“We recognize our consciousness to be the battlefield and our weapons to be genuine knowledge, integrity, compassion, and love.” — Bhakti Tirtha Swami
Bhakti yoga is really the process of molding one’s life in such a way as to gain the upper hand in the battle between our higher and lower natures. It’s like the old Native American adage goes: “We all have two dogs within us; one good and one bad. Whichever dog we feed will overtake the other one.” In the same way, if we live a shallow life focused on temporary, material, and sensory pleasures, our lower nature gain strength. Have you ever known something wasn’t beneficial for you, but you did it anyway? I know I sure have. This is a symptom of our lower nature; when we are compelled to act by the urges of the mind and senses, despite intellectually knowing we shouldn’t act in such a way.
When we gain the upper hand in the battlefield of consciousness, our higher nature shines through and we become more self-controlled, selfless, and self-satisfied. Bhakti Tirtha Swami so eloquently taught how to be a spiritual warrior, not only through his words, but through his example. In his above quote, he listed four essential weapons with which we can manifest our greatest potential and become powerful instruments of goodwill in a world that is in desperate need.
Genuine Knowledge: There are lots of types of knowledge, but genuine higher knowledge begins with understanding the difference between matter and spirit. The ancient yogic handbook, the Bhagavad Gita, gives a simple thought experiment to illustrate this difference. Remember when you were a child and your body was much smaller? Remember when you were an adolescent? A teenager? Your body and state of mind have been constantly changing throughout these different stages of life, have they not? Yet, you can observe that it has been the same ‘you’ the entire time.
This proves that we, as conscious beings, are separate from our bodies or minds at our deepest level. If A (the body and mind) is changing, but B (the self) is not; then A and B cannot be equal. What a relief! Bhagavad Gita teaches that we are spirit souls, animating the body and mind with consciousness. The quality of spirit is eternality, awareness, and bliss. This is the complete opposite of matter. We can easily understand that anything material is temporary, static, and devoid the ability to provide complete fulfillment. Understanding the difference between matter and spirit arms us with genuine knowledge, which we can use to then to deploy the weapon of integrity.
Integrity: To act with integrity is to act in alignment with the knowledge that we are eternal, spiritual beings. Defined simply, integrity means purity. To see the true image of your reflection in the mirror, you need to keep the mirror clean and free of dust clouds. In the same way, to see the true nature of ourselves (and experience the happiness that accompanies it), we need to keep ourselves clean from the clouds of material attachments. This doesn’t at all mean giving up the things of this world. Real detachment isn’t renunciation, it is knowing how to use everything for a higher purpose.
If we try to exploit the things of this world for our own selfish purposes or equate our happiness with temporary possessions or experiences, we cloud our pure consciousness. But on the other hand, if we connect all that have in this world — our abilities, possessions, status, wealth, relationships, and so on — to our spiritual life, by engaging it in service or utilizing it to assist our journey towards inner fulfilment, then the mirror of our consciousness is scrubbed with a transcendental cleaning agent. And when we develop more and more integrity, our capacity for compassion expands.
Compassion: The root com (or con) means “with or together”, and the noun passion stems from the Late Latin word passionem which refers to “suffering.” So compassion in the literal sense means “to suffer with.” It is said in Sanskrit that a bhakti yogi is para-dukha-dukhi — they experience the suffering of others as their own. So true compassion goes beyond sentiment. It’s not something you just feel, but an experience that you act on.
A regular spiritual practice of introspection, meditation, reading sacred texts, discussing them with others, and so on, relives existential anxiety and suffering and brings joy to the heart. And the more we relieve our own suffering and experience bliss, the more we want to share that experience with others, and the more empowered we will be to do so. So investing one’s energy in living a spiritually focused life of integrity is the key to real compassion. And compassion is closely related with the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of a spiritualist — love.
Love: In the words of Bhakti Tirtha Swami, “Life is a school of love. In this school, we are not just hungry, but starving for love.” The one thing we all have in common is a desire to love and to be loved. According to bhakti wisdom, this is because the inherent nature of the soul is to have a completely unique, personal, loving relationship with our Original Divine Source, who is Love Personified.
There is an analogy given that explains this concept and its importance: just as the way to love or nourish a tree is to water its roots, so the way to express deeper love in all our relationships in this world is to water the root of our existence — to awaken love for God. By connecting with the root of our existence, we become empowered to nourish all the branches and leaves of our various relationships and responsibilities in life. Love isn’t passive. It is active, it manifests through service. Service is the impetus to do something favorable for someone without expecting or seeking credit for it. In other words, real service is motivated by love, not any kind of obligation or prospect of reward. And love and service build from each other. The deeper love we develop from spiritual practice, the greater our capacity is to serve; and the more we serve, the greater is our capacity to receive and give love.
A spiritual warrior is one who works to arm his or herself with genuine knowledge, integrity, compassion, and love. Equipped with these weapons, we can truly overcome the urges of our lower nature, awaken the divine qualities of the soul, and become powerful instruments of upliftment towards the world. This is my life’s purpose and mission.
This week I had the opportunity to visit Gita Nagari, a spiritual community developed by Bhakti Tirtha Swami, an immensely powerful spiritual warrior, who travelled all over the world for decades, touching the lives of thousands. His samadhi (memorial monument) is here. Spending time there was a great impetus to reflect on my purpose in life, and how I can use his teachings and life example as inspiration to live that purpose more fully.
Do yourself a favor and read Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s writings or listen to his classes if you haven’t already! Thank you so much for reading. I’d love to hear your feedback or reflections.
Gratefully,
DK Das (Dan Taylor)
