The Signs of a True Devotee of God
By Moti Lal Khar
Describing the signs of totaldevotion, the true devotees of
God are constantly engaged in
listening to, discussing the
stories associated with God and singing
His praises. They are completely
dependent on the Lord and His grace.
They have taken refuge in the Lord and
are completely devoted to Him. They
do not desire anything material or even
spiritual. They are neither attached
nor have greed for
anything. They have no
sign of pride or ego in
them. They do not care
for the material and
heavenly pleasures and possessions.
They are ready to give up everything
including their lives for the glimpse of
the Lord. Their only desire is to have
His Darshan, to see Him and to get
bliss.
Such devotees of God are loved by
everyone. They are indifferent to
pleasure and pain and heaven and
hell. They are happy to see others
prosper and are sad to see others
suffer, and are eager to help them in
any way. Ignoring the misdeeds of
others, they adopt their good qualities
only. They believe that everything good
that happens to them is due to Lord
and their misfortunes are the products
of their own doings either of the
present or previous 'Sanchit' or
'Prarabdha' Karmas. Everyone is their
friend and no one is their enemy. They
love everyone and no one. For them
there is no sense of 'mine and thine'.
This resolve of the Lord to live in the hearts of the people who are totally devoted
to God and take refuge
in Him and be present
in a place where there
is an assembly of the
devotees is not unique
in Hinduism. The saints
and seers of the yore advocated for
such gatherings and 'Sat Sanghs', the
company of the virtuous. In the Holy
Bible, Mt. 18:20 Jesus
promises, "Where two or
more are united in my
name, there I am in the
midst of them." The Holy
Quran declares, "Let the soul reflect
upon what it sends ahead for the
morrow." No special place or dwelling
is to be sought or invented for this.
Those who are united in God's name
experience the fruits of the spirit in
the form of new joy, a new peace, love,
patience, benevolence, goodness,
faithfulness, meekness and self control.
It does not cost them even a
penny and only their attitude and
approach to life counts. The ideal of
such a true devotee of God in the words
of Bhagvata Purana is "I do not wish
for a kingdom, heaven or re-birth; but
I wish for the destruction of the
anguish of living beings subjected to
sufferings." God is not in temples,
churches, mosques but in the heart of
such true devotees. The present
political, religious and social leaders
should develop in themselves such
qualities of a true devotee of God before
posing themselves as leaders.
Source: Milchar
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