118 - The Ideal Devotee Sees Oneness in Existence | Swami Tattwamayananda

Its meaning is: “O’ Mother Gita, I bow down to you. I invoke your divine presence in my heart. This texthas 18 chapters and was preached by Lord Krishna to his disciple Arjuna. It was written by the greatsage, Vyasa, and is placed in the middle of a much great work, Mahabharata. Its central theme is thephilosophy of Advaita – it preaches that creation is one spiritual family and all religions represent somany paths leading to the same spiritual goal. “The 12th chapter is about Bhakti Yoga – the path of Devotion. The three other paths taught in the Gitaare Jnana Yoga – the path of knowledge, Karma Yoga – the path of selfless actions, and Dhyana Yoga –the path of self-restraint.In the 13 th and 14 th verses, Lord Krishna describes the characteristics of a devotee. He does not mentionrituals or going to a temple. He essentially says that all genuine devotees are good human beings.15 th verse: “A devotee is not agitated by anyone, and nobody is agitated by him. He is free from elation,envy, fear and anxiety.”18 th and 19 th verses: “His attitude is the same towards a friend or someone hostile to him, towards honorand dishonor, towards praise and criticism, towards heat and cold, and towards happiness and misery.He is content with whatever comes his way and is not attached to a place of residence – such a devoteeis dear to Me.”A devotee is well-established in strong faith and inner equanimity, because he has a sense of innerfulfillment. The line of demarcation between the duals disappears for him. The world does not agitatehim – he has no reason to be excited, envious, fearful or anxious. There is no otherness for him – he seesthe whole world as one spiritual family. He does not do anything to violate the Ritm of nature.20 th verse: “Anyone who practices this great spiritual discipline with sanctity and sacredness, withunselfishness, with a universal outlook – he is extremely dear to Me.”In the Bhagavata Purana, there is a dialog between King Nimi and the Nava Yogis. In answer to theKing’s question: “Who is an ideal devotee of God?”, one of the sages gives the following answer: “Theone who sees the presence of God in all beings, and who sees the presence of all beings in God. “Bhagavata Purana describes that we can reach this highest level of devotion by practicing NavadhaBhakti - Sravanam (Hearing about God), Kirtanam (Chanting His Name and Glory), Vishnu smaranam(Remembering Him), Pada sevanam (Serving His Lotus Feet), Archanam (Worshipping Him), Vandanam(Prostrating before Him), Dasyam (Being His Servant), Sakhyam (Befriending Him), and Atma Nivedanam(Surrendering to Him).The 12th chapter of Gita can be seen as a commentary on an important verse in the Bhagavata Purana.The essence of this verse is: “A spiritual seeker can begin his journey at a temple or with a book. That isjust a starting point. As he moves forward, he starts seeing the presence of God outside the templewalls. As he evolves further, he sees the presence of God everywhere and in everything. Everythingbecomes an act of worship. Every thought becomes a meditation, every word becomes a mantra, everyaction becomes an act of worship, every travel becomes a pilgrimage, every movement becomes acircumambulation around the deity, and the whole life becomes an offering to God. “What is the residential address of God. Lord Krishna says that his permanent residential address is theheart of all beings.Every Gita chapter ends with a verse which starts as an auspicious prayer referring to the unity andoneness of existence. It then says that Gita was written by Vyasa and appears in the sixth section ofMahabharata. Finally, it equates Gita to the Upanishads. It teaches the science of spiritualenlightenment through four important paths.