Chapter 15: Bhakti Yoga (Path of love)
Gandhiji explained the process of evolution as below:
“If we turn our eyes to the time of which history has any record down to our time, we shall find that man has been steadily progressing towards ahimsa. Our remote ancestors were cannibals, where the strong gorged on the weak. Then came a time when they were fed up with cannibalism and began to live on hunting.
Next came a stage when man took to agriculture and depended on mother earth for his food. Thus from being a nomad, he settled down to a civilized stable life, founded villages and towns, and from being member of a family he became member of a community and a nation.
All these are signs of progressive non-violence and diminishing violence. Had it been otherwise, the human species should have been extinct by now even as many of the lower species have disappeared. Man as an animal is violent but as spirit he is non-violent. The moment he awakes to the spirit within, he cannot remain violent. Either he progresses towards non-violence or rushes to his doom.”
Bhakti is intense love to God, Who is present as Atman in all beings. God can be found in a caring father, a loving mother, teacher, a compassionate friend, beloved spouse, a customer, or even in a mischievous child such as infant Krishna. Loving neighbour is as important as loving God. How can a person claim to love a distant God when he hates his immediate neighbour?
I am ever present to those who have realized Me in every creature. Seeing all life as My manifestation, they are never separated from Me (The Bhagavad Gita 6-30).
He who serves Me as undivided Self in all creatures. Such person, in meditation or in doing karmas, abides in Me (The Bhagavad Gita 6-31).
When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union (The Bhagavad Gita 6-32).
I love that person who is incapable of ill will, who is friendly and compassionate, and who lives without the selfishness of “I”, “me” and “mine” and of pleasure and pain! (The Bhagavad Gita 12:13).
I am in love with those who are patient, contended, self- controlled and firm in faith, (The Bhagavad Gita 12:14).
They alone see truly who see the Bramhan the same in every creature, who see the changeless in the hearts of all that change (The Bhagavad Gita 13:27).
Seeing the same Bramhan everywhere, they do not harm themselves or others. Thus they attain the supreme goal (The Bhagavad Gita 13:28).
Bhakti Yoga can be practiced through the below ways.
- The first step in the path of ahimsa (non-violence) or love is shedding all hatred in any shape or form and abstaining from hurting any living being in thought, word and deed.
It is no love if we merely love those that love us. It is love only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this grand law of love. But are not all great and good things difficult to do? Love of the hater is the most difficult of all. But by the grace of God even this most difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish if we want to do it?.
But how can we cultivate and preserve love? How can we love corrupt and insulting officials, envious co-workers, and backstabbing friends? That can be achieved only through expanding sphere of love.
Gandhiji did not expect those who came to him, to make this transformation immediately, or reverse overnight the conditioning of years of evolution and love their enemies more than they love themselves. He himself had failed countless times in his attempts to reach that highest state.
"Start where you are. If you can't love the viceroy or prime minister, start with your wife, or your husband, or your children. Try to put their welfare first and yours last every minute of the day, and let the circle of your love expand from there. As long as you are trying your very best, there can be no question of failure.
The path of Truth is as narrow as it is straight. Even so is that of Ahimsa. It is like balancing oneself on the edge of a sword. By concentration an acrobat can walk on a rope. But the concentration required to tread the path of Truth and Ahimsa is far greater. The slightest inattention brings one tumbling to the ground.
One can realize Truth and Ahimsa only by ceaseless striving. Ahimsa is not the crude thing it has been made to appear. Not to hurt any living things is no doubt a part of Ahimsa. But it is its least expression. The principle of Ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs. But the world needs even what we eat day by day. In the place where we stand there are millions of micro-organisms to whom the place belongs, and who are hurt by our presence there. What should we do then? Should we commit suicide? Even that is no solution, if we believe, as we do, that so long as the spirit is attached to the flesh, on every destruction of body it weaves for itself another.
The body will cease to be only when we give up all attachment to it. This freedom from all attachment is the realization of God as Truth. Such realization cannot be attained in a hurry. The body does not belong to us. While it lasts we must use it as a trust handed over to our charge. Treating in this way the things of the flesh, we may one day expect to become free from the burden of the body. Realizing the limitations of the flesh, we must strive day by day towards the ideal with what strength we have in us. It is perhaps clear from the foregoing, that without Ahimsa it is not possible to seek and find Truth. Ahimsa and Truth are so intertwined that it is practically impossible to disentangle and separate them. They are like the two sides of a coin.”
