What is Bhakti Yoga?
In yoga philosophy, there are four main paths to enlightenment: karma yoga, jnana yoga, raja yoga, and bhakti yoga. Bhakti is the yoga of devotion. Devotion is primarily defined as loyalty, faithfulness, love, admiration, dedication, and religious worship. Bhakti is about having this kind of devotion to the Divine. There aren’t any guidelines to it. Although, it does involve surrendering oneself, and ego. Primarily, it’s about love. You show your love by forming a personal relationship through devotion to a Higher Power. It’s a beautiful thing, because if you believe that the Divine, or God, or whatever, is in everything, it becomes a universal love.
Expressions of Devotion
Perhaps, you’ve heard of Bhakti Fest, the big yoga festival with music and dancing. Or you’ve heard about kirtans, where yogis get together to play music with traditionally chanting. Those are some popular examples. Basically, anything that is an act of service or worship is an expression of bhakti. That includes prayer and meditation, singing, dancing, playing instruments, helping people, acts of kindness, etc. There are a lot of ways to engage in bhakti.
You may have been practicing bhakti yoga already and you didn’t know it.
But now you do! So practice it mindfully and keep spreading the love.
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