From a discourse by Pt. Umesh Persad
Swami Shivanand has given us 10 bhakti commandments – practices that we should be doing every day. Let us evaluate ourselves; if we are not practising them, we should start. It’s never too late.
1. Swami Shivanand says we should develop devotion through jap, kirtan, sattvic food, worship, puja (your personal puja and the puja performed by your pandit). Yearn for God vision, love him with all your heart, remember him constantly.
2. Keep the company of saints, the righteous and the wise. Study devotional books like the Gita, the Bhagwat Maha Puraan, the Raamayan, the biographies of the saints and sages.
3. The name of the Lord is divine nectar. Name is your soul refuge, prop and treasure. Name and God are one. Always chant his names with devotion. Do kirtan. This is the principle of saadhana in Kalyug. Prayer, chanting the name of God and meditation are important. Prayer is talking to God; meditation is listening, being quiet and experiencing what there is below the thoughts in your mind. Chanting the name itself is very important. Raam, for example, means ‘that which shines within’ or ‘the true me’. This practice is recommended in Kalyug.
4. Pray to the Lord from the core of your heart. You should say, “I am yours. All this is yours. Your will be done. I am an instrument in your hands. You do everything; I am just an instrument. Please grant me faith. Please grant me devotion.” This is the attitude you should have, one of sharanaagati or surrender to God. If you continue to fight the world, the world will continue to fight you. Give up that feeling of being in control and have faith in the Divine. For example, if you run to catch your shadow, you will keep running and be unable to catch it. But if you face the sun, or the Divine Light, the shadow is behind you. God will give you what you need.
5. Feel the presence of God within you. Seek God in every face. Behold the entire world as the Lord. The idea is to see God everywhere. Each person has that fundamental reality in them and you recognise that presence in each person and thing. Worshipping Lord Ganesh will let us see through the impermanent to the reality behind everything and everyone.
6. Practise sadaachaar or right conduct. Cultivate virtues and eradicate vices. Be good; be kind; be humble; be pure. Speak the truth; control anger. Have a large heart. Develop compassion. In Sanatan Dharma we have the do’s and don’ts or yam and niyam. So, we abstain from violence by practising ahimsa or non-violence and we tell the truth; we read scriptures; sing kirtan and bhajans; we praise the Divine; we practise compassion; we perform social service. Control your anger and greed – these two, coupled with desire, lead to all our problems.
7. Teach the eye to behold the form of the Lord. Teach the ear to hear the Lord’s glory. Teach the hands to serve the saints and the poor. It is important to teach your mind and senses. Swami Lakshmanjoo, who was a great saint of the Kashmir-Shaivism line, said only read and write spiritual books. Whatever you put into your minds, this is what you will see everywhere. Train your senses to shift away from worldly things as they have no lasting happiness and focus on your true self. If you are looking for something to do, engage yourself in social service. Do something for others.
8. Take refuge in the Lord. Have ungrudging self-surrender. Offer your actions to God and his grace will descend on you. The grace of God is available all the time, everywhere. You have to be receptive to it. In self-surrender, you offer all your actions to God. In other words, you do the right duty without paying attention to the results, as it is said in the Bhagavad Gita.
9. Have perfect trust in God. Faith or sraddha is necessary to attain God. Whatever you may call the Supreme Consciousness, it is the base of all things. That is what we as Sanatanist Hindus term to be God. God is not a limited single concept. God is everything there is, the One Supreme Spirit. You need to have faith in something larger than yourself and you develop faith through two things: belief and knowledge or understanding.
10. Constantly repeat some inspiring verses, praise God’s glory through mantras or the recitation of the name of God. This will then be the divine background for your thoughts. The Buddhists say that we practise not for this life but for the lives to come. If you are only materially oriented in this life – looking after your children, building your business or career, and name and fame, when you die and are reborn, this subtle desire or vaasana will crop up again and again until you deal with it. This is what is meant when we say you need to take action now.
What is your key philosophy? Choose one and it will form the background of your thinking. It will be your default way of thinking. It could be giving up the fruits of your actions, self-surrender and service or overcoming the mind in order to reach the Supreme. Choose one and practise it.
