Devotion as the Path of Self-Purification

In an earlier discourse about changing oneself through changing one’s perspective, I mentioned that one way to deal with negative thoughts and feelings is to take an objective perspective while meditating on such thoughts and emotions. But there is a more direct approach to self-purification in Sufism, and that is the path of devotion or eradat.

Broadly speaking, we can be devoted to something or someone and true devotion happens when we voluntarily put the well-being of our object of devotion above our own well-being. In other words, you care about the person you are devoted to more than you care about yourself. It is important to emphasise that a true act of devotion is carried out freely and voluntarily. This is to make a distinction between human devotion and animal devotion. A dog does not seem to have a choice in its devotion to its owner, but humans do have a choice in their devotion. Also, those who are duped or brainwashed into the state of servitude or bondage cannot be said to have genuine, voluntary devotion.

It is commonplace that people devote their lives to those who are genetically connected to them. Parents are, by and large, devoted to their children, but it could be said that they have vested interest in their devotion to their children. Perhaps unconsciously we all want our children to do better in life because they are carrying our genes and natural selection pushes us towards caring for the survival of our genes.

In a pure act of devotion to someone, there should not be any self-interest involved. Yet even in an act of spiritual devotion, there may be some element of self-interest. One becomes devoted to a spiritual teacher because one wants to become a better person or become more purified or because they have some yearning for the spiritual truth. It is very rare for a spiritual seeker to be devoted to their spiritual guide without having any wants, wishes, expectations or ulterior motives.

In the spiritual context, the initial devotion to someone happens through attraction—attraction to the qualities of one’s spiritual teacher. The initial attraction is not a voluntary act. People become attracted to each other for all sorts of reasons and I am not really concerned here with the reasons or causes for such attractions. The important question here is once the attraction turns into devotion, how does the act of devotion facilitate the process of self-purification?

One important aspect of genuine devotion to a spiritual guide is the fact that it leads to the experience of love. Love eventually appears after persistent and continuous devotion. However, during the process of devotion, one goes through many different types of emotions and states, sometimes positive and at times negative. Positive states are those such as having a purpose in life, or experiencing love and selflessness. Negative states might involve feelings of not being appreciated by your spiritual teacher, or a sense of doubt that the person you have devoted your life to is the right person, or ultimately whether you are wasting your life in the act of devotion. Doubt is a human quality which is pervasive in our spiritual struggle and can sometimes make us abandon the path completely.

When we are overwhelmed by negative feelings and thoughts in the process of spiritual devotion, what saves us is the trust that we have for the person that we are devoted to. If we have an overwhelming trust that the person we are devoted to is genuinely caring and loving and they are not pursuing self-interest or personal gratification, we can overcome these negative thoughts and emotions and will be able to continue on the path of devotion.

As love grows in the person who is devoted to their spiritual guide, it serves, as it were, as an alchemy which transmutes all their negative qualities to positive qualities. This is the fundamental feature of Sufism. The love does all the work in the transformation and purification of the individual. When we experience love because of our devotion to another, anything negative, egotistical or destructive gradually fades away.

In our contemporary culture, where there is much emphasis on individuality and self-promotion, the act of devotion to another person, especially in a religious or spiritual context, is viewed suspiciously and negatively. There are of course numerous examples where devotion to a spiritual teacher who was acting out of self-interest had catastrophic consequences. A relationship of devotion, like any other human relationship, can turn out to be destructive if the person who accepts the act of devotion acts out of self-interest and abuses the trust that is placed in them. But the existence of potential abuse in the relationship should not make us think that all such relationships are doomed to failure.

The sufis have repeatedly pointed out that it is better to be devoted to an animal than to oneself. The reason is obvious. Love of another is the beginning of the path of spiritual truth. The whole of point of our existence is to express love and receive love and the act of devotion makes this goal possible. As Hafez says:

Men and angels exist because of love,
Show some devotion so that you reap the benefit thereof