What is Bhakti?
Life can be difficult. It can feel cruel. It has the power to bring the strongest of us down to our knees. But as the saying goes, this puts us in the perfect position to pray.
When the world bears down on us, Bhakti is our rallying cry to God, roaring our defiance in the form of devotion. The Bhakta is devoted not out of fear of being put into hell if he doesn’t obey. Not even because God will give him happiness in return.
No! A Bhakta surrenders to God — to the source of all existence — out of a profound love for the Creator. The devotee calls out, begging to be of service to Him. “Take everything!” the devotee professes. “Take even me, if you so wish. It’s all yours anyway.”
This is when God reciprocates, in mutual service to the devotee. Like a mirror to the Bhakta’s declaration of loving surrender, His response is “how can I serve you?”
Bhakti becomes more than just some mechanical process to lead to spiritual enlightenment. It’s a love story between you and God.
And so we fight the war within. Calamities may come and go, mountains may break upon our head, but we do not abandon our sacred battle to be reunited with Him.
Our war-cry is God’s name. And when we sing it, our souls cry out to the heavens, “I still remember You! And I’m not going to stop until we’re together again!”
God in turn hears our cries, and roars “a thousand armies won’t be able to separate us. I am coming for you.”
By cultivating devotional service, we fight the war against fear with the bow of loving devotion, and the arrows of humility and selflessness.
Until, of course, we reach the point where we realize that there was actually no war at all. God always had us.
Thank you for reading.
