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Bhakti Yoga: The
Yoga of Love
Bhakti Yoga is the system in which love and devotion are emphasized. There are Bhakti Yoga traditions that do not teach asana, pranayama, mudra or controlled meditation - main practices of traditional yoga. Instead, love of God, love of God in man, and surrender to God's will is stressed in the Bhakti Yoga approach. Some people are naturally inclined by temperament to be devotional and to love God and God-as-the-world. Balance is recommended: devotion balanced with reason, love balanced with understanding. There are no set ways to perform Bhakti yoga. Some people find that external aids can contribute to a devotional attitude: an altar used during prayer and meditation; pictures of saints to serve as inspiration; chanting or singing; use of mantra or even a simple devotional ceremony to aid in creating a mood as preparation for meditation. Whatever a person's approach, if that approach is useful in the long run, it is perfectly in order for him, even though it may not appeal to another. Singing the names of God aloud can elevate consciousness, clear the mind and even charge the environment with pure energy. For persons who find it difficult to concentrate during meditation and for whom the approach of calm discernment is too subtle, prayer and chanting can be of value. The term bhakti, derived from the root bhaj, is generally renderd as devotion, or love. Bhakti-Yoga is thus the Yoga of loving self-dedication to, and love-participation in the divine Person. In Bhakti-Yoga, the emotional force of the human being is purified and channeled toward the Divine. In their discipline of ecstatic self-transcendence, the bhakti-yogins, or bhaktas tend to be more openly expressive than the typical raja-yogin, or jnanin. The followers of Bhakti-Yoga do not, for instance, shy away from shedding tears of longing for the Divine. In this approach, the transcendental Reality is usually conceived as a supreme Person rather than as an impersonal Absolute. Many practitioners of this path even prefer to look upon the Divine as an Other. They speak of communion and partial merging with God rather than total identification, as in Jnana-Yoga. It is in our day to day life that Bhakti Yoga is truly practiced. Are we loving, compassionate and fair in our dealings with others? St. Francis is one of the Christian tradition who exemplified the Yoga of love and devotion. Jesus stated the ideal of Bhakti Yoga when he taught, "As you have loved me, love one another." When true love reigns, there can be no barriers; then harmony and fulfillment rule. Simple, direct prayer is the most effective- just talking with God, then being still. The teaching is that by devotion and receptivity we can open ourselves to the Reality of God and attract God's consciousness into our own. Love and devotion also purifies human nature and cleanses the mind and the emotional field. There can be no hate, dislike, jealousy, envy, fear or prejudice in the loving heart. Truly, blessed are the pure in heart, for they can perceive the Reality of God. The
initiate guided by his guru may apply himself to yoga (a "methodic exertion" of body and mind) in order to
attain, through mortification, concentration, and meditation, a higher
state of consciousness in which he may find the supreme knowledge, achieve
spiritual autonomy, and realize his oneness with the Highest (or however
the ultimate goal is conceived). Yoga
may be atheistic or combined with various philosophical or religious
currents. Every denomination attempted to implement yogic practices on a
theoretical basis derived from its own teachings. There are many different
forms of yoga, and the
practices vary according to the stage of advancement of the adepts. All
serious yogis, however, agree in disapproving the use of yogic methods for
worldly purposes. Pranayama Sanskrit:
"breath control"), in the Yoga system of Indian
philosophy, fourth of the eight stages intended to lead the aspirant to
samadhi, a state of perfect concentration. The immediate goal of pranayama
is to reduce breathing to an effortless, even rhythm, thus helping to free
the individual's mind from attention to bodily functions. The
practitioners of Yoga recognize four states of
consciousness--waking, sleep with dreams, sleep without dreams, and a
state resembling cataleptic consciousness--each of which has its own
respiratory rhythm. By prolonging each respiration as long as possible in
simulation of the unconscious states during which respiration is slower
than in the normal waking state, the yogi ultimately learns to pass from
one state to another, without loss of consciousness. The ability to reduce
respiration markedly is what enables the experienced practitioner of Yoga
to be buried alive for periods of time.
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