For as long as I can remember, we have listened to Hindu devotional music at home. I can't tell you how many times I have woken up, my brain processing reality at 0.25 speed, coming downstairs to the sound of ancient Sanskrit syllables blasting from the TV. I was indifferent to devotional music growing up. Maybe I would sing along to a song here and there with my parents and sister. But I would never go out of my way to listen to bhajans on my own.
But recently, I have realized the profound value of devotional music. Bhajans, I feel, are meant to inspire love for the divine. For instance, the Hanuman Chalisa, one of my favorite bhajans, focuses on a particular form of the divine: Hanuman. Hanuman Chalisa gives us countless examples of Hanuman's wisdom, focus, service, and devotion. By listening, contemplating, and meditating on the Hanuman Chalisa, our minds become full of his image: an image that represents boundless service and love. Thus, our values become more selfless and peaceful, we think more about how to help others, and we act from a place of unconditional love. What happens when we chant Hanuman Chalisa or any bhajan is this: we become devoted and inspired by a form of the divine, to the point where we begin to embody this form. So in the case of the Hanuman Chalisa, we embody the selflessness of Hanuman. Ultimately, worship of the form of Hanuman leads us to the direct experience of formless being. We use a form of the divine to go beyond form, and realize the fundamental, undivided divinity as the truth of all experience.
Singing bhajans and repeating mantras have been really helpful in times when I feel really anxious. Sticking with the example of Hanuman, it helps to just hold onto just one thought in the midst of a flurry of overthinking. Even in the face of intense suffering, we can just be devoted to one form of the divine and nothing else. Thus, suffering has less power over us, since no matter what our experience is, whether it is pleasant or painful, we can have the same unwavering devotion and love. This unconditional love provides us with the integrity to do the right thing no matter what. This is because we no longer act for the sake of receiving some outcome – desires have less control over us, because regardless, our heart is with something that is unconditionally present. Now, we can help an old woman cross the street purely because it's the right thing to do. We don't need the old woman to give us a million dollars – we can do the right thing without the expectation of any reward. Because the true reward is already ours: our own eternal being. Any other so-called reward is ultimately unsatisfying, because it leads to clinging and aversion. Since things like fame or money or relationships come into our lives, they will ultimately leave our lives as well, and so living for the sake of these impermanent things is futile. We must live for the sake of that which is beyond coming and going: for our own heart.
So anyways, listening to devotional music has helped me become more dedicated and sincere. And more resolute in my conviction that in all times, in all places, the only thing to do is to become more and more selfless and helpful.
Today I decided to create my own bhajan singing "Arunachala Shiva", while playing guitar. I enjoyed it a lot. It felt like a very pure expression, since I was singing for the purpose of letting go of all self-interest, just to express myself. And the "Arunachala Shiva" mantra represents Ramana Maharshi, who was a sage that many say was an incarnation of Lord Shiva (just like Hanuman). His teachings of self-enquiry have been very helpful for me, but more than anything, gazing at his face, which is full of purity and compassion has been transformative. His face is like a mirror for the deepest part of my soul. It is as if he sees everything, and thus I must face and accept all of my experience.
