I'm new to Bhakti yoga, any books videos or articles you want to share?

[shivatar]

Hello all, I recently found out that Bhakti yoga is the type of yoga that best suits me. Many experiences in my life have shown me that I should practice bhakti yoga, it took me a while before I understand that I was being guided by God to practice Bhakti yoga.

anyways, I have only had this understanding for a few days and still am learning how to practice bhakti yoga. Currently I am just browsing youtube for videos.

I was wondering if anybody else here practices Bhakti yoga and if they would like to share some information or practice with me to help me progress or at least learn the basics to keep me occupied for a few months.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by shivatar

Hello all, I recently found out that Bhakti yoga is the type of yoga that best suits me. Many experiences in my life have shown me that I should practice bhakti yoga, it took me a while before I understand that I was being guided by God to practice Bhakti yoga.

anyways, I have only had this understanding for a few days and still am learning how to practice bhakti yoga. Currently I am just browsing youtube for videos.

I was wondering if anybody else here practices Bhakti yoga and if they would like to share some information or practice with me to help me progress or at least learn the basics to keep me occupied for a few months.

Namaste, Shivatar..Long time no see. How have you been keeping, 'bro?

Bhakti Yoga starts with what we call an Ishta Devata or the personalised aspect/form of a Divine Consciousness, which has your heart skipping a beat...which raises the energy from your heart chakra into your throat, so you choke upon your spoken words...

For some, this is Lord Krishna, for some it is Lord Rama or Hanuman...some even feel it with the Goddess, Kali or with Lord Shiva...You will know when an aspect of the Lord has chosen you in a personal form, mostly because of the feelings, emotions and heart associations..and mostly because when another person says "I am God" or "You are God" there are always many double takes on this...and it is also very difficult to accept...Think of "duality within non duality" and this is the path of Bhakti Yoga.

The practices and procedures differ with each "God" as to written instructions in holy books, but it includes prayer and fasting on certain days, having a shrine or altar in honor of that Deity...I just re arranged my altar yesterday and put new pictures up, bathed the idols (Shiva, Kali, Tara and Buddha) as my belief is a syncretic one and I hung up Tibetan prayer flags everywhere. I also have a huge poster of Mt. Kailash as a backdrop...and various things like Buddhist prayer wheels, Damaru drums and different robes and clothes for the Deities..My bedroom looks like a scene out of a Kashmir travel brochure...and all I am missing is a huge lake with houseboats on it. lol

I treat the statues and pictures of Mahakaal, Kali, Shiva, Buddha, Nataraja and the Green Tara as representing the universal cosmic energies..even as beings in their own right and offer incense, candles, water, leaves, flowers, fruits , rock sugar, spices...and there is no specific way to do it...Just follow your heart whist chanting mantras...or listening to mantras of that specific Deity/Deities on. CD...or on the computer.. download some from YouTube. I have a lot of these... thousands...

Sometimes when I surrender my heart.. Sometimes when God dissolves my ego (this is what Bhakti Yoga is ALL about)...I will dance, Play my bongos, move my body, rock, sway and go into a deep trance and that feels so incredible!

Bhakti Yoga is all about love...it is about feeling something far greater than any 'love' another person has ever provided...and God delivers!

Aum Namah Shivaya

[captainamerica]

@Shivani ji

For me it is Krishna ji/Vasudev ji and Kali maa/mother ji.

I only talked to Krishna ji 3-4 times in the past and now I miss him so much. I sometimes wish I could talk to him again just for a few minutes.

I love Kali mother a lot as well and I happily can die for my mother any day if the need be.

[captainamerica]

@shivatar
Great book on Bhakti Yoga by Swami Vivekananda :
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The...tion_of_Bhakti

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Namaste, Shivatar..Long time no see. How have you been keeping, 'bro?

Bhakti Yoga starts with what we call an Ishta Devata or the personalised aspect/form of a Divine Consciousness, which has your heart skipping a beat...which raises the energy from your heart chakra into your throat, so you choke upon your spoken words...

For some, this is Lord Krishna, for some it is Lord Rama or Hanuman...some even feel it with the Goddess, Kali or with Lord Shiva...You will know when an aspect of the Lord has chosen you in a personal form, mostly because of the feelings, emotions and heart associations..and mostly because when another person says "I am God" or "You are God" there are always many double takes on this...and it is also very difficult to accept...Think of "duality within non duality" and this is the path of Bhakti Yoga.

The practices and procedures differ with each "God" as to written instructions in holy books, but it includes prayer and fasting on certain days, having a shrine or altar in honor of that Deity...I just re arranged my altar yesterday and put new pictures up, bathed the idols (Shiva, Kali, Tara and Buddha) as my belief is a syncretic one and I hung up Tibetan prayer flags everywhere. I also have a huge poster of Mt. Kailash as a backdrop...and various things like Buddhist prayer wheels, Damaru drums and different robes and clothes for the Deities..My bedroom looks like a scene out of a Kashmir travel brochure...and all I am missing is a huge lake with houseboats on it. lol

I treat the statues and pictures of Mahakaal, Kali, Shiva, Buddha, Nataraja and the Green Tara as representing the universal cosmic energies..even as beings in their own right and offer incense, candles, water, leaves, flowers, fruits , rock sugar, spices...and there is no specific way to do it...Just follow your heart whist chanting mantras...or listening to mantras of that specific Deity/Deities on. CD...or on the computer.. download some from YouTube. I have a lot of these... thousands...

Sometimes when I surrender my heart.. Sometimes when God dissolves my ego (this is what Bhakti Yoga is ALL about)...I will dance, Play my bongos, move my body, rock, sway and go into a deep trance and that feels so incredible!

