Some people ask, “Do I have to renounce everything material
to gain devotion?”
No – the essence of devotion is reclaiming the spiritual,
not renouncing the material.
Reclaiming the spiritual means regaining our right to
spiritual existence and enrichment – a right we have unwittingly forfeited due
to our infatuation with material enjoyment.
We are at our core spiritual beings, souls. And as souls, we
are eternal parts of the supreme spiritual being, Krishna. In our relationship
of spiritual love with him we find everlasting fulfillment. When we learn to
love him by practicing bhakti-yoga, we regain access to that fulfillment.
The flame of a selfless service attitude burns away all
material contamination and lights the heart with spiritual illumination.
Krishna is the source and master of everything, spiritual
and material. So, even material things can be used in his service. TheBhagavad-gita (04.24) indicates that by internalizing such a spiritual vision
of existence, all our activities become spiritualized, akin to a sacrifice. The
flame of a selfless service attitude burns away all material contamination and
lights the heart with spiritual illumination.
Then the material resources we use for serving Krishna
become tools that connect us with him. Let’s see how this happens with two
things often considered material: wealth and the senses.
Devotion helps us see wealth not as Maya, but as Lakshmi;
not as the illusory energy that binds us, but as the Goddess of Fortune who
blesses us when we re-unite her with her Lord – as did Hanuman in the Ramayana.
Bhakti-yoga is sensory spirituality. It uses the very
material senses that are normally the pathways to illusion and bondage to
connect us with Krishna’s manifestations such as the Deity and the holy name,
thereby paving the way to illumination and liberation.
When we thus use the material in Krishna’s service, we
progressively reclaim our lost right to a life of eternal spiritual love with
him.
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