GOD IS YOUR SOLE REFUGE

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GOD IS YOUR SOLE REFUGE The name of the Lord is your sole refuge. It is your prop, shelter and abode. Name is divine nectar. Name and form are inseparable. Keep a picture of the Lord and concentrate on it. Concentrate on the face or feet or the whole picture. Then visualise this in your heart or in the space between the eyebrows. Repeat your mantra - Om Namah Sivaya Om Namo Narayanaya - Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya mentally, or if the mind wanders do this

verbally. There are five kinds of bhavas or attitudes. They are santa bhava (relationship of peace), dasya bhava (relation-ship of servant-master), vatsalya bhava (relationship of father-son), sakhya bhava (relationship of friendship) and madhurya bhava (relationship of lover and beloved). Have any kind of bhava that suits your temperament. Develop it again and again. Practise the nine modes of devotion - sravana (hearing the lilas or stories of the Lord), kirtana (singing the Lord's name), smarana (remembering the Lord), padasevana (service of the Lord's feet), archana (offering of flowers), vandana (prostration) dasyam (servant bhava sakhya (His friendship), and atmanivedana (self-surrender). Feel that you are an instrument in the hands of the Lord. Feel that the Lord works through your body, mind and senses. Offer all your actions to the Lord. Offer the fruits of your actions to the Lord. This is the way to do self-surrender. Do anusthana (intense whole-time practice) frequently. Live on milk and fruits for a week. Observe mauna (or silence). Do japa (repetition of God's name) and meditate in an intense manner. Do mental worship, it is a great help for increasing devotion and attaining concentration. Offer flowers, incense etc., mentally, to the Lord. God is all-pervading. God is all-permeating. God is interpenetrating. God is indwelling.