I suspect that many people would
feel very uncomfortable watching a religious person express devotional love to
that person’s chosen deity in a very emotional and effusive manner. The sheer emotional
intensity amid the dancing and chanting in a Hare Krishna temple can be
daunting to a visitor. The phenomenon of what in Hinduism is called bhukti is
hardly rare, and this begs the question of whether there is a human instinctual
urge to feel and express even lifelong loving devotion to an entity that is not
based in the created realm and thus cannot be realized and instantiated as
another human being can be and is. Whether there is a phenomenon that is human,
thus beyond the manifestations in various religions can go a long way in answering
the question of whether an innate instinctual urge exists, even if it is more pressing
in some people than in others. Some people, for instance, work their whole life
in business, while other business practitioners reach a certain point in years
when they “check out,” and head to a divinity school or seminary. Still other
people assume religious vocations as young adults and spend the rest of their
life ministering to people and officiating at religious rituals. Some people spend
their entire life without feeling devotional love directed to a deity, while
other people, such as the Hindu mystic, Ramakrishna, are utterly consumed by
the inward fire of religious devotion. Was Ramakrishna’s devotion different in
kind from a Christian’s intense love of Jesus, or is there what can be termed
a human bhakti phenomenon, and if so, is it capable of breaking down religious
barriers that can excite animosity and even hatred?
The full essay is at "Comparative Devotionalism."
