Bhakti: The Yoga Of Love

Take a journey into the path and practice of Bhakti, the yoga of love. This ancient tradition draws on chanting, meditation, prayer, and various art forms to awaken the heart. Learn about the Four Paths of Yoga, explore the power of devotion, and enjoy a musical meditation with the prayer of Saint Francis.

Transcript

The yoga tradition is a very ancient tradition and in the Western world in particular there is often an association with yoga that is obviously very physically oriented.

Everybody knows the word yoga now.

It's become a very well-known word and it tends to be associated with postures and it's gotten grouped in with fashion and wellness trends and it's an industry.

It's like a billion-dollar industry and there's wonderful things about it because it teaches us to connect to our body,

To join body and mind together.

That's what yoga means.

Yoga means union,

To yoke the union of our mind and body but also the union of our individual soul with the Supreme Soul.

It helps us to discriminate between what's untrue and what's true.

That's what yoga is really designed to do.

Often we can say like I'm going to yoga but it's not somewhere we go or even something that we do.

It's in fact our nature.

It's who we are.

We are that unity we just have forgotten.

So yoga is the practice of remembrance.

It removes those veils that stop us from really knowing this truth of who we are.

I sometimes feel a little sad when I see how yoga has become associated you know with magazines and a certain image of a person that looks a certain way.

It shouldn't be that way.

Yoga should not be exclusive at all.

It should be for all bodies,

All humans and I think it's really important to transform the culture so that it becomes more inclusive.

So that people all feel welcome that they have access to this practice which should not only be for demographic of people.

So yoga has nothing to do with the cover of a fashion magazine or any of those things.

Our body is a vehicle so that we can know our deeper self and the sages who gave us yoga they understood that every human being is unique.

We all have a totally unique makeup based on many different factors.

Some people are more intellectually inclined.

Some people are more emotional in nature.

Some people they really like to be active.

They like to be of service.

They like to work a lot.

Other people they really enjoy doing meditative practice,

Sitting in silence and living more contemplative life.

There's different kinds of natures for people and the sages understood that which is why they designed different kinds of paths.

A path in the tradition is called the marga.

M-A-R-G-A.

So it would be the bhakti yoga path would be called bhakti marga,

The path of bhakti.

So these different paths they're not exclusive.

It's not like a person says oh I'm gonna choose this path and I'm gonna do that and that alone.

It's more that because of whatever our nature is we may be drawn towards different things.

So I want to share what these four paths are and then I want to talk to you about bhakti yoga.

So the practice of physical postures of yoga is one tiny tiny tiny fragment of the raja yoga system which is the royal path of yoga.

So the first path I want to mention is called raja yoga.

This is a path that has eight limbs to it and asana or postures is just one of those limbs.

The first two are called yama and niyama which are essentially moral restraints and observances which form the foundation of yoga.

It's actually really interesting.

Why does it matter that we tell the truth,

That we don't lie,

That we don't have greed and all of that?

It matters because we have a conscience.

So when we do something that hurts another person,

That steals or is untruthful,

Even if we don't think it,

In truth when we sit to meditate we can't quite meditate because in the back of our mind we feel that something's not right.

We're out of integrity or something.

The moral principles are kind of the foundation of yoga and from there the next one is the asana.

Traditionally the yoga postures were actually used as a preparatory practice for meditation to be able to sit.

So if you read the yoga sutras of Patanjali you can read all of this in much more depth and it's a beautiful text but from there it gets more and more and more subtle.

It goes from postures to breathing practices pranayama to different kinds of concentration all the way up to merging samadhi,

Merging with the infinite essentially.

So that's one path.

People who really enjoy meditative practices,

Who want to do that deep inner work,

May be really drawn to that path.

I have some friends who are very strong ashtanga practitioners.

One friend of mine gets up at 4.

30 in the morning every day and he does two hours of yoga practice and that's his doorway to the divine.

Other people,

Like I mentioned,

May be more intellectually oriented and they may really want to just study scriptures and spiritual books and they may be drawn towards the path of jnana yoga,

Which is the yoga of inquiry or intellect.

And that is a very challenging path because your mind has to really discriminate at all times between what's real and what's unreal.

And one practice that's very powerful in that path is called atma vichara,

Which is self inquiry.

Constantly asking the question,

Who am I?

It's a really beautiful practice.

Other people have no desire to sit and meditate or to read scriptures.

They just want to be active.

And for them,

They may be drawn to the path of karma yoga,

Which is the yoga of action.

If you read the Bhagavad Gita,

It talks quite a bit about this.

