Types Of Devotees

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Types Of Devotees

 

IT is the purpose of this article to focus attention on the essentials and

the barest minimum that any devotee should learn to enter into this noble

path of spirituality, the highest aspiration of mankind.

 

Like all great teachers, Sai Baba has rightly been claimed as the .epitome

of all virtues. Baba often told his devotees: "Your servant's servant I am.

I am your debtor.I am purified by your darshan. It is a great grace on

your part to have given Me the sight of your feet."

 

He alone is an exclusive devotee who is never shaken from the belief that

the entire creation as a manifestation of God. It is not easy to give up

attachment to worldly things and shake off the feeling of " I." It is true "

I " and " mine " are the result of ignorance. The right attitude born of

knowledge is that God is the Master and that all things belong to Him. Till

we get this attitude, let us cherish the idea that we are God's servants and

His devotees. Even this implies a trace of ego and as shown in the following

example, this will disappear with the knowledge of truth.

 

"Once Rama asked Hanuman, 'How do you look on Me? Hanuman replied, " O Rama,

as long as I have the feeling of " I," I see that Thou art the Whole and I

am a part ; Thou art the Master and I am Thou." Thus the first step in the

life of a devotee is humility.

 

Self-surrender marks the next step of a devotee. A devotee has to surrender

to God himself wholly and exclusively, including his five senses. Then he

becomes a personal servant of God. The entire responsibility for his

maintenance and protection is taken up by the Lord. As said in the " Gita",

" O Arjuna, take refuge in Me. I shall deliver you from all sins." Did not

Sri Sal Baba say, " Cast all your burdens on Me and I shall bear them."

 

Then, the devotee becomes free from sin and misery because all his actions

are performed as a divine duty without a thought for the result. Sri

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa advised his devotees to surrender themselves

completely to God, setting aside the three veils—shame, hatred and fear,

which hide God from us. Surrendering his body, heart and mind, family,

wealth, possessions, desires, cravings and in fact every other thing at the

feet of God, the devotee is freed from anxiety and worry. He sees God in

everything and everything in God ; loves all beings in the Universe as

manifestations of God. All his works become God's works. All his

thoughts, words and deeds are centred in God. Thus the natural results of

this self-surrender are intense devotion towards God and love towards all

beings in the Universe. Such a devotee has no disappointments in life and

has no fear of death. He rises above the dichotomies of the world and

gains equanimity and -poise which distinguish him as the flower of

humanity.

 

A mere child, Prahlada was subjected to every unimaginable torture, such as

letting loose on him a mad elephant, exposing to the bites of venomous

snakes, dropping from the top of a mountain or shutting up in a room filled

with poisonous gases. But he neither feared nor met with death. What was the

secret of Prahlada's power ? His firm faith in God.

 

Baba often used to say that once a person has faith in God, he has achieved

everything. There is nothing greater than faith. Sri Rama who was God

Himself had to build a bridge to cross the sea to Lanka, but Hanuman who had

immense faith in Rama cleared the sea in one jump. Sri Ramakrishna says : "

As is a man's meditation, so is his feeling of love. " As is man's feeling

of love, so is his gain. Faith is the root of all." Mira drank the cup of

poison in one draught and Haridas bore gladly the strokes of the lash all

the while repeating the name of Hari and praying to God to pardon his

persecutors. A devotee who has such intense faith does not bear any ill-will

towards his enemies. His faith is so unshakeable that he actually sees that

the whole world is full of God and everything in it is manifestation of God.

The extraordinary patience displayed by a devotee towards those who harm him

should not be interpreted as cowardice. The devotee's heart is full of

virtues like forgiveness, spirit of nonviolence, compassion and love. Thus,

forgiveness, non-violence compassion, etc., are the virtues of the hero and

the characteristic of a true devotee is a courageous patience or Saburi, as

Sai Baba has put it.

 

There are different types of devotees. It is the lot of many to tread the

hard and steep path through suffering, sacrifice and toil. They need a long

and arduous spiritual discipline and practice. There are some who are Nitya

Siddhas. Since their birth, their spiritual consciousness is awake. They are

born like Sri Sai Baba to impart spiritual illumination to others to lift a

little of the heavy karma of the world.

 

There is yet another class of devotees—Kripa Siddhas on whom the grace of

God descends all of a sudden. Within a short time, they attain great vision

and knowledge. In short, a true devotee is one who "cannot live without God;

so also God cannot live without His devotee." He has humility and lost all

traces of ego. He has surrendered himself completely his body and soul to

God. He has abundant faith (Nishta) and courageous patience (Saburi). These

are the high hall-marks of a true devotee. Judging by this touch stone, let

each fix hearings in the wide ocean of life and follow the light which is

within every one of us.

 

Saint Sayings

Stick to your own Guru with unabated faith, whatever the merits of other

Gurus and however little the merits of your own.

 

GOD manifests all his powers for the benefit of His devotees.

The cries of all jackals are the same- So are the teachings of all the

wise ones the same.

 

Like Fans are redundant when the wind blows; prayers and penances may

be given up when the grace of God descends.

 

H, H. SWAMI KESAVAfAHJl'S SELECTIONS

(Adopted from the Book Pearls of Wisdom by His Holiness Swami Kesavaiahji)

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