What if the self you are striving to become is not distant or aspirational, but already present—waiting patiently beneath layers of misidentification and habit? In this episode of Exploring Bhakti, we contemplate the portrait of the realized pilgrim and gently turn the mirror toward ourselves. Drawing from Bhakti philosophy and lived spiritual experience, this reflection speaks to the sincere seeker who has walked many paths yet still feels a quiet ache for wholeness. Here, Bhakti is revealed not as belief or institution, but as a transformative inner journey—one that restores clarity, love, humility, and a living relationship with the Divine Friend.
The Real You Is Waiting: Bhakti and Inner Transformation
Discovering the True Self Through Bhakti Transformation
What if your most extraordinary, loving, and wise self is not an aspiration but who you really are? Let’s look at the portrait of the perfected pilgrim, which can be you! The illumined man or woman moves beyond the narrow limits of selfishness. Being whole, complete, and jovial, they live in harmony with family, colleagues, acquaintances, and the natural world. They are assured and confident because they are clear about the best course of action, no matter what life presents. They are peaceful, motivated by spiritual ideals, love, beauty, truth, and – knowing themselves to be an integral part of a much larger whole – are humble.
The introspective pilgrim has realized the self, an immortal unit of brilliant consciousness who, though finite, is of the same exceptional, luminous nature as the Absolute. Therefore, they know their purpose and are thus empowered to make the unique contribution only they can make in the world. And because they remain in daily communication with their Divine Friend, they are secure, settled, and satisfied. They perceive the intelligence of life and find deep meaning everywhere, which continually motivates and inspires them.
With the ability to distinguish spirit from matter, their purpose in life comes into focus, and the resistance and doubts the wayfarer experienced melt away. The bhakta is eager to be of service to others and the Supreme.
With clarity, they control emotions and cravings. The allurements of this world lose their sway over them because they understand that this life is but a single frame in a long movie of hundreds of lifetimes – one second in eternity. And the attraction of their senses to the objects in the world is a mental construct only. In other words, they invest their energy in this life to secure long-term benefits. They are grateful to have received the unprecedented gift of Bhakti and the wisdom that accrues through a practice.
Such a person is happy because she or he is immovable in these truths; nothing can make her or him unsteady. As virtuous qualities like nonviolence, tolerance, humility, and kindness manifest in their person, bad habits and unbecoming character traits fall away. Free of the cage of separateness, limitations of the mind, and the masks of the false selves, the enlightened person is a loveable, one-of-a-kind, true original.
This is a portrait of YOU. A portrait of the real inner self, the self you will become through a Bhakti practice.
We have intuited our higher self and even glimpsed it from time to time, but have been unable to become firmly established on the transcendental platform of the self. Nonetheless, this timeless self has always existed and waits for you to turn your gaze inward. You can become this superior self.
Longing, Regret, and the Call to Inner Awakening
Take a moment to visualize how different your relationships, work, and achievements would be if you lived unfailingly as this extraordinary person. Is this the life you want? If so, then claim it with all your determination!
No one wants to come to the end of their life with regrets, feeling they lost important opportunities, didn’t live the life they were meant to live, or didn’t fulfill their full potential. No one wants to be known as a greedy, angry, arrogant, or unkind person. And yet we’re repeatedly drawn into unbecoming patterns of thinking and behavior. We’re hindered from living profoundly because we misidentify the immortal self with the temporary mind-body, which is composed of inert matter. This is our greatest misfortune because we are not petty creatures to be continually subjected to birth and death and riddled with unattractive behaviors and lower qualities.
We become more alive and empowered agents as we move toward the true self. We can become free and a genuinely extraordinary person. YOU can become free. This is an axiomatic truth that few of us understand, thoroughly explore, or find a genuine method to uncover the self. Sometimes we try different spiritual practices or processes but remain unfulfilled, wondering what we’re still missing. Bhakti may have the answers for you.
To know the self is to step off the ceaselessly moving walkway of life lived on the surface and to practice entering the region of the eternal within. The spiritual calling is unlike any other. It’s consuming and demands our time and attention, but it fills the heart with meaning and joy greater than any career, endeavor, relationship, or experience. Even the heights of accomplishment and notoriety such as possessing a powerful intellect like an accomplished mathematician or scientist; being the perfect mother of beautiful, kind children; becoming the Olympic athlete who surpasses all records; or the artist whose masterpieces are held in esteem all over the world – are all rendered insignificant in comparison with realization of the self and becoming permanently established in our true self.
