Question: I am confused about what happens to devotion after awakening. It seems many great teachers still have objects of devotion, such as a beloved teacher or a deity. When the Bhakta realizes All as being One, why doesn't devotion simply fall away like everything else?
Answer: The Bhakti Path of devotion is very special indeed. It guides us deeper into union with that Divine aspect of ourselves. There is a yearning to merge with the Divine, a subtle feeling of separateness, as if the Divine or our object of devotion is above us in some way. It's the love affair. Then, during moments of Unity it is known that the Divine is within us, and we are never separate from It. This continues to deepen over time, until there is no separation.
As I write in my book, Bringing Home the Mountain-Finding the Teacher Within, "When duality is seen through, there is truly only One. Consciousness is revealed to include all, the manifestation of student, teacher, and even our beloved object of devotion. This is Bringing Home the Mountain, as the Mountain, or God, is always and forever what we have been seeking outside ourselves. In the end, we simply come home to our own hearts and rest in That."
There is no need to push away anything, or rush in to "Kill the Buddha." The beauty of the Bhakti Path is to simply see through the illusion of separateness. Once this is seen through, then returning to the Bhakti Path is part of the Divine Play. For example, the holy mountain Arunachala was said to be Ramana Maharshi's one attachment, and certainly his beloved object of devotion. So enjoy this wondrous love affair. It is beautiful.
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