINS TO FRUITION BHAKTI IS BORN!

 

Life is energy. Life is an infinite reservoir of energy. On the shore of time infinite waves go on striking. No end! No beginning! Everything is just in the middle! You are a small insignificant wave. You are an infinitesimal seed of infinite possibilities. Quite naturally, the wave wants to be the ocean. And naturally the seed wants to be the tree. Unless the seed blossoms into a flower, fulfilment is impossible. Man has an insatiable quest to be God. Before this there are many temporary resting points or possibilities. None of these are the Ultimate Outcome. In the night you may stay at many places for rest. Never make these places your permanent resting place. Only God can be your house or the resting place. ‘God’ does not mean a person sitting somewhere, as has been conceived by almost all the religions. God means your ultimate possibility.

 

God is formless! Without any name! God is not sitting somewhere. God is your ultimate happening. Beyond which there is nothing and no possibility as well. Beyond which there is nowhere to go. This is the ultimate destination. This is fulfilment! You will remain restless and despondent until you attain to this fruition. You may become rich. You may become very famous. None of these things can ever fulfil you. Somewhere you will continue to feel something missing. No matter how hard you try to forget this, you will never succeed. In a sense it is good that you cannot forget this. Otherwise the seed will miss the opportunity for fruition. Until the seed attains to its fruition and the fragrance merges with the infinite, there is no possibility of fulfilment. Until the river of your life merges with the ocean of life it will not attain any meaning. And until this happens, even if you somehow succeed it will be the greatest failure of your life. 

 

Unlucky are those who consider such small successes as the ultimate success. Really lucky are those who have the awareness of this. Only such a person somehow understands this. And wherever you attain success you make that place your resting place. You seek new openings in your failures. Unless you reach God, there can be no fulfilment.

 

In the beginning I said, life is energy. This energy has three forms. First is the seed form; in this nothing is manifest. Then comes the tree form in which everything becomes manifest, yet still the soul or Prana remains unmanifest. Last is the flower form; in this form even the Prana is manifest. Fruition happened. The petals are open now. Fragrance merges with the infinite. 

Naturally the seed implies desire. The desire to grow! Tree implies love. And the final is the flower. A flower implies Bhakti or devotion. As long as you are in the seed form you are full of desire or lust. Love will evolve in your life only when the seed becomes a tree. Only then the nectar of love will ooze in your barren life. To attain to fruition is the ultimate happening! This is the highest mountain peak. An understanding of certain things will help you understand the SECRETS OF BHAKTI better.

 

You are body. You are mind. And you are also something beyond these two as well, but this you know not. Body is gross. To know the gross no intelligence is needed; to know the body no meditation is required. The mind is relatively subtle; yet you can still get a slight glimpse of the mind. It is so because the mind is between gross and the subtle. The mind is connected both to the body and to the soul as well. From the side of the body you do sometimes get a glimpse of the mind. But you never get a glimpse of the soul. To you the soul appears to be an empty word that is meaningless. When you hear the word soul no ripples arise in you. This word creates restlessness in you.

 

Lust or passion is associated with the body. Lust is gross just like your body. The body looks for lust. The body calls for its counterpart in the other. One shore always remains incomplete without the other. Both male and female seek one another. Both male and female are complimentary energies. Male and female are two shores for life energy to flow. Just as a river cannot flow without the two shores, so too life cannot flow without the male and female energies as two shores! These are two energies that complement one another. Separate from each other they remain despondent. Both male and female remain incomplete without each other.

 

At a gross level this is essential. The union of two energies is momentary. For a moment the two bodies merge into one another. However this happens only for a moment. And after this union a great despondency descends. This separation after the dissolution is painful. You think this union is all. This physical union brings separation and pain. Certainly the union of the body is a momentary happening. That which is gross cannot merge with another gross. Really gross can never merge or meet. Gross has its limitation. If you try to unite two blocks of ice these can never merge into one another in their gross form! And the moment the two blocks of ice melt and become fluid like, they can certainly merge into one another. Ice has a boundary. Water has no boundary. The moment you are fluid like all boundaries disappear! 

 

Human body is frozen like ice. And mind is fluid like water. Ice has limitation. Water flows beyond boundaries. Yet still water has its limitations. You can mould the mind the way you want. This cannot be done with the human body. A child is born in aHindu family. Take him to a Muslim family. Now you can condition the child. The body cannot change. You can condition the mind of the child. But you cannot condition or change the body. The mind will become Muslim. There is no way to change the body. That will remain connected to its origin. The child may not even remember that he was ever a Hindu. As far as the mind is concerned it can become a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian. Such is the freedom of the mind. 

