Talk:Devotion Common to all Faiths
By Śrī Candraśekharendra Sarasvatī Svāmī
All faith traditions have one purpose: to elevate man by freeing him from his cares and worries. A human being has worries that are not shared by other creatures. But it must be noted that all religious systems proclaim that man can not only free himself from his cares if he makes an effort, but that he can also attain the enlightenment that is not within the reach of other creatures. They speak in one voice that he will be rid of his cares if he goes for refuge to the Great Power that rules all worldly activities. Devotion or bhakti is a feature common to all religious schools: Advaita (non-dualism), Dvaita (dualism), Viśiṣṭādvaita (qualified non-dualism), Śaiva Siddhānta, Christianity, Islam and so on. The Buddha did not speak of devotion, but it seems his followers cannot regard their master without bhakti. They have deified the Buddha and created images of him that are bigger than those sculpted for any deity. In very recent times several jñānins have laid stress on inquiry into the Ātman as the sole means of liberation. But they are themselves worshipped as Īśvara by their followers. Bhakti is an inborn characteristic of man; it is indeed an organic part of him.
Devotion in the Advaita system implies adopting an attitude of non-difference between the worshipper and the worshipped; that is, the devotee must look upon Īśvara as not being different from himself. It might be asked: "The devotee who worships the omnipotent and omniscient Lord has only very limited strength and knowledge. How can the two of them be the same?" But the question also arises: "Does Īśvara regard us as being different from himself? If there are objects, entities, different from Īśvara, how did they originate? If they came into existence as entities separate from Him, how can He hold sway over them?"
If we think on these lines, it will become clear that the one and only Paramātman exists in various forms: if the ocean stands for Īśvara, we have in contrast the pond, the well, and the little quantity of water contained in a spoon and so on, that stand for diverse living beings. The water in all is the same. There may be differences in the strengths of the various entities. But if you go to the base, the ground or root, you will discover that they are the same. If we go to the root, we will become one with the root. This is liberation according to Advaita. Merely to talk about non-dualistic liberation is nothing more than an intellectual exercise and will serve no purpose. The truth of such liberation must become an inward reality. In other words, the quest must culminate in experience, and it can be had only with the grace of Īśvara. Great sages proclaim that it is only with the blessings of that Power which keeps us in a constant whirl of action that the whirl will stop and that we will have the Advaitic urge to seek the ground. Īśvarānugrahādeva puṃsām Advaitavāsanā.
Even in the initial stages when we feel that Īśvara and his devotee are separate, we must try to cultivate the awareness, albeit to a small degree, that the Paramātman who appears as Īśvara is the same as the Paramātman that has become "us". If such be our approach, our love for the Lord will become more intense. After all, is there anything or anyone we love more than ourselves?
Īśvara awards us the fruits of our actions. If we become more and more devoted to him, as recipients of his grace, we will get closer and closer to him. He will himself reveal to us who he is and there will be no need for us to inquire about him or into him. In response to our devotion, he will deign to reveal his true nature to us. He declares so in the Gītā: Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi. . . . (By devotion he comes to know who in truth I am. . .).
Countless are the attributes of Īśvara that bespeak his surpassing beauty and auspicious qualities. Devotees find constant delight in contemplating them. But for the jñānin, the enlightened one, the ideal is the Īśvara that has no attributes, and it is in his Īśvara that he is finally absorbed. Saguṇopāsanā (worship of Īśvara with attributes) is the first step towards this end. For it, our Dharm has evolved the concept of iṣṭadevatā (the deity of one's choice, the deity one likes).
What is special about Sanātana Dharm as it has come to be called? Alone among all faiths, it reveals the one and only Īśvara in many different divine forms, with manifold aspects. The devotee worships the Lord in a form suited to his mental make-up and is thus helped to come closer to the Lord with his love and devotion. These different forms are not the creation of anyone's imagination. The Paramātman has revealed himself in these forms to virtuous men, and they have had close contact, so to speak, with the deities so revealed. They have also shown us how we too may come face to face with these divinities, given us the mantras to accomplish this and also prescribed the manner in which the divine forms, whose vision they have had, are to be adored.
Bhakti or devotion is common to all faiths, whatever the manner of worship they teach. It is not exclusive to our faith in which different deities are reverenced.