Bhakti Yoga - To believe or not to believe

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?"Know that I am the knower of all fields of activities, O son of Bharata. The knowledge of the field and its knower is My opinion."

Bhagavad Gita 13:3

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"But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of P?thā—for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death."

Bhagavad Gita 12:6

I remember this interesting incident at the age of 5, when I was walking with my sister in the neighbourhood and saw star-shaped lamps shining outside many houses. The question I came up with was why we did not have a similar lamp outside our house. She told me it was because they are Christians and we are not, and Christmas was just round the corner.

In fact a lot of those kids were our playfriends, and I was only just learning about our own deities at that time. And the thought that there are other people who had a different deity seemed quite confusing. Yes we had some innocent discussions and silly arguments that we can only laugh at, but it did not change anything between us. It never occurred to me that faith should be a reason for differences or strife (that grim realisation came much later).

A teacher in class 4 had once advised us, “Keep your faith but respect the faith of someone else, even if it is different than your own.” I firmly stand by that, and perhaps that is due in part to the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic nation that I have been brought up in.

Hinduism itself is so diverse in terms of the gods we worship, the practices we follow, or the beliefs we have, that we do not think twice about something odd that comes up every now and then. No wonder that Hinduism is considered a way of life, or culture – not a religion. In fact the word for religion - Dharma – has a lot of other meanings – duty, code of conduct, nature, life purpose, order and harmony, universal law or spiritual path. When Swami Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to the West, he famously said:

“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.”

He always emphasized that his goal was not to convert Christians to Hinduism for instance, but to make every Christian a better Christian. All paths lead to God, and this is a firmly entrenched belief in the Hindu culture. Faith in a higher power matters, but it does not matter who you believe in.

Bhakti Yoga

Bhakti Yoga is one of the four main paths of Hindu spirituality. It is referred to as the path of devotion or love, and it emphasizes a deep and loving devotion to a personal deity or the Divine. Faith is an essential component of this path, as it forms the foundation of one's relationship with his/her chosen deity.

Faith is a very important and personal part of each of our lives. It is deeply entwined with the values and beliefs that we were brought up in. But as we grow up, it is common to move away from faith traditions and get more worldly. Those rituals you followed religiously in childhood don't seem to have the same meaning, or worse, become a burden on your time. One may explain it away by saying, “He’s God. He’ll understand that I am busy!”

Or let me do some ceremony once in six months to appease the Almighty. Make some donation to a charity or a religious organization? And I am doing my work sincerely, so I think I am doing enough as a good human being. Isn't that all that matters? We also began to lose the meaning of festivals – they may just become holidays to wine, dine and be merry. And then there is Science of course, which has given logic after logic that seems to go against faith, right?

It is exactly like the story of the two birds in the Upanishads:

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Two birds, inseparable companions, are perched on the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit of the tree, while the other observes without eating.

The first bird represents the individual soul (Atman) or the embodied self. It is the one that is actively engaged in the experiences of the material world. This bird is identified with the ego, desires, and the physical body. It eats the sweet and bitter fruits of life, symbolizing the joys and sorrows experienced in the physical world.

The second bird represents the universal consciousness (Brahman) or the transcendent self. It remains a witness, silently observing the actions and experiences of the first bird. This bird symbolizes the higher self, the eternal, unchanging aspect of the individual that is beyond the material world.

Doesn’t this aptly define our relationship with God? When we enjoy the fruits of life like the first bird, we tend to forget about the second bird. But the moment we are hit by some stress, problem or sorrow that seems beyond our control, we immediately look towards the second bird – desperately seeking help.

And of course, the simple refrain – where is the evidence of God? Well those who claim to know Science enough, and understand the scientific method, would never say ‘God doesn’t exist’. And neither may they say ‘God does exist’ with the same authority.

Why? Because the scientific method would conclude nothing without evidence. The true scientific mind would admit that there are a lot of things beyond the material world that science cannot answer conclusively, so “I don’t know” is the best way to approach this question and start seeking answers (something that Sadhguru often alludes to).

A very pertinent statement by the triumphant ISRO Chairman S Somanath (who recently led the successful Chandrayaan 3 mission) perfectly explains how a truly rational person would approach the question of God:

"I am an explorer. I explore the Moon. I explore the inner space. So it's a part of the journey of my life to explore both science and spirituality. So I visit many temples and I read many scriptures. So try to find the meaning of our existence and our journey in this cosmos. So it's a part of the culture that we are all built to explore, find out the inner self as well as outer self. So for the outer, I do science, for the inner I come to temples."

We tend to turn to a higher power every now and then, so it is something that is intrinsic to us, isn’t it? Does God need us to pay our tributes to Him regularly? Or is it something that we need to do? Is our life better or worse as we move away from faith? Do rituals have a role to play? Is there actual evidence that faith works? And if so, how?

I am ending this blog with a lot of questions for contemplation, and hope to receive some interesting views. Will of course look forward to diving deeper into these questions in upcoming blogs.