- The spirit of love further connotes that work is worship. Work is not for building up ego or to get any reward out of it. Work is done in the spirit of selfless service because the only way to find God is to see him in His creation and be one with it. A seeker understands that his talents and capacity are God's gifts and to be used for the lesser privileged. He is thankful to the lesser privileged for giving him an opportunity to serve them as a servant of God.
Gandhiji specially emphasized the service of 'Daridra Narayana' (God appearing in the form of the poor, the underprivileged and the oppressed).
“There is no worship purer or more pleasing to God than selfless service of the poor. The rich in their arrogance and intellectual pride, often forget God, or even question His existence. But God dwells among the poor, as they cling to Him as their sole Refuge and Shelter. To serve the poor, is therefore to serve God. If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics today encircles us like the coils of a snake from which we cannot get out no matter how we try. I wish to wrestle with the snake”.
- Love and indifference to the miseries of fellow beings do not go together. The principles of non-stealing (Asteya) and non-possession (Aparigraha) are derived from the holistic approach that God is the Creator of everything, and therefore, everything belongs to God (Isha Upanishad verse 1).
- Since all human beings are the manifestations of the same God, all things in this universe are to be shared equally by all. No individual has the right to consume or possess more than his proportionate share. Thus, one who has taken more than one's due share is guilty of committing 'theft'.
- A seeker of God cannot steal and simultaneously claim to follow God or cherish love. Hence the saying 'a camel can pass through the eye of a sewing needle but a rich man cannot enter God's kingdom'.
Gandhiji said, “The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed”. This statement highlights simplicity in life, the moral limits of consumption and surplus distribution.
Deliberate and voluntary restriction of wants is significantly different from forced poverty, or limitation of wants though budgeting. Voluntary restriction of wants is not a negative activity but a positive expression of love for fellow beings.
Voluntary simplicity or non-possession does not mean that human labour, talents and capabilities are to be underutilized or wasted in any way. They are to be exercised to the maximum extent, in the right direction. Each will work according to his natural talents and capabilities to the maximum potential, but will take the minimum according to his real needs. If there is extra wealth in one's possession, one will act as a trustee of the same and use it in the best interests of the society.
- Bhakti Yoga does not mean a passive state of being defenseless or giving up fight and tolerating injustices. Gandhiji once said “even though I love a snake, I should kill it, if it comes to bite you”. Hence there is no contradiction in the Bhagavad Gita, where Bhakti Yoga teaches Arjuna to love all, and Karma Yoga requires him to fight the evil and protect the dharma.
- Scriptures declare that suicide or killing another person is the worst of all sins, called Brahma hatya pathakam, which means killing God, the in dweller. But it was Arjuna's duty as a soldier to protect people and Krishna explained how to perform his duty without violating dharma and getting entangled by the law of karma.
In its most active form, ahimsa (non-violence) becomes Sathyagraha, which was Gandhiji's Bramhastra, 'Weapon of Brahman'. 'Sathya' does not mean mere speaking truth (the opposite of lie) alone. 'Sathya' means Truth, Brahman. 'Agraha' here does not mean anger, but 'firmness'. Being firm in Truth is Satyagraha. It is soul-force in action.
According to Gandhiji, Sathyagraha is the firm and fearless adherence to Truth, even in the face of death, without bearing any ill will towards the evil doer. Sathyagraha is an attempt to awaken the Truth in the heart of the wrong doer through persuasion, self- sacrifice and self-suffering.
The Sathyagrahi does not try to suppress or harm his opponent through the use of force of any kind. The evil doer is looked at as an extension of one's own self, and there is no attempt to harm him in any way, except a sincere and fearless action to enlighten to Truth in him through self-sacrifice. Sathyagraha is thus elevating both for the Sathyagrahi as well as for the evil doer.
It is never the intention of a Sathyagrahi to embarrass the wrong doer. The appeal is never to his mind, but must always be to his heart. The Sathyagrahi's object is not to convert the wrong doers to his way, but help them to become a better person. Sathyagraha can be practiced by any individual or groups of individuals in order to bring about any desired change in the family, society, and nation and so on.
Gandhiji wrote 'Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings.
In bhakti yoga a complete surrender to God is essential. We must surrender to Him and abide by His will whether He appears or vanishes. If we ask Him to do as we please, it is not surrender but command to Him. We cannot have Him obey us and yet think that we have surrendered. He knows what is best and when and how to do it. We must leave everything entirely to Him. That is surrender and bhakti.'
The devotee holds on to his Ishta Devata (favourite God). To feel God's presence at all times is a devotee's happiness, in which he finally loses his lower self or ego. What remains is love and hence 'God is Love'. A devotee's mind is no longer 'mind' but becomes 'Love' which is Sat-chit-ananda (Eternal-Consciousness-Bliss).