'My sisters from Bengal, the object of devotion is to purify the heart by reducing worldly desires and by concentrating it on spiritual symbols. It is the easiest way to prepare the heart for acheiving identity with God within. In fact what we call 'Jnana' [knowledge] or 'identity of the individual Self with the supreme Self', is only a higher form of devotion. Love strikes at the root of duality and finally brings about the absorption of the lover in the being of the Beloved.

Devotion to God is first expressed in the third person; the devotee says: 'He of whom the Vedas sing, Who is incarnated... is my sole Lord and master'; and if he is persevering, patient and given to tapas [self-restraint] and service of his Guru, he develops a feeling of vairagya [detachment] and great love for Hari [God]. The follows the second phase of devotion, in which Hari is worshipped in the second person: 'Thou art my Lord and I am thy servant. Thou didst confer thy companionship on Suddama, on the gopis of Vraja, and on the wild tribes of Southern India. In thee I take refuge'. In this stage the devotee sees Hari in every being. A true lover loves the world; rising above all passions, his mind swings in the serene atmosphere which is not approached by the dust of sansara [phenomenality]. The devotee now begins to lose consciousness of his individuality. In the third stage he worships Hari in the first person. Hari becomes his own Self and all duality comes to an end; the veil of sansara is lifted and there is no longer 'I' or 'my', 'thou' or 'thine', but only one Cosmic Consciousness in which universes rise and fall like bubbles in the sea. My sisters, this is the consummation of devotion. 'Vasudeva [God] is all'; the Mahatma who knows this is rare. Thus you will see there is no difference between devotion and jnana...'