Mind is fluid like. It goes on changing each moment. Today you may like one person. Tomorrow you may not like the same person. One who was the center of you life once! One without who the sun ever rose and never set!  Things have changed now. That person is no more significant for you. That person does not create any ripples in your being any more. Such is the nature of the mind. And such is the understanding of those who remain within the four walls of the mind. The fluidity of the mind is unique. Human body demands lust and mind requires love. However the fluidity of the mind is unique. One moment it is fluid like and the next moment this fluidity is no more. Body can be bought, not the mind. Body is gross. Mind is somewhat conscious. Mind has the glimpse of awareness. However, it is just a glimpse. Mind seeks love. Mind seeks someone who is ready to sacrifice and surrender unconditionally. Mind wants to give itself to someone. When beyond boundaries two minds meet, that which flows in between is love. That which attracts below mind is lust.

 

Yet still there is an existence beyond mind. Beyond mind there are no boundaries. Only an infinite sky exists. The ice has melted now. Water is evaporating. And as the steam arises it disappears beyond a certain level. The soul is like steam. You get a glimpse of it sometimes through the body and at other times through the mind. However, these glimpses are only fading examples. Who can demand the soul? The body demands another body. This union is short lived. So too, mind seeks another mind. The realm of the mind is still deeper. Body seeks another body. The union is short lived. Mind can go a little further. Mind even aspires to go a little far. Mind claims love to be eternal. If you have really known love, you will come to know this. Body may disappear but love lives on. Why to seek that which is short lived? When there is darkness, all of a sudden there is lightening. Lightening is fragile and short lived. And after lightening darkness deepens! In the realm of sorrow, happiness comes for a fraction of a moment. And then the sorrow and suffering become even more intense. The soul does not recognize love as conceived by the mind. Mind is fluid like. Today this flows towards this one and tomorrow its path changes. And then it loves someone else. Mind cannot be trusted beyond a certain extent. When the mind is in love it makes promises of trust. The nature of the mind is ever changeable. It goes on changing. Mind is flowing. Soul seeks the eternal. The joy that overflows when the soul recognizes the answering soul, is Bhakti. When love transcends its boundaries of finiteness it attains a new texture and it enters the eternal realm. Thus begins Bhakti. Soul has no boundaries.

 

The reach of the body is short lived. Mind goes a little far. Bhakti is eternal. Through the body lust is born. Lust is gross. Through the mind you get a glimpse of love. Love is somewhat fluid like. Soul seeks eternal. Soul seeks the formless. Bhakti is the union of formless to formless:

 

-iKt inrakar se inrakar ka imln hE

 

Imagine you are in your room. All windows and doors are closed. No light! No breeze! No sound of the chirping of birds can really enter within. This is how the body is. Now you open the doors and windows. And as soon as the doors and windows are open the light, breeze, sounds of the birds, and the fragrance of the flowers enters. This is the realm of the mind. You get a glimpse of the infinite sky. This is how the mind is. Still you are in the mind. A little free, yet still in a cage of finiteness. Now you have decided to come out of the room. You are not getting the glimpse of the sun alone. Now the entire sun is showering on you. Now the breeze is not coming to you instead the breeze surrounds you. Now you are one with the sound of the birds. You are one with the breeze. You are one with the sunlight and rays. You are one with the entire existence. Now try to understand these sutras. Try to understand these meditatively and lovingly. Your logic will not take you into the inner realm of these sutras.

 

Now begins the explanation of Bhakti. Why is this word ‘athato’ or now? Thus or now is the unique way of beginning something sublime. Up to now we have spoken so many things. We spoke of the body, mind, soul and many such other things. All these have been a prelude. Bhakti is not something that is spoken once and that is all. The explanation of Bhakti continues and will continue until every individual seeks Bhakti within him. We have seen the realm of the mind as well. Now therefore let us speak of Bhakti.  

 

All of a sudden the explanation begins. This is unique about Indian scriptures. Nowhere else a scripture begins with ‘now therefore’. This seems incomplete. It seems as if something was going on before this explanation. And this explanation is just in the middle.

It seems something is missing. And that which is missing is the beginning. And this explanation is just in the beginning. The scripture is already in the process. These are the pages from the scripture of life. This is not for those who are not yet free from the realm of the body and all that concerns the body. This is not for those who are not yet free of the body and the mind. The sage leaves these two realms right there. And therefore begin these sutras. If you are not yet free from lust and all that relates to the body and also all that relates to the mind then you are not yet ready for these sutras. 

