16 Dec 2009 —
Question
Q147: Devotion?
Question 147:
“How to differentiate between emotional attachment to Guru/God and true devotion?”
Please reflect deeply on the matter before answering, and make your answer clear and brief (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
why should we differentiate between emotional attachment and true devotion?
I feel devotion starts with an emotional attachment for the Guru but it should not stop there. It is true surrender to the Guru that marks true devotion of the devotee. The devotee should be ready to accept everything as the Guru’s wish and have full faith in the Guru. When something wrong happens, that is the time when the devotee should have utmost faith and not get angry with the Guru. That is true devotion.
This is a tough one. Doesn’t emotional attachment to Guru/God turn into true devotion at a later stage?
Very tough, indeed.
But my thought goes like what matters is you are having a relationship, at least, with God/Guru. It doesn’t matter once you come in contact with them. All will be taken care once you reach. It’s hard to tell for us who’s having real devotion/emotional one. We don’t know our case itself. We are in one extreme at one moment and another in the next!
So better not ponder over this. Amma knows very well and clearly.
When you act according to the wordings of the guru/god that is devotion, when you act according to yourself and say that you have faith in god that is emotion.
True devotion has no attachment or need. It is selfless. It begins when god’s grace flows and is strengthened by gratitude. Emotional attachment is the opposite and God/Guru is used for worldly comforts or comforting. It is the first step that is taken towards devotion.
Even if it is similar to any emotional attachments (with need, greed, tension, conflict), emotional attachment to the guru/god is a positive thing, especially in the initial stages of life on the spiritual path: It helps center the normal emotional energy in one place, the good one.
But there is a big difference between that and true devotion. True spiritual devotion makes one peaceful, more of a witness to life, with no exaggerated moods. He/she is more linked to the values and principles taught by the Guru, than to the Guru’s physical form and surroundings.
Devotion is total surrender to the Lord. Overcoming our likes and dislikes and submitting to the Lord’s wishes is , in my opinion, true devotion.
you know when its time to move on to grow up be responsible in life for once actions, Guru Amma will always be there, true devotion also involves detachment.
Though Emotional Attachment to the Guru\God is very important, it is a selfish act wherein one depends on the Guru\God for all kinds of comforts (material, spiritual, mental, emotional as well as spiritual). Emotional Attachment is result-oriented where we expect a positive response from our God and Guru in the form of a solution to our problems and an answer to our prayers.
But true devotion is complete surrender without any expectation. True devotion is a fearless state, while Emotional Attachment is a state of expectation. One just hopes that our Emotional Attachment transforms into True Devotion with Amma’s Grace.
ARE WE JUST PLAYING WITH WORDS AND CONCEPTS? IT IS ALL ABOUT GRACE….GURU’S GRACE….ONCE GRACE ALLOWS US TU SURRENDER, WITHIN OUR HEARTS IT ALL BECOMES THE SAME.
Hmmm… Emotional attachment to the Guru in turn leads to true devotion.
what a question!! hahaha
AMMA is PURE IRRESISTIBLE LOVE and therefore we fall flat for HER even in a split second… But that is because of AMMA’S SHEER DIVINITY right? when we have THE GODDESS HERSELF WALKING THE EARTH, HUGGING, CONSOLING AND UPLIFTING MILLIONS OF POOR AND HELPLESS WITHOUT DRINKING A SIP OF WATER AND PUTTING HER SOFT FLOWER LIKE BODY THROUGH INTENSE PAIN as i type my irrelevant answer, honestly who gives a peanut for my level of devotion? Am i thinking of Her every moment, am i doing what She wants me to do in word, action and deed ..is’nt that what i should focus on? should i be scrutinizing my so called devotion and stupid emotions hahaha… am i worth so much thought honestly!!!! :):)
With emotional attachment there is a desire for something, expectation, neediness and a sense of duality. In true devotion you would be surrendered to the will of God, whatever the outcome, the duality dissolves and there would be only oneness. It seems true devotion would be something that came about gradually and a person would have moments of it and moments of being caught in the small ego self and desire.
.. it is said, that “devotion is the natural display of a purified heart”,
.. the more we love Amma, the more pure our hearts become
and the more pure our hearts, the more we love Amma..
that way our devotion grows naturally thanks to our attachment to her..
… wish my love and devotion to be unbounded
I think, emotion toward God/Guru is full of desires, expectations, fear, & anger; and if we have a bad incident in our life, we’ll right away say: Amma I have been a dedicated devotee then why is this happening to me? But true devotion towards Amma will be a total surrender of self, and even if anything horrible happens, the devotee will still feel ‘if this is Your wish then let Thy will be done’. This attitude of total surrender in any situation at Amma’s feet is devotion.
Emotional attachment to Guru is where there is only one feeling that the Guru is the Mother. However True devotion means Love towards Our Guru and showing the same kind of Love to all other beings in the world. i.e it can also mean performing all actions dedicating it to the Lotus Feet of Amma.
In a way, emotional attachment is a form of devotion. And complete devotion is nothing but attached to the Guru emotionally and otherwise. How do we ever able to differentiate this? Who could say that which is better or which is best? I think the efforts to differentiate this is futile! Let Amma give us enough power to find what is beyond this feelings of the mind…
When there is no knowledge (Jnana), all external show of devotion, emotional attachment is simply fanatic and mockery. As one grows in strength and knowledge (Jnana), one not only reaches farthest Guru/God externally and feels that the very Guru/God is within nearest and the external forms drop away, knowing oneself to be the Infinite Effulgent Self.
Emotional attachment to the Guru is the younger phase of True Devotion. True Devotion is like the maturing of sentiment into something more passionate, deeper, richer, less definable by language. It becomes the inner sanctum wherein lies the holy OM, the Mother, Shakti, Divine and Beautiful, beating heart, Amma.
Devotion is Devotion only. There is no true or flase devotion.How can we say that,’ i love you ‘in a false fashion?Devotion and Pure Love(Para Bhakthi) is like two sides of a coin. It can’t be seperate.But one who approch Guru with a predominent emotional (mind level)attitude ,then there may be seen some possitive and spiritual selfishness. But to some extent it is right also.It is a way of expression of love.But in the Higher intellectual level ,we can give a defenition to Devotion, is like Total surrender at the Lotus Feet of Guru.”Sarvadharman parithejya” please reffer the commentary or Bhashya of Bhagavan Ady Sankara,the Bhagavat geeta famous verse 66 chapter 18.