Bhakti Through Eyes Of A Christian Brother

Bhakti is universal in its manifestation and practice, regardless of religion or spiritual traditions. The writings of devotees throughout the ages can inspire us to seek God as the Lord of all Truth and find spiritual salvation through Bhakti. An example of how omnipresent the Bhakti Marg is can be found in writings of Brother Lawrence , a Christian brother who lived during the 17th century in a Carmelite monastery in Paris.


Having fought in the Thirty Years' War, which devastated central Europe, Lawrence realised what matters most in the life of a Bhakt: "Let Him do what He pleases with me: i desire only Him, and to be wholly devoted to Him." To Brother Lawrence, it did not matter what became of him in life: Love for God should be there of its own accord, and we must carry out any worldly transaction in the spirit of Karm Yog - that is, without desire for results and only for the sake of loving God. Our inner aptitude should become that of any bhakt: get to know and surrender your life to the Lord.


But how do we get to know the Divine? As Lawrence says: We must know before we can love. To know God, we must often think of Him, and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure. The brother states clearly: Developing jnan as liberating knowledge of God is a prerequisite for Bhakti: We cannot approach God in devotion without the mind having a strong foothold in contemplation. If we practise thus, as Lawrence assures us, then Jnan and Bhakti Yog will go hand in hand.


As one progresses on the Bhakti Marg, applying the mind correctly becomes ever more important: "i began to live as if there was none but He and i in the world...i drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of God." Not only should the sole desire in life be God, but the mind should also be kept in a unified Focus on the Divine. As Krishn advises in the Gita: "...completely restraining the whole group of senses by the mind from all sides...having made the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything."


Immerse yourself in Atman, which in turn will lead you to God. However, there remains one last ingredient: Bhakti can never fulfil itself without the Grace of God. For Brother Lawrence, mukti is impossible if we are not willing to make spiritual sacrifices : how can we ask for it (grace), unless we are with Him? How can we be with Him unless our thoughts are ever of Him? How can He be in our thoughts unless we form a holy habit of abiding in His presence?


In regularly seeking communion with the Lord within, we develop the presence of God. Devotees such as Lawrence are an example of how the Bhakti Marg, practised in conjunction with Jnan and Karm Yog, can become a way to transcend everything and dissolve the ego in the experience of God. It does not matter which religion we belong to; simple words of the brother carry in them the universal application and message of Bhakti - seek by getting to know God.


Authored by: Swami Bhaktivenkateshwara