To awaken spiritual emotion rapidly, one needs to initially make constant efforts at the level of the mind and intellect. In the last Issue, 233, we discussed one of the ways of developing spiritual emotion through the nine - fold devotion path (navavida bhakti). In this Issue, we are going to learn and understand yet another way. We will also learn the corresponding spiritual experiences that one gets while practicing any one of these types of devotion.

Remembering The Lord (smaran)

    Another way of developing devotion to the Lord is through constant contemplation of His Name and His virtues and having the attitude that everything happens due to Him. This is known as ‘Smaran bhakti’ in Sanskrit (smaran = contemplation, bhakti = devotion).

    This includes constant remembrance of the gross (physical) form of the Guru or God through His picture or statue. We also can remember His unseen, or subtle form, through chanting* The Lord’s Name. If we harbor the spiritual emotion that with every breath we take, every task that we do throughout the day or that we are living every second only because of The Lord, then we will remember Him throughout the day.

    We are more likely to remember to God when we are in trouble. A story from the ancient Hindu epic ‘The Mahabharat’ tells us about the mother of the Pandavas. She would pray for unhappiness because she felt that when a person is unhappy or in distress, they are more likely to remember God.

    This is the true expression of this devotional form. However, we need not ask for unhappiness, but if we make attempts as above, then this devotion will develop quickly. Those who constantly remember the Guru are able to develop the spiritual emotion that everything in this life belongs to the Guru.

    A seeker who remembered the Guru constantly and who attributed everything to the Guru, experienced oneness with the Guru as described below.

A seeker perceiving the seat on which she used to sit on when chanting The Lord’s Name as that of her Guru and also experiencing closeness to Him through the subtle dimension:

     On July 6, 2002 before meditating, I prayed unto His Holiness (H.H.) Dr. Jayant Athavale and then sat with hands folded in obeisance. The following thought crossed my mind, "Your seat has become soiled. It will have to be washed at night." Just then, I realized that the seat belonged to my Guru and that it is He who uses it everyday. If it were washed at night He would not like it (because H.H. Dr. Athavale would tell us not to do too many chores at night due to the rise in distressing energies at that time). The next vision I got was of a sage walking in a forest. I felt as if He were my Guru and I, His disciple. Though in reality, the Guru’s gross form is far away, yet from within, He is very close to me.