Devotion and Prayer: what Gurudev means by an inner attitude

Two open hands catching soft morning light

Short answer: For Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, devotion and prayer aren't a technique — they're an inner attitude: letting go, trusting and loving without tying conditions to it. A wandering mind, he teaches, settles during prayer through more love, not more effort. Devotion means meeting life with open hands, instead of trying to hold on to everything.

What unconditional love has to do with devotion

Before it's about prayer or a higher power, devotion for Gurudev often starts much closer to home: with the question of what you actually love in another person. Do you love someone for their qualities — or simply because they are who they are?

You know—when you love somebody, what do you truly love in them? Do you love their qualities, their attributes—or the very being itself? Like a parent’s love for a child is not because of their attributes. Even a child with intellectual disability is unconditionally loved by a parent.

From a talk on the Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Cannot Be Expressed”, 00:17:50

For Gurudev, this image shows what unconditional love fundamentally looks like: not a reward for good behaviour, but an attitude that isn't tied to conditions. For him, that exact quality carries over into devotion in the wider sense too.

The difference between letting go and holding on

Many people picture devotion as something passive — as though you'd just be giving up. Gurudev describes almost the opposite: what you want most often comes to you exactly when you stop clutching at it so hard.

All that you are craving for, all that you are hanging on to, they come to you, anyway to you, automatic. But you have to let go. You are holding your fist tight. Why not open your hands and you see the whole sky is in your hand. You are closing your fist, even air cannot enter there. Let alone the diamonds. A process of opening the fist.

From a talk on the Ashtavakra Gita — “You Are Free Right Now”, 00:29:39

The image of the closed fist makes clear what devotion is really about for Gurudev: not wanting less, but opening your hands — so that anything can flow in or out at all.

Prayer as an inner attitude, not an effort

A lot of people experience the same thing during prayer or in silence: the mind jumps around no matter how hard you concentrate. Gurudev answers this with a simple principle: effort isn't what settles the mind.

“Guruji, my mind goes all over the place when I sit for prayer and meditation.” “My mind never goes to God; it goes all over the place.” “Need effort, concentration!” I said, “There is no need of concentration, no need of effort, if you love God.” The mind goes only where there is love.

From a talk on the Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Needs No Proof”, 00:08:52

For Gurudev, prayer is therefore less a technique of concentration than a question of inner direction. Wherever real affection is — for a person, for life, or for whatever you understand as a higher power — the mind goes there by itself, without you having to force it.

Trust on several levels

For Gurudev, trust isn't a single point, it builds up in layers: trust in yourself, trust in the life around you — and, for anyone willing to take that step, trust in something even bigger.

Gurudev: Faith is the beginning. Confidence is the result. Faith in yourself brings freedom. Faith in the world brings you peace of mind. Faith in God evokes love in you.

From the book “An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker” — knowledge sheet 155, “Faith is Your Wealth” (28 May 1998, Bangalore Āshram, India)

That order is telling: for Gurudev, trust doesn't start with a higher power, it starts with you. Only from that ground can trust develop any further at all — whichever direction that takes for you personally.

What you can do

Ask whether your affection is tied to conditions. With people who matter to you, check whether your love depends on their behaviour — or stays even when things don't go the way you'd like.
Consciously open your hands around something you're holding onto. When you notice you're clinging to an outcome, pause for a moment and consciously loosen your grip, without giving up on the thing itself.
Replace effort with affection when your mind wanders. Instead of forcing yourself to concentrate during prayer or in silence, direct your attention to what really matters to you.
Build trust in yourself first. Before asking what you believe in, look at how much trust you already have in yourself. For Gurudev, that's the first step.
Let devotion stay a feeling, not a duty. If devotion starts to feel like an obligation, by Gurudev's understanding it's no longer devotion. Come back to whatever genuinely feels like trust to you.

Questions on this topic

Sources

The quotes on this page come from:

Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Cannot Be Expressed” (BS 10), 00:17:50–00:18:09
Ashtavakra Gita — “You Are Free Right Now” (AG 05), 00:29:39–00:30:19
Narada Bhakti Sutras — “Love Needs No Proof” (BS 12), 00:08:52–00:09:17
An Intimate Note to the Sincere Seeker — “Faith is Your Wealth” (knowledge sheet 155, 28 May 1998, Bangalore Āshram, India)