Page 168 - Wisdom Unfurled
P. 168

article on Devotion by Revered K. C. Narayana (Ref. BP V3 Devotion) dealing exhaustively and entirely with the practical aspects of sadhana and the buffer stages the aspirant encounters during his journey in the sphere of devotion.
The Master admits that there is the problem of practicing devotion and surrender in a natural way and gives the solution saying that it is found that one can love another person of his own species best. This is the basis of taking the Guru as the personification of the Supreme. Citing His own case He observes that His Master was the only object of His love, He was not a lover of freedom or peace or perfection but only of Him and Him alone.
He further states that His Master was altogether free from egoistic feelings, desires and worldly entanglements and devoted to ‘His own Self ‘, the phrase referring to a very high order spiritual state not commonly bestowed upon man. Thus His Master was the fittest person to be meditated upon and being devoted to. The Master continues saying that He tried to get Himself merged in His Master heart and soul and it was a life pursuit for Him the process yielding Him results inexpressible in words. He declares that His Master is the Infinite Ocean of grace in which all of us have to merge and that is His prayer too for all earnest seekers.
Surrender
The Master states that the easiest and surest means to achieve the goal for the aspirant is to surrender himself to the Great Master and become a ‘living dead’ himself. If the surrender is cultivated by forced or mechanical means it is seldom genuine. It must develop automatically in him without the least strain or pressure upon his mind.
If the knowledge or awareness of the ‘self’ is retained in the surrendered person, then it does not become true surrender. Devotion and absolute dependency on the Divine Master leads to surrender and we have seen already devotion in its superfine state transforms itself to surrender.
Philosophy and psychology of Surrender
The philosophy and psychology of surrender or prapatti has been exhaustively worked out in the Vishishtadvaitic school of Vedanta; our purpose here is to merely recognize the six limbs of saranagati well stated therein. These are respectively anukulyasaya sankalpa (adopting that which is conducive to goal attainment), pratikulyasya varjanam (eschewing of that which is obstructive), rakshisyati iti viswasah (faith that he will save), goptrtva varanam (resort to the Lord/Master as saviour/protector), karpanyam (utter helplessness) and atmanikshepanam (complete self-surrender). It is also customary to hold that the last is the angin or aim and the preceding five are angas or accessories
  


























































































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