Q&A: Devotion
Devotion
Question: Why is devotion to the Divine important?
Mother Meera: If you have devotion you will get everything. (A1, p105)
Q: How does one grow in devotion?
MM: One should have sincere aspiration to develop devotion and pray sincerely to the Divine. (A1, p105)
Q: How should we practice bhakti, devotion?
MM: It is not necessary to offer flowers and incense. Whatever you do can be offered without expectation of return. Love your master with sincerity and surrender. (A1, p107)
Q: How does bhakti become non-dual?
MM: Duality exists until we merge in the Divine;then there is only the One. As love grows toward the master we merge gradually in the Divine. The process goes slowly so that we can have a growing taste of the Divine. If it doesn’t go slowly then the body cannot feel it. If we don’t feel it then the devotion we need for our transformation doesn’t grow. When we get complete realization then every aspect of us goes into the Divine. (A1, p109)
Q: When we begin to feel the extraordinary intensity of your love for us, does this mean we are beginning to return it?
MM: There is only one love and one energy. When you are feeling it, you are beginning to understand
it. (A1, p108)
Surrender
Q: What is surrender?
MM: To surrender is to offer whatever you do to the Divine and to follow scrupulously what the wise tell you. One important form of surrender is to live by the rules of whatever religion you choose. (A1, p110)
Q: By teaching in silence and by bringing down the force of the Paramatman Light you are asking for a very deep and very intense surrender. Would you help us to understand clearly what surrender is?
MM: To offer everything to the Divine is surrender. To give our lives to the Divine is surrender. Simplicity is surrender. When we are simple the ego will dissolve by itself; when we are simple the answers will come. Always to remember, no matter how great we are, that there is something greater – the Divine – is surrender. Not to be ego- istic is surrender. To be humble is surrender. (109)
Q: Isn’t «surrendering» being weak?
MM: No. Real surrender is not weakness. It is the strongest thing a man can do. You have to be strong to give away everything, (A1, p110)
Q: What does it mean when Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita to give up the fruits of all actions?
MM: If you think, «I do this action,» you become egotistic. Instead of being egotistic, offer everything to the Divine. If you offer everything to the Divine, there is no ego. If there is no ego you become divine. (A1, p113)
Transformation
Q: Can one characterize the spiritual path guided by the feminine energy as one of transformation rather than one of transcendence?
MM: No. Transformation is one aspect of the process. Transcendence, union with the Divine, is the primary aim of the human being. The goal of the Divine Personality or Avatar is to help the human being to be in the Divine. Transformation is not the final aim – but it enables all people to attain union with God more easily. (A1, p23)
Q: The transformation of the world includes changing the most banal and difficult aspects of life, doesn’t it?
MM: It would not be transformation if it did not mean that. Nothing must be avoided. Those who love me will work with everything in the world – all the darkness and all the difficulties. Do people imagine I do not work, or that the realized man does not work? Divine work is the hardest work, and it is without end. I am asking people to take on the whole difficulty of matter and of reality. I have come in a body to show that this is possible. My grace and help and Light are there but man must also do the work. People should not come to me if they just want to escape something. I have not come only to be a refuge; I have also come to give the joy and strength necessary for change. There are no quick answers and easy solutions. (A1, p24)
*A1 refers to Mother Meera, Answers Part 1 , A2 to Mother Meera, Answers Part 2