People often say, “I am not good enough to worship the Lord. I do not know how to start. I am waiting for his blessings.” But wise people do not wait. They fill their heart with love for him, and consider all their activities as worship unto him. However, even though the path of bhakti, supreme love or devotion is considered the easiest, one may encounter certain obstacles. For instance, a subtle ego may develop, such as: I am the greatest devotee, or I am the best disciple of my guru. This ego is often very difficult to overcome.
The second obstacle is possessiveness: the feeling of my body, family, house, wealth, etc. The third is sense organs, which pull us towards the object of their craving. This pull has tremendous power, and has the ability to delude us easily. Even great rishis and devotees have been misled. How do we overcome these obstacles? The best way is to be in the company of holy men and holy books (satsang). Associate with those whose hearts are ever filled with love for the Lord, and listen to their words of wisdom. When we expose ourselves to such an environment — attachments slowly diminish, desires reduce; we develop discrimination and more love flows. History is replete with examples of people who attained liberation by association with saints — Dhruv reached the Lord through his association with Naradji.
When we encounter obstacles, we should just remember the name of the Lord with love and devotion; when helpless or powerless we need to invoke his presence. He is all-powerful and always helps. Devotees, down the ages, have overcome tremendous obstacles and hardships by remembering his name. Scriptures say that the name of the Lord is more powerful than the Lord himself. It will always protect us. Love is measured in terms of how much we are willing to sacrifice for the object of our love. Supreme love is that for which we are ready to sacrifice anything and everything. This raises the question, “What needs to be sacrificed?” It is the ego, our selfishness; the sense of “I” and “mine”.
The wise person has no ego, no separate identity; he considers himself as one with the Lord. He sees the Lord within and also in all forms of creation, as the very self of all beings. He loves everyone equally and is ever engaged in the welfare of all beings, for that to him is the service of the Lord. He is compassionate to misery, considers everyone’s pain and suffering as his own and serves all with devotion. A person devoted to God in this way gives up the desire for sense objects, selfishness, possessiveness and ego.