 

If love still interests you then you are not ready for these sutras. Still the search for God has not yet begun. Still if you are either the body or the mind then you cannot understand these sutras. I am not interested in your words that you want to know the secrets. I can see all that is going on within you. This does not mean these sutras are for the older ones. These sutras are for the one who has reached the last realm in the process of transformation. Bhakti is the ultimate. Bhakti is for those who are free from the realm of the body and mind. The West thought this as incomplete. It appears the beginning is missing. And the East thinks these sutras are for older persons. Both have missed the essence of these sutras. There is a difference between an old and a mature person. Even a younger person can be mature enough to understand ‘The Secrets of Bhakti’.

 

If love still interests you then you are not ready for these sutras. Still the search for God has not yet begun. Still if you are either the body or the mind then you cannot understand these sutras. I am not interested in your words that you want to know the secrets. I can see all that is going on within you. This does not mean these sutras are for the older ones. These sutras are for the one who has reached the last realm in the process of transformation. Bhakti is the ultimate. Bhakti is for those who are free from the realm of the body and mind. The West thought this as incomplete. It appears the beginning is missing. And the East thinks these sutras are for older persons. Both have missed the essence of these sutras. There is a difference between an old and a mature person. Even a younger person can be mature enough to understand ‘The Secrets of Bhakti’. 

 

Sometimes a person can attain to maturity even in his youth. Suddenly a child jumps from a seed stage and becomes a tree. The question is of awareness, not age or anything else; therefore, these Secrets of Bhakti! These sutras are not any definition or description. It is like the one who has tasted the sweet fruit. What will he do? He will enjoy. He will go on narrating to others. He may start singing the glory. You will try to correlate your experiences with those who have experienced themselves. It is like you want to enter the temple. Yet still you have not yet entered the temple. This is an effort to bring the taste of being in the temple to those who have not yet been to the temple. For such people there can be no definition. Definition can only happen between those who know. Therefore this explanation!

 

Definition can complete in a sentence or so. But the explanation is something different. Explanation is always longer. And through explanation we only give a glimpse. Explanation is true to some extent and to some extent it is not. It is so because when a learned one speaks to an ignorant one he speaks the language that he can understand. When a Buddha has to speak to those who have not yet attained to enlightenment he has to use their language. If Buddha uses his language then he cannot make his message understood. In order to make the people understand the sage has to use the language of the people. Then it can no more remain a definition. Instead, it will become an explanation.

 

Therefore because of intense desire to know Bhakti, the sage begins the explanation of Bhakti. The first narration explains Bhakti as the utmost expression of love towards God. I had explained earlier, lust is the beginning of the journey and the ultimate flowering is Bhakti. But to reach Bhakti you have to pass through love. This is why Narad says, “Bhakti is prem swaroopa.” The nature of Bhakti is that of love. On one side of love is lust and on the other side is Bhakti. Love is connected to both lust and Bhakti. If any explanation is to be given of lust, love has to be the way. And also if Bhakti has to be defined, love has to be the medium once again. Love is in between the two. Love bridges both lust and Bhakti. Love is the balance between the two. If those who have known ‘The Secrets of Bhakti’ have to explain these secrets to the one who does not know the language. Then besides love there can be no other way. Nothing can be said about lust. Also nothing can be said about Bhakti either. Love is the only thing that we can speak. Love is the only way for this explanation. Bhakti is opposite to lust. If we have to use the language of lust then we can say that Bhakti is not lust. This is a negative way of saying. Then what is Bhakti? Narad continues:

 

HkfDr ije is`e Lojwik gS AA

 

This is an important condition. If Narad had said just prem swaroopa then one can conclude that Bhakti is love. However, Narad put a condition and the condition is explained with the word prem. Narad says, Bhakti is param prem swaroopa. In love lust still remains to some extent However, in Bhakti lust is no more. In lust there is the trace of love. That is why one remains entangled in lust. Maybe there is even one percent love in lust. And this one percent renders a new texture to lust. This one percent love gives a new expression to lust and hides its ugliness and gives an indication of its utility. Both lust and love are connected to one another. Therefore love is not pure love. There is still a trace of lust in it. When lust leans towards love it gets defiled. And when love leans towards lust it gets sanctified. Love lends its nature to lust. Therefore, Narad says Bhakti is pure gold. It is therefore:

 

-iKt prm p&em SvrUpa hE.

 

Only this much for now! Now the journey is alone! Alone you have to enter these sutras. My energy field surrounds you.

 

Or now begins ‘The Secrets of Bhakti!’