DEVOTION.

We have to direct our Karma and Jnana in such a way as to make Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga part of our lives. You may have gadgets, like helmets, goggles, etc., for reasons of safety; but are useless if we do not have the right attitude towards safety. Yoga is mistakenly thought only to consist of a series of postures relating to physical movement and well-being. Yoga is an attitude of mind; a certain approach towards life and living. It is necessary that we cultivate such an attitude, with the help of which our Karma can become Karma Yoga and Jnana can become Jnana Yoga. That attitude is devotion.

Therefore one's attitude towards Karma matters a great deal. Elaborate preparation is needed to develop the right attitude to assimilate the teaching of Vedanta and reach the goal. It is the predominant aspect of Karma Yoga. When the intellect is suffused with devotion, we will eventually acquire the knowledge that liberates a person. That is Jnana Yoga.

It is possible to look at devotion from yet another perspective between Karma and Jnana is the mind - the seat of all emotions, attitudes, fixations and ideations. In fact, all action originates in the mind. Any radical transformation becomes possible only at the level of the mind, where all action begins. The inner organ, the mind, has to be purified in order that one may develop the right attitude of action, as well as intellection. The ability to achieve this depends upon the emotional state of the person. The attitude of devotion enables such inner transformation and growth, which is essential in one's pursuit of the goal. 

Bhaja is the verbal root from which the word Bhakti is derived. Thus, Bhakti is spontaneity, along with relish and love towards actions, like the daily prayer through which the individual relates to Isvara. When there is love towards the things of the world, one is called a worldly person. Having love for God makes one a spiritual person. Love is the most fundamental guiding force of human heart. When our love is directed towards Lord, we call it devotion. Devotion is essentially a matter of directing the capacity to love that is present in the human heart. When this love is directed towards wealth or money, one turns into a miser, and when it is directed towards the pleasures of the flesh, the person is drawn into the vortex of worldliness rolled by sensate values. 

The gradual shifting of the focus of love from the objects of the world to Lord is the path of devotion. True inner growth lies in developing love for Lord and learning to relish that love. In fact, mahatmas who have gained self-knowledge experience only the emotions of love and compassion in their interaction with the world. A devotee relishes everything connected to God; prayer is indeed a form of relishing on the other hand, if we were to eat it slowly and in little bits, it can be savoured unhurriedly. He loves to employ some or all of the sense organs and the organs of action in the service of the God. Gradually, the devotee begins to love contemplating upon the God's name, form, glories and exploits.

We are worldly people and tend to relish all that this world offers. If we understand God and the world and learn to relate to both correctly, we relish that any relishing of world is detrimental to our well-being we are advised not to invest our emotion in the world. If our understanding grows of God, proportionately relsihing of everything related to God grows we grow into Bhakti gradually. Devotion is based in the two aspects of human life, Karma and Jnana, right perspective begins with the right attitude. There are people who imagine that God goes without food if we do not offer anything in worship. It is not the service to God; it is simply service one-self only. Worship is that in which one expresses true love and devotion to God and the manner in which we relate to the God.

---Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy---

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