Hearing in the Devotional Cult (Bhakti)
Hearing in the Devotional Cult (Bhakti)
On the day of July 2, 2022, I was in a discussion with a deceased swami on the astral side. This conversation summarized a topic which we considered for the past six months. This person is deceased but he established a devotional movement and is currently reconsidering his philosophy and beliefs because his followers did not get the promised results when they became deceased.
The topic of discussion was hearing music but he realized that it applied to any sensual intake including tasting foods. Here is a listing of the aspects which this pertains to.
- smelling pleasing odors like incense
- tasting gourmet foods which are pleasing to the tongue
- seeing pleasing colors like painted deities, curtains, buildings and clothing
- touching smooth and soft surfaces like garlands and fabric
- hearing pleasing sounds, like bhajan, kirtan and choirs
Any of these activities when done in the name of devotion may cause degradation of the ascetic if particular disciplines and restrains are not in place while consuming the sense object which is a target for the greedy sense which pursues it.
There was music being played loudly from a house which was nearby but the swami heard the music and recognized that his mind was attracted to it. The mind wanted to go nearer to the building to hear it more clearly and to sing it in the mind as it was heard.
He said that even though he chanted (sang) devotional hymns for many years, still his mind, like a prostitute, still was eager to enjoy radio songs. He condemned himself because he said that he promised to his disciples, while he has his last body, that by hearing his music and songs, their minds would cease chasing popular songs which had no devotional content and which were unauthorized. Now his mind was attracted even though he was the religious leader who gave those guarantees.
His conclusion is that the addiction of the senses to their objects continues unabated, even if the ascetic restricts the mind to only devotional compositions. Each sense transcends the devotion intention and sticks to its sensual need, such that while hearing a devotional song for instance, the mind will enjoy and consume the music content, the rhythm and will ignore the devotional message.
It happens with food where the tasting sense consumes the blend of flavors in the food and does not graft over into the intention to make it focus of the food being offered to a deity.
His question at the end of the discussion was this:
How was it possible that the previous authorities overlooked this dodging of the mind?
