Devotion

Devotion is the purest, quickest, and simplest way to realize the nature of mind and all things. As we progress in it, the process reveals itself as wonderfully interdependent: We, from our side, try continually to generate devotion, which itself generates glimpses of the nature of mind, and these glimpses only enhance and deepen our devotion to the master who is inspiring us. So in the end devotion springs out of wisdom: devotion and living experience of the nature of mind become inseparable and inspire each other.

Glimpse After Glimpse,

Sogyal Rinpoche

~

     My reticence to adhere to any guru or “master” is based on a spirit of individualism that tells me I am separate from the rest of humanity. This principle of what I thought of as submission to another human being was anathema to everything I knew of after observing/experiencing a wide variety of cults. Humility awoke me to understand that devotion to a guru, a teacher, a sponsor or fellow traveler, is no different from devotion to any other human being. Self-centeredness protected and empowered me up to a point but it was a snake that eventually began eating its own tail. I am grateful to it because it was an inflated ego that had to be smashed in order to “get it” and it could not be smashed until it had been so pumped up it was going to explode on its own anyway.

    It is a strange paradox in that the less self-centered I become the more my individuality is expressed through a peculiar humility that grants me the confidence to face life on life’s terms. When I put my hands together and nod to greet another sentient being it is an act of devotion to the Heart of Compassion that gives me the power absolutely necessary to be myself.

geo 5,192