Bhakti: From Form, to Formlessness, and Beyond
"Why would you still sing kirtan if you have deep insight into your true nature?"
Someone asked me this after a kirtan in Rishikesh, as we were chatting on the street between the stray dogs and sadhus.
Why not? I thought, my eyes still moist from the sweet tears of devotion, my heart wide open from the deep love that had become so palpable for everyone that evening.
I thought of the great teachers of India: Anandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna, Nisargadatta Maharaj.
They each sang kirtan and expressed their love for the Divine in their own way.
Why does devotion still live in sages like these if for them, there is nothing outside of the Self.
When the sages express devotion, duality and non-duality come together in an inspiring way.
They did not become indifferent to the world, no, they loved it even more!
They show us: the world, too, is That!
Bhakti Yoga, the path of love, surrender, and devotion, begins in duality.
There is an 'I' that directs its yearning towards a form outside itself.
This form can be very concrete: a teacher, or, for example, Jesus or Buddha, a holy mountain or a river. The form can also be more subtle: Shiva or Durga, God, Truth, Beauty, Love.
This initial stage, though often full of love and ecstasy, is still based on a sense of separation.
It is an important phase, as it cultivates qualities like surrender, compassion, patience, humility, and perseverance. Qualities that you need to go futher into the non-dual Love.
Bhakti may often appear grand and dramatic, but it can also be small and intimate. We see the joyful side: uplifting kirtan, incense, flower garlands, gracious dance and beautiful poetry.
But there will also be less joyful times. Periods when your trust in the path of bhakti is tested: you may lose the fire of your desire or think that unconditional love is not meant for you.
If you continue to nourish the fire of desire during these times, in a way that suits you, you will eventually experience an ongoing deepening connection with the Divine.
The duality softens more and more.
You discover that the form you longed for so deeply loses its shape. You begin to know it as an expression of something deeper and grander, unlimited by any form.
Love and Beloved merge.
In reality, it was always right here, you realize.
Formless Love, Pure Consciousness.
Perhaps your singing fades.
What is there left to offer, to whom?
Love seduces you to turn your gaze inward and shows you that that which you longed for also longed for you.
Bhakti has led you to Jnana (knowledge or insight).
There is nothing more to be done. A deep fulfillment.
From this realization, the Bhakta (devotee) turns to where the world once was, and she sees...
only Love.
She sees everything as the expression of the One.
A vast flow of love, compassion, and gratitude awakens.
Breath flows inward, a song emerges, how could it be otherwise...
Life flows.
Photo: moments of silent ecstacy in the temple in Rishikesh during the Shivaratri festival in 2018
Sacred texts sing of my reality,
But I cannot be found in them,
For I am the one listening.
I am always close than breath.
~ Radiance Sutra's by Lorin Roche
(a poetic interpretation of the Vijana Bhairava Tantra)