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Chapter 15
THE INTEGRAL YOGA: SEEING THE LORD EVERYWHERE
85.Bhakti Means Service Without Any Sense Of ‘I’
13. The Gita wants every action of ours to be imbued with bhakti. It is good to worship the Lord for half an hour. It is worthwhile to steady the mind and meditate on the Absolute, forgetting the ordinary worldly affairs for a while, at the time of sunrise and sunset when the splendour of sunshine is particularly appealing. Such good habits must, of course, not be given up. But the Gita is not satisfied with this much only. It wants that all the activities that we do throughout the day should be done in the spirit of worship. While doing everything—be it bathing, dining, sweeping—we should have the Lord in mind. For instance, while sweeping we should feel that we are sweeping the Lord’s courtyard. All our actions should thus become acts of worship. Let this spirit be ingrained in you, and then you would see how your behaviour changes. When we pick up flowers for worship, we choose them carefully, put them delicately in the basket, see that they are not crumpled and remain fresh, and do not even smell them. All the activities in life should be informed with this spirit. While sweeping the village roads, I should feel that I am serving the Lord in the form of my neighbours. The Gita wishes to imprint this attitude on us. It wants to see all the actions become acts of worship. Worshipping for half an hour or so does not satisfy it. The holy text yearns to see the whole life charged with the Lord’s presence, with the spirit of worship. 14. By teaching Purushottamyoga, the Gita is bringing the life of action to fulfillment. The Lord (Purushottam) is the master, I am His servant, and this creation is the means for worship.— Once this is realised, what else is needed? Tukaram says, ‘झालिया दर्शन करीन मी सेवा। आणीक कांहीं देवा नलग दुर्जे।’ (‘When I meet you face to face, I shall devote myself to your service; I do not need anything more.’) Then there will be never-ending service. Nothing like ‘I’ will exist. The sense of ‘I and mine’ will be completely erased. Everything will be for the Lord. There would be nothing else except wearing ourselves away for the good of others. The Gita is exhorting us repeatedly to remove the sense of ‘I’ and live a life devoted to the Lord, imbue the life with bhakti. The Lord is the master, I am the servant and the creation is the means for service; there is then no question of getting encumbered with anything else. Life will then be free of any worries. |
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