Some people may stand out as making a unique contribution in the world – or at least garnering our attention or admiration. After all, in the West, we place immense value on public achievement—fame, wealth, beauty, and intellect. But from a spiritual perspective, the true achievement is invisible: it’s how deeply we have purified our hearts, awakened love, and become members of the universal family, treating everyone with equal affection and compassion. And when those achievers die, they must leave behind their wealth, knowledge, notoriety, body, and relationships.
Beginning the Bhakti Path: Sadhana and Inner Reorientation
Before we begin the Bhakti journey, we step back to orient ourselves, and as we do, we find that the ground underneath shifts. We need to stand on a different foundation than the rough-hewn one we are accustomed to. We need to inhabit a different mind and heart, and support ourselves with the softness of humility, tolerance, forbearance, and respect. When we embody these qualities, spiritual practice becomes easy, and our progress is rapid. Luckily for us, these qualities develop automatically through a Bhakti practice.
Armed with knowledge and engaged in the purifying acts of sadhana, we receive flashes of insight into the nature of Reality. These realizations and experiences are different for everyone. Someone may directly perceive their self. Another person will be shocked by a piercing vision of the temporary nature of the world, how short this life is, and how important it is to use the time they have now for the pursuit of self-realization. Someone else will sense the presence of the Supreme Person in their life in such a profound way that they become unshaken in knowing the Supreme’s existence. Another person will experience unconditional love and the safety of its shelter in a deep way.
There are thousands of visions that may occur that strengthen us. These insights come at different points in the journey. It’s as if we’re shown truth in dazzling, short bursts, that the Divine is saying, “Yes, continue. You’re going in the right direction.” We need these sorts of encouragement and faith-building experiences. Even momentary glimpses are striking enough to bolster our determination to continue with our practice, and they encourage us to let go and surrender. When we get the hang of surrender, we find we’re escorted forward as if standing on an automated moving walkway that demands little effort from us.
These flashes of insight come in and out of focus as we accept them, then reject the Reality we are learning about. Until our hearts are completely pure, we are of two minds. We want to reap the spiritual rewards, but we don’t want to do the work to transform ourselves.
Desire, Attachment, and the Limits of Sense Gratification
Unfortunately – or fortunately – we don’t enter a chrysalis as a caterpillar, go to sleep, and come out a colorful butterfly who effortlessly alights upon soft breezes in search of nectar to drink. We must take up a daily spiritual practice – an idea we are at once drawn to and repelled by.
I do want to activate my full potential as a spiritual being. I intuit there is more to me than what meets the eye. I experience my higher self from time to time, as well as other aspects of spiritual Reality. But something lowly is forever trying to strangle my noble desires. I hear that the root issues are my ignorance of my self and also my desires, specifically the desire to gratify my senses. Left unrestrained, these can ruin my ability to engage in a practice; they can put out the fire of desire for a spiritual life.
But, you say, “What can be so wrong with wanting to be happy?” Deep down, you know that physical gratification will not make you permanently happy. We have experienced that our fill of ice cream and other delicacies, enjoyable movies, parties and festivals, toys, and sex – the most seductive – do not satisfy us. When you’re thinking about whether to believe my statement, let me clarify. By satisfy, I mean that the thing or the act must fully satiate me and bring me enduring happiness that doesn’t leave me. That is the spiritual state of the self. Otherwise, fleeting satisfaction is not actually satisfaction. But our experience is that these passing pleasures only whet an insatiable appetite, and I remain on the hunt to find more and better. Again and again, I pursue my next idea. Yet the abiding, but unpalatable, truth remains that my efforts won’t satisfy me.
Attempts to gratify the senses have never satisfied anyone; they will never satisfy any of us. It is not possible. It has never been possible. It will never be possible. The sooner we accept this and grieve the loss of our ill-informed project, the happier we will become. But it is the clinging that tortures us. The glorious result of a proper sadhana and the happiness it brings never torments us.
Ego Effacement and the Purification of the Heart
For some, it occurs to us ever so slowly that a material effort for satisfaction is futile. If such people are fortunate, they then turn, by degrees, toward a spiritual life. We can come to a spiritual life by hearing of these truths or by experiencing the abject poverty of a sensual life. Usually, we come through the gradual process of being thwarted and realizing that our vision of utopia needs a facelift.
