Do you get teary eyed while listening to devotional music? Do you know why?

Have you ever felt a deep longing or a nudge in your heart…
Did tears roll down your cheeks when you heard…
– songs like Kun Faya Kun, Namo Namo, or deeper bhajans & Sufi music?

In my case, as a Bengali, Shyama Sangeet(Music dedicated to Maa Kali), Shri Krishna Naam Sankirtan, & during Dashami Puja, when Maa Durga is preparing to leave.

What exactly do we feel?

I don’t feel pain or grief, it is out of gratitude & pure love for the Divine that I feel deep within me.

It is LOVE – unconditional & all-encompassing, flowing through us.
In those moments we are feeling our deep connection with God or the source from where we came. Where we belong. Our Home.

If you were stuck in some past hurt & resentment, a devotional song has the power to invoke the memory of your source, that no matter what, you are capable of forgiving yourself & others.
And over time, it can eventually cease to cause you any more hurt.

Such an experience shows us our inclusive nature. It cracks us open in that brief moment, bringing us face to face with the supreme & ultimate truth – we were never separated or forgotten. We were simply lost in our own minds. And in that brief moment, we touch our own source, our core that is full of possibilities. And through our tears we are reminded of this deep connection with our innermost self. The God that we are.

Why do we feel it?

Because it is not outside of us. It is a part of our very being. It resides in us at the cellular level.

Every time we have felt cornered, our back against a wall, or we reached a dead end, have we not stopped fighting & for once looked up or closed our eyes and looked deep within, with head bowed & silently prayed for acceptance of the what is?

I know I did. And within minutes, if not seconds, I felt an instant shift. I experienced a deep connection & stillness within me. Nothing changed in the surroundings, but I had changed. Confidence & calm was reinstated & my peace came back. Worries left my body & mind. Encouraging & enabling me to start with whatever was available in the right now. Telling me that not away from it, but through it is the way.

It always turned out way better than I could have wished for.

Do you know HOW this happens?

We dream, plan & execute as per the experiences that we have had. Based on our own knowledge.
When we step away & let God or the divine take over, we are allowing the process as per the will & know-how of God or the divine itself. His way of doing things is way more advanced than ours. Because His possibilities are limitless. Ours is limited as per our perceptions of our known reality.

What is Bhakti Yoga?

Union through Devotion – merging with the supreme or the all in all (energy perspective) through devotion. In a way, in Devotion, we are aligning our energy with God. Stepping aways, in complete surrender. A marriage or union of our inner self with our outer self.

Here, there is no separation. Where there is no separation, there is no reason for ego, jealousy, resentment, guilt, shame, insecurities or any malice. Who will we hold ourselves against? There is no one else other than God. Who resided is in everyone & everything.

Think for a minute. Do you really know how long you have? Why do you still worry? Isn’t worrying making life miserable? If you simply keep coming back to your own peace, your quiet, your truth, own it fully, simply sit back & relax & let the divine play through you. If you at all have to resist, resist deviating from this path. Isn’t life going to be smooth and if not easy, not miserable too?

We have deviated from the path of self-study & are more focussed on how we are perceived by others. Hence, there is a constant need to prove, protect, & hide. We are in a constant state of alarm. We are always on guard. The path of bhakti yoga and meditation allows us to realign our conscience with the conscience of the Divine.

Hare Krishna!

Love & more Love.

Kamalika