Bhakti cuts down Fear and Pain
Toronto Ontario
I have no mileage to report so far as walking is concerned. I can’t boast even having walked a half of a city block. It was a day jam-packed with devotional activities. Sometimes it’s like that. Because it was bhakti oriented or devotion oriented there was nothing that has gone in vain.
In the text Nectar of Devotion, bhakti is identified as that activity that excites the Divine. It gains for the practitioner, company with the Divine. One also achieves a protection from fear. And as stated in Chapter 2 of the Gita there is no loss or diminution on this path. One way to look at fear is as follows: it’s the worrisome uncertainty to fear an uncomfortable future. It is the intense anxiety of losing, something, perhaps even life itself (the body). There is an extended fear that the coming body will be fraught with so much suffering.
And who wants suffering?
One devotee gave me a lift from one speaking event to take me to the next and he expressed “You never got married you avoided so much suffering,” admitting that although his own marriage is relatively successful it is still a bumpy ride. To this I responded, “life-long celibacy is not for everyone but it suits some of us.” I indicated that if you can tough it out and emphasize bhakti you certainly can reduce some pain.
0 km
No comments:
Post a Comment