God delivers, but can you pass the test of faith?

Khanzada Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim, a famous poet in the 16th century, was one of Mughal emperor Akbar’s Navratnas. He was a Muslim and also a devotee of Lord Krishna (not using the word ‘despite’ deliberately). It is also said that he was a generous giver to the poor and his praise spread far and wide. But so did something else – a peculiar habit of keeping his head down and eyes lowered while distributing alms.

When his contemporary Saint Tulsidas came to know about this, he sent Rahim a letter, asking him, “Where did you learn to give alms like this? Are you embarrassed to donate?” As the story goes, Rahim immediately sensed that the great Saint knew the answer to the question, but wanted to hear it from him. If this happened today, of course, the Saint’s question would have come in the form of a response on X, which would have been drowned in many likes, dislikes, comments and reshares!

But those were simpler days. So Rahim shared this response, “The giver is someone else who uses me as a medium, but people keep thanking me. That is why I keep my head and eyes lowered in embarrassment.”

Continuing with the importance of Bhakti as a defined path towards spiritual liberation, it is important for all human beings to understand the importance of this path. The ultimate knowledge under Vedanta is that you are the eternal witness consciousness and not your body-mind. Ultimately, you are God or Brahman – the universal energy that has taken on a human form.

In the story of two birds that I presented from the Upanishads last time, you are the higher bird, which behaves like the lower bird, trapped in worldly pleasures or Maya, until you grasp the futility of it all and realize your true state (that is if you are fortunate enough) within your lifetime.

That ‘enlightened state’ does not mean you leave the world. You still stay engaged, but with a sense of detachment, because you have the discernment to know what is real and what is an appearance.

However, even if you gain the knowledge of your true nature, it is very difficult to stay centred in that wisdom. If we were just to believe that we are the higher bird, does it immediately liberate you from Maya? It is possible, but for very few souls. Rich texts like the Patanjali Ashtanga or Raj Yoga (eight limbs of yoga) talk of very tough spiritual disciplines (a fantastic topic for another blog).

Karma Yoga is the path of doing your karma as an offering, without any expectations or detachment. But in the rough seas of life, you may often find yourself frustrated and dejected when things are not going your way. To stay above the desire for fruit is also tough – apparently an unending struggle.

Bhakti yoga in the Bhagavad Gita

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Bhagavad Gita 12:1

Arjun asks this very interesting question: Between those who are steadfastly devoted to Your personal form and those who worship the formless Brahman, whom do You consider to be more perfect in Yog?

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Bhagavad Gita 12:1

The Lord said: Those who fix their minds on Me and always engage in My devotion with steadfast faith, I consider them to be the best yogis.

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But those who worship the formless aspect of the Absolute Truth—the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the unthinkable, the unchanging, the eternal, and the immoveable—by restraining their senses and being even-minded everywhere, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all beings, also attain Me.

The magnificent truth that these shlokas present is that God considers those taking the Bhakti path the best yogis. Both Bhakti Yoga and Gyan Yoga can take you to enlightenment and moksha.

But Lord Krishna emphasizes in later shlokas that Gyan Yoga or attachment to the unmanifest form of God is full of trials and tribulations. On the other hand, he says, “Those who dedicate all their actions to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme goal, worshiping Me and meditating on Me with exclusive devotion, O Parth, I swiftly deliver them from the ocean of birth and death, for their consciousness is united with Me.”

Do we worship the form or the formless?

It is often debated which is more logical – worshipping the form or the formless or with or without attributes. Unfortunately, that is the wrong question we grapple with all our lives. Another major mistake we make is to have a transactional relationship with God – you have to deliver a particular wish, or a wish list – and then I will believe in you. In fact, I will worship you everyday, make donations to the temple/church/mosque. And a third mistake is that the life of Bhakti makes sense after you reach a certain age, when all your wishes are fulfilled, and responsibilities are over.

On the first question, my response is that faith is more important. In our upbringing, worshipping the formless and unmanifest wasn’t brought up at all, and we worship a number of Gods in Hinduism. That faith itself, regularly practiced with selfless love, devotion and dedication will align you to higher power. Although I am very logic-minded, I have tremendous faith in Lord Krishna for instance. In my childhood, it developed as a part of my upbringing and a number of beautiful stories, but it strengthened as I began to understand and absorb His divine teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, his teachings and life stories are also part of management training.

Similarly we worship Lord Ram on faith, but also learn so much from his life’s message. Service to elders, sacrifice, protecting the weak, destroying evil, staying equanimous through happiness and sorrow, etc. From Gautam Buddha, we get to know the enlightened path of how to transcend sorrow in life. Faith and devotion to such deities/enlightened souls/avatars is bound to elevate your consciousness automatically. God takes over your life, as Swami Sarvapriyananda explains in the above video, and that is the greatest blessing.?

The transactional, wish fulfilling kind of relationship with God is not Bhakti, but wishful thinking at best. Devotion to God implies total submission of your life to Him, without complaints. All your problems, challenges and sorrows, are to be accepted as divine will. He will take care of everything, that is the faith you need to keep. On the third point of Bhakti being relevant after a certain stage, the wise will tell you this, “That stage may never come. Neither do desires cease nor responsibilities dissipate. The time is now.”

And like Rahim in the above story, live your life like you are medium doing God’s work. Selfless love makes the path much more easier and attractive, like the kind of love parents have for their children. Certainly then, you will live a life of bliss and contentment, take the right decisions and achieve success in all your endeavors.