Bhakti Yoga is all about love...it is about feeling something far greater than any 'love' another person has ever provided...and God delivers!

Aum Namah Shivaya

That was a beautiful exemplary description of Bhakti Yoga. Awesome !

I also liked your statement: Think of "duality within non duality" and this is the path of Bhakti Yoga.

Awesome post !

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by captainamerica

@shivatar
Great book on Bhakti Yoga by Swami Vivekananda :
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/The...tion_of_Bhakti

That is an excellent link. As you are probably aware, Vivekinanda was not originally a bhakti yogi and initially thought his eventual guru, Ramakrishna, was a bit touched with his devotion to Kali at the Dakshineswar Temple. However, under the guidance of Ramakrishna, Vivekinanda eventually grasped the value of Bhakti as the bhakti aspect of himself gradually emerged to complement his Jnana.

Vivekinanda is thus an excellent example of Bhakti since he was not a Bhakti originally but was drawn to it through the example and teachings of Ramakrishna.

As the Bhagavad Gita teaches, there are several major approaches to Godhead with each being best suited to individuals with the corresponding temperament. There is a little of everything in each of us with one approach generally being the dominant approach for a particular personality type. However, Bhakti is often recommended above the others for most of the population because it harnesses the emotions as well as the intellect in devotion to the chosen deity.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

That was a beautiful exemplary description of Bhakti Yoga. Awesome !

I also liked your statement: Think of "duality within non duality" and this is the path of Bhakti Yoga.

Awesome post !

Thanking you kindly.

Also, Shivatar...If your Ishta Devata is Lord Shiva, you won't find anything on the internet about Shiva Bhakti besides bhajans (devotional songs) and trust me, I have looked for years!...good thing I already knew.

All the other Deities are well represented, mostly because of the Bhakti Movement started by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu..As Bhakti is seen to be more a feature of Vaishnava philosophy Krishna/Vishnu/Rama) stuff than Shaivite (Shiva philosophy) and Lord Shiva is mostly seen as an "intellectual venture" more than a heart one...Well, in recent times anyway.

I have often wondered why the only things I could find on YouTube about the practice of Shiva Bhakti, was propaganda put out by ISKCON as to how "Lord Shiva was a great Bhakta of Lord Krishna" (mainly to establish Lord Krishna as the head of the hierarchy according to their beliefs)..and to most, Lord Shiva is considered a "state of existence" over a corporeal being...but this trend is only recent, in the last few centuries and it has not always been like that.

There are still a few schools in Tamil Nadu and Nepal who practice pure Shiva Bhaki (which Ramanujacharya copied in the 12th Century) and this is called Pashupati Shaivism which was started by Sambandhar and the Virashaiva movement which later became known as the Lingayat movement.

I doubt any of the current members of such would have an internet connection...butt there are not many left anyway, as the Bhakti side of Shiva worship continues to slowly die out in favour of intellectual pursuits..

I love reading the old poetry composed by Sambandhar, the Virashaiva Saints and those living between the 10th -12th centuries and these are known as Vachanas.

"His ears are beringed, He rideth the bull,
His hair is belit by the crescent moon's ray,
White is He with ash, from the burning ground swept,
And He is the thief, who my heart steals away.." - Sambandhar.

I like reading stories about the statesman, Basavanna...about all of the Tamil Siddhars and Nayanars as well as studying the passtimes (Leelas) of Lord Shiva as described in the Shiva Purana...and watching the Shiva Purana on YouTube... although I have seen every episode about half a dozen times already.

There are also old movies which one can find with English Subtitles...Sri Manjunatha is my favorite movie about Shiva Bhakti..

https://youtu.be/6BQrNXrAL18
https://youtu.be/nh_jUxB26hs

There is also a beautiful book of devotional poems (Vachanas) to Lord Shiva called "Speaking of Shiva":

https://archive.org/stream/SpeakingO...uin_ djvu.txt

When one becomes a Shiva Bhakta, they learn to find their own stuff which tugs at the heart strings...

https://youtu.be/Y_FZfC0cs98

However, most of the good stuff is in Telegu or Kannada and when one only speaks Hindi/Sanskrit, that is rather annoying..

Aum Namah Shivaya.

[Shivani Devi]

So, Shivatar, I noticed that you have been on SF since all of the replies were made to this thread that you initially posted..and I was just wondering...did you have time to read anybody's replies and acknowledged the fact they posted something and answered you or not? Or is this just another "create a thread and not get involved in it" thing? I would really like to know, so that I know whether or not to respond to you in future and if you are just asking random, empty questions because you are stoned again?...Just curious.

[captainamerica]

@Shivani ji
@Shivatar

I think like this sometimes about my lord Krishna ji:

"Without you this ENTIRE universe is empty and of no use to me.
The universe is good enough only because of your beauty and presence in it my lord Krishna ji"

I love Krishna ji ,Shiv ji and Kali mother ji.
But I suppose my heart belongs a bit more to Krishna ji and Kali maa ji,I don't really know why but my heart works that way.
Looks like the "Makhan chor" stole my heart too.

I also sing this song for my Krishna ji :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptkw2rPhAuM

[shivatar]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

So, Shivatar, I noticed that you have been on SF since all of the replies were made to this thread that you initially posted..and I was just wondering...did you have time to read anybody's replies and acknowledged the fact they posted something and answered you or not? Or is this just another "create a thread and not get involved in it" thing? I would really like to know, so that I know whether or not to respond to you in future and if you are just asking random, empty questions because you are stoned again?...Just curious.

I read them but didn't have the energy for a good reply so I'm waiting until tomorrow.