What is Nomadic Devotion?
“At God’s command he had to separate himself from the “establishment,” to go he knew not where, to find he knew not what. He did not know when or whether or how he would again have a home or a land of his own.”
Nomadic Devotion is the conscious path of spiritual wayfarer Paul W. Jacob (Jake). This way teaches us to let go of social conditioning, egocentric desires, and the worldly scale of values in order to follow the deepest calling of our True Self (Atman in Vedanta, Indwelling Christ in Christianity). It merges inner and outer disciplines, as contemplative wisdom (jnana yoga) and self-emptying (bhakti yoga) become fully integrated when they rouse us to selfless service (karma yoga). For the authentic wayfarer does not seek to acquire anything for themself; they simply yearn to give away everything in devotional service of the Loving Spirit of Oneness.
Nomadic Devotion demonstrates that by being present in our True Self, Divine Will can work through us in ways that are mysterious to the socially conditioned world. Many people have jobs, but they have not yet discovered their true calling to selfless service because of fear and anxiety about their personal comfort and material needs. Jesus of Nazareth spoke plainly in Matthew 6:25-27 when he taught that we should not worry about or focus on acquiring our worldly needs. Truly, if we live and move and have our being in the Eternal One (Brahman in Vedanta, Godhead in Christianity), who is our ultimate source, what is there to worry about? This teaching relates to the Sanskrit term, shraddhā, which has no English equivalent but signifies divine “faith”, ”trust” and “purpose”.
““The Loving Spirit of Oneness is just a phrase or a theory or a belief until it becomes our living reality. Within that state of unified consciousness, we realize that our lives are divinely intertwined.””
Nomadic Devotion imparts that our work in this world must connect us to something greater than our ego and its various wants and desires. The Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture, asserts that we have the right to work but for the work's sake only. Desire for the fruits of our labor must never enter our mind. Thus, when we become rooted in our True Self, we can no longer work for any selfish means or worldly gains but merely aim to serve the Loving Spirit of Oneness that flows freely among us. This is why any spiritual/religious teachers or organizations who charge their devotees or adherents for their services or guidance are still stuck in the egoistic duality of the contractual world. In the Loving Spirit of Oneness there is no separation, so Spiritual Truth is always FREE!
Nomadic Devotion allows that our True Self may ultimately lead us to varying forms of service. As Jake actualizes, this could be through mentoring and cooking for at-risk youth, creating meditation gardens for families, leading spiritual formation groups at senior centers, reading to people with Alzheimer’s, facilitating contemplative retreats at monasteries and spiritual centers, publishing essays and stories spotlighting the plights of marginalized people, teaching under-served populations at community colleges, presenting lectures at public libraries, and providing food, daily necessities, human companionship and spiritual care for our homeless neighbors who live on the streets.
The paramount lesson of the path of Nomadic Devotion is not how our life looks on the outside according to the egocentric standards of the socially conditioned world, but that we accept the humble calling of our True Self within and offer that service freely in the Loving Spirit of Oneness.