Namaste,
Yoga is not just about asana, as we all know that it’s a state, a union between mind body and soul, and 4 paths of yoga help each individual evolve towards higher consciousness, All these 4 paths help us to transform our lives. just as it has transformed mine too.
The Four Paths Of Yoga
Jnana Yoga – Path Of Wisdom
Raja Yoga– Path Of Willpower
Bhakti Yoga– Path Of Emotions And Surrender
Karma Yoga– Path Of Selfless Service, Path Of Intellect
As we all need to follow all 4 paths of yoga for our self-development and live life in harmony, I would like to share my experience of bhakti yoga first, followed by the experience with the other 3 path of yoga.
In This Blog, I am sharing my experience with Bhakti Yoga
My journey started from Bhakti Yoga, with a strong devotion towards shiva, when in my early 20s, I would visit the shiva temple every day and worship shiva wholeheartedly, by offering milk, flowers and prayers, to shiva linga. For any ups and downs that came my way I would surrender myself and ask Lord shiva to show me the right path, the path of truth, and today I am walking finally on the path of yoga and this is a blessing for me from my shiva. Such admirable is Bhakti yoga, the path of surrender and emotional culture. you can manage your emotions by following the 9 principles of bhakti yoga.
in my experience of bhakti yoga unknowingly I have been practising these nine principles which gave me more emotional balance, I learned to love and serve every being but when I started my further studies in the path of yoga I realised that I had been practising all the 9 principles.
The 9 principles are:
Sravana (listening) to the ancient scriptures,
kirtan (singing bhajans), Smarana (remembering) the divine all time,
Padsevan(worship) touching the feet of Guru or placing the head on the feet of the idol of the deity,
Archana (ritual worship)by going to the temple and offering prayers to the idol,
Vandana ( by bowing down in the lotus feet of the divine),
Dasya (service, unquestioning the divine, having complete faith in Him),
Sakhyam (friendship) the only best friend is the divine or deity,
Aatmanivedan (self-offering) total surrender to the divine.
So here Bhakti yoga is all about the science of emotion culture, spiritual practice for love devotion, worship and surrendering ourselves to our diety, or divine by chanting mantras and singing devotional songs (bhajans).
The offerings, mantra chanting, singing of devotional bhajans, and surrendering ourselves to the divine cultivate calmness, peace, and love within us which relieves our stress, brings a feeling of bliss, we become more receptive towards the world and start loving each and everything around us, whereby no one is a foe or friend, making us compassionate towards each being
Bhakti yoga helps us to eradicate our negative emotions such as greed, worldly attachments, hatred, grief, jealousy and selfishness. It dissolves our ego.
I could personally see all these changes happening within me; it was a phase of total surrender towards the lotus feet of shiva This Path of yoga somewhere helped me to understand my emotions from the age of my 20s till my 30s and now I can manage my emotions well.
There are two types of bhakti
Saguna bhakti, (Idol worship),
Nirguna bhakti (worshipping the divine, the formless).
In my view, I believe in both, beginning with worshipping the form of the divine which helps us to reach the formless divine.
Sri krishna says,Bhagvadgeeta chapter 12 verse 6,7
ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्न्यस्य मत्पर: |
अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते || 6||
तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् |
भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् || 7||
ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya mat-paraḥ
ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate
teṣhām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛityu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na chirāt pārtha mayy āveśhita-chetasām
But those who dedicate all their actions to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme goal, worshipping Me and meditating on Me with exclusive devotion, O Parth, I swiftly deliver them from the ocean of birth and death, for their consciousness is united with Me.
