Concept, of Bakri Yoga

May 5, 2005

Hare Krishna

The practice of Bakti yoga transmutes the lower emotions into devotion.Emotion is weakness and must not be equated with divine love which manifests as peace and joy.Without emotion there is no love and without love one cant approach that infinite Love that is God.Thru the higher emotions the devotee reaches out to the divine.His practice is carried out by both formal worship and by seeing Lord in all names and forms at all times.With purification the receptive heart recives the continual flow of divine love.The barrier between individual soul and the Supreme Soul is the ego,the ever present enemy.It manifets as a feeling of separateness.Bakti does away with this feeling of separation,for in the ecstacy of pure love and devotion the individual self is lost.This state is beautifully symbolised by the image of Krishna playing the flute.Just as the flute is a hollow instrument thru which the breath of God moves,so the individual must empty himself of all egoism to enable the Lord to

act fully thru him.He takes neither credit nor blame for his actions for God does the action.The devotee thinks of nothing but God.The Lord is his constant thought wave, and fills every mental space.He is the consummation of everything,.hence everything is to be worshipped.

God is experienced by each individual in his own way.This idea is strikingly illustrated in Bhagavatham, in which Krishna assumes as many forms of himself as there are cowherd women,his disciples and manifests to shower love on each individually.Of course many a puerile moralist holds that Sri Krishnas relationship with innumerable Gopis stands on exclusive footing and no mortal dare copy it.But this position of the pseudo-moralist arises from an imperfect understanding.There is not in this episode any trace of taint which the moralist would hv us behold.Sri Krishna the enchanter of Gopis had just seen nine autumns when he had concluded his sports with the milk maid of Brindavan.Is it ever possible for a boy of eight or nine to hv any kind of conjugal realationship with thousands of women?Does the plan of Nature admit of such a possibility?And it must be noted that those milk maids proved themselves faithful to the core to their husbands.Those Gopis were inviting the entire lot

in the township to go and join them in their mirth with the divine lad.Carnality has exclusiveness as its charecteristic.This communion of Gopis with Krishna is just the opposite of it.

Sri Krishna is adored as Hrishikesa.That is He is the Lord of senses.As long as one is body bound and is prone to body-consciousness one cannot taste supreme beatitude.This was the lesson that the boy Krishna taught the Gopis.While immersed in the bliss of dancing with Him the Gopis experienced samprajnata samadhi,in which there is still awareness of duality.This gives way to asamprajnata samadhi,the highest superconscious state when they become one with Him.However Krishna separated himself from them when their egoism made them feel that they had ensnared and could control Him.A true spirtual master treats his devotees in the same way,realating to each individually,but withdrawing temporarily when pride and egoism infect the disciple.Control of the mind and annihilation of the ego are the essence of all yogic disciplines,including Bakti yoga.Even on this essentially emotional path,the intellect must not be neglected.If it is disregarded Bakti yoga can degenerate into

fanaticism.If on the other hand,it is transcended,the devotee experiences parabhakti,the highest state of supreme devotional ecstacy.Such were the experiences of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya,Baktha Meera, and everso many individuals.

In any case , the bhava,or devotional feeling of the devotee is of extreme importance.Accomodating the various temperement of people,there are five different ways of relating to God.

1.Shanta--- This pure feeling of peace devoid of desire,ignorance and emotion.Its presence is not externally apparent.This is the devotional attitude of Jnana yogi.

2.Dasya---The devotee regards himself as the servant of God whom he sees in everything but himself.He sees himself as inferior to the rest of humanity.Humbly placing himself on God`s hands,he takes delight in service to all.Hanuman the monkey chieftain who dedicated his life to the service of Rama,exemplifies this realationship.

3.SAKHYA--God is regarded as a spiritual friend, to whom one can turn for advice,comfort and companionship.One becomes unable to live without His company.Arjunas relationship with Krishna is of this nature.

4.VATSALYA-- The relationship is that of parent and child,with God being viewed as a Divine Child.It is exemplified by Yasodas relationship with the baby Krishna.

5.MATHURYA--This is the feeling of the lover toward the beloved.It is pure love ,untinged by lust,and is difficult to develop.Encompassing a pure desire to touch and embrace His physical and astral form.It is manifested by the union of Siva and Shakti in the sahasrara chakra at the crown of the head in yoga.This is the highest type of devotional feeling.

There is one more bhava, which remains outside the pale of normal relationships.This is the feeling of extreme hatred towards God.When one is in constant remembrance of Him,even with hatred,the mind becomes one pointed and fixed.Thru concentration one is redeemed,for evil always falls before goodness.Kamsa and Ravana achieved salvation in this manner.Of course there are nine forms of worship in the practice of Bakti yoga like sravanam,kirtanam,smaranam,padasevanam,archanam,vandanam,dasyam,sakhyam and atmanivedanam which hv been elaborately discussed already by Vinod.

In all religions Truth becomes diluted by and for the masses.It becomes an external object to be sought after,rather than an inner state of consciousness,which is its true nature.The essential attitude to be taken in any religion is one of taking refuge,of confession,prayer and ultimate surrender to a higher power.It is this inner state of consciousness that Bhakti Yoga nurtures.Without its presence,all other parts of Yoga and any true spiritual progress will short of the mark.

Hare Krishna tupyam namah

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