Theo. – Today, I would like to further study the subject of the yoga of devotion, the one you call Bhakti-Yoga.
The Elder – The key to bhakti-yoga lies in equanimity, a subject we studied last time. Devotees are, first and foremost, naturally sensitive, and very emotional and loving persons. Just as they did for their physical senses, they must now have their emotions turned towards their inner selves, towards their hearts, and devote their emotional selves only to God.
Theo. – It means being constantly seeking for the Presence, doesn’t it?
The Elder – That’s what it is, even though they will first look for having God’s love for themselves, like a young child; but as they grow, their emotions will turn into feelings and their spiritual self-centeredness will become more selfless and end up being a total gift of the self.
Theo. – What’s happening within the devotees then?
The Elder – They won’t expect anything anymore. They give without expecting anything in return. They just become.
“He who lives free from desires, he whose heart and body is pure…”
(Bhagavad Gita)
Non-expectation is associated to purity. It means the devotee is ready to receive God’s love, become love and let that love shine all around.
Theo. – Masters are a perfect illustration of it.
The Elder – I understood better what our Masters really were through being with them on a daily basis. They are both unemotional and kind, whatever the circumstance and whoever comes to see them.
Theo. – Would you say they are distant with people and facts?
The Elder – It’s very mysterious. I would say that they are both distant and close. Paradoxically, you become aware of the benefits drawn from their presence and love as soon as you have to leave them.
” He who neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, renouncing good and evil…
He who is the same to foe and friend, and also to honour and dishonour, who is the same in cold and heat, and in pleasure and pain… has also renounced good and evil.”
(Bhagavad Gita, Book XII, verse 17-18)
Theo. – They are beyond good and evil and seem to be doing good and only good.
The Elder – They don’t judge and have no prejudice. They only do what they have to do. Their own destinies (swadharma) are perfectly in line with our collective destiny (sahaj-dharma).
“They verily who follow this immortal Dharma,
endowed with faith, regarding Me as their supreme goal,
they, the devotees, are exceedingly dear to me.”
(Bhagavad-Gita, Book XII, verse 20)
They have become that universal man we keep talking about, the original man, Adam. Their whole beings are in the image of God. They live in Prakriti (Nature), but their conscience abides in God, and illusion (maya) has no access to it.
Theo. -They have achieved equanimity on every front.
The Elder – Their being is true to form and “balanced in motion”. Yogis say it is ‘sattvic’. In simple terms, they can directly perceive Reality, as their consciousness, perception and vision are purely divine. Hence they remain serene under all circumstances. That is an a-karmic condition, the condition for “action-less action”, which will give us the capacity to act without any restrictions.
Theo. – It’s very enticing. I can imagine that such a condition comes in its own time, when we are wiser than I am now, when we are older, much older…
The Elder (responding in the same tone):
– Remember your soul is as old as creation…
Theo smiled and continued with a youthful curiosity:
– Such a state of equanimity, I guess, implies that once it is realized, the being won’t have any more human tendencies, will it?
The Elder – Those still exist, but only in a latent state. They are dormant within the person. The Lord will wake them up, because He needs them to carry out His divine action plan amongst men.
Theo. – Do you mean that God needs human beings for reaching people? Is He too far away, too inaccessible, too incomprehensible?
The Elder – Human beings, even though they are realized, will be human beings, with their characteristics, particularities and their own personalities. We may take these for qualities or drawbacks, but they are what will move us. Then we can identify with them. Realized human beings will manifest their Perfection through their imperfection. That is a Divine jewel.
Theo. – So, we shall never be perfect! I’m disappointed.
The Elder – He who is absorbed in God won’t care for that. The Gita says that such a man is happy under all circumstances, because his mind is constantly turned to the Lord. Whatever he may be or not be is no longer his concern. He is not even aware of it. He just IS…
“Sages are established in Brahman.”
(Bhagavad Gita, Book V, verse 19)
So, he who lives being absorbed in God is ‘equanimous’ or, if you like it better, he sees all people in the same way; such is the detachment recommended in the Gita:
“Sages look with an equal eye
on a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility,
on a cow, on an elephant and even
on a dog and on an outcast.”
(Bhagavad Gita, Book V, verse 18)
Theo. – In short, whether it concerns action, knowledge or devotion, yogis see only God in them, they attach their minds only to God, and the outcome is their self-effacement, their selflessness. For them, action becomes non-action, knowledge becomes universal, non-mental, and devotion becomes unconditional and selfless.
The Elder – The first approach is fully on line with a sense of being. It is known as a positive approach. Then comes the second stage, when that positive approach has to be denied before transcending into God. This is pralaya, the state of a voluntary dissolution into God.
Theo. – And it leads to Universal Love, which is so dear to us. I love action, I love acquiring knowledge and I love the mere fact of Loving.
The Elder – For these three aspects of your self to be merged, you will have to reach the stage of Non-Action, then the non-mental stage, and finally erase the ‘I’ who loves to make room for ‘He who loves all.’
Theo. – This is an exciting program… a serenely exciting one, I mean. Honestly, cultivating equanimity is no easy task!
The Elder – Don’t worry! Your passion is God-oriented. It is in God, and He will know how to use it.
Theophile the Elder
An excerpt from Dialogs with Theophile the Elder
Theophile the Younger’s Initiation