The mindset needed in a true devotee, a true seeker. The deepest transformation that has to happen

Sri Sri Bhajaan Brahmachari

Years later, Bhajan Brahmachari told his disciples and devotees at the ashram another story of his time in the Himalayas. One day after returning from begging for food, he returned to his cottage and finished cooking. He then want to fetch some drinking water. As he returned with water, he found a dog eating the food that he had left on a leaf plate. The rice was steaming hot. Since dogs cannot normally eat such hot food, he was awed to see the dog eating the hot food without any discomfort or pain. Bhajan realized that this was no ordinary dog. He folded his hands and prayed to the Lord, "Thy will be done." The dog left after eating his fill.

Bhajan concluded that it must be the wish of the Lord that he fast that day. He went inside the cottage, pulled his blanket out and lay down for a while, then got up to do his mantrajapa and meditation.

Suddenly there was a knocking at his cottage door, followed by a stranger's voice asking, "Is there anyone inside?" Bhajan replied, "Yes, I am here." The voice said, "Today is the birth anniversary of Maharaja of Burdwan estate. I have come to give food and clothes to all of the sadhus." He handed Bhajan freshly cooked food and a new cloth.

Bhajan had had no complaint at the thought of needing to fast. By this time, he saw even the most minor happening in daily life as a manifestation of divine will, the same will that runs the myriad universes. His heart swelled with love at the Lord's compassion in sending food, knowing that Bhajan would go without, since sadhus did not cook twice on the same day. His only cloth was by then torn in many places. With no money of his own and never even touching money, he had no means to replace the cloth. He was overwhelmed with gratitude for such tender and personal divine attendance to his needs.

This episode highlights how true surrender and devotion work. When directed to the all compassionate Master, they are met with constant miracles. Most people in the world driven by the dictates of the illusioned mind, believe that by working hard and earning money, they take care of themselves. But Bhajan surrendered to the divine will, accepting that his only food had been eaten by a dog. And even though he had been ready to go without, his Divine Mother was not ready for that. She sent someone to the doorstep of Her beloved child not only with food, but also with a much-needed new cloth.

The seeker here was not even praying for food or clothing. The Mother was granting a deeper prayer to one who is surrendered to Her. Her responsibility is to provide food or anything else that is needed for one who is totally dependent on the divine. This dependence of surrender is the deepest transformation that has to happen in this path. When the individual self is surrendered at the altar of the divine will, then nothing remains as individual will or effort for anything. It is not just an intellectual understanding about the glory of surrender. As aspirant of the path of Truth has to prove that his or her faith in the benevolence of the Lord is never shaken when he or she is thrown into situations which pose a difficult challenge.

In spiritual practice, one aligns oneself with the universal will and tries to see it's unseen hand in every little thing that happens, however unpredictable, in this transitory world. The goal of spiritual practice is to awaken to the reality of the higher world both within and without, and to realize that true security and love can come only from the One who is Love Herself.

Bhajan Brahmachari brings a model of a true saint in the making. He reveals the mindset needed in a true devotee, a true seeker. There are many who renounce the world and run off to Himalayas to become a sadhu or wandering mendicant after experiencing a great loss or failure. They are driven by ego, running from one way of life to another as an escape rather than from deep yearning for the divine light, for God vision. Ego is very deceptive. Many of the seekers escape to a life of monastery or mountains and put the garb of a renunciate monk and get trapped by unconscious surrender to their subconscious programs of repressed desires. Very few who renounce the worldly life and go into seclusion are driven by intense passion to experience the truth beyond all the superficialities of life. They are the ones who overcome the urges of the physical body though their constant contemplation of the higher light and the joy of inner silence attained through hours of meditation.

A true seeker has single pointed devotion towards the path and the goal. The true seeker never compromises with the truth. Truth has only one price and that is Truth.

Not many people can manage to stay on this arduous path for long. The hardships are too great, too exacting. They return to the security and self-effort of the material world. For those who are ready, who come due to the karma of previous births, their sadhana and practice will sustain them through the difficulties and trials of the path. They never give up. They know that the path demands selflessness. This path demands total self-effacement, self-giving. It is a path of sacrifice. It is not a path of attainment and acquiring gifts. They have nothing to gain, nothing to lose. They are on the path to reach the point where ultimate reality reveals itself in the depth of one's own consciousness.

Over a short period of time, Bhajan gradually reached that dimension of utter surrender to the Mother Divine.

The most difficult part of the journey is to surrender the ego at the altar of the divine, to the Guru, to God. Bhajan came to the world prepared for that leap of consciousness. It happened naturally, spontaneously. He went through the process of inner transformation quickly because his soul had traveled through all these paths in previous incarnations. He came to this world as a prepared soul, ready for ultimate realization. The fact remains, however, even when soul comes prepared for the ultimate realization, it must pass through every stage, all the phases, to ripen. Here in Himalayas, on the bank of the Holy Ganges, Bhajan moved through all those layers and levels quite naturally, traversing the most arduous, diverse streams of practices in the shortest possible time. 

What is critical is pure devotional surrender and deep commitment to daily, consistent practice without setting the mind on any results. As Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, "You have a right for the action, but not to the results thereof." A true seeker of God follows this instruction, doing all the penance and practices according to the instructions of the Master or Guru without clinging to any result along the way. 

As the days rolled by in Bhajan's isolated little nest in the mountains, he went deeper and deeper in the realms of meditative silence. Going once a day to beg for food, he came back, cooked it, offered it to his Beloved before eating it. Other than this little chore of maintaining his physical body, he spent all day and night meditating, remaining in a state of deep inner communion, taking only a few hours of sleep. Even his nights were spent in a state of self-absorption, in samadhi, blissful union with the Divine.