In this sadhana bhakti (devotional practice), an aspirant has to practice devotion. In this practice, mainly he has to practice detaching his mind from the world and attaching it to God. Our mind is so badly attached to the world that, without detaching it from the material world, it is very, very hard to attach it to God.
That’s why, firstly, we start the practice of remembering God, attaching our mind to God. All the scriptures and Saints say the same thing: we have to start our practice of devotion by detaching our mind from the material world and attaching it to God. But Shree Maharaj Ji, who was given the title of Jagadguruttam (foremost among the Jagadgurus) after four Jagadgurus, simplified it according to the time.
This is Kali yug (the age of Kali). He knows that the people in this yug are so badly attached to this material world that, if they start with this process that they have to detach their mind from the material world first and then attach it to God,it will take a very, very, very long time. That’s why he says that you don’t have to detach your mind from the material world. Forget it. You cannot do it. Don’t detach your mind from the material world.
Then what should we do? Just attach your mind to God. Think about God. Chant the names, the pastimes, the attributes, etc., of God. Think about His attributes. Think about His pastimes as much as you can. Thus, you attach your mind. You have to practice attaching your mind to God. That’s all. But if our mind is attached to the material world, then how can we attach it? No. If you detach your mind completely, which is not possible without devotion, even if you say,
“Yes, I can detach. I am totally detached from the world!”
Even then, it’s not sufficient. You cannot attain the ultimate goal of life. You cannot attain peace. You cannot attain bliss. But if you attach your mind to God without trying to detach it from the world, then your mind will naturally become detached from the world.
You can understand it very simply. If you leave Austin, you are going to Dallas. You have to go to Dallas. You just leave Austin. If you have gone 50 miles away from here toward Dallas, it means you are 50 miles away from Austin and 50 miles closer to Dallas. When you reach Dallas, then you are totally away from Austin.
In the same way, we have to practice attaching our mind to God. That’s why we have to practice according to the instructions of our Guru (spiritual teacher). As I said yesterday,
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया । …
Tad viddhi praṇipāten paripraśnen sevayā …
- Gita 4.34 (partial)
“We have to follow the instructions of our Guru.”
Whatever instructions he gives, we have to follow them. That is sadhana (spiritual practice). And what will this sadhana do? It will purify the mind.
Our purification means anarth nivritti (अनर्थ निवृत्ति) - the removal of unwanted tendencies and obstacles). Anarth nivritti means detachment. When we love God, then naturally we will not love the material world. In the same ratio, our attachment to God will increase, and our attachment to the material world will decrease.
