There are two approaches to the final goal of
enlightenment according to Buddhist scriptures. They are the path of devotion
and the path of reasoning. Of these two, the devotional path or the path of
shraddha is more practicable for the average person. Unshaken positive
attention towards an object or a cause is what we are taking about when we use
the word devotion. Devotion has been categorized into three types on the basis
of characteristics. The first is devotion with serenity. The second is devotion
with confidence and the third is devotion with inspiration.
Consider the body, speech and mind of the Buddha and let
us understand these with our mental projection of the Buddha: His body full of
serenity, the soothing sound of his voice speaking the truth, and his mind,
compassionate and all-knowing. Such a perception of the Buddha is devotion with
serenity. Attention to speech is devotion with confidence and attention to the
mind of the Buddha is devotion with inspiration. When we see or imagine a
beautiful status of the Buddha, for example, of the Gupta period, we feel the
sense of serenity of not only the face of the image but can feel almost as
though Buddha is speaking to us with compassion/. We can get the feel of an
atmosphere of simplicity and peace around us.
These three kinds of devotion are also explained in
another way on certain occasions. This is to understand them with the help of
the Buddhist trinity; devotion with serenity towards Buddha, devotion with
confidence towards dharma or the teaching, and devotion with inspiration
towards sangha, the spiritual community.
The second way of explaining the three kinds of devotion
is a more philosophical way than the first one. One experiences the serene atmosphere,
in which the Buddha appears in order to benefit many living beings, and the
main act of the Buddha is to show the path he himself found and traversed; one
also gets confidence that the dharma is the definite and the only way to
enlightenment. Your spiritual friends - the kalyanmitrea circle - are a source
of inspiration. This is because you may have found the right path to
enlightenment, but without inspiring role models around you, it is difficult to
proceed with the experience.
Sometimes there is a tendency in Buddhism to look down on
the devotional path in contrast to the philosophical one. In any faith one may
find the shift of emphasis between the paths of devotion and philosophy and the
idea that the philosophical approach is for the sharper intellect while
devotion is for the one with duller intellect. This is too much of a
generalization. One thing is clear. Every spiritual seeker cannot be expected
to be a philosopher. Therefore, it is important to appreciate the role of
devotion. A Mahayana Buddhist sutra states that devotion precedes all the other
spiritual qualities because it is devotion that will guard and further develop
all the spiritual qualities. For, human beings look forward to the appropriate
basis of life, some degree of confidence and a lot of inspiration from many
sources.
The acts of devotion are many. One practical way is
chanting of name mantras. Mindful repetition of such mantras increases
concentration on the one to whom the mantra is addressed and thereby the first
step of devotion is taken.
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