2.           The Lord (Shri Krishna) said, “According to my opinion, those devotees who focus their minds on Me (God with form), are endowed with supreme faith, and constantly engaged in spiritual practices to realize Me, are the best among the two Yogis.” 

Sri Krishna said that the devotees who worship God in human form, focusing their minds on God, being ever steadfast and endowed with supreme faith, are well-versed in yoga.  However, we should not jump to any conclusion about Sri Krishna’s opinion without reading and reflecting upon His explanations given in the subsequent shlokas.  Lord Krishna also talks about His thoughts on those who worship the formless God in these shlokas.   

First, let us reflect upon Sri Krishna’s answer. In this shloka, Sri Krishna mentioned three essential aspects of devotion. 

(I)  “Whose minds are focused on Me”: 

(i)  The importance of focusing our mind:  

To be a Yogi, one must have the capacity to focus one’s mind on God.  The human mind has tremendous power.  As the concentrated sun’s rays focused through a special lens burns an object, similarly, when the mind is focused on one subject, it penetrates all the layers of the object and finds its deepest secrets.  When the mind is focused on God within, it reveals the deepest secrets of one’s true divine nature. Sri Ramakrishna gave an analogy that a piece of thread will not go through the eye of a needle if it is not one-pointed.  Even if a single fiber is sticking out, it would not go through the eye of a needle.  Thus, without fully focusing our minds, we cannot realize the divinity within or the presence of God.  Swami Vivekananda said that if he had to relearn everything in his life, he would first learn how to focus his mind, and then, through that mind, he would easily learn whatever subject he wanted.

(ii) How do we focus our minds?

              It is very difficult to focus our minds. Arjuna, who had such a powerful mind, told Shri Krishna (Gita 6.34) that the mind is restless, turbulent, and mighty. Controlling the mind is as difficult as controlling the wind. Shri Krishna (Gita 6.35) agreed to this. He said one can control one’s mind through constant practice (Abhyasa Yoga) and detachment (Vairagya).

There are several ways to practice focusing our minds. A Raja Yogi practices control of the senses and mind and, through regular meditation, tries to focus one’s mind on the Self or God.  A Karma Yogi first purifies one’s mind through performing unselfish activities and offering the results of all actions to God.  Through such actions, one becomes unselfish and realizes the Self lying within all beings. A Jnana Yogi reasons that only the Self is real, and the world is unreal or illusory.  Thus, with reasoning, he/she disregards the world and focuses his/her mind on the Self. A devotee, or a follower of Bhakti Yoga, focuses his/her mind on God through love.  When one develops a love for God, the mind gets easily focused. Singing hymns, bhajans, and dhoons that describe God’s glories, sincerely doing regular prayers and japa, worshiping God, reading inspiring books, Holy Company, and practicing values described in the scriptures help develop a love for God. The combination of these yoga practices helps one get control over one’s mind and be able to focus it on God or Self.

Swami Turiyananda says, “Restlessness is the nature of the mind. It becomes calm through prayer and meditation. There is no other method. As a result of spiritual disciplines and by the grace of God, one’s mind becomes tranquil.”

(a) Abhyasa Yoga (Constant Practice):

If our minds run away while praying, japa, or meditation, we must bring them back and focus them again on the Self or God. Many other thoughts may come during this time, but they go away if we don’t associate with them. This process of bringing our minds back on the Self or God is called the Abhyasa Yoga, the Yoga of constant practice. Lovingly explaining the importance of spiritual development may help to bring the mind back and focus on God. Caring parents use various methods to make their children do the required things like eating properly on time, doing their homework, following values, and others. Similarly, we have to guide our minds by various means. We have to be careful not to force the mind unnecessarily, which may damage it. Our mind is the only thing we have to realize our True Identity, the Self or God. We should not lose patience and get frustrated. Sincerely and regularly doing japa and meditation helps us to focus the mind.

              Swami Vivekananda says that before we start our japa or meditation, we should pray for the good of all. We can pray, “May all be happy, may all be healthy, may good come to all, and may no one suffer.” Hating none and loving all, seeing God in all helps reduce the distractions of the mind created by negative thoughts. 

(b)  Vairagya (Practice of Detachment):

A focused mind is anchored in and pervaded by a single thought of God. The Bhagavad Gita gives two analogies regarding such a focused mind: an uninterrupted flow of oil poured from one container to another and the un-flickered flame of a lamp in a windless environment.

              Observing our minds, especially during prayer, japa, or meditation, can help us identify which thoughts distract us. The following are major things that usually distract our minds.

(i) Our desires: As long as we have desires for worldly enjoyment, our minds will run after the objects of the enjoyment. When our desire to realize God or make spiritual development becomes more intense than our worldly desires, the mind becomes more focused on God. We have to realize that our desires for worldly enjoyment have been deeply rooted in our minds, and the desire to realize God is relatively new. So, it takes time to make the desire to realize God stronger than all other desires.

