As we live through life we see that our mind is filled with thoughts both suitable and deplorable. Yet even for a split second we cannot remain free of emotions, thoughts, introspection and reflection. We are constantly churning in and out a heap of information. The mind uses memory to process information and at the same time it is all the time bathing with information which is bombarded on it from the outside and from the past. Our consciousness is never free and it is always busy. Consciousness can never be free of thoughts and emotions and yet we have the choice of either living these thoughts with awareness or to be oblivious of it and being controlled by them.
Intelligence tells us that we should live with awareness and when awareness is applied we will be able to control our life to a great extent. Consciousness itself is life and it is this aspect that gives us the experience of life and death. There is nothing beyond consciousness and when one is careful by application of intelligence, one will colour one’s consciousness suitably and achieve the goal of life. Usually people live a materialistic life and get dictated by it. Work, family, complications in relationships, unwanted habits and the like rule over an individual and one continues to wrestle with them all through life unsuccessfully and in the end old age has the better of the person. Thus every individual being unaware of the power of consciousness falls prey to a mediocre life and fails in his mission.
According to revealed scriptures, one fails in one’s life if one does not dedicate oneself to the service of the Lord. Thus it is extreme intelligence if one dedicates one’s consciousness in understanding the Lord, His form, His divine qualities, His pastimes and ways to serve Him. The process will be to hook the human consciousness to understanding higher aspects of life namely spiritual life. All the unwanted weeds of life namely unwanted habits, our compulsions of material life need to be uprooted by applying our consciousness to the service of the Lord. Bhakti is the only process by which one can attain the highest objective, transcend the limitations of human consciousness and attain a life of permanence and higher service. Thus one needs to methodically attune oneself to aspects related to the service of Lord Krishna. When the consciousness is attached to the eternal, the consciousness itself becomes eternal. Thus if the human being who is limited applies his consciousness to the eternal aspect of the Lord and His service, this consciousness will have the capacity to uplift the human to the order of permanent residence in the eternal land of the Lord so that one can render permanent service to Him and lead a life of utmost satisfaction and glory.
The aspect of Bhakti needs to be methodically taken up under the tutelage of a God-realized saint or a Sadhguru who engages one to slowly train in spiritual aspects. The consciousness of the disciple which is restrictive before as it is applied to the thoughts of the Lord and His pastimes elevates one beyond material conception. It is better to colour one’s consciousness with the brush of Bhakti rather than destroying it mindlessly by smearing colours of passion and idiosyncrasy with the brush of ignorance.
Charan Pahari 