Prema Bhakthi!
The world belongs to The Lord. The Lord belongs to Mantras (His Holy Names). Those who do not differentiate themselves (their consciousness) from The Lord and thus realize Him are called Vedantists. Bhakthas (who perform Bhakthi) are those who realize God by considering Him as a greater force than themselves. Usually it can be taken that those who have a greater affinity to Lord Shiva are attracted towards Vedanta principles and those who have a greater affinity towards Lord Hari (Vishnu) are attracted towards Bhakthi principles. That’s why terms such as ‘Shiva Gnani’, ‘Shiva Yogi’, ‘Hari Bhaktha’, ‘Bhagavathal’ etc are in vogue.
In the path of Bhakthi, it is prescribed that more of Smaranam (remembrance of Lord and His Leelas), Sravanam (Hearing of Lord’s Leelas), Keerthanams (Singing of Lord’s Glories) be performed to achieve more closeness with Him. Thus it is only apt that the Lord also need to have many stories about Him, perform numerous Leelas, appear in His full glorious majesty, and is easily accessible to all (Soulabhyam - means the quality of mixing with persons lower than Him). When we understand the lives of great Mahatmas who have threaded along the Vedanta path, even they would have been blessed by God to undertake thus.
Even when there have been Vedantist-Mahatmas who have shunned the practices of worship of God, on observation we note that they also have taken guidance of a Guru (Spiritual master) to undertake such a path. Since Guru is none other than an aspect of Iswara (God) , it can be understood that such Vedantist-Mahatmas need the blessing of The Lord and thus embrace the Dvaita path. In fact such Mahatmas vest greater faith in their masters than Bhakthas on their Lord!
Bhakthi is beautiful. Only those who have beautiful feelings and emotions can understand Bhakthi. This is also a feeling. Thus there are no boundaries for Bhakthi. There is no definite way to teach Bhakthi with a structure. It is a Bhavam (an emotional approach). Just as a mother loves her child to a great extent, we should develop love for The Lord (Prema Bhakthi).
This just cannot be created manually. Prema Bhakthi is that which does not expect anything in return for our love for Him (even Moksha). In this form, even when faced with daunting difficulties the spiritual aspirant does not lose his Bhakthi. There is no connection made by him between his Bhakthi and existential difficulties he faces.
Since God is present everywhere, Upadeshas (knowledge and guidance) need not be just sourced from a certain forms. Infact each existential experiences are lessons and Upadeshas, for such people who develop Prema Bhakthi.
Even when it is true that God realization have been achieved by many a great Mahatmas, undertaking difficult Sadhanas (spiritual practices) it is nothing but The Lord’s blessings which is means and ends for their search. In order to be liberated from Maya, His help, who is not tainted by Maya is required for us. Without The Lord’s Grace, it is impossible to be liberated from Maya (And thus attain Him).
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