THE BHAKTI UNDER WHICH VISHISTA ADVAIT VEDANTA FUNCTIONS
WHERE DOES BHAKTI COME IN TO PLAY IN THE VISHISTA ADVAITA VEDANTA FRAMEWORK OF EXPRESSION OF THE MIND
This article [ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proceedings-bhakti-path-karma-shantanu-panigrahi?fbclid=IwAR3GErqKYAzO7p8necjGyFpGewkJw1Yq9BcjEj8MYP_OgqcuYxK6XLlqhmI] summarises the journey of travel that I have been through during the past 25 years and so where I stand today. Happy reading folks.
A topsy-turvy journey indeed with lessons for me as I start a new day in optimism that we shall one day find the meeting of hearts and minds in social conversations, in the independence of freethought and contributions to each-other’s lives accordingly. In the Vaishnavism that I practice, one cannot but must immerse oneself in Creation, independent of the extremes of spirituality and the extremes of materiality, so that we are in control of our minds perfectly in allowing the nonchalant, spontaneous and unpremeditated expressions of our perfected-minds, fearless of the consequences, for the greatest devotion that a person can live to is to live in the most harmonious manner possible: that is preservation and conservation. That is what is represented in the Hindu concept of the Trimurti in being at the rajasic mode of raison d'etre, pin-pointedly. If one does have that deepest conscience that one is acting in this manner, that is the only form of 'bhakti' that the Vaishnavist expresses. We see God everywhere; Hindu perform 'idol'-worship but that is not Vaishnavism unless one is purely going through the motions of acknowledging the Divine in Vishnu, as being the Preserver in the Trimurti. The same effect is attained when one is performing 'darshan' in the idols of Vishnu or Sri Krishna, the Creator of Brahma-Nature, or one sees beauty in all manifestations of Nature. Otherwise, beyond such 'darshans', all forms of ritualistic pujas such as offerings of flowers and sweets to these Entities is too extreme a form of devotion and not 'bhakti' for a Vaishnavist for it is effectively praying to God to come to the person's rescue as if it is His responsibility to do so in the assumption that is implicit, or that there is any kind of spiritual-merit to the person to immerse oneself in those extreme forms of 'show' of bhakti. In other words, God Sri Krishna knows a person, for He resides dormant within the mind of the person so knows all one's thoughts as being already on His lotus feet in surrender. There is nothing else to be done in the actions of 'bhakti'. We simply have to get one with our lives here on Earth in that feeling of acknowledgment of the Divine and immerse ourselves in our karma within this samsara, freely and without any purpose in terms of our intentions in our actions knowing that the faith would generate the right thoughts in the outcome in terms of our actions. The rest would depend on what happens the next moment.
