How can one recognize a devotee?

[dattaswami]

How can one  recognize a devotee?

Ans. A devotee is like a student. A student varies in his level of study starting from LKG to PG level. The level is important. The knowledge generates devotion and devotion generates practical service. The intensity in the practical service indicates the intensity of the devotion, which in turn indicates the level of the knowledge.  The extent of sacrifice in the practical service indicates the extent of real love on God. The real love on your child is indicated by your practical service to the child done through sacrifice of work and sacrifice of fruit of work. Hanuman is considered to be the real and best devotee of God. Throughout the Valmiki Ramayana, there is no single mention of chanting the name of God or singing devotional songs etc. which constitute the theoretical devotion. Sundara Kanda elaborates the practical service done by Hanuman in the work of God. The most important point is that Hanuman did all the practical service to his contemporary human incarnation, which was Rama. He did not serve the statues and photos of the past human incarnations like Vamana, Parashurama etc. or the statues and photos of the energetic forms of the upper world like Vishnu, Shiva etc.

Gopikas also served Krishna who was their contemporary human incarnation and did not serve the statue or photo of the past human incarnation like Rama. Gopikas served Krishna by sacrificing the fruit of their work, which was butter. They buttered Krishna through the real butter and not through words and feelings (theoretical devotion)! The practical service becomes meaningful in the case of live human form of God only.  It is meaningless in the case of inert statues and photos because the fruit of the practical service goes to the priest and not to the God directly. Hence the devotee of the contemporary human incarnation alone is devoid of ego and jealousy towards the co-human form and such a devotee alone can be recognized as the real devotee. Devotion is to be judged by the logical basic knowledge and not by the extent of ignorant emotion.

[Suchi]

I observe fast on every thursday for Vishnu Bhagwan and do not eat anything till evening. Does it show that I am his devotee!!

[Greyfox]

Answer.  In Alaska, it is easy   See what is printed on one's hat or t-shirt, and you can often get an idea of what he or she is devoted to.

In my experience, however, the most spiritual tend to keep quiet about it.

[dattaswami]

I observe fast on every thursday for Vishnu Bhagwan and do not eat anything till evening. Does it show that I am his devotee!!

Generally we do some service to the Lord and expect something good in return from the Lord. This is the norm of the general worldly business. The specialty of Lord Datta is that He announces His policy in the beginning itself. His policy is one-way traffic. You have to do service to Him but He will not do anything good in return. Thus the business completely disappears. At this stage itself majority of the devotees drop out. Some devotees come to Him prepared for doing the service without any good fruit in return. After some time He opens His second policy. This policy is two-way traffic but it is different from our two-way traffic. He starts doing bad for our service. As the devotees press His feet He will be beating them with His stick. This is the true love.

The devotee must have the divine knowledge to understand Lord Datta. By giving such troubles He is clearing all the sins. In clearing the sins He pays ninety-nine percent and the doer must pay one percent according to the rule of minimum justice. He appears to be giving troubles but actually He is clearing the sins. Then why He is not opening this truth. If the truth is not opened then only the true love exists. In the true love, one loves in spite of troubles from the other side. If the truth is opened this true love disappears. We will realize that these troubles are for his benefit only. Then we will tolerate the troubles from that angle. In such case it cannot be true love. Therefore Lord Datta maintains the secrecy. After clearing the sins, He will give boons. Without curing the fever, strong food should not be given. If it is given the patient dies. The demons were destroyed by such boons. There are three types of devotees. The low-level devotee asks for a boon like a demon. He does not give any freedom to the Lord. He decides that something is good for him and asks the Lord to give it.

The devotee acts like a master and is indirectly treating the Lord as his servant. The Master asks the servant to do a particular thing without any comment. The middle class devotees ask the Lord to do whatever is good for them. They give some freedom to the Lord in deciding, which is good and which is bad for them. Upto this point they give freedom to the Lord. After this point the Lord has no freedom and He has to do good only. Thus these devotees give 50 percent freedom to the Lord. The best devotee gives 100 percent freedom to the Lord. He asks the Lord to do whatever the Lord likes. This devotee is prepared to receive the bad also if it can please the Lord. His only aim is that the Lord should be pleased by doing whatever He likes. This devotee feels that he is only an inert means for the play of the Lord by which the Lord is entertained. A player beats the ball by foot and is entertained. The devotee also likes to receive continuous sufferings, if such sufferings can entertain the Lord.

