Devotion is pure divinity²

If a disciple has real love, if a disciple has real surrender, he will love his spirituality. He will say, “I have given up ordinary earthly life. If I go to meditate at the Centre, I will have such a sublime experience.” But, alas, some disciples are coming out of fear, not out of love for the spiritual life; or they are only thinking of compulsory days. Many are definitely coming out of love for the spiritual life, but some are coming out of fear or embarrassment. They would like to remain at home or enjoy entertainment, but they feel, “I have been on the path for twenty-five years. What will people think of me if I leave the path? The best thing is to go to the meditation. If I think of tomorrow’s breakfast or the day after tomorrow’s dinner, there is no problem.”

Again, even out of fear if you come, one day you will say, “Why am I thinking of undivine things? Since I am here inside the temple, let me think of pure thoughts, pure ideas. Let me think of a flower. Guru always tells us about the heart-garden. Let me think of a rose. Let me think of its beauty, let me think of its fragrance.” All of a sudden, one day if you are illumined, then every week you will be so eager to come. You will forget your other way, the wrong way, which was to come out of fear or embarrassment.

To all of you I am saying, love, devotion and surrender are all needed. If you do not have love, if you do not have surrender — which you definitely need — but if you have devotion, pure devotion, then inside your devotion, either today or tomorrow, in the near future or the distant future, you will see that your love is blossoming, your surrender is blossoming. Devotion is the magnetic power that holds you tight.

Your devotion and God’s Compassion go together. You may feel that your love can be misused, your surrender can be misused. Love can be demanding, and surrender can be also demanding. You may say, “If I surrender, what will happen? My surrender may be misused. And if I offer my whole existence to the spiritual life, what will happen?” Love can be misunderstood, surrender can be misunderstood. But devotion, if it is real devotion, can never be misunderstood.

If it is true devotion, it is purer than the purest, stronger than the strongest. When you offer devotion, immediately you feel it inside your heart, and you are bound to hear the sound of your own heartbeat. In your highest devotion, every time you breathe in and breathe out, you are bound to feel that your life-breath, your life-energy, is like the Ganges flowing, flowing, flowing towards the ocean.

Alas, some of the disciples have lost the magnetic power of devotion. From tomorrow, please try to increase your love, devotion and surrender to your spiritual life. Devotion is pure divinity, your own divinity. If I am one with your divinity, then you will feel my presence inside your devotion. You will offer your divinity to your spiritual life, to God, to the Supreme — and I shall be there. I shall be watching.

The devotion aspect is easier for women than for men. But men have proved that it can be done. Arjuna proved it; Lakshmana proved it; Lord Buddha’s Ananda proved it. Even in modern times, how Sister Nivedita showed devotion to her Master, Swami Vivekananda! In her devotion, her aspiring, self-giving devotion, she was offering drop by drop her blood, her very existence. That is why Swami Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita: one who has consecrated her very existence to God through her Master.