Narada Bhakti Sutras - Day 14

The ultimate truth

• Time has three dimensions: past, present and future. So is the truth. What was true yesterday is not true today; what is true today may not be true tomorrow.
• Similarly three states of our conciseness waking, sleeping and dreaming. (Fourth is aware and resting without any action i.e. meditative, Fifth is cosmic conciseness when we are aware and resting during all the actions)
• Only one thing which is in all the three dimensions is love. Love makes past feel present. So the essence of past is love.
• Don’t crave for attention. Attention cannot bring love so don't do show off.
• Love makes you feel complete though love is not complete in itself, love is infinite.
• Of all the truth in all three dimensions, love alone is supreme.
• If you can't feel oneness with this creation, that life is of no use. Love alone is the juice of life. Life moves towards love.
• Your source is love, goal is love and the path is also love..all three dimension
• What do be require to be on this path: Knowledge, action and devotion
• Love is not just an emotion; it is our very existence, our very nature.
• And by nature we all our 'great'.
• For love there is no comparison.
• Though divine love is only 'one' it manifests in 11 different forms/types.
• First: Expression of divine love is singing the glory, talking of wonderful qualities of divine. Just remembering the qualities uplifts us. Praising is not done to make them happy, praising uplifts us. We develop the same qualities within us. Love knows no 'buts' and 'ifs'.
• Second (Rupa sakti): Taking interest in the forms of divinity. Seeing HIM in all the forms. Every form in this universe reminds us of divinity. Form captivates us. It arrests us. We can relate with form but we can't relate with formless. That's why ancient rishis in Hindu tradition created as many forms. You chose whatever you want but see that in all other forms. The universe is filled with forms. And every form reminds us of our beloved, divine. When we adore the form, lust disappears. Lust is getting stuck to something. Think of divine in every part. Each part of body is sacred. We won't be aggressive when we adore all the forms on this universe. This will make us honor all the things.
• Third (Puja sakti): Puja. Puja means something born out of fullness. When you are so full, anything you do is puja. Replica of doing anything out of full gratitude is puja. Aarti means the total ecstasy. 'rati' means pleasure. Aarti signifies: Let no darkness around you. Let this light of me circle around you.
• Fourth (Samarna sakti): Remember. Remembering someone also kindles love. Memorizing the divine. Memory that is spontaneous.
• Fifth (Dasya sakti): Wanting to serve. Wanting to be servant of divine an instrument of divine. Love manifests as a desire to serve. There is difference between slave and servant. Slave is out of compulsion where as servant is someone who out of love wants to be part of master. Spiritual path cannot make you slave but it can propel you on the path to do the service towards all. Willingness to serve. And this willingness comes out of love not out of some want, desire.
• Sixth (Sakhya sakti): To be friend of the divine. Seeing God as your close friend. Someone whom you can fight with, you can share with, you can complain to. Treating the divine as your friend.
• Seventh (Vatsalya sakti): Mode of love in which you see God as a child. Treating God as your own child. Divinity is born out of humanity because first man wakes up and then man awakes divinity. So treat divinity as if it is born out of you; as if your own child.
• Eight (Kantya sakti): Making divine as your valentine. As if you are married to divine. How you care for your valentine. The spirit is male and the matter is female.
• Ninth (Aatma nivedana sakti): Dissolving the self in divine. Dissolving the self 'I' in the universal 'I'. ‘I’ (Myself) is all YOURS, what usually happen in meditation. Offering the self, feeling the self. Individual self 'I' dissolving in the whole universe.
• Tenth (Tanmaya sakti): Seeing the universal 'I', in individual 'I'. Seeing whole universe in you. One drop of water has all the characteristics of ocean. Capturing the Sun in a mirror. (Opposite to the above form of manifestation).
• Eleventh (Param virah sakti): Extreme longing, unbearable longing for divine. Crying for divine. 'Misery' out of longing for divine. 'Intense craving' for truth/ divine is also expression of love.
• Those who are fearless of others reactions, those who have unanimous opinion, the masters/teachers of devotion, those who profess love are the true sages.
• Intellect analyses but heart only synthesizes. Love joins all the fragmented pieces. It makes you whole.
• Teachers of devotion may have different opinion but people on the path of love have ‘one’ devotion. Words may vary but the essence is same.
• He who believes and have faith in these sutras of Narda (Narda has been an instrument for this) and which have come from Shiva, gets the love of God, attains his objective, attains his beloved God. One who understands these sutras is bound to rise. It is voice of your soul, call of your soul, language of your soul. You will rise in your life.