When Jesus was doing the last prayer, He tried to avoid the future agony of death. For a moment He was vibrated with the forthcoming agony of crucification. But immediately He regained His originality and ended the prayer by saying “Let Thy will will be done”. He said finally that He is prepared to suffer if that is the will of the Lord. This is the best devotion. Lord Datta starts giving small troubles, which means that He is clearing the small sins. If the devotee is firm in his faith, then Datta starts clearing big sins. That means the small troubles will be slowly magnified into big troubles. When He clears your pronote of Rs. 100/- (Rs = $), He pays ninety-nine rupees and you will have to pay Re. 1/-. Then He starts clearing your pronote of one thousand rupees and then you have to pay Rs.10/-.

You have to pay one percent of your sin according to the least expectation of the Justice. In the first stage Lord Datta keeps silent without doing any good for your service. This is the test of Brahma. This is a sort of initial training for the further tests. Then Datta starts troubling you for your service. The clearance of small sins is the test of Vishnu. In the third stage big sins are cleared and your troubles are intensified. This is the third test of Rudra. From one angle these are the tests to find out the strength of your faith and truthness in your love. In another angle these tests are secret clearance of your sins and your purification to make you eligible for His grace. Only the best devotee can stand before the special Lord Datta. Datta is true God and His preachings are true. The benefit you get also is true. The real Sun can remove the real darkness by his real light and imaginary Sun cannot remove the real darkness.

You are spending lot of your time and energy in analyzing these worldly affairs. You are egoistic and you think that you are intelligent to solve the worldly affairs. By your intelligence and intensified analysis through long discussions, you will find that the worldly affair about which, you have taken so much care utterly flops at the end. If you spend even one-tenth of that time and that energy in the service and devotion on Lord Datta, your worldly issue succeeds beyond your imagination. In fact the servants of Lord Datta attend your worldly affairs. These worldly matters are below His level. His level of work starts when you go to the hell after the death. He will speak to Lord of the hell not to enquire about you and close the file since you are in His service. Thus you are blessed in this world and also in the upper world. Your faith is not 100 percent. To practice this if you are in His constant devotion all your duties will be also discharged by the power of Lord Datta in a fraction of second and in an excellent manner. One can test this concept in the case of one worldly affair and see whether what I say is correct or not?

You can test this in one case and you will experience the truth of My preachings.

[dattaswami]

I observe fast on every thursday for Vishnu Bhagwan and do not eat anything till evening. Does it show that I am his devotee!!

Leaving the concept of the central Lord who is the ruler of the souls, breathing exercises (Pranayama), meditation upon the soul, self-realization etc., are only beating around the bush. Without the logical establishment of the concept of one God in all the religions, Universal Spirituality, one family of all the human beings, world peace etc are only the illusory castles or the real castles built upon the ground without the foundation. All such aims will be either unreal or temporary realities only in practice.

One may achieve the oneness of the human beings temporarily during the time of his preaching the audience. Such oneness is like the oneness of human beings achieved during the deep sleep of all the human beings for which no trace of preaching is required. When you ask all to love each other without hatred, it is impractical in the practical life of ordinary human beings. The preacher is a saint and has no interaction with society that can lead to anger and hatred. But I am an employee doing my duties sincerely without any trace of corruption.

But several ignorant people are angry with me for not favoring them and become my enemies in spite of my several appeals. It is easy to preach the Universal Brotherhood for a saint but it is impossible to practice it for an ordinary employee in the world. What is the solution for this? The only solution is to attack this issue at the level of intelligence by analysis and there is no use of attempting at the level of mind with love and appeal. The intelligence (Buddhi) is the driver of the body (Vehicle) and leads the soul (Owner). You have to guide the driver and not the inert vehicle or the incapable owner.

If you can establish the concept of one God in all religions and convince all the drivers of the human bodies, the unity and peace is sure to come forever.