“It is not bhakti (devotion) to give a man some money or to give him a meal as charity. Bhakti is universal love. Seeing God in all beings, without the least idea of duality is bhakti.”
~ Nityanadna
Different Paths
Bhakti yoga is one of the four main branches of yoga according to the Yoga Sutras. Many of us are most familiar with Raja yoga (or also known as ashtanga yoga) as this is the branch that includes asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing techniques) and meditation.
We’re familiar with the up dogs and down dogs and that we start with the body and slowly turn our awareness inwards. This path of yoga is a practical one and is great for cultivating harmony with the body, mind and soul. But in Bhakti, it’s said that you don’t have to follow this eight step path (ashtanga translates as eight limbs) in order to reach the goal of understanding one’s true nature (also known as en-lightenment). Could the answer and goal be more easily obtained through the path of bhakti?
What is Bhakti?
“Bhakti is unconditional love for the supreme being and deep unconditional compassion for others” ~ Radhanath Swami
Firstly, I know many of us reading this may have a little bit of an issue with those words ‘supreme being’. The thing is, we are all limited when describing with words something which is, essentially, indescribable. For years humans have waged war against each other in God’s name. “God is like this and looks like this”, “No, God is called this and looks like this” etc. In Bhakti, God can be whatever name you want to call Him/Her/Them. You can say Mother Earth / Universe / Higher Power / Soul Energy / The Unknown / Allah / Krishna / Jesus (the list goes on..) But to get on board with a foundational understanding of Bhakti yoga is to have belief that there is a higher power than ourselves. We have to let go of the ego for a moment in thinking that ‘man is all powerful’ and, at least a little bit, acknowledge and surrender to something that is bigger than humankind.
Once we’re on that gravy train, the next part becomes a little easy to get on board with: having deep compassion for others. Bhakti encourages us not to be critical, not to judge others when we have very little knowledge or insight into their history or backstory. Even the people who throw whole McDonalds boxes out of their car windows, or people who’s name rhymes with Ronald Gump – bhakti encourages to have compassion for EVERYONE because everyone is deserving of love. No ifs or buts. Everyone. Even Ronald Gump.
Where does the “yoga” part come into it?
Okay, so the word yoga has become synonymous with yoga asana (postures) but it wasn’t actually intended in this way at all. When we look back at the history of yoga, it’s kind of impossible to know exactly how many years ago yoga started. Some people estimate as far back as 4000 years, or around the time of the writing of the Bhagavad Gita, but some say that as long as man has been on a quest to understand the soul, there has been yoga.
Yoga has become defined as a that which ‘connects body, mind and breath’ or commonly, ‘union’ and this is exactly true. But union with what?
In the western world, yoga is very secular. Maybe there are a couple of mantras at the start or end of a class but, on the whole, there aren’t many classes you go to where the teacher will talk about spirituality or *coughs* religion. But the thing is, we’ve so far removed yoga from its origins that we’ve mostly forgot what it is exactly that we’re trying to connect to? What are we trying to get unified with? Do I even really want to get liberated and enlightened?
And now at this point, you may choose to stop reading. I get it. We like the semi-workout style classes, we like the savasana and the ambient music, let’s just leave it there shall we? And I totally understand this, there is no judgement at all! But sometimes, just sometimes, something inside us is yearning for more than the cat-cows and the meditations..
Okay, tell me about this Bhakti
I’m glad you asked!
Bhakti yoga is the yoga of love for all beings (animals included) and a few things that distinguish bhakti yogis from ashtangis are:
- Selfless Service- bhakti is all about giving. It’s about practising humility, lifting others, giving where you can- even if may seem super small. Acknowledge that we are just an instrument of that greater power. Any good or beneficial actions that we carry out in this world aren’t done by us, and that we are just an instrument of a higher power. This may take the form of making everything you do an offering to your higher power- whether that be making food, carrying out your work, helping an elderly lady across the street – everything is done with the intention of taking one’s own ego out of the way.
- Chanting/Kirtan- Bhakti yogis practise mantra repetition called japa. Japa is akin to a mala bead necklace but has 108 beads + 1 extra bead called a guru bead. Bhakti yogis chant one mantra for each bead and the mantra most commonly used is the Maha Mantra. Kirtan is another way to chant and this is a type of devotional singing of the mantras either alone or in a group with instruments (it can get VERY energetic with dancing and all sorts!). This is a way to connect with your higher power. Sounds crazy right? Dancing, singing, waving your arms around celebrating life and love and God. Yes, it’s quite different to practising your warrior 2s but I can tell you from experience is it a lot more exhalating, a lot more profound, and a lot more “yoga” than our yoga asana class.
- Community of likeminded people / teachers –There is a lot of support in a bhakti community. Because everyone wants to be of service to everyone else, it’s not uncommon for people to want to help you out, feed you, offer you support, discuss things with you- the list goes on! A community of people without an ulterior motive is hard to come by but within bhakti, there is a concrete belief that we rise by lifting others. As well as this, taking guidance from teachers is paramount. These teachers may be on podcasts, in books or on Instagram (!) but acknowledging that we don’t know everything and need guidance along our path is the first step in acquiring a humble mind.
The Path vs The Goal
In ashtanga, there’s an eight limbed path because there’s a goal to be reached. In bhakti, the path and the goal are the same thing. I mean, you can think of it like a short cut (sometimes I do). Bhakti says that when you chant, or you serve someone else, or you participate in kirtan and you become so ecstatic with that love that just washes over you, this is the goal. Yes, meditation is very important in developing your practise but we need not be so hung up on practising asana and breath control when we have this other method that brings us to that same place. Just with a lot more dancing!
Instead, we can get drunk on this river of love that is flowing around us and through us constantly! It’s like Hafiz, the 14th Century Persian poet said:
O wondrous creatures
By what strange miracle
Do you so often
Not smile?
Life is meant to be lived with love and joy. Bhakti is the path of this joy and one in which we can walk every single moment of every single day if we choose to..
Resources + Guides
Radhika Das www.radhikadas.com
Wisdom of the Sages Podcast
Books by Radhanath Swami
The Bhagavad Gita As It Is
The Mahabarata – Krishna Dharma
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