Contemplative devotion

Badal Suchak’s exploration of the paths of devotion and knowledge brings him to the understanding that, in reality, both the paths are not exclusive of each other

- Badal Suchak

What are you doing here? You are a man from the Bhakti Marg, the path of devotion?” To my surprise, the assistant teacher at the meditation retreat questioned me thus after having interacted with me for a few days. I was a bit stunned at the unexpected remark, as I was enjoying the silent meditation retreat. It came like the blow of a Zen master’s keisaku stick. I heard him out and decided to allow myself time to understand my path.

On another occasion, a cousin had invited me to attend a satsang (spiritual gathering) on Shrimad Bhagavatam. I sat there, silently enjoying the spiritual discourse and joined in singing the chorus of the kirtan (devotional songs). At the end of the satsang, my cousin came up to me and said, “You seemed to be meditating, sitting quietly during the satsang!”

Dichotomy

It made me wonder: “When I visit a meditation centre, I am told that I look like I am from the bhakti marg, and when I go for bhakti-based satsang, I am told that I seem to be meditating, following the path of knowledge, the Gyan Marg!

Being a novice on the spiritual path in my early twenties, I’d hear out people’s comments and continue my explorations. I enjoy contemplating in meditative silence and also love joining in the devotional chanting. I wondered, are these two, the path of knowledge and the path of devotion, separate paths? I decided to ask my meditation teacher on my next retreat.

She said, “Choose one path. Don’t mix up both. Practise meditation in the morning and practise bhakti in the evening. Eventually, the practice which is good for you will stay with you and the other one will drop.”