Bhakti Yoga is a system of Yoga in which love and devotion are given emphasis. Some of the Bhakti Yoga traditions do not preach the traditional Yoga asanas, pranayama, mudra or controlled meditation. In its place they lay emphasis on love of God, love of God in man and surrender to God's will. Some people are naturally inclined by temperament to be devotional and to love God and God-as-the-world. In the Bhakti Yoga fold, maintenance of balance is recommended. Perhaps we all practice Bhakti Yoga in our day today life. It is in our dealings with other persons that we tend to practice this. Bhakti Yoga is reflected most in our prayer to the God.
Like established Yoga systems there are no fixed ways to perform Bhakti yoga. It all depends from person to person. Some individuals can take the help of external aids to stimulate prayer and meditation. These external aids may include pictures of saints, chanting or singing and use of mantra. Whatever an individual does, if it proves beneficial in the long run it is perfectly in order for that individual, even though the same may not appeal to another person. Then there are a large number of people who resort to singing the names of God to elevate consciousness and charge the environment with pure energy. For those who find it difficult to concentrate during meditation, prayer and chanting is of great help.
Bhakti yoga is based on the doctrine "Love is God and God is Love". The bhakta experiences separation and longs to meet or even just glimpse his beloved. Nothing else attracts him, nothing else holds his attention, all else is meaningless. Food, sex, sleep, attachments, responsibilities - all are no longer important in bhakti yoga.
Bhakti Yoga Benefits
Bhakti Yoga, the most direct path to Cosmic Consciousness, to awareness of the Absolute, is the yoga of love and pure spiritual devotion to God, Who is Love. It is the yoga of blissful exhilaration, of purest love. In Bhakti Yoga, the devotee is the lover and the deity, the Divine, the Godhead, is the beloved. Bhakti Yoga causes its devotees to be fully aware, to be fully and ever conscious, of the fact that all is the manifestation of the Divine. It causes the veil of ignorance, the veil of the sense of separateness from the Divine, to fall from the eyes, from the consciousness, of the devotee.It makes the devotee aware of the fact that ego and material consciousness are of no importance whatsoever.
Why be egotistic of the petty materialistic body or mind, when of far greater value is awareness of the Cosmic Mind? By overcoming the pull of the ego, of petty personal concerns, the devotee is able to become enthralled in the feeling of being united with God Consciousness.
The doctrine that "God is Love and Love is God" is the base of Bhakti Yoga. It is the bliss of love that will enable the devotee to transcend petty concern.
