Being devoted

(Quotations from The Vijñâna Bhairava)

Devotion prior to union

There are four steps in this dharana.
  1. One's value of life has to be totally changed. He should be completely detached from sensuous pleasures and trinkets of life.
  2. He should be devoted to God.
  3. Through the above two, the mind of the aspirant will become purified, and then will emerge mati which is spiritual intution full of the power to transform life. She can remove all obstacles in the path of the aspirant.
  4. The aspirant should perpetually contemplate on this mati... She will completely transform his life, and then his mind will be dissolved Shiva.

It should be borne in mind that bhakti or devotion does not mean simply offering of flowers and burning incense. It means viewing God in all life and dedication of oneself to the Divine in word, thought and deed.
(p. 109, commentary on verse 121, dharana 96)

Devotion following union

That ... contemplation which is practiced on the highest Reality over and over again is... japa...
(p. 133, verse 145)

Unswerving buddhi without any image or support constitutes meditation.
(p. 134, verse 146)

Worship ... consists in setting one's heart on that highest ether of consciousnes which is above all thought-constructs. It really means dissolution of self with perfect ardour (in the Supreme Consciousness known as Bhairava).
(p. 135, verse 147)

When in the fire of Supreme Reality..., the five elements, the senses, the objects of the senses along with the mind (whose characteristic is dichotomizing thought-construct) are poured, with cetanâ as the ladle, then that is real oblation.
(p. 137, verse 149)

... sacrifice in this system simply means spiritual satisfaction characterized by bliss... the absorption into the shakti of Rudras is alone real ksetra (place of pilgrimage) inasmuch as this absorption destroys all sins...
(p. 138, verse 150)

The essence of Self consists universally in autonaomy, bliss, and consciousness. One's absorption in that essence is said to be (real) bath {of purification}
(p. 139, verse 152)

©1999 by Deb Platt

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