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Fire of Love is stoked only by the oblations of mind and body || Acharya Prashant, on Hafiz (2016)
Scriptures and Saints
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1 year ago
Truth
Heart
Body
Devotion
Love
Memory
Attachment
Suffering
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that all false notions of the self, which cause fear and pain, dissolve as one nears God. He describes love as a funeral pyre where the heart must lay down the body, emphasizing that everything we are taught is for the body, yet the body must serve the heart. He asserts that the heart knows how to produce, maintain, and dissolve the body, and one should leave these concerns to the truth or God. He defines thought, intention, method, feeling, and emotion as aspects of the body that are insignificant and cannot capture the truth. The body is described as memory carrying itself forward in time, driven by a will to prolong itself. To be in love, according to Acharya Prashant, is to be devoted only to the one truth rather than being attracted to things that come and go. Practically, devotion to the truth means recognizing the falseness of false love and attachments. He states that one cannot love the truth directly but can only love it through the abnegation of everything that is not the truth. This involves rejecting what is ungodly and not energizing attractions that are rooted in lust, greed, or personal security. He explains that when one realizes that worldly pursuits lead only to suffering and futility, their steps freeze, which is the mark of true devotion. Acharya Prashant concludes that devotion to the truth is not a concept, idea, or religious identification. Instead, it manifests in one's daily lifestyle, choices, and priorities. It is visible in how one breathes, relates, talks, and eats. True devotion is the act of not moving toward that which is known to be false. When a person sees that their current chase is no different from the futile chases of the past, they stop, and this cessation of movement toward the false is what constitutes devotion to the truth.