Bhakti Yoga - Devotion to God Definition Bhakti Yoga recommends aspirants devote themselves 100% to the worship of God. Bhakti, a Sanskrit word, translates as, ‘to share, to love’ so a translation of the whole term ‘Bhakti Yoga’ could be, ‘to love union with God’. This presentation accounts my journey through the research process and discovery of what Bhakti Yoga might mean in my life, beginning with my initial reactions, describing my realisations during the process and concluding with my intentions for practice. Christianity Vs. Hinduism - my initial reaction My initial reaction to this call to worship God was mixed. Having attended a Christian secondary school I had rejected the dogma of Christianity yet even at that stage recognised that I enjoyed the ritual and sensation of worship. I had issues with the requirement to pledge allegiance to a belief system that denigrated me as a female though and associated the word ‘God’ with that dogma. As years progressed I became interested in Native American spirituality which led me to earth-based religions such as Druidry and Wicca. I appreciated the reverence for nature and the equality of the sexes yet still found it hard to adhere to prescribed rituals and idols which didn’t seem to resonate with me. I began to conclude that what I believed in as ‘God’ was the essence of all religions, the point where all beliefs converge; the spirituality within religion. I visualise this as the trunk of a tree with many religious and philosophical branches emanating from it. Yet having concluded that my God was nameless, formless and omnipresent I spent years feeling bereft of any faith at all, disjointed from any regular experience of divinity and only understood why when I read the Bhagavad Gita. Nirguna Brahman vs. Saguna Brahman Chapter 12, “The Path of Love – Bhakti Yoga” begins with Arjuna differentiating two aspects of God:
How can any mind comprehend that which is beyond its imagination? Krishna explains, “to deeply love the formless God one must be free from one’s own body consciousness, and this state is not attainable by many.” This implies that an altered state of consciousness, i.e. connecting with the higher mind is necessary to know the formless, nameless God. I hadn’t realised that I’d chosen the so-called, ‘steeper climb’! But Krishna assures Arjuna that although worshipping Saguna Brahman is appropriate for him at that stage, ultimately, whichever objects he associates with Brahman/God must be disassociated in order to progress spiritually for Saguna Brahman reinforces the illusion of separation from the divine. So, having realised that my focal point of worship was known as ‘Nirguna Brahman’, I moved on to consider whether I wanted to and how I could love and devote myself to it. Conditional Vs. Unconditional Love This began with an enquiry into the word ‘love’. I called upon my experiences of love and realised that they didn’t seem to relate to or inspire Bhakti Yoga. I questioned my understanding of love and found it to be different from that described in the text, an egoic, need-based exchange rather than being unconditional. I wrote down the following comparisons:
PRAKRITI : PURUSHA NATURE : SPIRIT LOVE? : LOVE
The love I thought I had experienced in my everyday life (the Prakriti column) transpired to be a worldly version of love, the love of matter, an egoic love, the giving of which enhanced my status in some way, this love reinforced my roles within society it was conditional love – with strings attached. Not love at all but desire! In fact, Krishna states that He (Brahman) is love: “Be very clear about the crucial importance of love. To love is to know Me. The act itself of loving is indeed the experience of really knowing Me, for I am Love, Arjuna! To love is to know My innermost nature, the Truth that I am. It is through this sacred and deep knowing that you gain access to Me and become one with My own Self. Loving is knowing God! As a deep knower of the Godhead you actually become the Godhead.” So if God is Love and to experience this love one has to transcend body consciousness (or ego) and unite with Brahman then have any of us really experienced love? Divine, Unconditional Love It is evident that Krishna is referring to the Purusha/Spirit version of love. A divine version of the over-used term most of us think we are familiar with. This love is boundless, infinite and everlasting, just like Brahman. This love is the state of yoga or union with God and Krishna recommends that Arjuna absorb himself in it constantly. This constant devotion to God or the state of divine love is the path of Bhakti Yoga and requires that we surrender our ego and offer our entire being to divine will. Chapter 18 writes, “this divine love is both the means for reaching Me and the ultimate goal of all human existence; indeed, it is the pinnacle of human spiritual achievement”. The entire text seems to distil into this one statement. There may be other ways to God; through knowledge (Jnana Yoga) or through action (Karma Yoga) but all begin and end in love (Bhakti Yoga). The Gita requires that we cultivate this love as a state of being, just for the sake of it. It aims for us to know God as the journey and the destination. This may be attractive to those with devout tendencies but what purpose could blind faith and daily worship of God have for the average householder like me? You Are What You Think Modern self-help, new age and psychological therapists all support the notion of positive thinking. Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) considers the mind to be similar to a computer which can be programmed for positive or negative futures. Yet, these ideas were known hundreds if not thousands of years ago by the ancient sages who received these facts as divine shruti (intuited wisdom). “It is true that one is where one’s mind is”, states Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. The neural pathways of the brain strengthen with use and diminish without and as the mind cannot readily differentiate between what is really experienced and what is merely imagined, so it is that thinking positively can create a positive future. Krishna promises Arjuna, “if you think of Me only and constantly revere and worship Me with your mind and heart undistracted, I will personally carry the burden of your welfare; I will provide for you your needs and safeguard what has already been provided.” Interestingly, the Gita also gives further motive (if needed!) why maintaining a union with the divine through constant love and devotion is necessary. It categorises all human experience into sattvic (calm, harmonious), rajasic (restless, energetic) and tamasic (lethargic, unmotivated) and states that, “the particular state of mind uppermost at the time of your death is the deciding factor of your next birth.” How to Practice Bhakti Yoga - nine primary forms and 3 daily practices
Dedicating all actions to God and renouncing attachment to their outcome is recommended as a way to practice loving devotion everyday. This pathway is ideal for the householder because it allows for personal circumstances. Each individual is invited to make their actions, their surroundings and themselves sacred. Meditating on the name of God (or love) is another exercise but part of this practice involves recognising that everything is made of God/Love therefore each moment of the day can become part of a meditation. But on a moment to moment basis how can we keep the Truth at the forefront of our minds? Conclusion Bhakti Yoga recommends that God or Love be each person’s journey and their destination. By definition, it initially reinforces an illusory sense of separation from the divine by encouraging active worship or loving of objects, concepts or idols, yet this repeated action leads to becoming one with the divine or being love. This is not achieving something new or gaining something we didn’t already have, it is merely recognising ourselves as both human and being. The human part of ourselves loves; the being/spirit part of ourselves IS love.
LOVING LEADS TO BEING LOVE
Bibliography Hawley, J. (2001), The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners, New World Library Tolle, E., (2005), A New Earth, Penguin Books Easwaran, E., (1987), The Upanishads, Blue Mountain Centre of Meditation BWY Class Handouts www.wikipedia.com Written by Justine Aldersey-Williams 13/07/08 more articles... leave feedback...
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