Grace and Devotion
In the history of this humanity, many truly scintillating human beings have happened—they have shone brighter than the stars in the sky. Why are a few human beings of this capability, and why do so many other aimless millions of people just come and go? I am not trying to compare their lives to somebody else’s and say this is useless or that is useful— not in those terms. But why is it that somebody seems to have come with enormous capability? Why is it that somebody else has to struggle with every little thing in their lives? People always say, ‘He is gifted.’ Nobody is gifted; there is really no gift about anything; you have to earn everything. Either you earn joyfully or you earn miserably—that is all the choice.
There are different ways to earn this. There are a variety of sadhanas through which one earns. But the simplest way, and the easiest way is devotion. What is Grace, first of all? If you look at yourself as a machine, you have brains, you have body, you have everything. But what you call as ‘Grace’ is the lubrication. Without the lubrication you have a great engine but you get stuck at every point. Any number of people like this are there on the planet—they are intelligent, they are capable, but at every corner in their life they get stuck because there is no lubrication. Whatever is considered as ‘Grace,’ seems to pervade some people’s lives, and for somebody else, everything is a struggle.
To become receptive to this Grace, so that the process of life becomes graceful, the easiest way would be devotion. But the mind is very cunning; it cannot devote itself to anybody or anything. You can sing songs of devotion, but you have your own calculation, ‘All that is okay, but what has God done for me?’ Calculating minds cannot be devout. Trying to be devout will just be a waste of time, and life. I hear any amount of so-called devotional songs and music. This is too calculated; there is no devotion in it.
A devotee is not somebody’s devotee; devotion is a quality. Devotion means a certain single-pointedness—you are constantly focused towards one thing. Once a person has become like this that his thought, emotion, and everything has become in one direction, now Grace will naturally happen to that person; he becomes receptive. What you are devoted to, whom you are devoted to is not the issue. ‘No, I want to be a devotee, but I have a doubt whether God exists or not.’ These are all the predicaments of a thinking mind. What you need to know is, God does not exist. But where there is a devotee, God exists.
The power of devotion is such that it can create the Creator. The depth of what we refer to as devotion is such that even if God is not existent, it can bring it into existence. Thinking minds always have an allergy to devotion because devotees have made such fools of themselves. This is simply because fear is passing off as devotion.
With a lot of people, extreme deviousness is passing off as devotion right now. If one knows the joy of devotion, devotion is truly for the intelligent, not for the stupid because without devotion there is no profundity to your life. Nothing is worthwhile if you analyze it with your thought. The whole existence, you yourself, nobody in the world is worth anything if you just cut it down with the knife of your intellect. Only when devotion arises, depth comes into one’s life. Devotion does not mean going to the temple and doing ‘Ram, Ram.’ Anybody who is one-pointed, anybody who can absolutely give himself to whatever he is doing is a natural devotee. He need not have a deity to become a devotee—he is a devotee. God will happen. It is not because there is God, devotion has come. Because there is devotion, God has happened.
Just knowing devotion as an emotional experience is one thing. Knowing devotion as an overpowering dimension of life is a different thing. Knowing devotion just as an emotion maybe makes your life a little sweet; but devotion is not intended to make your life sweet; devotion is intended to completely demolish you the way you are. Just becoming a little better, that is not the intention of the devotion; devotion means dissolution. The root word for ‘devotion’ is ‘dissolve.’ Only one who is willing to dissolve himself can be a true devotee.
| Named one of India’s 50 most influential people, Sadhguru speaks before millions annually around the globe, including to prominent leadership forums such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, TED, and the World Peace Congress. From ground-breaking yoga programs to projects for rural communities and the environment, Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation (www.IshaFoundation.org), serves as a thriving model for human empowerment, which is reflected in the Foundation’s special consultative status with the UN. |
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