Practice of Detachment: We need a clear conviction that spiritual pursuit is most valuable.  Worldly pursuits may temporarily satisfy one’s physical, mental, and intellectual needs. Still, as such, they are transitory and have been proven useless when faced with life’s trials and tribulations.  A sound spiritual foundation, on the other hand, helps a person to keep one’s mind balanced while going through mental and physical storms, such as frustrations, disappointments, sorrows, boredom, depression, and fear of death. 

A mere intellectual understanding of the need for spiritual pursuit is also insufficient.  One must mold one’s life according to the guidance of the scriptures and the spiritual teachers and make conscious efforts to advance in the spiritual path.  This demands a disciplined life, regular spiritual practices, and a properly cultivated mind. 

(ii) Dwelling on the past: The mind tends to run the mental tapes of past incidents, situations, conversations, etc. It wants to add something to them, correct them, or judge them.

Practice of Detachment: We can learn lessons from past mistakes and correct our present plans and actions if necessary. If we have done something good in the past, we must strengthen our resolve to continue doing the same. Other than these two, dwelling on the past is a waste of time. By convincing the mind that brooding over the past is not very helpful, we can stop brooding and help focus it on our Spiritual Goals.

(iii) Dwelling on the future: The mind wants to plan many things to be happy. For that reason, it daydreams about situations and incidents. It likes to imagine many things that bring happiness. Many times, simply through imagination, it also creates fearful situations and worries.

Practice of Detachment: Sometimes, our minds think about very helpful plans for our progress, but most of the time, they daydream and imagine things that are not useful at all. Carefully, we must get out of such imaginations and focus our minds on the Self or God. Also, learning how to focus our minds on the task at hand helps us improve our performance.

(iv) Dwelling on the work: The mind often does the work mentally, which will be done afterward. For example, if we are going to go for groceries after our japa (or meditation), then during the japa, the mind goes over the list of groceries, goes to the store, and starts buying things mentally.

The Practice of Detachment:  During japa, if we notice our mind is doing work that we will do afterward, the restless mind gets exposed and stops doing the work. The restless mind does not want to be exposed. If it continues to do it, we must tell our mind that ‘This is a very important time for japa. Don’t waste your time and energy doing the work mentally, which will be done physically later.’  When we sit down for prayer, japa, or meditation, we can also tell our minds, ‘This is my Atman time. Please focus on Atman. Don’t bring anything related to the body and mind.’ Reading an inspiring book before japa and meditation helps the mind dwell on inspiring thoughts rather than others. Thus, we can help the mind remain focused on our spiritual goal.

              The focus of the mind is equally proportional to the intensity of our desire to make spiritual progress. So, we have to intensify our desire to realize the Self. Actually, our minds do not have to focus for a long time to establish in meditation and attain the highest state of Consciousness in which we realize the Self. In Raja Yoga, Swami Vivekananda says that if we continuously focus our minds on the Self or God for twelve seconds, it is considered one unit of Dharana (concentration). Twelve units of Dharana, meaning 12 x 12 = 144 seconds = 2 minutes and 24 seconds, is one unit of Dhyana (meditation), and twelve units of Dhyana, 12 x 144 = 1,728 seconds = 28 minutes and 48 seconds, will be a state called Samadhi. Thus, even uninterruptedly focusing our minds for 12 seconds on the Self or God gives us some experience of bliss. However, we can focus our mind easily on something we grasp through our senses, but it is very difficult to focus on the Self or God. Many have attained Samadhi. So, it is not an impossible state. Even trying to go closer to the state of Samadhi fills our lives with abundant peace and bliss.

(ii) “Worship Me, ever steadfast” means constantly trying to unfold the higher Self within. 

(a) Success comes with systematic hard work:

In any field of the world, if we want to make progress and attain the desired results, we must work hard for a long time.  Sri Ramakrishna says that if we desire to find water, we cannot keep digging a little everywhere on the earth.  First, using scientific techniques, we locate a spot on the earth where there is water.  Then, we must keep digging in the same place and remove stones and dirt until the water comes.  People work hard for years to become medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, professional athletes, accomplished artists, renowned scientists, or successful businesspeople.  Swami Brahmananda told a disciple that attaining the Spiritual Goal takes less effort than acquiring a university degree.  How much we work from kindergarten to graduate school to acquire a master’s degree!  The irony is that many are unhappy with their degrees after such hard work.  It is not surprising that people who have sincerely and systematically carried on spiritual practices for a long time have acquired successful results. 

Like worldly pursuits, on the spiritual path, we have to get guidance from a competent teacher and then work hard following the guidelines for several years to make significant progress. There are several examples that if people are sincere in their efforts and, for some reason, they go in the wrong direction, then knowledgeable people will guide them in the right direction. 

