Swami Shivapadananda on unfolding divine love

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s
notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 293

What is bhakti [devotion, divine love]? It is yearning for God. It is
the feeling that only one thing is worthwhile: striving God-wards. The
attainment itself must be left to God’s grace. All our devotion is a mere
shadow, there is no substance.

Devotion is to fill the heart and mind and intellect with God thought,
with God-love, with God-Consciousness, so that there is no room for anything
else.

But the mind is as capricious as a child. One day it cares for japa, the
next day only for singing and dancing. So we must play with our minds – just as
we try to divert a child – with a bit of this and a bit of that. If we but put
God-thought in the mind, God-feeling, we will be full of love; and before we
know what has happened, love will be our entire being. It will be a flame
consuming all the dross [impurities] that we have accumulated
for endless ages. Then the progress will be fast, for the flame burns all, ‘till
purity alone remains.

Purity in our hearts and minds is what reflects the light, the nature of
God. Then only do we see God, for we are God. Now we see God only
through these darkened glasses. But one day, with Master’s [Sri Ramakrishna’s] Divine
Grace, we will take off the glasses and see clearly, truly, full of love and
light, and see that which we think was separation, is only union of the [higher] Self
with all. 

We will become our true nature, we will love all, serve all. We will
show by our faces that we know Him. We should show by our fragrance that we
share in Him. We should show by our voices that we are praising Him. We should
show by out thoughts that we are at peace with Him. We should show by our words
that we are pure and true. We should show by our deeds that we are pure love.

Then we shall be integrated, then we shall know the word ‘bhakti.’ Then
we shall shine with God’s great light and all will know that: ‘I am God’; that
bhakta [devotee] is my only name, my only form; that I have merged with Him.

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