This is the path of surrendering all of our actions to something greater.

So whatever we do,

We cultivate the attitude that I am not the doer of this,

That I surrender any attachment or fruits to whatever I do.

And then every single thing we do becomes a spiritual practice.

That's a very beautiful path in itself.

And then the fourth path that we're going to talk about today briefly is bhakti,

The yoga of love,

The yoga of devotion,

Which many saints say is actually the easiest path and in some ways the most helpful and important path for these times in particular.

That path uses our emotions as a vehicle to connect with something transcendent within us.

And it utilizes many different kinds of art forms.

So poetry,

Telling stories of saints and sages and mystics and the great beings who gave us bhakti began as poet saints who were wandering around southern India in the 7th and 8th century,

Sharing their mystical insights and bringing these teachings to the people.

It was a countercultural movement.

But it works with our emotions and with our heart.

Not everybody can physically do yoga.

Not everybody has the intellect to really discern these intense scriptures.

And not everybody has a desire to constantly be doing action,

Volunteering,

Stuff like that.

But everybody wants love.

Everybody desires love,

To give love,

To receive love.

That's completely our nature.

So it's natural that we would gravitate towards this kind of path because it's innate in us.

Art works with our emotions.

It gives us a way to channel our emotions.

Music is particularly powerful for that,

Which is why music is a very important practice in the bhakti tradition.

The interesting thing is that all of these paths roll into each other because you know when you love something,

You naturally want to serve it.

You love someone,

You want to serve them,

You want to just give them whatever you can.

So bhakti yoga and karma yoga,

The yoga of action,

Are very connected.

All of the paths,

They all intersect.

And they're like different rivers that go out to the same ocean.

And each person can draw from the different things in the way that is perfectly unique to them.

I couldn't tell you what that is for you,

But if you were to open up and explore,

You might find that you just naturally gravitate towards different things.

Maybe you like to sit and do meditation in silence,

Or maybe you really like music because it opens your heart.

Everybody's different.

The thing that I love about bhakti,

First of all,

It's basically impossible to talk about it.

And I'm not qualified,

Really.

Nobody is,

Unless somebody has really experienced that absolute absorption into the One,

Into love.

And once they have,

Once we've connected to that,

There are no words anyway.

But it's almost impossible to talk about love.

If you really love someone,

Sometimes you can't even say anything.

You just want to look at that person,

Just sit in silence,

Because there's no words to adequately express what you're feeling.

So silence,

In some sense,

Is the language of all of these traditions,

Because it transcends any name or words we can give it.

When we try to talk about bhakti yoga,

I've used this metaphor of,

Like,

Trying to put the ocean in a tablespoon or something.

It's just impossible.

But love is everything,

And we all know that,

And we all long for it,

And we run from it as much as we desire it.

And so it's a very interesting force.

I often ask people,

Like if I'm doing a workshop or something,

Like if somebody were to ask you,

Where are you in space?

Where are you?

What would you say?

Usually we would respond and say,

I'm here.

Most people don't say,

Oh,

I'm right here.

I'm here in my head.

We don't do that.

We identify ourself as being here.

So when somebody asks us,

Where do you exist?

We just automatically go here.

And sometimes you notice when people are talking,

They might say,

Well,

I,

I,

This,

And put your heart here,

I mean your hand here on your heart,

Because this is where the I exists.

This is where our true self is.

We dwell in the heart.

We really exist in the heart.

So bhakti is that path that helps us to remember that.

And love,

Because it is such a powerful force,

It attracts our mind more than anything.

Just like the flower attracts the bee,

Our mind is drawn towards love.

So it's a very easy path to fall into,

Because we want it.

When we listen to a beautiful piece of music,

It makes us feel something.

We feel alive.

We feel human.

We have a way to take all of our emotions and channel them and offer them,

Direct them towards something greater.

And I think it's a really important practice for this time in particular,

Because we're living in very volatile times.

My teacher almost says,

Nature and the human mind are very agitated.

Nature and the human mind,

They're very agitated.

And you can feel that,

This agitation.

I feel it in myself a lot,

But it translates,

You know,

Inside and outside our mirror reflections.

So with this agitation and these intense vibrations,

We need a way to release and open our hearts and let go of the emotions that are building up in there,

Because we all accumulate so much in our life in the course of a day,

Never mind a lifetime.

And if we don't take the time and space to let these emotions go,

To acknowledge them and process them,

Then they just remain there and they can calcify within us.

And often I find what happens is sometimes on the spiritual journey,

It's very easy to kind of push away emotions,

To think that there's something unspiritual about that.

