“As you are all aware I am talking about different dimensions of Bhakthi.”

As you are all aware I am talking about different dimensions of Bhakthi. I was talking about the Sacred Sentiments, Bhakthi, from different dimensions and angles. Today we will talk about the important part of Bhakthi: Sacred Sentiments.

I have some Sacred Sentiments from different great masters. Something from Akkamahadevi from Karnataka, something from Narada Bhakthi Sutras, something from Baul songs, something from Maanikyavaasagar from Tamil Nadu. All disciples from Ramana Maharshi again & again asked him, “Please talk about the ‘Akshara Mana Malai’ you wrote, meaning the “beautiful garland of letters.”

Again and again people are pestering him, please give meaning for it. About prema bhaava and madhura bhaava. Again & again they asked him to explain. He explained, “There are some things, if spoken, it will be degraded. That’s all. The very word will degrade it. Will make it dirty. Either you should just understand and keep quiet or just deny the very existence of it. But if you start speaking the whole joy will be lost, it will become dirty. It will be reduced to words which can be given any meaning.”

So again and again he avoided talking about his great ecstatic love with Shiva. Then one disciple asked him, “If it is so sacred, secret why did you sing it about and share it with us?” Ramana Maharshi says -

“I did not sing for public, I sang for Shiva. Only a few people were around me when I sang it. Those few people I considered were an extension of me, so I sang.” Same way, when maanikayavaasagar was asked to give meaning to Thiruvasagam, he just smiled and showed Nataraja, just climbed those steps and disappeared into him. I can understand surely it too sacred to verbalize. Surely you can’t reduce it by verbalizing. Even I can’t verbalize what is the great ecstatic Prema Bhakthi. Maybe I can inspire you all and share a few techniques and definitions, so I want to make it very clear, I am not defining Prema Bhakthi or talking about it. I am only giving you a few techniques to achieve Prema Bhakthi. That’s all.

Another great saint and poetess Akkamahadevi wrote (in Kannada):

Nelada marea Nidhanadhante

Phalada marea Ruchiyante

Thilada Marea Thailadhante

Marada Marea Tejidhante

Bhavade marea Brahmanagishta

Chennamakikarjunanu Nilavanaru Ariyavarudu

The meaning is:

Like treasure hidden in ground

Taste in the fruit

Gold in the rock

Oil in the seed

The absolute is hidden away in the heart

No one can know the ways of Chennamallikarjuna

Akka Mahadevi is one of the great prema bhakthas, lived like a child in ecstasy. She sings it is hidden so deeply that you can’t sing about it. Very true!

Ramakrishna says if you go to a feast before the food was served there will be a lot of talking. When the food is served the noise will come down. You will only hear the noise of asking for a little more rice, one more laddu, one more vada. But after a few minutes even that will not be heard. Ramakrishna says only the chop chop chop of food being chewed and tasted in the mouth. Or the leaf on the plate – only that will be heard.

I can say these great Sacred Sentiments, they are neither the noise of gossip, nor the noise of ‘get the ladu’, It is the noise of that chewing - chop chop chop!

Akkamahadevi had nothing to tell but she has something to sing. It is too much. See if you are too much in stress you don’t want to tell, but your face will tell, will show it. Same way Akkamahadevi doesn’t want to tell anything. She can’t, it is too much. But same way she can’t keep quiet it is too much inside. She is just singing she has nothing to tell but lots to sing.

(He repeats the song then translates)

Like treasure hidden in ground

Taste in the fruit

Gold in the rock

Oil in the seed

The absolute is hidden away in the heart

No one can know the ways of Chennamallikarjuna

She is not telling anything in this, there is no sense, no meaning. The only thing she is telling finally is that ‘the ultimate is hidden in your heart’. There is nothing else to tell.

Then why not tell that in two words, why tell it in such a big poem? You cannot tell it simply because it is too much. When you are possessed with that experience, anything you do is poetry.

Aandaal as you all know the story everyday she will wear the garland made for Vishnu. One day the father of course who brought her up we don’t know who is the physical father, biological father, we only know Periyaalvaar who brought her up - he caught her wearing the garland. So he made a new garland for Vishnu and took it and put it on him, but it fell off, over and over it fell off. Vishnu does not want that garland. He wanted only the garland that she was wearing!

Somebody asks her what do you mean by wearing the garland meant for Vishnu or Krishna? She says - “no, I am wearing it for his pleasure. I am beautifying my body for him because he is going to see me, enjoy me, experience me. She has no difference, no more independent existence. Even her body is offered to him as Krishna prasadam, naivedyam offered to Krishna. Achala murthy was the statue and Aandaal was sachala murthy. Because there was nothing inside aandaal but Krishna.

That’s why Krishna couldn’t feel it was a separate body. “Let me wear the garland that was on her body”.

