Faith and Devotion  – my experience in discovering them as separate emotions and feelings.

What is Devotion? What is Faith?

Faith is like the roots of a tree. Always doing its work/job…not disturbed by what is happening above the ground. The strong roots of a tree are untouched by how strong the wind is blowing. They just stay put. 

Whether the wind is blowing wild and is menacingly uprooting everything in its path,  or a soft breeze is blowing the roots are unaffected. It is only the visible part of the tree that responds to the kind of breeze and we see this in plain sight. 

When a cyclone comes, it is a test for the trees and especially the roots. Will they survive and hold on with their current depth or will they need to dig deeper? 

Similarly, when a tough situation happens in our life, do we survive it with the faith we already have or do we need to dig deeper and reach the source of our existence even more? 

That’s what Faith does. On normal days it’s there, we may or may not realize it’s existence but the moment there is a tough situation in our life, Faith plays its role so beautifully. 

Faith can be experienced and becomes stronger over time. It becomes stronger and deeper with life experiences. 

I am reminded here of a story of Krishna, Arjun and Duryodhan. 

This happened just before the great war took place and each side was trying to build coalitions with other kings, kingdoms and noble men to strengthen their side. 

So, the time came when Arjun and Duryodhan approached Krishna to ask him where his allegiance would lie. The initial meeting happened and each side tried to woo Krishna and his army to their own side. After hearing them out, Krishna asked them that he and his army are two separate things and either party will get only one not both. He also asked them to come to him early in the morning of the very next day. 

Arjun came and sat near the feet of the sleeping Krishna, not disturbing him. Just sitting there quietly waiting for Krishna to wake up. Duryodhan comes and decides to sit near Krishna’s head thinking that as soon as Krishna wakes up his eyes would fall on Duryodhan and Krishna would give the first chance to Duryodhan.

As soon as Krishna woke up, his eyes fell on Arjun who was at his feet. He asked Arjun what he wanted and Arjun said that his only desire was that Krishna be on his side. Krishna agreed instantly and smiled sweetly at Arjun with that all knowing look in his eyes. 

Seeing this, Duryodhan was first angry that Krishna asked Arjun for his choice and was equally happy when Arjun said he didn’t want Krishna’s huge army! Once Krishna turned to Duryodhan, he immediately told Krishna that he would be very happy to have Krishna’s gigantic army alongside him in the war.

Both parties left the meeting happily. We all know the result of the war. So, the question arises; why did Arjun choose to have only Krishna and not his army?

Was this a beautiful and pure case of his deep deep faith in Krishna? Or was it sheer luck that made Arjun’s side victorious in the devastating war? Was it foolish of Arjun to refuse Krishna’s army? He did enter the war with a considerably smaller army compared to the Kauravas. 

What I choose to take from this story is that Arjun had an honest, truthful, all-trusting and deep Faith in Krishna. 

My constant quest of understanding devotion happened today, in fact a few minutes ago and once I had that AHA moment, I got myself to pen down my thoughts and experience immediately. 

I have always seen a lot of rituals around me, people immersed in some sense of energy that binds them to that deity. I did not know what it was. I only saw people do it very happily and it gave them immense joy while doing whatever they were doing. Be it going on pilgrimage, celebrating festivals like Navratris, Ganpati, Ashadhi Ekadashi, going on Vaari, Singing bhajans into the wee hours of the night, etc.

As I grew up, my opinions were tainted and influenced by the call for calling off all baba’s, ashrams, pandits for looting people who spent hours and money on activities that broadly can be called rituals. 

All along I’ve been thinking that rituals are activities to be done or one can choose not to do them, either is fine. But if you choose to do the rituals you are blinded and you do them out of compulsion and you may be forced to do them. The word ‘andha-shradhha’ made a huge impact on me. I refrained consciously as well as subconsciously from conforming to any rituals and stuck to only the bare basics. 

Today I realize that what I have missed all along is to understand the concept of Devotion. One can describe Devotion as a sweet emotion. Sadhguru has described Devotion very beautifully. While I understood what he said, it still did not make sense as there was a barrier there, somewhere. 

Today that barrier is broken and I understand clearly that Devotion is a sweet emotion which makes us do those rituals out of sweetness and soft gentle emotion that we share with that energy we refer to as that deity. Devotion will come only when we truly acknowledge that energy, read about it, listen to good people talk about it, try to understand it and then somewhere that sweetness of emotion will make its way in and then it is like a free flowing water stream. That stream can grow into a big river or an ocean depending on the level of sweetness of your emotion with that energy. 

Come to think of it, I can offer flowers to a deity out of compulsion, but it is fruitful and more fulfilling when I do it out of the sweetness of emotion for that deity or energy. This connection with the energy is what gives people the joy and happiness that arises as they do these rituals that they follow or invent. It is with this devotion that we see people sway with musical beats, dance to the tunes of a bhajan, and spend hours on end in a pooja, or even prepping for one. It is this devotion that flows out from the eyes of a person, it is sweet tears of pure joy and bliss and hope even. Hope of uniting with that energy some day.

I am blessed that this awareness came during the 9 special nights during which we celebrate the goddess in 9 different forms – the festival of Navaratris. I feel light and it’s like a weight lifted off from my being. This clarity between faith and devotion is even more clearer to me today. This is a day of gratitude for me.