Eternal Love- The Bhakti Sutra of Narada Explained

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Love is universal. Love is the breath, the source of life of all living beings. Can we live without love? Plants, animals, birds, and humans all dance in love. Life without love is a burden and boredom. Love is mundane, but also heavenly. Love is an expression of emotion toward our loved ones. Love toward our children is affection, and love toward our parents is adoration. Love toward a beloved is passion, but love toward the Divine is devotion. Loving everything without discrimination is a manifestation of divinity and true perfection.

Although we constantly talk about love in everyday usage, true love is free from expectation and is an expression of purity, kindness, and compassion. Without receiving anything, we discover complete fulfillment in true love. Love is life, and life is love. We should live in love during every breath. Sadhana, also called bhakti (devotion), fills our lives with love and makes our lives divine and beautiful. Acharya Shankara in his Vivekachudamani (The Crest Jewel of Discrimination 31-32) clearly describes bhakti (devotion):

Moksakarana samagryam bhaktireva gariyasi svasvaruapa anusandhanam bhaktirityabhidhiyate svatmatattvanusandhanam bhaktirityapare jaguh.

"Among all the conducive means for attaining liberation, bhakti alone is supreme. Bhakti is the art of self-inquiry. Others mention that inquiry into the nature of one's own Self is devotion."

Bhakti (devotion) is the essence in all spiritual paths and practices in all religions and in all religious life. It is the path to perfection. Whatever path we tread toward Self-realization, whether it is a path of knowledge, yoga, or action, devotion is required. Without devotion, life is neither beautiful nor enjoyable.

When we consider the spiritual history of human civilization, a few common elements can be found. They can be summarized in four words: santa (saints, spiritual guides), mata (their views and teachings), grantha (texts, scriptures), and pantha (the path or tradition of spiritual practice).

Santa (saints or spiritual guides): Saints and mystics are found in all spiritual and religious traditions. Their exemplary lives and teachings have been guiding humanity and particularly seekers toward realization for many eons. Their pure love and devotion to God transcends all geographical boundaries and societal traditions. They consider all creation to be one and the same. Blessed are those who live in the company of these great ones; their lives are transformed by the power of love and devotion.

Mata (their views and teachings): The lives and teachings of great saints and mystics are beacons of light that illuminate this most difficult path of spirituality. Their teachings are simple and straightforward. Especially regarding the path of love and devotion, their views are extremely practical. They practice what they teach, leading exemplary lives. Their lives are their real teachings, the true guidelines for those who seek. There is no difference between theory and practice. The masters of devotion practice more than they preach.

Grantha (texts and scriptures): Whether it is the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Torah, the Bible, or the Quran, if we dive deeply into these scriptures, we will find pure love and devotion described in different languages and in different ways. The great masters, saints, and mystics all sing the same tune of devotion. When these insights are recorded in the form of verbal teachings, they evolve over time into sacred texts and spiritual guidebooks for seekers.

Pantha (the path or tradition of spiritual practice): With the passage of time, a group of people may become associated with a particular spiritual guide, saint, or mystic even though their teachings were meant for all humanity. These groups sometimes appear to be quite closed, but the essence of the lives and teachings of great saints and guru-preceptors remain open to everyone.

In the holy books of all religions, East and West, a strong emphasis is accorded to respecting a spiritual master. The place where a spiritual master lives is holy. Those who live in a master's ashram and those who visit should keep in mind that an ashram is holy ground. Time spent in an ashram constitutes a sacred pilgrimage where seekers can explore their spiritual treasure and heritage. On this pilgrimage they personally and collectively seek transformation through self-effort by practicing love and cooperation and by heeding the guidance of the masters. We should always be vigilant, wondering, "Why am I here? What is the purpose of this life? If I have a purpose, am I striving to achieve that purpose, that goal, from breath to breath, from moment to moment?"

Many times when we go somewhere or live somewhere, we forget the significance of that place, or the goal of going there. Once we become habituated to a place, we forget its significance.

A Sanskrit saying in the Samayochit Padmamalika declares:

ati paricayat avajna santata gamanat anadaro bhavati malaye bhilla purandhri chandana taru indhanam kurute.

"Too much familiarity breeds contempt. An ignoramus habituated to living in a forest of sandalwood trees will use precious sandalwood to cook food."

The significance of sandalwood is lost on someone who has become too familiar with it. Familiarity often leads us to forget the significance of a place, a person, or a situation. Similarly, people who live on the banks of the Ganga do not bathe in the river every day. People who make a pilgrimage to the Ganga scrupulously bathe in it; the holy significance of the bath is not lost on them. On the other hand, those who live on the banks of the Ganga usually take the river for granted.

In the early 1980s, I remember being in an ashram in the Himalayas on Guru Purnima. The ashram was filled with devotees from all over the world. Before starting the meditation class at four in the morning, the head of the monastery asked, "How many of you have gone to the Ganga and taken a dip? Please raise your hands." A mere two percent of the devotees had gone to the Ganga to bathe before coming to meditation. The monk then said, "Look, I asked this question to encourage you to do some self-analysis. You have come from great distances with much difficulty; the purpose of coming here is to stay on the banks of the Ganga, in a valley of the Himalayas, in the company of the gurus, but you tend to forget the purpose. You arrived this morning for meditation, but you will not have this opportunity in a few days. Why don't you make the best use of your time and opportunity?" It was a simple example. It speaks to me again and again, even after so many years.

When we visit or live in a holy place, we go there with a noble pose. Do we constantly keep this purpose in mind? Similarly, we have come to this world with a noble purpose, but are we conscious of this noble purpose, or do we forget it?

An oft-repeated prayer is offered to the masters: mat prana sri guru prana maddeha gurumandira: "My breath is the guru's breath. My body is the temple of the guru."

With what kind of awareness does the guru breathe in and out?

Let us dwell on that awareness: We should breathe with that kind of awareness, that level of awakening. If our bodies are the temples of our masters, how can we maintain this experience? How much should we love our bodies? When we touch our feet or any other part of our bodies, do we experience the guru's body, God's body? Do we realize that it is not a mere human body, not just a body of flesh and bones? It is a divine body. We must develop this kind of love and self-respect in order to bring the divine master, the guru, into our lives. In a larger sense, this prayer suggests that the abode of the guru is our body temple, so when we visit this temple, we must cultivate and maintain the correct attitude.