What is Bhakti? It's not so easy to answer this question. By the end of the course we'll all have a much better idea. But let's just say for now that Bhakti is our authentic, directly experienced relationship with the Divine.

Sometimes Bhakti Yoga is thought of as the most approachable Yoga, the easiest Yoga. It's a party. This is not the experience of the masters. Bhakti is actually the most intense, the most fiery, the most radically, transformational path. And it's not so simple. From the traditional point of view, Bhakti is commonly misunderstood by modern seekers.

These days devotional music has become very popular - people think Bhakti is just that - chanting and dancing and celebrating different forms of the Divine - usually Hindu ones. Everyone has their favorite deity; Krishna, Ganesha, Kālī Mā. There are even devotional music festivals like Bhaktifest where hundreds of people congregate to chant and dance and be in the "vibe" of what they call bhakti.

Bhakti is a word that is not uncommon in the commercial Yoga World, but I believe we can all benefit from going deeper into the actual, authentic traditional teachings and practices of Bhakti yoga

Bhakti is a word that means love, but not any ordinary kind of love. Bhakti refers to the love between a person and their Divine Beloved.

Bhakti is at the heart of any spiritual life. It is a process of putting the Divine Beloved in the center of our lives.

Bhakti is not a musical style.

Bhakti is not just being into spiritual stuff.

Bhakti Yoga is not just yoga classes with spiritual music.

When we say Bhakti, we’re talking about a deep process of centering the Divine Beloved in our bodies, minds, hearts, and lives.

When we say Bhakti Yoga, we're talking about making this process into a very deliberate path of learning and discipline and practice and transformation. It's not just a feeling, it's not a style, it's a path, a sādhana. 

Different traditions have different approaches to Bhakti Yoga. No one way is right or the only legitimate way to do it.

In our Mahāyoga Tradition, Bhakti Yoga is that process of going from separation with the Divine to a state of living in oneness. We understand this is no small thing, so we have practices and teachings that support us at every stage. We have practices when we're feeling totally alone and separate, and we have practices that help us go deeper into the ecstatic dance of union with the divine. In our Mahāyoga tradition, we work with the awakened Kundalinī Shakti to help us have not just intellectual growth, but direct experience of the Divine within our being.

More in next lesson.