Welcome,
Let's begin by contemplating the essence of this practice.
Today we tap into the flowing river of Bhakti.
There are many branches of yoga.
In Hinduism,
There are three classical paths.
Jnana Yoga,
The path of knowledge as the path of self-realization.
Jnana Yoga,
Selfless service and Bhakti Yoga known as devotion to God,
Higher consciousness or divine deities.
A Bhakti Yoga practice can take the form of kirtan which is devotional chanting and singing to the divine.
The essence of this practice is not about how it sounds but the love and relationship you cultivate through spending time dissolved in absolute love and devotion while singing.
Bhakti Yoga also looks like creating altars for the beloved divine essence,
Practicing japa or malabhid chanting meditation and basically living in loving devotion to the divine.
Some will pick one deity or god to devote themselves to.
They give their gratitude to them,
Pray to them when times get rough,
Meditate with them and read sacred literature about them.
Bhakti is also a common aspect of Buddhism as well.
Buddhists make offerings of flowers,
Incense,
Money and prayer to the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas.
We are seeing Bhakti become more and more expansive to encompass not just God and Goddesses but in spiritual seekers devotional relationship to a guru as well.
The essence here of the Bhakti path is the devotional loving presence which captivates me every time.
To focus all of your attention on love and letting the very act of loving so much purify us until all that is left is love.
Think of the highest form of adoration that you can,
Where you want to bring forth your very best self for another,
You want to cherish and celebrate them,
Where you can find genuine refuge when heartbreak cripples us temporarily.
We cultivate and deepen this relationship and this act of loving slowly peels off the layers of illusion.
This relationship itself loves away our self-centeredness,
Loves away our pain,
Until literally we become that love ourselves.
Adoration and devotion is the only essence left.
Our love then becomes a vehicle linking us to the divine.
Our love as our path,
As a vehicle linking us to the divine.
So intimately.
So today,
Let us take this loving,
Devotional,
Cherishing nature of the bhakti path and devote our loving attention to ourselves.
Cherishing and holding all sacred,
Preciously imperfect and human aspects of ourselves in our divine devotional light.
Revering every aspect of ourselves as sacred and holy.
To begin to tune into this source of devotion within.
The light of love.
The place of deep cherishing,
Selfless and tender love.
A divine giving love that is not selfish,
But asks how can I give more to you rather than what do I get from this?
Breathing in this light of compassion into your heart.
Breathing it in as your breathing is a devotional vehicle.
Breathing deep,
Slow and steady of service.
Providing love and nourishment to the cells of this sacred body.
Be your first act of devotion and see how sacred you can make this breath.
How much tender presence can you give to this simple and mundane act of breathing.
Because yet,
Although you are simply breathing,
You are breathing for this beautiful and holy body.
Each breath is an opportunity to give it more.
The slow,
Deep breath nourishes the nervous system.
The richness in savoring each breath acknowledges the true divinity that can often be overlooked without slowing down.
This breath becomes more than you.
It is an act of love.
An act of actively treasuring,
Actively living in the remembrance of the sacred.
Each breath,
Your direct and intimate way of touching the holy and sacred.
And let us offer our loving touch next.
I will guide you through various points in the body to offer your loving and accepting presence to.
Bringing this loving presence into your hands now.
Picture holding the energy of pure sacred admiration in the skin of your palms.
May this practice be an offering to yourself.
An offering of love,
Of patient presence,
Of rest,
And of holy acknowledgement.
Each part of your body that you meet,
Greet it with the most patient,
Tender,
And present part of you.
Whatever sensations or emotions are stored there,
Whether numbness,
Pleasure,
Or discomfort,
Breathe into them.
Embrace them with your loving awareness,
Blessing them with your patient presence.
Let your love be unbiased here,
Without expectations or conditions.
Simply offer your loving presence and observe your experience.
Now,
As if you are to touch something so holy and sacred,
Take a moment to yourself of humble gratitude.
Bringing your hands to cup the crown of your head.
Feeling into this body of yours,
Feeling into the energy field,
Into the emotional body,
And into the physical body.
Being here with the body.
We are not in the future or the past.
We are here,
Right now,
With our love.
Continue to breathe deep into your belly.
As we slow down and create this sense of safety within us,
Many stored emotions may rise up.
This is perfectly natural.
Just continue to offer your loving presence to this human vessel,
This sweet human vessel who is doing their best.
While your fingertips touch your scalp,
Notice this meeting point,
An awareness of yourself.
Slowly,
Sensitively,
And intently move your hands down to cup your face.
Perhaps feeling the way the breath extends into the face and slightly moves your hands,
Creating an ebb and flow.
Can you let the purity of this moment shine through,
Letting go of the thinking mind and connecting to the preciousness of this moment and offering of your patient presence.
However the intelligence of this body,
Mind,
And soul wants to drink it in.
And move your hands down to your neck now,
The skin of palm and fingertips resting on this soft passage of airflow.
Perhaps you can feel your heartbeat and the movement of oxygen through your pharynx.
Just being here,
Spending precious time with the rich subtleties of this body.
Ram Dass says,
We are sitting under the tree of our thinking mind,
Wondering why we are not getting any sunshine.
And our open and devotional presence open us up to the divine rays of light.
Move your hands down to your heart space.
Practice this unadulterated devotional presence.
We practice opening ourselves to the sunshine of the pure moment.
Allow yourself to look past the shade of the thinking mind and let the purity of this moment shine into you,
Expecting nothing,
Watching,
Feeling,
And sensing a precious offering of love.
And move your hands down to your abdomen,
Resting here,
Holding the space of your vital organs with your hands and your awareness.
Place all of your focus and awareness here,
Observing sensations as they arise.
Again,
Still breathing deeply,
Actively nourishing the cells of your body,
Devotionally breathing the love in.
Moving your full presence along with your hands,
Come to hold your hips.
Again,
Allowing yourself to see and connect to yourself without the shade of the thinking mind.
Perceiving in full totality the sacred within this connection.
And finally,
An act of deep respect and devotion in India.
Bring your hands to your feet,
An act of honoring and seeking blessings from the being whom you hold in divine light.
In this moment,
You are giving up your own ego,
Resting in humbleness.
When it is here,
We actually open and the divine blessing can reach us.
Just letting your presence rest here,
Nothing to achieve but being with the self.
Great.
Let's bring our hands back to rest in Dhyana Mudra.
Rest the right fingers in the palm of the left and bring the two thumbs to touch.
Then rest both of your hands in your lap.
This mudra symbolizes higher consciousness rising over illusion or as yogis call it,
Maya.
It represents total balance,
Connection to the limitless divine space inside and can help us reach deeper states of meditation.
The Dhyana Mudra was practiced by Siddhartha Gautama during his meditation under the Bodhi tree.
Let us rest here for a few minutes with this mudra,
Integrating this bhakti yoga ceremony.
Wonderful.
And slowly begin to deepen your breath.
Let us close this practice with three aums.
You can join me chanting out loud or silently in your head,
Offering this sacred bija or seed mantra to this divine light within you,
Breathing in through the nose,
Aum,
Aum,
Aum,
Aum.
