The union of yoga and bhakti

Most aspirants following the Bhakti yoga tradition are unaware of the relevance of Yoga in their path. The Bhakti Tradition places immense emphasis on the use of mantras to realize their supreme deity, cultivate a divine emotion for him, and ultimately attain union and service with him.


"Repeating the mantras or practising the Yoga will ultimately
lead to the one and same knowledge. There is no mantra without
yoga: without mantra, Sri Hari cannot be obtained."
-Narada Pancharatra. 5. 10. 41


An example of the yoga system is described in Srimad Bhagavatam when Maharaja Prthu practised yoga according to the kundalini system.
"When Mahārāja Pṛthu practiced a particular yogic sitting posture, he blocked the doors of his anus with his ankles, pressed his right and left calves and gradually raised his life air upward, passing it on to the circle of his navel, up to his heart and throat, and finally pushed it upward to the central position between his two eyebrows."
-Srimad Bhagavatam 4.23.14


The text goes on to describe the involution process of merging the gross elements, into more and more subtle refined elements and finally into Paramatma. This process is known as Bhuta-suddhi and is the means of transcending our dualistic vision and impure impressions of ourselves and the world.
This system is the preparatory phase for living in the cosmic play, devotional service, and Ecstatic love with Parabrahman Sri Krsna.
It is also a part of the method for dying consciously, so as to return back home back to Godhead(samadhi) when the yogi know's death is near.


Bhakti focuses on cultivating a bhava for the lord of life, to finalize the Great liberation process of waking up to the reality of life, Called Sat-chit Ananda Brahman, or pure supreme truth, supreme consciousness, and supreme blissfulness. It does this by connecting us to the Absolute via the agency of sound and emotion, which purify the external covering so we can see the transcendental sun which was always there in the infinite manifestation of life.
Many people attempt to jump high into the sky of Bhakti without understanding the tattva or spiritual truth which bhakti is adoring.
This unfortunately often merely results in a misdirected sentimentality towards the mentally fabricated external image of the divine.


The process of yoga mentioned through the pancaratras, Upanishads, and tantras is the mechanism for transcending the physical, mental, and causal bodies and directly experience the supreme state, known as Turya throughout the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Nama Kirtana allows for the cleansing of the mirror of the heart and deep Krsna Samadhi allows the experience of Krsna to arise. These two then become complimentary experiential realities that the yogi is constantly floating in.
This is the bhava Sara, Ocean of Divine mellows...The Great play on the stage of Life.


Don't be satisfied thinking that when you die you will return home. Instead go home while living and then live a life worth living.

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