Devotion: The Only Antidote to a Godless Life

To come to the true insight about the presence of God, which is the Satguru presence within, we must make that the truly important thing in our life. We must not divide ourselves up into various priorities—this also, that also. We need to be devoted to the discovery of his light with everything that you have at your disposal. So that everything, when it is turned towards the world, then that is called being caught up in Maya. When it is turned inwardly, it is called spirituality. And as a reassurance, the sages have told us: 'Antarmukhi Sada Sukhi,' which means the one who is turned inward is always peaceful, is always joyful, free from suffering.

We don't need any other reassurances if we are already reminded that once we have turned inwards, we have nothing to worry about. Then there is no danger to turning towards God. But if you're going to be selfish in terms of the outcomes that we want in life, and you're worried that if you turn towards him and follow his will, then life may not go your way, then you're in the mistaken notion that you are your mind and the mind's way is your way. This is not true.

So allow all this thought activity to come and go. Don't identify, don't believe, and then you have the inner spaciousness, the inner sacredness for God's presence to reveal itself, for God's presence to become apparent. And even if you cannot conclude or you cannot say to yourself that his presence is apparent, if there is just the minor, the most inkling, you see, the most minute scent, then you must follow that all the way home. You see, what is that scent? The perfume of unconditional love. To deepen in that, follow that to its very source.

But half measures will not do. If you divide yourself again and say, 'this also, that also, this, that,' so what you're meant to do is just surrender all your worldly concerns to him, and whatever remains of you must be fully devoted to the discovery of his light. When this heart temple with God's presence at the center of it becomes apparent to you, then your life itself becomes a holy life, a temple of God. And unless our life becomes that, it really has no meaning.

Then you come to his holy light, and in the light of that presence, you recognize that your reality is that you are that which is aware even of this. You are that pure awareness which is beyond even the highest. Then the purpose of Jnana Yoga, the path of insight, the path of self-knowledge, is fulfilled. And in the fulfillment of that, the false identity is mostly wiped away, wiped clean. But whatever remains must be kept in a deep love and servitude to God, which is called Bhakti.

And in that Bhakti of the Lord, in true Bhakti of the Lord, it keeps you safe. It keeps you safe from your own potential to become the spiritual ego—the one who claims insight, the one who claims understanding. Allow yourself to only live in God's will. And in living in God's will is to step away from a lip-service, armchair spirituality to a truly lived spirituality.

So it becomes from a worldly life to a godly life. There is no solution for a godless life if it wants to continue remaining godless. The only antidote to a godless life is to make our life about God. Spirituality is the antidote to godless life. So to ask yourself: How am I serving God in this moment? Or even to ask yourself: Who am I serving in this moment? Because you're always serving something, and there really only two options. Ananta put a post that either we are in service to the mind or we are in service to God. But servitude is not an option; it's not optional. So who are you serving in this moment?