Devotion is the keyword for success in life. Everyone to one degree or another is devoted to something according to where they are in consciousness and the nature of their mind. Also, their nature and intensity of desire has a great deal to do with devotion. Devotion means to fix on something, to focus one's effort on something specific and pursue this course with great intensity. In our case, as Transcendental Meditators, what is necessary in order to achieve maximum results is to give devotion to the practice.

The main thing we need to consider, or have an awareness of, is whether or not what we are devoted to is productive or not productive, life-supporting or not life-supporting; whether by our devotion we are living good karma or are piling up more bad karma that in some future time will come back to us to be worked off and lived out at a great cost to us. In low consciousness there is little consideration for one's actions.

We should always give due consideration to anything we have a feeling for and feel a certain devotion toward. If, after exploring the situation carefully, we find it to be good and that it serves our purpose and the purpose of life, then and only then should we become devoted to that particular pursuit. This is what is known as planned existence.

We may only be devoted to one thing, while with others, their devotion may be to numerous things. What takes most of humanity’s time and devotion is the drive for success. But by what yardstick do we measure success in life? The yardstick varies greatly based on our consciousness. If you were to ask people what is success, most would answer that it was the acquisition of wealth or fame. However such a focus becomes a devotion to greater bondage. There is nothing wrong with having money. It is only how we view and use money that counts. As a tool for our own higher development and for the upliftment of those in need, money is good. When it is used to control or hinder the lives of others for the sake of power, it is evil. So, again, it is good to know by discrimination what we should become devoted to and to what degree.

Down through the ages we have been taught that a very high purpose in life is to be devoted to God. It is very true that we should be devoted to God, but we should be devoted in the right way. The way of devotion to God is by love and by infusion of the Being. By surrendering to God in this way we will be giving maximum devotion for all good because we not only place ourselves on the path of perfection and liberation, but we are also helping humanity to rise up much higher than it otherwise would. Thereby, we embark on a selfless crusade for humanity and by so doing we serve the purpose of God and the purpose of life which is evolution and perfection. This is right devotion.

We need to put our priorities in order and not put priorities on the lesser values of life. As devoted people, we need to fix our priorities on the highest value of life, and that is to achieve maximum spiritual gain.

Devotion can either free us or bind us according to how we view life and where our desires are concentrated. We do not show devotion by loudly proclaiming how devoted we are, but by silently expressing our devotion by our actions and letting our lights speak for us.

By now, most of us have learned that the path of liberation is the highest path because it frees us from the wheel of birth and death. So, in placing our devotion there, we have embarked upon our journey to become one with our Self. Devotion also means that no matter how hard the way seems and how little we seem to be gaining, we just keep on going. Then, when we least expect it, we will come out of the darkness, out of the pain and out of the shadows of life and into the glorious bliss and light of the Eternal. By our concentrated devotion we overcome and then we stand as pillars of light. We then express our true divine Self. By our devotion to God, we merge into God consciousness; we come into the oneness, the all-knowing, all-experiencing, divine and eternal Self.

So, devotion to our spiritual development is the paramount consideration of life’s journey. As we climb higher and higher on the ladder of life, we gradually vanish in a blaze of light and into our Eternal Kingdom, the land of the glorious ‘now.’ We pass beyond all sorrow, all shadows and tribulations of human life, and through our true devotion we become the eternally devoted, never again to feel the sting of death or the pain of birth.