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Lesson VII: Bhakti Yoga.363
love and worship of God by means of the mental conception of God as a
personal being—a “personal God.” The second, or higher stage, Para Bhakti,
consists of the worship and love of an impersonal God—the Absolute. Of
course the same God is loved and worshiped in both cases, but the mental
development of the follower of Gauni Bhakti does not admit of his forming
a mental concept of an impersonal God, and he, doing the best he can,
forms a mental image of a personal God. There are many sub-stages to both
of these main stages, the conception of God depending upon the mental
and spiritual development of the man. We will go over the question briefly
in order that the student may distinguish the great difference between the
two great stages of Bhakti Yoga, and at the same time may recognize that
both ideas are of the same stock, the difference being a matter of mental
and spiritual growth.
Primitive man feeling the urge of the religious instinct, but being unable
to think clearly on the subject, vents his instinctive worship upon crude
symbols. He worships sticks and stones—thunder and lightning—the sun,
moon and stars—the winds—and other natural objects. A little later on the
race begins to feel that God is some sort of person—some great big man,
living somewhere in space—unseen but seeing. The mind of the savage
conceives the idea of a God possessing the same characteristics as himself—
only much bigger and stronger. The savage being cruel and bloodthirsty
can imagine only a cruel and bloodthirsty God. If he is a black man his
God likewise is black. If he is a Mongolian, his God has slanting eyes, and
perhaps wears a queue. If he is an Indian, his God is red, with painted face
and feathers, and carries a bow and arrows. If he is an uneducated Hindu,
his God may ride a bull or an elephant, and be nearly naked. And so on, the
God of every people bearing the characteristics of that people. Each nation,
feeling the religious instinct, creates a conception of a personal God—and
each conception of a personal God resembles those who create him, Each of
these created Gods loves and hates the persons and things loved or hated