The Twelfth Maxim of Success

Devotion

In an Arabian market, slaves were being auctioned. A sage was passing through there. He saw
people buying slaves and taking them home. Thousands of buyers were buying thousands of
slaves.

Out of curiosity, he asked a slave. “Have you been sold?”

“Yes, Sir. Replied the slave.

“Where are you going?”

“Wherever the master takes me.”

“What will you do?”

“Whatever the master asks me to do.”

“What will you eat?”

“Whatever the master gives me to eat.”

“Where will you live?”

“Wherever the master keeps me.”

Hearing his replies, the sage was shocked. Tears rolled out of his eyes. He said, “How devoted is
this slave to his master! He has completely entrusted his existence to his master. I, on the other
hand, have still not been able to dedicate myself completely to my master, i.e. God! At the
slightest sign of troubles in life, I start cursing him and doubt his existence.”

Having washed away his doubts with the tears of his repentance, the sage continued on his
journey to of divine worship with a new vigour.

To devote one completely is very difficult. One, who can do so, is absolved of all worries. He
becomes carefree in the most adverse circumstances.
During a war, London was being bombarded. It was a frightful situation and people where living
in bunkers and trenches, instead of their homes. The entire city would become vacant at night but
an old lady would still sleep peacefully at her home. When asked by the neighbours if she wasn’t
scared at night, she replied,” I don’t need to keep awake. Before I sleep, I pray to God and
handover all my worries. Once I sleep, it is his duty to take care of me. Both of us need not spend
time on the same thing. When I sleep, he is awake and when I wake up, he goes to sleep.”

Only a person who has complete devoutness in God can display such calmness in the face of
tremendous adversity.

Question arises- Who should be the object of devotion?

Absolute deveotion cannot be to an individual. The reason being, devotion will last only as long
as the conditions are favourable. When the devotee falls out of favour of the master, devotion
shatters just as glass breaks into smithereens when it falls on the ground. Devotion to an
individual cannot survive when conditions turn adverse.

 Devotion can be to truth.

 Devotion can be to self realization.
 Devotion can be to consciousness.

If one is devoted to truth, soul and/or consciousness, his devotion never breaks.

In material world, an intelligent person can become a teacher but in the world of spirituality, a
teacher is not someone who is very intelligent but someone who has acquired true wisdom by
complete devotion.

The crossover from mere intelligence to true wisdom can be obtained only through complete
devotion. Someone who has done so becomes qualified to be a spiritual teacher.

Complete devotion to a teacher would be possible only if is not someone who is still living at the
level of mere intellect. He has to be a co-passenger on the transcendental journey of self
actualization and consciousness.

To seek refuge means utter devotion.

Like a true wise person, Acharya Jayacharya was completely devoted to the cause of sould and
Teerthankaras. He has written many scriptures, ‘Chaubeesee’ being one of them, In this, he has
paid tribute to the twenty four Teerthankaras. There are multiple instances of him seeking
asylum from the divine being. He has taken shelter from the ultimate being, Without the shelter
of the divine being, one cannot embark cross the difficult path of self actualization.

 To seek shelter means- To absorb oneself into another

  To seek shelter means- To become identical
 To seek shelter means- To move from duality to singularity
 To seek shelter means- To become one.

When the devotion is complete, there is no difference between the person seeking shelter
and the entity providing it. They become one and the other.