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Lesson VII: Bhakti Yoga.369
have their being, and that He is not a being afar off, but is right here, all the
time, nearer than one’s very body. They are not “goody-goody” people, but
men and women who see God everywhere, in everything, and who feel that
they are worshiping Him in every act. They seek diligently the Kingdom of
Heaven, but they realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is within themselves,
and also all around them. They feel in Heaven every moment of their lives.
They worship God, all the time, everywhere; in every act—they know that
every act is a service to Him, and that every place is His Temple. They feel
constantly filled with the Power of God—constantly within his sight and
knowledge—constantly in His Presence. And they fear not—Love fills them
so completely that there is no room for anything else. Love casts out all Fear,
for them. Every day is Sunday to such people—every hill, plain, field, and
house is the Temple. To them every man is His priest—every woman His
priestess—every child an attendant at His altar. They are able to pierce the
disguise of man, woman and child, and to see the soul underneath the often
hideous fleshly covering.
The Bhakti Yogi does not feel that God demands Man’s love, or that He
holds favors and benefits as a reward for those who love Him, or reserves
punishments and penalties for those who do not manifest such love. On
the contrary, his idea of God would cause him to regard such an idea as
unworthy of a true lover of God. He knows that God is above such primitive
feelings and characteristics. He knows that the love of God extends to all of
his children, without regard to whether or not they love Him or worship Him.
They know that God does not demand services or duty; worship, or even
reverence. They compare God to the sun which is no respecter of persons
or motives, and which shines on the just and unjust alike—his rays being
open even to those who deny his existence. But the Bhakti Yogi also knows
that there is a reward and benefit awaiting those who open themselves to
God’s love—not as an act depending upon God’s favor, but as an effect
resulting from the act of Man. Just as the man who steps out into the warm
rays of the sun is relieved of cold, and is thus rewarded for his act, so is the