Devotion

I am not a devotee. Not by one tenth mile in a thousand miles of devotion.

Yet, recently, I have been able to glimpse a tiny fragment of what it means. And all because of "Her". The commingling of all human emotions sweetened to peak pitch and infused with divine nectar - and drunk to the head in voluminous proportions. Of course the devotee is going to be crazy!

It is so easy to see why a well rooted logician will have a problem with a devotee. Of course devotees are going to look stupid. On the contrary, the devotee is too inebriated to care!

There is a stress in some spiritual paths to create a "middle path" where the person knows how to turn it off and on - and handle society appropriately. But this is India! Where exactly did we lose it? We should be able to create a culture where crazy people dance and cry on the streets - and those not smart enough to understand, should be able to view it as a "normal" happening.

In "Autobiography of a Yogi", Paramahansa Yogananda meets the "Joy Permeated Mother", the mother who is drunk with the Divine. When she sees Him in a crowded street, she runs and embraces him, leaving HIM a tad embarrassed (She meets Him for the first time!). That's the way of the devotee! I still remember this incredibly astounding picture of Her, Him and Her husband standing together. She holds His arm like His beloved. In a deeper sense, She is His beloved, but here I am mentioning this in a literal sense. Her husband stands a few inches away from both with folded hands. Her husband must have also been a great and mature man! I remember the sense of awe and surprise looking at that picture (never odd!).

We owe it to this sweet and crazy path to bring it back to our mainstream culture. No, I am not talking about a ritualistic folded hands prayer in front of a temple. I am talking about letting a deeper sense of life permeate every cell of the body in celebratory abandon. Alas, the first enemy is not the society. It's a sense of too muchness in oneself and a facade of pseudo-intellectualism.

Break it all step by step!

Note: Awareness goes very well with society. But it is dry, lacking juice! My feeling is that the same person can be aware and devout - but not at the same time! Even in India's spiritual tradition, we can see the contrasting outcomes of someone aware and someone devout. Buddha gave sutras! Manickavasagar gave the thiruvAsagam! The former is a step by step journey - dry but fruitful with patience. The latter instantaneously explodes into bliss! But it takes a leap of faith into an abyss!