Devotion Is Like A Diamond

Fr, 05/11/2012

Montreal, Canada

Devotion is a gift. You can’t take credit for your own devotion. You can’t say, ‘I’m so devoted’.
You can’t take any credit. If you are so devoted it is a gift; such a blessing.
What does devotion do? Devotion gives you immense happiness, deep love and Siddhis.
Siddhi means what you think happens and what you want happens, you bless somebody and it happens; all this happen through that state of your being. Devotion is the state of our being.
In the yoga sutras Rishi Patanlaji said, ‘Samadhi siddhirishwarpranidhanat’, devotion towards the Divine brings perfection of Samadhi. It makes your meditation so serene, and takes you to the perfected state.
So we can never say, ‘Oh I am so devoted’, if you are so devoted it is such a gift. Just pray that let this stay with me forever. Not to let anything else spoil it.

Devotion is like a diamond; don’t trade it for anything that is muddy. A diamond should never be traded for a cup of mud.

Devotion is a gift, you can’t
take mileage out of it, and you shouldn’t. If you take, then that is the way we start slipping out of meditation and out of devotion. Feel grateful for being devoted. Be like a child and let go.

Do you know where you tend to lose your devotion? Doing something that is related to temporary things, fighting with somebody, wanting something, like wanting a job, or your relationship doesn’t work then your devotion suffers.
You lose your job and your devotion suffers. If somebody blames you then your devotion is gone. If your work does not happen then your devotion is gone. So we are losing our devotion over a few dollars or over small things. A little fight with somebody and you feel all your devotion is gone. Isn’t it?
It is the small things and small little desires where we lose devotion, and it is not worth losing. Isn’t it?
See, if you are a medical professional, you give medicine to people, and most of the time it works but sometimes it does not work. It depends on many things. It depends on karma.
Similarly in your life many things happen and some things don’t happen, but at least hold onto the devotion.
Again I am saying, sometimes it appears to have gone or going away, then also you can’t do anything about it. Just relax and pray for it.
So devotion is a gift, you can’t take mileage out of it, and you shouldn’t. If you take then that is the way we start slipping out of meditation and out of devotion. That is what happens, we recognize the devotion and try to take mileage out of it, and ascertain, ‘I am so devoted’.
If you are conscious of this, just be like a child and let go. If you are devoted, feel grateful for being devoted, then that is a safe track. Then the devotion grows every moment.

See, in action there is never perfection. In any great act you will always find 1% flaw. Nature is like that. Any action however good it is, however beneficial it is, there will be a little bit of imperfection in it. Samadhi becomes perfected with devotion.
Now if you think, ‘Oh, I don’t feel the devotion, what do I do?’ Do nothing, just relax! Don’t think you don’t have it. You have it, it has not manifested now, but it will. A little more merit, do some seva and some good things and then it will manifest. Be in knowledge and it will come up.

Also the astrological situation has an impact on devotion in the beginning, for beginners. When a particular planet’s conjunction happens, at that time, the first thing that happens is devotion goes into the background. So when the Jupiter planet comes in the eight house it is called Ashtama Guru.
It is said that the pundits know that the person is going through Ashtama Guru, and he is going to go through turmoil for that one year.
What will happen then? The mind goes all over the place, mind is in turmoil, every decision is wrong, anything he does becomes hopeless, and moreover he loses all interest in spirituality. It happens once every 12 years. It can be for two months, six months or a maximum for one year.
For two months it will be intense, or for four months or six months. So when someone knows, ‘Oh this is my Ashtama Guru that is why my mind is like that’, then you have diagnosed the disease and you know why your mind is going like that.
If you don’t know, then you think, ‘Oh, I have wasted my whole life. Why did I do pranayama, why I did I do all these things. It is all a waste’, this is what happens and you stop doing everything. After one year’s time, then you realize, ‘Oh my God, I did a blunder, where did my mind go.’ You think that way.

Astrologers know and the people know in India, what you call sadesati, seven and a half years of Saturn. At that time people really lose all their material relationships, material wealth and for some people it is a very hard time. Health and all these concerns come if someone is only outward.
But if someone is spiritual then that same situation will make them so much better. It depends on how the person is. You must have heard people around saying, ‘Oh, for seven years nothing is working for me. I try but everything is a flop.’ This happens in the Saturn’s seven and half years that comes once in every 30 years. So it comes only twice in a lifetime, not too often. But that is good enough to shake a person; fry somebody.
Usually if it comes when a person is a child, within 15 to 20 years of age, it doesn’t have much impact, but only in the middle age it has an impact. But if it comes to somebody after they are 50 years, then also there is not much of an impact.
So this period of seven and half years also brings turmoil. In a way it makes a person turn inward. If you have noticed, those of you who came on the spiritual path, you came because there was some crisis. How many of you came because of crisis? This is what Saturn does. It creates a situation so that you get so fed up of the outside and you turn inside. In that way it is very good.
But Ashtama Guru that comes once in every 12 years is when faith is shaken. You even wonder whether there is a God or not. Nothing appears worthwhile. Everything appears tasteless and directionless, and feelings of boredom and confusion get generated. But that is for a short time.
And the moment you are in satsang, that moment the mind gets uplifted. All this gets cleared. That is why in the Guru’s presence or in satsang, or in sadhana, these planetary effects are minimum. It just does not affect you so much. People experience this over and over again, so many times.
That is why these traditions are such. The way they have put together, it is so amazing, and it is amazing how the tradition is kept and knowledge is maintained.

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