I hear people say that.

But that's not true at all.

In fact,

The bhakti tradition teaches us that all of our emotions are sacred.

Everything about us is sacred.

And it's a path of love,

Which means it's a path of embrace,

Of acceptance,

Not of rejection.

The path of jnana yoga,

The intellect,

Is a path of rejection,

Saying I am NOT this,

I am NOT this,

I am NOT that,

I am NOT this,

Until you discover what you are.

But the bhakti path says everything is the divine.

Everything is the beloved,

Like Rumi would say.

Rumi would talk about that,

The beloved.

The idea is that everything is that.

So bhakti is like a love affair with life.

It's also about relationship.

Our relationship with the divine,

However we may conceive of it.

It could be consciousness,

It could be a principle,

Like justice,

Mercy,

Love.

It could be a deity,

Could be a teacher,

Could be your own heart.

Whatever name you relate to,

Bhakti is about having a relationship with that and letting that relationship be a very deep love affair,

You could say,

Where you really pour your heart out to whatever that is,

With a capital T,

And let that deepen in your life,

Become a refuge.

I mean,

We all have that connection.

It could be to nature,

Could be anything that we feel a sense of reverence for.

The idea of reverence is so beautiful that we would revere something.

It doesn't mean that it's better than us,

But to honor something and to feel that we see some light in it,

Something that we aspire to,

Or something that touches our heart.

Bhakti then helps us to expand that feeling to everything,

So that nothing is left out.

So we begin to see with the eyes of love that the whole world contains that seed of that divine consciousness.

I think because this path of bhakti is so hard to even talk about,

Because it's so hard to define or explain,

It's really something that has to be experienced.

And chanting and singing,

A practice called kirtan,

Is one way that really helps with that,

Because through chanting mantras,

With music,

We sing and we unburden our heart,

And we let go of all that we've been carrying,

And there's a new freedom that arises from that.

And sometimes in the process of singing or chanting or even meditating or anything,

All of a sudden we may start to feel some emotion that just doesn't seem to have any cause of any kind,

That it just arises out of nowhere,

And we may not always know why it's happening or what it has to do with.

But we don't always have to follow that thread.

You know,

There's a time and a place to analyze,

And there's a time and a place to just let it happen.

Let our emotions move through us like a rainstorm.

They are like a rainstorm.

No emotion has ever lasted forever.

Everything is changing,

Even if it's just the tiniest bit.

So we can use our emotions to open up and to let go and to learn how to really embrace all of ourselves.

Everything that comes up,

Instead of judging it,

Analyzing it,

In this path we just say,

Come,

Come.

Anger,

Sadness,

Fear,

Jealousy,

Pride,

Shame,

Let's all hang out together.

Because who we are is much deeper than that.

But if we continually try to push those things away,

They just become so huge,

Like these monsters,

You know.

So through these different practices of bhakti,

We melt the armor around our heart,

Which is really what it is.

It's not getting something we don't have.

It's remembering what we already are.

It's removing the veils that stop us from knowing that and feeling that.

That's why Rumi said,

Your task is not to seek for love,

But to find and remove the obstacles that you've built to keep it out.

That's not an exact quote,

But that's the idea.

Whatever we are keeping away,

Using to keep love out,

Those are the things that are transformed through this practice.

I want to sing a song with you today that I feel,

To me anyway,

Encapsulates the bhakti tradition,

The bhakti path.

It's a song I wrote after spending time in Assisi,

Italy,

Which is a place that I really love.

It's where St.

Francis lived,

And it's a place of pilgrimage for many people around the world.

And I'm sure some of you know St.

Francis.

He loved nature and animals,

And he was a peacemaker.

And his teachings were so beautiful.

The prayer of St.

Francis is so well-known,

Make me an instrument of your peace.

So anyway,

When I came back from that time,

When I was in Assisi,

I wrote the song Thy Will Be Done.

And for me,

It's a song of letting go and surrender.

To me,

Thy Will Be Done,

Some people think about it,

You know,

Thy Will Be Done,

God or Jesus or whatever your higher power is,

If you have that conception of reality,

Whatever that is,

May it be done.

I think of Thy Will Be Done as the will of my heart.

May that be done,

Not the will of my head.

May I learn to surrender the will of my head to my heart.

Because we have this inner wisdom that's dwelling in our heart,

And we turn from it often.

We don't honor it,

And we try to hold on to so much.

And bhakti,

In a way,

Is really about surrender and acceptance of our small will,

Of our little will,

For the greater will,

The intelligence of life,

To do what it's gonna do,

That we let go and let that move through us.

