How should devotion be ‘practised’? Bhagawan prompts us to introspect and refine ourselves today.
Devotion (Bhakti) is not a penitential uniform that can be put on or off, as the occasion demands. Constables on duty wear uniforms, complete with ribbons and medals; when they reach home after their hours of duty, they take it off and wear other dresses.
Devotion cannot come upon you during stated hours and fall off when you relapse into normalcy. It is a continuous, constant condition of the mind, a confirmed attitude, a way chosen and adhered to with avid attention.
Today, man dabbles in yoga (devotional practices) in the morning, revels in bhoga (festivity and luxury, catering to senses) during the day, and tosses about in roga (disease) during night! Bhakti is not to be ‘performed’ during certain periods every day and superseded by other fashionable attractions. Bhakti is a constant, continuous bent of mind, a habit of thought, and a way of life.
It must be loyally adhered to no matter what happens – dishonour, distress, despair, deprivation, pleasure, prosperity, power and pomp.
– Divine Discourse, Jul 08, 1968.
