Naam Jap Will First Defeat You – The Glory of Naam

Have you ever experienced that as soon as you try to go deeper into bhakti or naam jap, the challenges in life don't decrease but instead increase? We set out looking for peace, but something strange—a restlessness, a yearning—takes hold within us. Naam jap is only a spiritual surgery that, in the beginning, does not give us what we 'desire', but rather what we 'need'.

Naam Jap Will First 'Defeat' You

The first step of spiritual victory is 'defeat'. Naam jap first and foremost defeats that ego and worldly arrogance of the sadhak which we have nourished for years. This 'defeat' is like a 'healing wound'—it destroys that false identity of yours which keeps you separate from the Lord. As long as you continue to 'win' in the pride of your position, intellect and body, you will not be able to bow before that infinite being. Therefore, naam first and foremost defeats your 'I'.

The Destruction of Every 'Shelter'

If you are sitting with wealth, a person or social prestige as your foundation, and these very things are obstacles in your path of bhajan, then naam will demolish these 'shelters'. Here there is an important distinction that must be understood: if someone merely desires worldly prosperity, naam has the power to make them 'flourish'. But whoever has set out to find the 'ocean of bliss' (God), naam will not let them get stuck in worldly wealth. Naam will keep you 'yearning' and restless until you completely accept 'surrender'. This process is essential to move you away from temporary pleasures and take you to that 'source of bliss' where no external support is needed.

Naam Alone Is Mother and Father

Just as a mother gives birth to a child and nurtures it, so naam gives birth to 'anurag' (divine love) within us. Like a father, this naam protects that tender love growing in our heart. When all the relationships of the world begin to fade, it is this naam alone that stands as the sadhak's only beloved, well-wisher and protector.

The Definition of True 'Renunciation'

Renunciation is not merely giving up objects. True renunciation is that which transcends the subjects of the gross, subtle and causal bodies—these three levels. Just as after discarding the dirt of the body, a person neither takes pride in it nor remembers it, so too should the renunciation of worldly positions and prestige be such that not even the memory of it remains. Often people do renounce, but they hold onto the ego that says "I have renounced". Naam jap also cleanses that filth in the form of ego, so that renunciation becomes natural and complete forgetting.

Conclusion

Naam jap is the art of dissolving oneself and merging into 'Sat Chit Anand' (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). If adversity comes into your life while doing naam jap, understand that God is bestowing special grace upon you—they are demolishing those fragile dwellings of yours so that you can enter their eternal mansion.

Ask yourself today: "Are we not forgetting that 'naam' in the ego of justifying our petty matters, the naam that can connect us directly to supreme bliss?" The day the very thought of losing naam frightens you, know that you have truly come to love that 'naam'.

Original article: bhajanmarg.com