So the words to the song are Thy Will Be Done.

Jai Bhagavan.

Jai means victory.

Bhagavan is sometimes translated as like the Lord,

Or the indweller of our heart.

That witness,

That one that lives within our heart,

And that is completely unperturbed by any emotions we may have.

That just witnesses them and has no opinion,

No reactions,

Just complete non-judgmental awareness.

So that indweller of our heart.

May that will be done.

And then I sing the prayer of St.

Francis,

Which I just really love.

And I feel like that prayer is the essence of bhakti.

Make me an instrument of your peace.

Whatever that power is that makes this earth spin around,

That makes the fruit ripen on the trees and all of that,

May I become a clear channel,

A vessel for that power to move through me.

It's such a beautiful prayer.

And sometimes I sing Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram,

Which is a mantra to Ram.

Ram is another name for the divine.

He was a historical person in the Ramayana,

But he also is the embodiment of love and righteousness,

Goodness,

Dharma,

And truth.

So I sing his name too.

So I'm gonna do this practice together,

And I invite you to approach it with a beginner's mind.

That thy will be done is that the will of your heart,

That awareness that is more than just your emotions but can hold all of your emotions,

That it may guide you,

That it may support you,

That it may love you,

And be there with you,

And be a refuge for you at all times,

And that you may be able to let go of whatever is burdening your heart.

Jai Bhagavan,

Jai Bhagavan,

Thy will be done.

Jai Bhagavan,

Jai Bhagavan,

Thy will be done.

Jai Bhagavan,

Jai Bhagavan,

There is hatred,

When we sow love,

When we sow fear.

There is darkness,

When we sow light,

When there is sadness,

When we sow joy.

When we sow joy,

Not so much see,

To be consoled is to console.

To be understood is to understand.

To be loved is to love.

It isn't giving that they receive.

It isn't part of them that we love.

It is in thine,

In the abode of eternal life.

Amen.

Amen.

Jai Bhagavan,

Jai Bhagavan,

Thy will be done.

Jai Bhagavan,

Jai Bhagavan,

Thy will be done.

Not the will of my parents,

I let go.

I surrender,

I surrender.

I surrender,

Jai Bhagavan.

I surrender,

Jai Bhagavan.

I surrender,

Jai Bhagavan.

Make me an instrument.

In this moment,

Extend the acceptance to yourself.

Bhakti is an embrace.

Love is an embrace.

Everything is welcome there.

Our humanity is very holy and it is the gateway to that which is beyond.

Reviews

Om
My gosh, I loved this. It was just the knowledge I needed as I find my true self walking this path and being drawn to so many styles and your words offered w the gentleness and humility of a fellow traveler met my ♡
Thank you so much☆

Oh Carrie...thank you for opening that gate way to that which is beyond and connecting me with such a deep all encompassing love.
The deep Love of my partner who passed nearly 4 years ago is what lead me to your talk..he wrote of infinite love and many other forms of love.
My emotions...🥲🥲❤️❤️
Blessings and gratitude to you for opening my heart ! ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️
I have been following you since my partner passed 😌
❤️🙏❤️🙏

Thank you for sharing your learning and experience, however hard it is to put into words! 💗 And another beautiful song 🪷🙏🏼

❤️🙏🏻❤️

Knowledgeable, humble, compassionate, plus beautiful singing at the end. Thank you.

Now, I finally know all the words to one of my favourite songs. Honouring God and St. Francis. Namaste 🙏🏼

Beautiful, informative and soothing.

Thank you!! 🙏🏼

Thank you 😊

I learned much and enjoyed the soothing music.
Thank you 🙏

Thank you Carrie, I found this discussion to he helpful and healing
Guiding me back to LOVE within.
Many blessings 🙏💖🌟

So beautiful 🩷 Exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Will go back to it 🙏

Absolutely beautiful 😍🤩Namaste 🙏✨💜

Just so Beautiful… thank you Carrie 🙏🏼 💕

A beautiful practice; thanks for sharing

This was wonderful and touching. I learned new things here.
Thank you Carrie 🙏🙏🙏❤️

So beautiful. Thank you 🙏. Bhakti Yoga has been very healing and transcendent. I loved this talk.

Lovely and Peaceful!🙏🩷thank you for your shining light 🧘‍♀️

Love 🙏❤️🕊️

This offering is suc an amazingly beautiful invitation to open our hearts to the divine within. Carrie you truly have a gift in shining the light to walking us Home.
Eternally grateful!
✨💖🙏💖✨