The Devotional Mindset

God remains just a three-letter word to us as long as we have not had our fill of worldly pleasure and pain. In Sri Ramakrishna’s words, the mother keeps herself busy with her cooking as long as the child remains happy playing with the toys. Second, we do not feel the need for God as long as our needs are met by the world. We need God mostly to help us in our worldly agenda: name, fame, prosperity, cure from diseases and so on. Such devotion is not much different from barter, though it is better to pray to God than depend on one’s puny little ego. Among the four classes of people who worship God, Sri Krishna calls such devotees arta (the afflicted) and artharthi (seekers of prosperity)¹. There is a plus side to such devotion: It inculcates and strengthens in the devotee the habit of turning to God. In course of time, this can help him turn to God for God’s sake.

Qualities a Devotee Can Gainfully Cultivate

True devotion to God for God begins with the third class of devotees, whom Sri Krishna calls jijnasu. Having had their fill of what the world has to offer and being convinced of its ephemeral and miserable nature, they look for the real meaning of human existence. They begin their quest for an abiding reality. In other words, they seek to know their real nature, the nature of God, and their relationship with Him. Are there any guidelines by which such seekers could conduct themselves? The Bhagavad-gita says yes. In its second and fourteenth chapters Sri Krishna describes the traits of a man of steady wisdom (sthitaprajna) and of one who has transcended the gunas (trigunatita). According to Sri Shankaracharya these traits are enumerated with a view to helping spiritual aspirants acquire these qualities by special effort, since the traits of a realized soul are the means of attaining realization². Verses 13 to 19 of the twelfth chapter of the Gita describe the characteristics that endear a devotee to God. According to Sri Shankara, these qualities describe a sannyasin’s life. According to Sri Ramanuja, however, these traits are the devotional elements in a karma yogi who adores God through his work. Either way, a jijnasu can gainfully cultivate these traits in his search for God. These traits can be grouped under four heads: The devotee’s mindset, his attitude towards others, towards the world and towards work. In this essay we discuss the devotee’s mindset.

Freedom from the Sense of ‘I’ and ‘Mine’

The ideal is to be free from egotism and the sense of possession regarding things animate and inanimate. That is easier said than done. Sri Ramakrishna describes two types of ego: (1) The unripe ego that entangles one to sense enjoyments, making one feel ‘I am the doer. I am the son of a wealthy man. I am learned. I am rich. How dare anyone slight me?’; (2) the ripe ego, which is also called the servant ego³, devotee ego or knowledge ego. Rather than worry about getting rid of his ego, a seeker on the path of devotion tries to cultivate and strengthen the ripe ego. He feels that God is the Master and he His servant. In Sri Ramakrishna’s words, ‘One should have such burning faith in God that one can say: "What? I have repeated the name of God, and can sin still cling to me? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage any more?"’ (138) Without this strong faith in oneself any professed faith in God can only be in name and of not much help in one’s spiritual endeavor. That explains Swami Vivekananda’s emphasis on faith in oneself before faith in God.

The devotee ego is based on one’s certitude about and relationship with the indwelling God. Such an ‘I’ gradually weans the aspirant from his attachment to body and mind, the root of attraction to sense objects. The devotee imagines himself to be a spark of the divine Fire, called God. He derives strength from the fact that all auspicious qualities in God – like purity, strength, fearlessness and eternity – are his too, even as the fire’s burning power inheres no less in the spark. The knowledge ego is based on the luminous, spiritual core of the aspirant’s personality. He learns to dwell more and more on the Atman, negating his ephemeral body-mind-based personality.

References:

1. Bhagavadgita, 7.16
2. Sri Shankaracharya on the Gita, 2.55; 14.25.
3. M, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda (Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2002), 860.

© "Prabuddha Bharata" (November, 2003) published by Advaita Ashrama, 5 Dehi Entally Road, Kolkata 700 014. Website: www.advaitaonline.com. Reprinted with permission.

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