4 Bhakti Sadhana
Kedi: I want to do devotion practice, but why can’t I listen to bhajans?
Ganesh: Why do you want to do devotion practice?
Kedi: I want to know what it feels like to do devotion practice.
Ganesh: Why do you want to feel it?
Kedi: I am writing a religious scripture in which I also want to write a chapter on devotion. Without knowing devotion, I cannot write even a single word.
Ganesh: Whose devotion do you like the most?
Kedi: Ishvar Shiva.
Ganesh: You have come to the wrong place for devotion practice.
Kedi: What do you mean?
Ganesh: You like Shiva’s bhajans, and if you listen to Krishna’s bhajans in Vrindavan, whatever little devotion you have left will also disappear. Devotion practice is a very distant thing then.
Kedi: But I can’t listen to Shiva’s bhajans for long either. I like silence.
Ganesh: Then you have incarnated on the wrong planet. You don’t need devotion practice; you need to find the address of your real home.
Kedi: Should I go back home right now?
Ganesh: Finding the address of home means you should practise the kind of devotion in which you feel you are at home, not in some unfamiliar place.
Kedi: At my home, I do meditation practice and self-reflection. I cannot do devotion practice at home.
Ganesh: You keep saying “devotion practice” again and again. What is this devotion practice?
Kedi: Becoming a practitioner of devotion from a devotee, becoming a sadhu from a sadhak, becoming a saint from a sadhu, and becoming a sage from a saint — that is devotion practice.
Ganesh: I have never heard of such a thing till today. Who told you this?
Kedi: I joined all the words related to devotion and then understood the meaning of devotion practice.
Ganesh: But where are you in this? You have no devotion for Krishna; you are not Krishna’s devotee, you are not a practitioner, you are not a sadhu, you are not a saint, you are not a sage. Where are you in devotion practice?
Kedi: I came to Vrindavan precisely to find the answer to this question — which devotion practice is appropriate for me?
Ganesh: Practice is a later process. First, you need to know what devotion to God is.
Kedi: What is devotion to God?
Ganesh: Remembering God and loving the symbols associated with God — that is devotion to God.
Kedi: I have neither seen God nor met Him. How can anyone remember God then?
Ganesh: One can remember God through faith.
Kedi: What is faith?
Ganesh: When you hear about someone or something, or when you engage in self-reflection, that information starts feeling true to you even though you have not actually experienced it. Accepting that information as true is faith.
Kedi: I didn’t understand anything.
Ganesh: One day your friend tells you that he ate a royal vada pav at a big hotel — the pav had butter and cheese inside, sesame seeds, roasted onions, mint, the spiciest chilli chutney, and a very spicy potato vada. It was so enblissable to eat that his tongue was burning, his feet were dancing, his eyes were widening, and tears started flowing from the inner springs of his eyes. In reality, he had eaten a plain 15-rupee vada pav from a stall in front of that big hotel; he just exaggerated it to you. But you accepted that royal vada pav story as true and became stubborn about getting that royal vada pav. Accepting it as true without seeing or tasting the royal vada pav — that was your faith; your stubbornness to obtain it was your devotion; and the journey you would undertake to get that royal vada pav would be your practice.
Kedi: What is the difference between faith and belief?
Ganesh: When you have experienced something before, or you want validation or evidence for a truth, that is belief. When you have never experienced something before and still do not want validation or evidence for a truth, that is faith. Belief needs validation and evidence; faith needs nothing.
Kedi: I have not seen Shiva or Ganapati. All the stories related to Shiva and Ganapati seem false to me, yet my faith is in Shiva and Ganapati.
Ganesh: The highest devotion for Shiva is silent meditation, and the highest devotion for Ganapati is self-reflection.
Kedi: Ah, so that’s why I can’t listen to bhajans for long?
Ganesh: Yes. Devotion is different for every person according to their nature.
Kedi: Are there types of devotion?
Ganesh: There are four types of devotion—tantra, mantra, yantra, and dhyana (meditation).
Kedi: Which is my devotion?
Ganesh: Your devotion is dhyana (meditation devotion).
Kedi: How does one recognise which devotion a devotee practise?
Ganesh: Physical actions are tantra devotion; bhajan-kirtan is mantra devotion; idol worship is yantra devotion; and meditation/self-reflection is dhyana devotion.
Kedi: Can one devotee practise all types of devotion?
Ganesh: A devotee cannot practise all types of true devotion, but he can certainly pretend to do devotion.
Kedi: What does 'pretend devotion' mean?
Ganesh: You know that your devotion is dhyana devotion, and you cannot do mantra devotion, yet if you start singing bhajan-kirtan just to show others, that would be your pretence.
Kedi: Is pretending devotion wrong?
Ganesh: Pretending devotion to make your loved ones happy is not wrong, but pretending devotion and then believing it to be true devotion is wrong.
Kedi: When someone is doing fake devotion himself, why would he consider that fake devotion as real?
Ganesh: Some devotees do not feel devotional emotion from bhajan-kirtan, yet to please their loved ones and others, they join the bhajan, and they convince themselves that they are not acting but truly experiencing the bhajan, so their devotion is real. In reality, they should recognise their true devotion and adopt it. Therefore, following others’ devotion with a true heart also turns that devotion into pretence.