So Akka Mahadevi has nothing to tell but she has to tell something so that she expresses her extraordinary ecstasy. When you are in bhakthi you don’t possess bhakthi – bhakthi possesses you! It is not like one more thing you have in your house I have one more thing called Bhakthi. Bhakthi owns you not you own it. When you own it – it is managed bhakthi. When bhakthi owns you it is real bhakthi, prema bhakthi.

She sings just like the milk sugar cane juice and ghee. If all 3 are added how sweet it will be. Same way the sweet happens constantly in the hearts of my devotees when they remember me. The joy and ecstasy, such light being, such an ecstatic being you will have.

Sometime I go on avoid the subject by smiling. That’s what I’m doing because the subject is too much. How do you explain this tamil verse “in the heart of the devotee like honey you go on oozing out.” You can’t explain, either you experience it or you just do not know the existence of it. It is like having the eye or not having the eye. That’s all! It is like being born blind and singing the glory of a rainbow to the born blind man, ‘Oh, there is violet, then blue, there is green and yellow. What will happen? That blind person will get irritated with you and throw stones at you. That’s why so much religious persecution.

A King with so much sufferings will be unhappy. But there are beggars singing in the street with nothing in hand (quotes a tamil poem). That guy is not keeping quiet. It looks like making fun of king so king gets threatened and put him in prison.What to do you have to be in prison for 52 days. And in prison this guy is not depressed, sitting there also he’s singing ☺

(Sang a song in Tamil, while crowd laughed and clapped)

He’s not keeping quiet. Sometime singing about Bhakthi becomes dangerous. Because it is actually, I tell you bhaktas are aliens, they don’t belong to this planet. See it is some non-mechanical parts of brain get awakened. I tell you once Bhakthi gets awakened, you can’t even talk to the common man. I have devotees who can’t go to parties and talk about anything else. Nothing in common to talk. What will you do?

People want to talk about shares, stocks, sarees, jewellery. But here the jewellery you wear is energy bead, saree you wear is normal white ashram sari, and all you know about is Swamiji and his programs – what his last program was and when his next program is. That’s all! It is difficult, not for you for others. It is not like you renounce them. It is like they renounce you!

Just understand, somebody he’s thinking he’s the king of whole country. But an ordinary old guys Thirunavukkarasar who has no property and goes to temples - all he holds is one small tool to clean the grass, ground, that’s the only job he’ll do is clean floor in temple, do some service and sing about Shiva. But this guy is so charismatic and ecstatic. Wherever he goes thousands gather. Kings can’t tolerate somebody gathering thousands because even by paying they can’t gather thousands.

And here is somebody, some young guy, talking something and 1000s are gathering and paying money also! Too much! Come on put him in prison. But even there nothing can be done he is sitting there also in ecstasy, joy.

Bhakthi is awakening of the non-mechanical parts of brain. ‘Till the end neither I nor somebody can explain to you the meaning of these verses. I can just translate them and say - “till the end you ooze out like honey from the heart.” What can you understand? Honey, heart, try to create a visualization. If really honey oozes from heart you need bypass surgery. Or open heart.

How will you explain? It is only the ecstasy which can sing. For Prema Bhakthi explanation is not possible, only experience is possible. Maybe how my eyes expand when I utter these words. How my throat chokes when I sing these verses, the joy my body expresses, and the courage my being radiates with this great words, these Sacred Sentiments, maybe that experience be transmitted to you. Maybe I hope that I can transmit this into you. That is the only reason I go on singing, talking every morning. Otherwise there is no other way or reason why so many words should be used to sing about something that can never be sung, never be explained.

Maybe I’ll try to define one or two things from the Narada Bhakthi Sutras. I read 1000s of books in 3-4 languages, only one book in my experience does not talk about the subject at all about which the book is supposed to talk. Yoga Sutras talk about Yoga, Brahmasutras talks about Brahma. But this one Narada Bhakthi sutras does not speak about Bhakthi. Until the end he goes on beating around the bush because the bush itself can’t be beaten. It is like he stands and takes photo from this corner and that but till the end can’t create a portrait of the person. Understand no one can create portrait of Bhakthi. Can take many photos and say this is best.

Here is one snap from one corner from Narada Bhakthi Sutras: The essential characteristics of Bhakthi are the consecration of all activities by complete self surrender to him and extreme anguish if he were to be forgotten.

Oh God! He is describing the deep patience and passion – complete self surrender and extreme anguish if he were to be forgotten! Complete patience – surrender an intense passion seeking is the essence of this sutra.

Again I am also beating around the bush because the bush cannot be beaten. It can only be different sides, directions, different explanations. But experience has to happen.

The Bhakthi Spurana program, BSP is real way to experience this. It can give you this experience.

Blessings.