Why do we turn so slowly, so reluctantly? When we do finally turn to face our Divine Friend, who is, quite literally, the form of condensed beauty and love personified, all hesitations evaporate, and that which we most want – unconditional love and unbounded happiness – is quickly and forever achieved. It’s anyone’s guess why we make the process painful. I’ve heard it said that it is a causeless unwillingness: there is no GOOD reason. The only reason is illusion and attachment.
As we progress, we uncover all the subtle ways we refuse to let go. And they can get very, very subtle. When we do release our attachment to something, a thought, or an incorrect concept, we feel more alive and at peace. With confidence, we take a few steps forward, and then we find resistance again. But remembering the freedom we experienced from detachment, we let go again. Each step can be a smooth transition — or as difficult as if someone is cutting something from our heart without anesthesia.
Either way, when we do release our attachment, we can receive what can make us happy. That true happiness stands far above material enjoyment, and experiencing it propels us forward in our determination. Subsequently, with every step you take toward yourself, you develop a sense of when you are “off” and what needs to be adjusted.
The purification of the heart transforms more and more subtle “offnesses” we encounter within. As we become more astute, adroit, and attuned through a spiritual practice and good guidance, we’re able to clear more and more subtleties. Our hidden instincts are revealed in due course, and as we mature through a Bhakti sadhana, we are more able to cope and grapple with the realities life throws us. This process is called ego effacement and is the internal work we do along with the actual practices of Bhakti. The dissolution of the false and Bhakti practices are the two tracks that our transport vehicle runs on.
The Grace and Power of Bhakti Practice
The Bhakti practices are easy and joyful; ego effacement is where we find the challenges. Pilgrims who journey into the subversive territory of the false ego to efface it, apprise us that we will encounter obstacles on our path, and there’s no telling what our nemeses will be. We have many internal enemies lurking.
For instance, maybe we perceive ourselves as an honest person. We hold honesty in high regard and expect honesty from others. We deeply dislike dishonesty in others and, factually, take quite a bit of pride in being upright ourselves. And we think we do a very good job of being honest. Then something occurs and we are faced with a choice about whether to stretch the truth so that we can secure a benefit for us or our family. In a breeze, we determine that’s not really dishonest. And we may regularly be faced with such situations and have developed an internal sense that stretching the truth is alright – we’re honest and good.
Over time, we may notice mounting stress in our relationship with our partner. It’s their fault, we know, and we’re quick to assess their faults. Then our partner shows us – in a surprising development – how we’re not being honest, and our behavior is the underlying cause of the unrest in our relationship. A whole different story unfolds before our eyes and lays us bare as we try to catch our breath.
There are a million different scenarios that can manifest in life to show us we’re not as we think we are, and those are opportunities of self-reflection that inspire change – if we accept them.
Surrender, Mercy, and Becoming Who You Truly Are
The constructs of our false ego need to be identified and dismantled. And a sadhana will bring them all to the fore for us to examine. It’s part of the function of a sadhana. If we are lucky, and we are really engaged in a practice, all the obstacles, false values, desires, and incorrect thinking will show up. It’s a great gift to see, though it is uncomfortable and not always fun.
Bhakti takes this further: It doesn’t just ask us to face the shadow, but to lovingly dissolve the false ego and replace it with the serving ego through service and remembrance of the Divine. Tests will come, and this is an important reason for keeping sangha—the company of other practitioners—active and strong, open and honest.
Engaging in a sadhana is a process—a gradual process of clearing the unnecessary and replacing it with Reality. You will know that you are permanently transformed and that you have been engulfed by divine grace, though in no small measure because you kept placing yourself, every day, in the shelter and purifying effects of genuine spiritual practice – especially chanting the holy names of your Beloved.
By taking on this challenge, you become superhuman and will be ushered into the extraordinary world of the mystics and the saints. You are capable of this; every human being is meant to aspire for this. Bhakti teaches us that no one is disqualified. The door is open to anyone. All that is required is sincerity and the desire to love. As we walk this path, our ego falls away, and the true self shines through.
Thank you for joining me today at Exploring Bhakti.
In the next episode, we’ll explore the nine practices of Bhakti – the daily sadhana that transforms philosophy into realization – theory into experience.
Until next time, svasty astu visvasya: May there be good fortune throughout the universe and for you.