Kedi: I have seen some devotees crying during devotion. Why do they cry?
Ganesh: When I gave you the example of the royal vada pav, just hearing about it without seeing or eating it made your mouth water. Similarly, when devotion reaches its peak, tears automatically start flowing from the eyes.
Kedi: Which devotion should I practise to reach the peak of devotion?
Ganesh: Dhyana devotion.
Kedi: How do I practise dhyana devotion?
Ganesh: You have been practising dhyana devotion since the age of 11. The fact that you can talk to me right now is also a result of dhyana devotion practice. You are forgetful; I have to keep reminding you. I have already told you about devotion and practice four times till now; you keep forgetting, and I have to explain from the beginning.
Kedi: Do I know about Chaturmas?
Ganesh: Yes. From the Shukla Ekadashi of Ashadh month to the Shukla Ekadashi of Kartik month — these four months when the rainy season occurs in India — this period is called Chaturmas. During Chaturmas, no sadhu undertakes religious pilgrimage; he stays in one place and practises devotion and studies scriptures.
Kedi: Is Chaturmas limited only to India, or is it for the whole world?
Ganesh: Chaturmas is related only to Indian sadhus, to avoid travelling during the rains and to avoid performing any rituals during the rainy season. Ancient sages prescribed it for this reason.
Kedi: Does Chaturmas have any relation to Sanatan Dharma?
Ganesh: Chaturmas is a subject related to the Hindu religion and Vaishnava tradition, not to Sanatan Dharma, which does not apply to all humans in the world.
Kedi: Should I observe Chaturmas?
Ganesh: No. You are not a sadhu; you are not associated with any sect. You have no need to observe Chaturmas.
Kedi: Are Sanatan Dharma and the Hindu religion different?
Ganesh: Sanatan Dharma is connected to the whole world; the Hindu religion is connected to India. Dharma is related to the human being, and religion is related to society and nation.
Kedi: What are Dharma and religion?
Ganesh: Do you want to know about Dharma religion or about devotion practice?
Kedi: Devotion practice. If my nature were tantra devotion, what would my practice be?
Ganesh: You would go on foot pilgrimages, do many circumambulations of temples, perform havan, remain fixed in one place and do tapas — that would be your tantra practice.
Kedi: How can merely walking on pilgrimage be a tantra practice?
Ganesh: Sitting in one place meditating does not awaken devotion in your mind. When you walk on pilgrimage, devotional feeling awakens in you during that journey, and tears of devotion come to your eyes — that would be your tantra practice.
Kedi: If my nature were mantra devotion, what would my practice be?
Ganesh: You would chant mantras and the divine name, do bhajan-kirtan, listen to devotional songs, and dance and sway to devotional songs — that would be your mantra practice.
Kedi: How can merely doing bhajan-kirtan be mantra practice?
Ganesh: Merely doing idol worship does not awaken devotion in your mind. When you do bhajan-kirtan, devotional feeling awakens in your mind while singing, and tears of devotion come to your eyes — that would be your mantra practice.
Kedi: If my nature were yantra devotion, what would my practice be?
Ganesh: You would worship idols, adorn the idol, perform jalabhishek, offer flowers to the idol, and make pictures and idols of God — that would be your yantra practice.
Kedi: How can merely making pictures of God be yantra practice?
Ganesh: Merely doing bhajan-kirtan does not awaken devotion in your mind. When you make a picture of God, devotional feeling awakens in your mind while creating the picture, and tears of devotion come to your eyes — that would be your yantra practice.
Kedi: Right now, I am doing meditation practice, but tomorrow I might forget to do it and have to start meditation practice from the beginning. How can I do meditation practice then?
Ganesh: First, you need to understand the types of meditation practice.
Kedi: How many types of meditation practice are there?
Ganesh: There are two types of meditation practice — external meditation practice and internal meditation practice.
Kedi: What is external meditation practice?
Ganesh: Knowing the cause behind external events happening, knowing the reason behind the existence of objects and subjects visible around you — all this is external meditation practice.
Kedi: I didn’t understand events, objects, or existence.
Ganesh: In front of you in the river, some people are taking just 1-2 dips and coming out immediately, while some people have been bathing in the river for the last 10-20 minutes — this is an event. Understanding why this is happening is external meditation practice. Everyone’s clothes are different; everyone has different objects. Knowing the reason and necessity for making those objects is external meditation practice.
Kedi: What will happen by knowing the reason for events and objects?
Ganesh: You will come to know the existence of the God who created that event and gave the intelligence to make that object, and through this very external meditation practice you will be able to do devotion to God.
Kedi: What is internal meditation practice?
Ganesh: When influenced by any external event or object, the emotions or thoughts that arise in your mind — knowing the existence and outcome of those emotions and thoughts is internal meditation practice.
Kedi: What will happen by knowing emotions and thoughts?
Ganesh: The emotions that God has generated within you, the thoughts that He has established in your intellect—by knowing the nature of those emotions and thoughts, you will come to know the nature of God. Through this very internal meditation practice you will be able to do devotion to God.
Note: This content represents one half of a chapter from Kedi Purana, a 64-chapter work authored by Kedi Ganapati.
Kedi Purana is a modern Purana of the present and final Kaliyuga of the current Kalpa.
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