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Go
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The
Secret of Devotion
Excerpt of talks given by Swami Kriyananda at Ananda Assisi
"Devotion is hunger. Devotion makes you say, "I want
it." It is not enough to say, "Yes, it exists, it
is interesting," in an abstract manner. "
- Swami Kriyananda |
There is a story
of a little girl who had to perform in a school recital. All the
parents were there and, as you can imagine, she was very nervous.
Then someone shouted from the audience, "Don't worry, Lisetta,
we are all your friends!" That gave her the courage to continue.
In this way
we need to realize that the masters, God, Jesus—they are all
our friends. True religion is not a religion of fear. God wants
to attract us by love. It is only our obstinacy that makes us ignore
the signs that God is always giving us in our lives. You must not
accept the teaching that gives you a sense of guilt and shame, of
regret for what you may have done.
You must always
say, as Yogananda taught us, "Divine Mother, naughty or good,
I am your child, and you must accept me." God wants only this
attitude from us. He wants us just to trust Him.
When the devotee
loses devotion, who can give it back to him? Once Yogananda told
me, "You will be fine, but don't lose devotion." It is
the only important thing. Don't worry about your weaknesses—everyone
has them, otherwise they would not be here on earth—but don't
lose your devotion. We need to realize that we are children of God.
With His strength,
with the legacy that He offers us, we have the strength to overcome
everything we want to; there is nothing that can hold us back. If
we grasp Him by the hand there is nothing that can take us away
from Him. We must hold onto Him, however, because He is very humble.
He will never impose His will on us.
Once you have
decided, "I love God, I am God's child," don't ever lose
this. Yogananda said that God chooses those who choose God. The
love that you draw from Him you feel in your heart, and the more
you love Him the more you will see Him.
God doesn't
count your failings, Yogananda said. He wants only that you love
Him enough. Try to love God ever more. Don't think too much. If
there is something you need to correct, correct it, but don't fight
all your battles at once. It is better to choose one at a time,
and leave the others, saying, "I know that I have this problem
to overcome, but I am not yet strong enough to overcome it; I will
let it go until I am strong enough to remove all obstacles from
my life."
This strength
comes from God, it comes from God's grace, from superconsciousness.
God wants above all that we love Him. I read the story of a woman
who came to serve Jesus. The person who hosted Jesus criticized
him because this woman had the reputation of a fallen woman, not
worthy of consideration. Jesus, who read his thoughts, replied,
"But she loves greatly, and to those who love, much will be
forgiven." Don't ever think how far you are from God.
Saint Thérèse
of Lisieux said, "I would like to go to hell to be able to
love God even there." What a beautiful prayer! It is beautiful
to think, "Wherever I am, I don't want to lose my love for
You, Lord. You can take me wherever You wish, if You give me this
grace. This is all I ask."
You will find
in the end that even if everyone abandons you, God will welcome
you. In the end all that remains is God and His love. Sri Yukteswar
was a man of wisdom, a saint of gyana. Even he said that you cannot
take the first step toward God until the natural love of the heart
opens and flowers.
One must begin
with devotion. It is essential. It is like living close to a famous
restaurant and, for the fact that you live so close, you know the
restaurant, you know the menu, you may know the cook, you know everything.
But if you don't feel hunger, you will not go in. Devotion is hunger.
Devotion makes you say, "I want it." It is not enough
to say, "Yes, it exists, it is interesting," in an abstract
manner.
Sometimes one
begins the path with lots of enthusiasm, and at the beginning some
deep experiences can be given. Then people will say, "Oh, but
this path is easy!" Then comes the middle part that it is necessary
to go through. Then, at the end, there comes again—but more
strongly—the realization of God, which gives you a sweetness
that you can't imagine. At the beginning God wants to give you a
feeling of your spiritual potential.
However, after
this encouragement it is necessary to work a little, like working
on a statue with a hammer and chisel to remove everything which
does not resemble a saint. When you are able to do this what appears
is the saint. You are that saint, but a saint that is hidden. Visiting
a monastery you may see monks who are old, sad, without life. This
happens for one reason: They have lost devotion. They have thought,
"But He never comes, maybe when I die I will see Him."
They have lost enthusiasm. Never lose devotion, never lose this
heart quality.
As Jesus says,
God will come like a thief in the night; you cannot know the hour
of His coming. Jesus also said, "I have come to give you life."
This life is not only existence. This life means this life of the
heart, this life of love, this life of sweetness—to become,
if necessary, a martyr for God, when you have that enthusiasm then
nothing can prevent you from seeking Him.
The first duty
of every devotee is to keep alive the lamp of devotion for God.
Don't let anything extinguish it, because it is the only important
thing in life. Everything else is a waste of time. The only truth,
the only reality of your life, is your devotion and your love for
God. You must always be aware of the fact that He loves you, even
when you are convinced otherwise.
In this scientific
era when we test everything, why not also test the teachings of
the great masters? Test for yourself if it is true. With a little
experience you will see results, as scientists do with experiments.
Practice the spiritual experiment of trying to hold onto this love,
above everything else you do. This is the art of living, the art
of life, and when everything you do initiates from the heart you
will see that everything goes well.
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Magnify Your Efforts
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