To see some results in the spiritual path, we must continue making efforts whether we have good or bad times, favorable or unfavorable situations.  Saints say a minimum period of twelve years of intense spiritual practice is necessary for significant spiritual progress.  More intense practice brings faster results.  Swami Vivekananda says that if a seeker of God (Self) intensely does spiritual practices, then he/she can realize God (Self) in six months.

A firm conviction is needed to continue making spiritual practices for a long time.  A devotee with firm conviction knows well that only spiritual progress will give him/her what he/she is searching for in the world, such as ever-lasting happiness, the highest knowledge, unselfish love, fearlessness, fulfillment, and others.  The stronger the conviction, the more intense will be the tenacity to work harder and longer for spiritual development. Finally, when love for God develops, worship of God becomes natural, just like our breathing.    

Those who have attained spiritual success say that on the spiritual path, if we walk one step towards God, then God walks ten steps towards us. After some progress, we realize that the spiritual reward is tens or thousands of times bigger than the worldly reward for the same amount of effort.

(b) Worship of God:   

Worship of God is nothing but an expression of one’s love for God.  In human relationships, we express love by offering our best to our loved ones.  Similarly, in the worship of God, we offer incense, flowers, food, music, etc., and then we offer our minds, ego, and ourselves.  The Infinite, omnipresent God is incomprehensible by our finite minds.  Therefore, we invoke God’s presence in a picture or a symbol and offer our worship to Him/Her.  Just as the national flag of a country symbolizes the whole country, similarly, the image of God symbolizes the all-pervading Reality.  Swami Vivekananda says there is nothing wrong with worshiping God through a picture or a symbol.  Eventually, one should outgrow this stage and begin worshipping the Living God, the sum total of all beings.  Worshipping the Living God means seeing God in all and serving them.  This service is an expression of love and is entirely unselfish.

(iii) “Endowed with Supreme Faith.”  

(a) Faith in Spiritual Path:

              In the worldly life, we have faith in banks, universities, doctors, pilots, plumbers, and all. In the spiritual life, we need much deeper faith as it is an inward journey towards our Inner Self, Atman, of God. 

              In spiritual life, we need faith in (i) God, Consciousness, or some power that creates, preserves, and dissolves the universe and supports our lives. (ii) the scriptures, and (iii) the words of our spiritual teacher. This is not a blind belief but a conviction derived by careful logical reasoning. In the research regarding the physical world, we desire to attain some truth, then we go to a competent guide and take guidance, read appropriate literature, work hard, and attain the truth. Similarly, we desire to realize God or the Ultimate Reality in Spiritual Research. Then, we go to spiritual teachers for guidance, read scriptures, do spiritual practices, and realize God. The faith in God was first a hypothesis; then, as we experience the presence of God through our spiritual practices guided by the scriptures and spiritual teachers, the hypothesis becomes a conviction. Finally, when we realize God, our conviction becomes a reality. Thus, the hypothesis turns into realization. At that time, all our doubts vanish. We don’t have to prove anything to ourselves or anyone else. Suppose we are enjoying the warmth of a bright sun shining on a cloudless winter day; we don’t need to prove the existence of the sun and its warmth to anyone.

              The supreme faith is an intense desire to realize God. It is an active desire and not a passive one. A person with supreme faith will always be active in making efforts to realize God. Shri Ramakrishna told a story. A person’s wife was seriously ill and was about to die. A doctor said that if he could get rainwater collected on a particular day in a skull with snake poison, he could make medicine to cure his wife. It was an impossible task. But the man waited for the day and prayed to God to have a rain. To his surprise, the sky was covered by clouds and rained. After desperately running around in the cremation ground, he found a skull filled with rainwater.  He intensely prayed to God for the snake’s poison. He waited and waited. Finally, he saw a frog come near the skull, and a snake jumped on the frog. The frog jumped over the skull to save itself and the snake’s poison fell in the rainwater collected in the skull. Thus, supreme faith is active, and it helps us realize God.   

(b) Faith, Reason, and Doubt:

              Faith is not a blind belief. A person with supreme faith keeps an eye on the Spiritual Goal, the Realization of God. He/she wants to see that through spiritual practices, he/she is advancing towards this goal. If progress is not made, such a person questions the practices to find out the reason for not making the progress and what to do to go further. Genuine spiritual teachers welcome sincere disciple’s honest doubts and questions and are eager to see the disciples continue to make spiritual progress. Genuine disciples will ask questions to understand the guidance and not challenge them.

(c) Blessed Souls:

Some people are blessed from their childhood with clear intellect and proper intuitions.  They are naturally inclined to what is beneficial to themselves and all beings.  They intuitively shunned themselves from the things that are harmful and destructive.  Such people do not have to reason to have faith in God.  From childhood, they have loved God and strived to realize God.  If we are not one of those, we have to reason, try to clear doubts from our minds, and develop faith.

Conclusion:         

              Thus, devotees who worship God in human form, as described above, are well-versed in Yoga.  What about those who worship the Formless aspect of God?  What happens to them?  Sri Krishna answers these questions in the following shlokas.