{"id":1341,"date":"2015-11-16T16:18:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T16:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/batesonline.org\/triciablog\/?p=1341"},"modified":"2015-11-16T16:18:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T16:18:57","slug":"nov-15-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triciabatessmith.com:443\/index.php\/2015\/11\/16\/nov-15-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday 11-15-15 Devotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Sunday!
\n\u201cIf you overflow with your humanity divinity has to descend \u2013 it has no choice.\u201d ~ Sadhguru<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nThis week I was watching Sadhguru videos on Youtube.\u00a0 In one video a woman asked \u201cWhat is devotion?\u201d\u00a0 I thought to myself, \u2018yes I want to understand that too!\u2019\u00a0 This opened up for me a thread of videos of Sadhguru speaking about devotion.
\nI learned from Sadhguru that devotion is a quick path to be on but difficult as it requires life separate from society.\u00a0 He spoke of saints who were considered strange and troublesome to their families and community.\u00a0 Sadhguru was speaking with a class of students so he said that is why they teach lessons slowly \u2013 it is easier to be in the world this way.
\nI formed an image in my mind to understand the words Sadhguru gave \u2013 I returned to my tree of life analogy.
\nI like to think of myself as a leaf on the Jesus branch of the tree of God, the tree representing the Universe, All That Is.\u00a0 As a leaf I am finite, I come and go with the seasons but I\u2019m still part of the whole. Leaves have their form based on their experience with the outside world.\u00a0 They extend their reach toward the sun and turn green from sunlight. Their shape may be influenced by how they collect or shed rain water.\u00a0 But, a leaf that is a devotee has its focus on the tree of All That Is.\u00a0 This leaf is not going to move with the sunlight so it won\u2019t be so green.\u00a0 It will jut out strangely from the stem, angling inward toward the trunk instead of outward toward the sun.\u00a0 This may cause it to bump and conflict with the other leaves as they follow the angle of the sun.
\nI thought about how I admire the people of Faith that I\u2019ve learned about who hold strong devotion.\u00a0 I admire monks, nuns, orthodox Jews, and Muslims for their outward signs of daily devotion to God.\u00a0 I admire the Sufi for their focus on God as beloved.\u00a0 I realized that the path of the devotee is a strong desire within me.\u00a0 Perhaps this is why I\u2019ve had the experiences I have had with Jesus, my Sacred Heart, and seeing my light body.
\nI also feel my love for this world, mother Earth, and all the people and things upon her grow stronger each day. \u00a0I want to experience God in the faces of other humans.
\nI contemplated what Sadhguru said about the devotee path and the worldly path. I love my life and enjoy finding the sacred in the everyday things.\u00a0 And, I am drawn to the path of devotion.\u00a0 I thought, \u2018why can\u2019t I have both?\u2019
\nI told God I want both.
\nBy the Sunday evening I recognized the new lessons coming in.
\nBecause of a conversation at lunch I wanted to return to a website I had visited years ago when I first Googled Yogananda.\u00a0 I recalled the site home page showed pictures of the line of Yogananda\u2019s gurus which includes Jesus.\u00a0 A dear person to me sounds like he has put limits on Jesus so I wanted to track down the site in case I find cause to share it with this person. \u00a0I found the site at yogananda.com.au.
\nI was drawn into reading articles with the headings \u201cWhat is reality?\u201d and \u201cWho am I?\u201d as they felt relevant to the conversations today.\u00a0 The pages were full of talk of devotion so I knew this was why my mind brought me on this path.\u00a0 I learned a new term, Bhakti yoga; it is the path of devotion that I\u2019ve heard Sadhguru speak of. I am pleased to realize that I have been directed back to a website that re-unites me with a teacher to answer my request to know more. I am glad it is you Yogananda.
\n(It is amazing how the new lessons always seem to return to something I previously had a glimpse of but somehow knew to put aside until I was ready for the lesson!)
\nI read several pages on devotion but there is much to learn.\u00a0 I am excited to start this new course and practice with Yogananda as the teacher.
\nLove and devotion.
\nWhen I asked this morning to walk the path of devotion along with the pursuits of my everyday life, love and devotion were in the back of my mind.\u00a0 I want to continue to grow in the love and appreciation for all those people that are around me.\u00a0 And, I want to grow in Love with God.
\nNamaste\u2019
\n\u201cGod is the greatest lover our hearts can know.\u00a0 He loves to be pursued, because the only thing He hopes for is the love of His children. To receive their love is the sole purpose for which He sent forth creation. He has everything within Himself, except our love. He gave us free will to love Him or to love Him not. He wants us very much. That is why He sends His saints to show us the way back to Him.\u201d ~ Paramahansa Yogananda <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Sunday! \u201cIf you overflow with your humanity divinity has to descend \u2013 it has no choice.\u201d ~ Sadhguru This week I was watching Sadhguru videos on Youtube.\u00a0 In one video a woman asked \u201cWhat is devotion?\u201d\u00a0 I thought to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[25,51,74,93],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nDevotion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Devotion, free will to Love God\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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