Ecstasy Intoxication Devotion

Devotion is the urge to merge with the divine!
Each one of us is a natural lover; it is the easiest thing to be…
Each one of us attempts to express it differently, yet love cannot be expressed fully…
Each one of us has a definition of love, at different times, for different people, but love cannot be defined…
Each one of us loves someone or something, so deeply, so passionately, but love cannot be found in the finite…

Where are You, my love, for whom I seek and for whom my soul cries? Since eons I have longed for you…
O my beloved, quench this thirst so I may merge with You and be One and Whole!
There is none other than You in all creation, this "I" will merge with the true me then roam free and high!
Till then I sing in a trance of love…Till then I dance in a play of love. The angels envy me; I am here in your company, and experience the colors of love in ecstasy!

At the pinnacle of devotion is liberation
At the pinnacle of knowledge is Divine Love
In Divine Love knowledge is inherent
Without love, knowledge is meaningless…

Worshiping the divine is a form of devotion, and devotion is the nectar of life. In fact devotion, or love, is our true essence, and everything in life is an expression of our love. So I need to realize this great love within me. What is the way back home? Is it through devotion and worship?

Like sweetness is to sugar, devotion is to me. The only reason I in this human body is to experience devotion. Liberation I can gain even after I leave the body. Nothing exists in this world for me except for my beloved Krishna. The moment I remember Him, His presence is with me. My yearning becomes devotion, my conversations become poetry, our union becomes bliss. Those who have experienced will understand; for those who haven't: I can't explain! Fortunate are those who in human birth have felt this devotion for the Lord.

The most brilliant expression of consciousness is devotion. God created a mirror to see His love, and the reflection was a beautiful maiden brimming with devotion. In this divine love God embedded the highest wisdom, an essence of Himself. Devotion is an intense longing for the beloved. Devotion is an intoxication with the nectar of divine love, the cup of the heart overflowing with bliss. Without the juice of devotion, all knowledge, all sadhana (spiritual practices) are dead and dry like sawdust. A perfect relationship has an equal balance of both love and respect. Devotion is that perfect relationship with the divine, it is the most intimate with the deepest reverence.

Love seeks devotion, devotion seeks bliss. I mistake these human emotions to be His love, like a mirage it glimmers in the hot dry sand, I chase it till I get tired, exhausted I fall down. The moment my vision shifts to Him, Giridhari, that moment there is a coolness, bliss. That instant there is freedom, expansion, relief, and my thirst is quenched! That emptiness inside is filled in an instant with immense love. No matter how much I try to express my love for Him it is incomplete. That strong urge for His presence, that pleading and prayer, my soul cries, "Oh Krishna! Be with me! Come to me my Govind Giridhari!". Tears of love and longing roll down my face...

There are different stages a devotee evolves through. First there is a need for a form, as the heart and mind are filled only in Him, and the devotee sees the divine in all forms and everywhere. The devotee then sees the divine as the essence behind all of creation and worships Him as the formless. As the devotee merges and dissolves she becomes one with the divine. This is the ultimate knowledge, and at the climax of devotion there is only this ultimate truth of Oneness.
Devotion is unconditional love between me and the divine, and at the peak of devotion, the merging into the divine, I become unconditional love, bliss.

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