Narada Bhakti Sutras - Day 13

Dwell in the divine

• Lot of time is wasted in seeking pleasure, being feverish.
• You miss divine love if all the time you think of gains (what am I getting...) and are lost in calculation.
• There is a limit to experiencing pleasure as well.
• Stop brooding on what he/she said to you.
• Drop the craving for pleasure, excitement.
• Desires keep our mind occupied and don't let us calm or settle down.
• A lot of time is wasted in seeking pleasure, being sad, brooding and being feverish.
• Craving and desires makes you restless and put you down. When you put yourself down you become aggressive and violent then we speak untruth and do things for which we regret later.
• If aggression comes, observer and let go. Act but don’t react. If you observe your most of the actions are driven by reaction.
• Let nonviolence ingrained in your lives.
• Nonviolence, truth, cleanliness (inner & outer), compassion, faith in divinity.
• You are already truth, compassion; don't think you are not this and you have to cultivate it. Just assume that you are already that. It is stress that might just make you behave otherwise. So do pranayam and meditation and be free from stress.
• Though love doesn't have any restrictions but still it is good to have some discipline. This will give you the freedom to enjoy the divinity.
• Have faith that you know very little about this existence and a lot is yet to be known, and that you are ignorant. This ignorance makes you light and the knowledge that you are ignorant makes you lighter.
• Worries happen in the head, feelings happen in heart. When feelings are there you are not worried. Drop worrying.
• Feelings can't be same. Feelings come and go. Observe this.
• Mind catches onto the feelings and make you worry.
• Love is not a subject of head or intellect. Intellect can only pave the path for love.
• In all the times and all emotions share with God. Happiness, joy, misery…everything, share with divine. Feel the connection all the times….without worrying.
• Universe is filled with love. There is no place without love.
• Even in misery, cry for God, pray, cry for his help. Cry out your problems but don't worry. When we have such an intense feeling, we will feel serenity, we will feel the divine.
• Communication with god can only be done in silence.
• You can't have conversations with God but you can have communion. This communion is Samadhi.
• Prayer is asking, meditation is listening. Prayer is first step, meditation is second.
• Abhya mudra: come to me, surrender and I will take care of everything.
• Bardh mudra: Means God is saying that I am giving…don’t worry.
• Churning of soul will raise and bring up the divinity that is within all of us.
• When you sing with heart, singing makes you feel the presence of divinity in you.

Narada Bhakti Sutras - Day 12

Love knows no boundaries

• If there is anything that you can give equally to anybody and everybody, to everything, is divine love.
• Love goes beyond all barriers and boundaries.
• There is no distinction of cast, colors, race in love. Every where there is same love.
• Divine love can shine in any form, anywhere and in anybody.
• To be a devotee/ a realized person, you don't need any qualification.
• Like nature doesn't make any difference in anybody so is a saint. Because saint is of its own 'nature' - the nature of divine. The nature of divine is unconditional love.
• The ways of nature are mysterious, so are the ways of a saint - can't be comprehended.
• What can be predicted is logic; something that is beyond logic cannot be predicted.
• One that can be predicted is logic but love that that is greater and beyond logic cannot be predicted.
• Don’t depend on logic; logic is a small portion of our existence.
• Universe is so vast; don't think of love through logic.
• What kills love - an argument. Argument means disagreement (and how can disagreement stand love which knows no disagreement). Arguments turn into fight.
• Through argument you can never change anybody's feelings (if ever feelings are changed through argument, it would change for bad and become even worse and cannot be made better).
• Love cannot be proved. Certain things should be taken for granted; love is one of such things.
• Your very attitude that 'love is undying' will uplift the love for you in others.
• But if you demand love, it will burden on others which will even diminish whatever love the other person is having.
• Don’t ask for a proof of love. Don't be demanding.
• If you feel somebody's love has increased for you that what it used to be earlier, just be with them & say "I know you love me so much".
• People demand love for their own comfort but it’s your giving comfort to others that will bring love to you.
• Contentment & taking for granted that everybody loves you, will put you in comfort with yourself which (this comfort with oneself) is very important for divine love to dawn.
• Actions or words cannot be the proof of love because these things depend on logic and love is beyond logic.
• One, who is in divine love, doesn't depend on logic or argument.
• Listen to scripture (such as Bhakti Sutras) that talk of love. You should do any activity that kindles love in you.
• Simple acts of kindness can bring love to you.
• You don't demand love but at the same time don't stop yourself from sharing love with others. Express it.
• Listen to sutras again and again. Similarly do act of charity time and again.
• Don’t claim for seva that you do.
• If your nature is kindness, generosity and compassion, everybody will love your company.
• Feelings are what matter, not the words nor even the actions.
• Whatever you offer with feelings, gratitude, faith will reach HIM (remember tea bag story).
• Don't be bothered of small things in daily dealing with people or in relationship; this is the rule to blossom in divine love.

