There’s a story about Nityananda that I heard from the man who was attending him at the time. It was about an hour or so before Nityananda passed away, maybe a little more. This man was a civil engineer and a long-time devotee of Nityananda’s, and was staying there looking after him at that time because Nityananda had stopped eating.
So, Nityananda said, “I’m going to go in an hour or so…I’m leaving.” This devotee said, “Please don’t go. Please.” Nityananda said, “If there’s one person who comes who has true devotion, pure devotion, I won’t go. I’ll stay.” He then asked, “Do you have true devotion? Is your devotion pure?” The devotee said, “No, Baba. You know I’m devoted to you, but I know my devotion isn’t pure.” Nityananda said, “A person, a real yogi with true devotion can compel, through the power of their devotion, even God to stay in the room. God wouldn’t leave the company of a person with true devotion unless he had permission. That true devotion is so powerful and so precious.”
I’m sharing that story with you because, though I don’t emphasize it very much and Rudi didn’t either, devotion is very powerful. Devotion, that quality of connectedness, flow, and sweetness, transcends all of our desires. True devotion transcends all our desires. It transcends all of our agendas, and all of our attachments to any outcome. Devotion is the the field in which the purest, most perfect wisdom that is ever resident in the deepest part of you emerges and begins to express itself in the field of your life. Devotion is the medium in which true transmission takes place between teacher and student.
There are about a billion stories about the significance of devotion. Considering devotion is a really important and meaningful thing for us to do when we contemplate what it really means to grow. Devotion is the field in which growth is expressed. In so many ways, working through our tensions is about cultivating devotion. Devotion is what makes spiritual work delicious. While devotion isn’t much treasured here on earth, it is the most treasured thing in heaven. Devotion is the fabric from which heaven is created.
I’m sure the word devotion, for some of you, brings up tremendous resistance. Great! Wonderful! Devotion isn’t something that we’re here to fake. I suggest that you take some time this week to think about devotion, to think about where to find it and how to express it, in your own way and from your own heart.
Devotion is a secret of quick Self-realization of true bhaktas. It is very fitting story for all on the path. Thank for this story.
Delicious Work …. LOVE that !
Back in 1980, I asked Baba, as many of us “devotees” did, for a spiritual name. He drew one out of the box and handed it to me. Anjani, it said on the front and on the back it said “the embdiment of devotion.” Since then, I have carried with me an awareness of that word and a deep desire to embody the purest devotion. Like the yogi in the story, I’m not sure how pure my devotion is but I have to tell you; on that night January 11th, the devotion in the room and around the fire, was overwhelming and thick. Everyone present, devotion to guru, to the Siddha path, to each other, devotion to the teachings, the opportunities to come together in devotion, the devotion of brother swami to brother swami. The smiles on the faces of everyone told the story better than I ever could. Such sweet devotion, the purest love. Jai Ma
Devoted to you since we met, now and forever.
Devotion to me is offering any action or non action in any state of consciousness to God with total assurance that is my love contribution as I am created to be.