Love God Your Way
God is attained only though selfless devotion. By any means, your mind should be completely attached to God. And there is no fixed form or style in the practice of devotion either. By devotion we mean the practice of rupadhyana, absorbing the mind in loving remembrance on a self-created form of God. You can practice rupadhyana according to what is pleasing to you. The greatest paramahansa who is pure in heart, as well as one whose heart is the most impure, can practice devotion to Shri Krishna and receive the same divine benefit.
When I was sixteen, I saw a unique saint in the dense forest near Sharbhang ashram. Learned scholars would laugh at his method of practising devotion. He was sitting with a broken mirror and broken comb inside a hut made of leaves. He would comb his withered hair again and again with it and check his appearance in his broken mirror. He would then restlessly look here and there and call out, “O Beloved! O Lord of my life!” A little while later he would start sobbing like a child. After that he would become ecstatic as if he had attained something of tremendous value, and then he would start laughing loudly. Sometimes he would act as if offended and sulk. Sometimes he would dance joyously. His state was most unique. I watched him quietly.
After a few hours, when he had returned to normal consciousness, I approached him and respectfully bowing before him, I asked, “What were you doing just now?” He replied as simply and innocently as a little child, “My friend, you do not know. My Beloved may come here at any moment, and so I always keep myself ready to welcome Him.” He embraced me after saying this. I have not forgotten that embrace to this day. It was like the anxious embrace of a woman suffering the pangs of separation from her beloved. When he recovered, he said, “You should keep yourself ready too. He is very mischievous and arrives unexpectedly.”
Now, consider. Which scripture describes this peculiar style of devotion? But Shri Krishna is causelessly merciful. He wants every soul to love Him. There are no rules or regulations regarding how we should love Him. We can love Him in our own way. The means through which you can develop love for Shri Krishna is genuine devotion. That alone is true action, true knowledge, and true understanding. Genuine devotion to God is all that matters.
Suppose Shri Krishna descended today as your child. You would dress Him according to today’s standards, would you not? Because of God’s deluding power, yogmaya, you would never know that your beautiful child is the Supreme Lord, for it you did, all the sweetness and charm of your parent-child relationship would come to an immediate end. You would dress Him in the pants and shirts that are in fashion and give Him a watch to wear. Nowadays in India, children play cricket, hockey, and other such games. And so, as your son, Shri Krishna would naturally play these games too.
In this way, in your mind, dress and adorn God as you like. He does not have any personal desires. God acts according to the desire of His devotees. In fact, His every activity is just a physical manifestation of the desires of His devotees, whether it is stubbornly demanding butter from His mother, or performing the raas with the greatest Rasik Saints, the gopis of Braj. All His activities are simply to fulfil the desires of His devotees.
Just as a devotee constantly yearns to please His beloved Lord, Shri Krishna longs to bestow divine happiness upon His devotees. Remain ever absorbed in His loving remembrance and live longing for His divine love and divine vision.
Originally spoken in Hindi by:
Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj
An except from the book, Rupadhyana — Loving Remembrance
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https://www.jkpliterature.org.in/rupadhyana-2