Narada Bhakti Sutras - Day 11

The Six Distortions of Love

• Love has six distortions:
• Expectation (can manifests in other forms like lust, desire)
• Anger
• Greed
• Arrogance
• Jealousy
• Pride
• Whenever any of these come we lose peace of mind, innocence, love and only stress and undesired action remain in life.
• The habit to hold on to something and to get angry when you lose that is quite natural. This happens with day today activities…your positions, fame.
• Pride brings misery, jealousy brings tears and anger makes whole body boil.
• Direct all above distortion to the divine, if you direct these to some human or other things they bounce back to you.
• Have lust for truth; get angry at ignorance, injustice; take pride only in divine, being devotee of God and in being humble….:); be jealous of generosity
• Offer all your actions to divine. Every action has got some imperfection, actions can only be partially perfect but actor can be totally perfect…how?…when he directs all his actions to divine
• Astrology was one way for this directing process.
• When are you perfect? When you are calm, peaceful, centered. But if any of these imperfections bug you, you won't remain perfect…so direct them toward divine.
• Two ways to express love
• Master servant relationship (respect)
• Companion relationship (love)
• When it is companion relationship, love lasts longer; there is respect in master servant relationship
• In divine love you will feel both a master servant relationship and companion relationship. You are here to server divine but also feel the closeness of companion relationship.
• Love which is beyond all the three (satvik, rajsik and tamsik) types is divine love.
• Sharing is the dynamism of existence. Sharing is the love in action.
• A devotee rejoices in being with himself; he doesn't look for partners/company. Not because you hate others but just because you love it. If you feel love in self you won't ever be lonely.
• If you are a fountain of joy, who would not want your company but if you are bore with yourself think how bore you would be for others…:)
• Devotion is your nature and it cannot be taken away from you. You don't need to cultivate you.
• Some things are done by doing and some are done by not doing…relaxing… love is one such thing.
• Meditation is spontaneous; when you are at ease with self, meditation automatically happens so it is very important for a devotee to rejoice in self/center.

Love, a hidden Secret

• You can hide thoughts. It is not difficult. You can hide feelings also but it is a little difficult from hiding thoughts. It shows up on face, in eyes.
• Feelings are subtler than thought so difficult to hide and even subtler is love so it cannot be hidden. The more you hide, the more it comes out.
• So the strange thing is that you cannot express it completely nor can you hide you…:)
• When you are in divine love, thrill manifests in action.
• One who attains the divine love, throat chocks and hair standup, tears flow down, thrill manifests in every action and they are unable to express anything properly. They blabber…words don't flow easily.
• Fewer are those you blabber in love, who shed tears in gratitude, out of love. They are lighthouses for this planet. They are purifiers for their family, society and for whole earth. You become mentor.
• It is not just negativity that spreads, love also spreads…if you sit & meditate or sing the vibrations spread and goes to many around you and act as purifier for all. Such moments make life worth living.
• Moments when you are overwhelmed with love, when you sing, when tears of gratitude roll out of your eyes are the one that purify your family and whole earth.
• Places where such people stay, becomes pilgrimage.
• Two kinds of people
• Who get the value by the things that they wear
• Who give value to the things
• Similarly what you say is not important but in what state of being you said that is important. What is said is immaterial but who said it is important
• Even scolding from a wise/devotee is invaluable but even immense praise from wicked carry no value.
• The words which don't carry feeling along, will have very little impact and value.
• You have to kindle the love that you are.
• Life is Holy Scripture and the key to that is divine love.
• Life is the expression of inexplicable.
• All those you have left this earth will rejoice with one who is filled with love. It gives them peace and they dance in ecstasy.
• When you don't experience anything after you meditate for some time, a portion of merits that you gain, goes to your ancestors…like clearing the debt by sharing what you earned.
• When you meditate/do sadhna, remember that you are not doing this for yourself. This will go to others.