Fruits of Devotion

By devotion all the desires of a person are sublimated, resulting in contentment; and he is therefore freed from the cycle of birth and death. His mind has no desires, because all his desires are fulfilled in remembrance of God. He loves everybody, since he loves God and thinks all as His sons.

Hatred and enmity vanish by means of Bhakti – Devotion. One remains intoxicated in devotion to the Lord, because the elixir-like sweetness of devotion keeps him indifferent to all pleasures and pains of the world. On meeting the Lord, one gets everything and therefore does not run after the world. He remains happy at the Lotus Feet of his Lord.

A devotee absorbed in love for His Lord is happy day and night, and does not desire anything else. He is full of love for his Beloved, for whom he has no thought of selfish love. Nothing else is needed by such a devotee.

One who tastes the fruit of devotion is fully satisfied, and for him the fruits of all other practices are tasteless.

Nothing appears sweet to a devotee except the Name of the Lord. I have discovered that all tastes are insipid compared to His remembrance.

Adi Granth

A devotee sees the Lord here; there and everywhere. He sacrifices himself to the Lord, and all his actions and religious observances are surrendered at his Feet. The goal of his life is confined to devotion to the Lord only.

By devotion all sins and bad actions are annihilated and the mind becomes pure. Actions devoid of faith and devotion, whether religious observances or austerities, do not purify one’s mind. Devotion is a natural tendency of the mind. By means of devotion all sins are washed away, because it is the sustaining factor of purity.

By devotion to the Lord, the entire attention of a devotee is dyed in remembrance of the Lord – sitting, rising, coming, going, sleeping, waking, eating, drinking – all these actions are surrendered to Him. As a result the devotee is freed from the shackles of the world.

So long as devotion is not awakened in our minds, we cannot be freed from the cycle of birth and death. A devotee ultimately merges in the Lord. His ego, which is the cause of his remaining in the cycle of birth and death, is destroyed, as his thoughts of „mine“ or „I-ness“ vanish. In this manner, his cycle of coming and going (birth and death) is finished.

A devotee is coloured in the dye of devotion. If a person is absorbed in some particular thing, he becomes one with it. If he devotes himself to Naam Bhakti – the practice of Shabd, the Sound Current or Word –, he achieves a superior kind of devotion to the Lord. Devotion frees one from fear, pleasure and pain, and brings instead bliss, peace of mind, satisfaction of the heart and contentment.

By becoming a selfless devotee one becomes detached permanently from the world. Devotion removes one from the dark labyrinth of the world and makes him pure. Even the Negative Power does not come near a devotee. Ego is destroyed, mind and body become pure, doubts are removed, and the mind is fully imbued with devotion. The devotee crosses all the three gunas and goes into Sahaj, the fourth stage.

One who has been asleep for so many births is awakened, his cycle of birth and death is finished, he crosses the ocean of this world, and achieves Salvation and Sahaj. In other words, he is able to reach his own Home, which is the highest region of Spirituality. Such devotees are able to meet the Lord, and the soul is merged in the Truth, is decorated like a bride, goes into the Court of the Lord and is honoured there.

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