Theoretical Vs Practical Devotion

The worship of statues by offering food is also good in the beginning stage because it develops the theoretical devotion. But you should not confine yourself to this theoretical devotion only throughout your life. The school is good for a child. But as you grow, you should also enter the college and university. You should not remain in the school till your death. The theoretical devotion should lead to practical devotion. You can offer the food to the statue and develop the theoretical devotion continuously but you should also offer food to the human form of God in course of time.

If the human incarnation is not available, you can do the practical service to devotees by which God is more pleased. In any case, your theoretical devotion must be transformed into practical devotion, which is the real sacrifice or practical service. If you have developed the practical service by serving the devotees, the God in human form will certainly approach you one day or other for receiving the practical service from you. If you are confined only to theoretical devotion by serving the statues, God in human form will never approach you because you are not in a stage to do the practical service to Him. Since the theoretical devotion is not real love, God will never come to you since the reality in your devotion is absent. Though the theoretical devotion is unreal, it can help you in generating the practical devotion or service. A mental idea is not practically true but it can generate a practical truth. A false imagination of the tiger in the dream is generating the real fear and sweat in the body even after you wake up. An unreal thing can lead to real result and this point is mentioned in the commentary by Shankara. The mental form of the tiger is also a subtle truth because it consists of the subtle nervous energy. Thus it is not totally unreal because a totally unreality can never generate reality.

Therefore, the theoretical devotion, which is the form of subtle nervous energy (Mind) is also subtle truth and hence development of theoretical devotion is also not waste. But it should be intensified and should be materialized and this is conversion of energy into matter. The fruit given by God will be in the same phase of your sacrifice. If you confine to theoretical devotion only, the fruit from God is also theoretical. As you praise God, God praises you. As you love God by your mind, God loves you also by mind. If you serve Him practically, the fruit from God will be also practical. Gita says that the reaction of God will be in the same phase as your action to Him (Ye yathaamaam prapadyante...). Therefore, if you continue all your life in the theoretical devotion only, you are lost, because the final fruit for you will be also theoretical.

Dear Dattaswami,

Excellent post, and it reminds me of scripture of my belief that asks the believer to live and practice the word of God. To hear and speak the word alone causes the word to be cold and dead like stone. To offer a prayer instead of bread to a starving man serves him not in his time of need.
I particularly like your use of the school of children and the adult who remains in it.
Excellent, excellent, excellent!!!

May God continue to bless you and keep you strong in His service.

Rev. Campbell

Your prayers and meditation are of no use, without service. Your prayers and meditation are like pickles (side items). They are to be served in the plate with the bread or rice (main item), which is service. Prayers and meditation without service is like serving pickles without bread or rice.

You are offering the plate with mere pickles as meals for God. When God eats only the pickles, His stomach burns (due to the spicy pickles) and He will be furious with you. Even if pickles were absent, the rice or chapatti (bread) could be eaten by itself. Hanuman, participated in the work of God, and did prayers and meditation as well.

That is like a plate with a full meal, which consists of service as well as prayer and meditation. I am only saying that prayer and meditation should be associated with service. If you are unable to do prayers and meditation, you need not bother. You can do service alone. God will bless you.

pathmender;

Any soul suits to the type of the service of God in which it is having the spontaneous talent. You should serve God in any way you like spontaneously without any force or fear or ambition for any fruit in return. God is pleased with such spontaneous service only and the fruit of your service is in the same phase only (Ye yathamam… Gita).

If your spontaneous service is theoretical, the fruit is also theoretical. If you praise God, God will also praise you in return. He will grant you good voice and good language. If you show theoretical devotion through good emotions, He will grant you good mind. If you serve Him through knowledge, He will grant you good intelligence. If you serve Him practically, He will help you practically.

If you do practical service with aspiration for some fruit in return, He will grant you the practical fruit, which is temporary like heaven. If you do practical service without aspiring any fruit in return like Hanuman, you will be granted the eternal practical fruit.