TWO PATHS

Finding God's Love - Chapter Preview

The central purpose of any spiritual path is to subdue or remove the illusion of the ego so that God or Self can be realized. The goal is not to gain God or attain God because that would imply that at one time God was not present. God is always here and now but this truth is hidden because we see "through a glass darkly" (Corinthians 13:12). Or, we may say, the goal is to realize God and this can only happen to the degree that the ego is diminished.

When the obscuring power of the ego is gone, God is revealed as the transcendent and immanent luminescent reality of infinite love. Then compassion will naturally and effortlessly flow from our hearts like a great endless river.

With regard to the spiritual path, there are essentially two ways that we may go to reduce or remove the ego. One is the path of knowledge of the Self (in Sanskrit "jnana" or knowledge) and the other is the path of devotion to God (in Sanskrit "bhakti" or devotion). In other words, when we ask the question, "What is all of this?" we find two ways to approach the answer. They are really two sides of the same coin. Each path leads to the other and in the end both are seen as the same. The path of Self-knowledge is peace, formlessness, impersonal, and focused on the universal Self that contains everything. The path of devotion is love, infinite form, personal, and focused on God who is in everything. With knowledge the truth is transcendent and with devotion the truth is immanent. One who follows the path of knowledge calls the truth the Self. One who follows the path of devotion calls the truth God. One who has reached the goal in either path will see no difference. Amma comments on this:
Question: Mother, which is best, devotion or knowledge?

Amma: Devotion fortified with knowledge is what is needed. Look at the tree and the creeper. If the tree is not there, the creeper will not grow upwards. You should approach jnana through bhakti. Bhakti which is not based on essential principles (tattwas) will only help to bind one. That is harmful. There are certain creepers that keep the trees completely bound. Likewise, bhakti without jnana will only help one to get bound more and more. Jnana means to grow straight upwards. Tattwa bhakti is that which embraces jnana tightly. Then it will not come down.

Bhakti and jnana, though seemingly different, are not two. Bhakti is the means and jnana the end. Bhakti without jnana and jnana without bhakti are both harmful. In fact, bhakti is the easiest and least complicated way. Anyone and everyone can follow it. Bhakti culminates in jnana. The Lord of a true devotee and Brahman, the Absolute Reality of the Jnani, are really one and the same. Bhakti is usually prescribed for people who are predominantly emotional, and jnana for intellectuals. Jnana without bhakti is dry, and bhakti without jnana is blind. Ammachi, Awaken Children, vol. II, p. 287-288
Amma is saying that practicing the path of Self-knowledge or jnana without love and devotion is difficult because it is dry. Motivation to discipline one's self without love and devotion is tedious and tends to reside in the realm of the intellect and can lead to pride and arrogance. If there is love and devotion in the practice of jnana, motivation comes more easily and the ego is subdued. If one practices devotion without the underlying awareness of the universal all-pervading nature of God or Self that is behind the form of one's devotion, then a selfish relationship may ensue which can evolve into narrow mindedness and an arrogant tendency to exclude other religions, paths, and forms claiming, "My way is the only way."

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