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No man can enjoy a meal with the same gusto
or pleasure as a dog or a wolf, but those pleasures which a man gets from
intellectual experiences and achievements, the dog can never enjoy. At
first, pleasure is in association with the lowest senses; but as soon
as an animal reaches a higher plane of existence, the lower kind of pleasures
becomes less intense. In human society, the nearer the man is to the animal,
the stronger is his pleasure in the senses; and the higher and the more
cultured the man is, the greater is his pleasure in intellectual and such
other finer pursuits. So when a man gets even higher than the plane of
the intellect, higher than that of mere thought, when he gets to the plane
of spirituality and of divine inspiration, he finds there a state of bliss,
compared with which all the pleasures of the senses or even of the intellect
are as nothing. When the moon shines brightly, all the stars become dim;
and when the sun shines, the moon herself becomes dim.
The renunciation necessary for the attainment
of bhakti, devotion, is not obtained by killing anything, but just
comes in as naturally as the presence of an increasingly stronger light—the
less intense ones become dimmer and dimmer until they vanish away completely.
So this love of the pleasures of the senses and of the intellect is all
made dim and thrown aside, and cast into the shade by the love of God
Himself.
The love of God grows and assumes a form,
which is called Parabhakti, or supreme devotion. Forms vanish,
rituals fly away, books are superseded—images, temples, churches, religions
and sects, countries and nationalities—all these little limitations and
bondages fall off by their own nature from him who knows this love of
God. Nothing remains to bind him or fetter his freedom. A ship all of
sudden comes near a magnetic rock and its iron bolts and bars are all
attracted and drawn out, and the planks get loosened and freely float
on the water. Divine grace thus loosens the binding bolts and bars of
the soul—and it becomes free. So in this renunciation auxiliary to devotion,
there is no harshness, no dryness, no struggle, no repression, nor suppression.
The devotee has not to suppress any single one of his emotions. He only
strives to intensify them and direct them to God.
—Swami Vivekananda
Once you become the offering, once your whole being is in a state of constant prayer, then what is left is not you but Him. What is left is Love. Prayer can perform this miracle. Crying can accomplish this feat. What is the purpose of meditation? It is to become love. It is to attain Oneness. Thus there is no better meditation technique than praying and crying to the Lord.
Supplicate Him. Pour out your heart to Him. Prayer is nothing but emptying the mind, ridding oneself of the vasanas, the impressions of past conditioning. Prayer is nothing but accepting His supremacy and remembering your own nothingness. “I am nothing. I am nobody. You are everything.” Prayer teaches us humility. You are seeking His refuge, His love, His grace, compassion and help in order to reach Him. You are calling out, trying to reach out. Prayer is surrendering the ego. From deep within you are trying to reach out. You are trying to become expansive. You tell the Lord, “O Lord, I have no power. I thought I had, but now I understand that I am helpless. I am in the dark. I cannot see. I am nothing…Guide me, lead me, help me. That was my ego which made me think I was something great. Now I realize that I am helpless. Without Your grace I cannot be anything”…This is the genuine way to exhaust the vasanas…Humility will help one get God’s grace as well as human love.
—Mata Amritanandamayi
The compassionate ones, those whose hearts are filled with love and concern, are like a river which flows down from the highest mountain. They are like the Ganges. After having ascended to the highest peak of bliss, out of compassion they flow down from the heights in order to let others bathe in them, drink from them and swim in them. They are like a fruit tree growing by the side of the road, offering its fruit to everyone. Tired travelers can enjoy the fruit; they can quench their thirst and appease their hunger. …Like bees coming to collect pollen for honey, people will gather around the compassionate ones, waiting for pearls of wisdom to fall from their lips. They themselves become an offering to the people. Such souls have wholly surrendered themselves to all of existence, yet out of compassion they offer themselves back to the world. Still they remain in silence.
—Mata Amritanandamayi
I know it is truth alone that gives strength. I know that truth alone gives life, and nothing but going towards reality will make us strong.
—Swami Vivekananda
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