IS BHAKTI YOGA ONLY ABOUT EMOTIONS?

Hare Krishna. We find many reputed Yoga and Spiritual Gurus saying that Bhakti Yoga is only about emotions. So one can easily become spiritual through the process of emoting.

The point I am going to make here is that Bhakti Yoga is not so simple to identify it with mere emotions. In fact Bhakti Yoga is very different from other Yoga techniques. It involves not merely emotions. It includes the mind, senses and our physical body. Unlike other Yogas that involve only a part or area of our body, Bhakti Yoga is all inclusive. In other types of Yoga the involvement of emotions is for all purposes nil or negligible.

The other point to be noted is that emotions come naturally to women. Therefore most people in Bhakti Yoga path are women. In men, their intellect overrules their emotions. Men avoid emotions and treat emotions as an avoidable act. Their intellect also considers emoting as below dignity or shameful. Men are therefore also known to suppress emotions and suffer frequent depressions. If at all they get emotional it happens with great difficulty. Male Gurus, unlike female Gurus, naturally find it convenient to ignore Bhakti Yoga as merely emotion driven.  

As a substitute many Yogis recommend laughing instead of following Bhakti Yoga. This happens in centers called laughing clubs. In most Yoga centers, laughing loudly in a group forms a part of the daily session. Therefore we find several laughing clubs or assemblies mushrooming all over the world. Here people assemble and laugh aloud without any rhyme or reason. Naturally we can ask - Are the people really emoting or are they imagining a laughable situation? Is laughing loudly a substitute for doing joint kirtans or bhajans? In fact they force themselves into laughing artificially. 

There is a difference between reel and real life. We cannot emote any one of the following naturally and unknowingly unless we are putting up an act:

• Happiness. One of the first core emotions we all experience naturally is happiness. 
• Sadness.
• Anger.
• Anticipation.
• Fear.
• Loneliness.  
• Jealousy.  
• Disgust.
• Surprise.
• Trust.
• Suffering.
• Shame, etc.

An emotion should come genuinely from the heart. Some of the above emotions come naturally from the heart, while some come from the mind and also the heart. Therefore the members of the laughing club are merely acting without the involvement of the heart. It is artificial and imaginary.

In Bhakti Yoga there is a cause to become automatically happy without any inhibitions imposed by our intellect or our body. In the process one may even shed tears of happiness. Happiness happens in real and not in reel life. In Bhakti Yoga, happy emotions become a constant and a continuous process arising out of the activities we indulge in regularly. It also happens without our knowledge. It doesn’t come in fits and starts and does not involve our mind or the intellect. Happiness in us is never visible to an outsider. It happens within us and only we know the meaning and level of happiness. There is also no need for us to be outwardly expressive and shout, laugh, dance, sing, etc.  

Bhakti Yoga talks only about happiness and not the other emotions that are stated above. It says that happiness will follow if you do a series of certain specified acts. These actions are related to the Supreme Bhagavan or the Supreme Lord which are:  

1.     Chant the glorious name of Bhagavan as often as you can.

2.     Sing in praise of Bhagavan.

3.     Narrate the glorious deeds of Bhagavan and spread his teachings to all.

4.     Hear the glorious deeds of Bhagavan and songs in praise of Bhagavan.

5.     Serve the devotees of Bhagavan as much as you can.

6.     Do all the above in a selfless manner without expecting anything in return. This is known as seva. And

7.     This seva involves our body, mind, senses and our soul. It is not merely about emotions.

When we do all the above, a sense of continuous happiness arises in us. It can be felt by us because it happens due to our own deeds and not because of others. It happens because of our personal, continuous, one to one  and intimate relationship with Bhagavan. There is no exhibitionism involved in Bhakti Yoga. Our happiness can also spread to others around us like a benevolent virus.

In the process the Supreme Bhagavan blesses us by pouring His Divine Consciousness on us. These days this is popularly called KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS. These are extremely happy moments which will arise as and when we continue our actions for and on behalf of  the Supreme Bhagavan.

There can be moments when we suffer mentally and/or physically. But these are essentially Karma cleansing of our past and present lives. We will learn to live with Karma cleansing consequences without difficulty. Additionally our permanent state of happiness will easily overwhelm our sufferings. Our capacity and ability to overcome the sufferings will also be very high.

Of all the above listed emotions, happiness is one emotion that can and will come without any specific reason when we follow the Bhakti Yoga path. Even when facing death, there will be a particular happiness, contention, serenity and acceptance of death. Because happiness is overwhelming, there will be no occasion or reason to feel sad, anger, anticipation, suffering,  anxiety, fear, loneliness, jealousy, disgust, surprise, trust, distrust, shame, rejection, dejection, etc.

The blessings, happiness or Krishna Consciousness that pours upon us does not and will not happen by emoting artificially or by adopting any other form of Yoga like Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kriya Yoga or Raja Yoga. It is a unique experience restricted to Bhakti Yoga.

Therefore service to Bhagavan and his devotees alone is Bhakti Yoga. In Bhakti Yoga you surrender your body, senses, soul and intellect to Bhagawan. There is no time, space and scope to imagine or to sense our physical body, mind, body posture, intellect, etc.

Surrender to the Supreme is the key. Once we surrender, Bhakti follows. The greatest comfort and benefit in this life is having a close relationship with God by surrendering to Bhagavan.

Lastly Bhakti Yoga is not merely about emotions.

 

HARE KRISHNA

KARMIC LEVELS OF A SPIRITUAL PERSON

Hare Krishna.

The concept of Karma is one of the central beliefs of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita and all Hindu scriptures say that our actions will have consequences when they are performed with selfish desires and expectations. Actions could be good or bad. But actions performed and accumulated for the cause of Dharma and the Supreme  Lord Sri Krishna are the best Karmas. Action performed for Dharma and the Supreme Lord is also called Bhakti Yoga.

The main purpose of this post is to describe how a spiritual person  directs his action in his present life so that he can avoid bad Karmas and start accumulating good karmas. That he has to suffer in this or the future life for the bad Karmas is a well known fact. For him also there is no escape from bad Karmas. Undoubtedly a spiritual person undergoes intense pains and sufferings to discharge the bad Karmas.    

As per the Bhagavad Gita, it is advisable to exhaust all the bad Karmas in this life itself because any bad Karma left undischarged in this life gets carried over to our next life.   

As per our scriptures, human beings alone have the capacity to discharge all their past and present life Karmas while they are still alive. That is possible if and only if a person becomes spiritual and adopts the path of Bhakti Yoga.  

It is true that once a person enters the spiritual path he is gradually able to reduce or discharge his past life and present life Karmas. That being so, by the end of his present life, a spiritual person would have been a free and liberated soul. But this generally does not happen in most or almost all the cases, unless he is on the Bhakti Yoga path. There are certain reasons to explain this situation.

It is seen that even if a person is able to discharge all his Karmas, his very presence and activities in the material world makes him act, feel and think about material activities and material things. This happens even to a person on the Bhakti Yoga path. These actions adds to his positive or negative Karma though he is also spiritual.

Then there are other issues also. Karma not only attaches to us by our own thoughts, feelings and actions, but it also attaches to us due to people around us. A spiritual person is very sensitive to the Karmas of others and people around him. A spiritual person generally does the following to avoid such Karmas:

1. 1.     He would never come in public or meet people. He would rather avoid connection with even the worldly news.

1. 2.     He would never attend any functions like marriages or deaths. But the shastras say that  he should respect his mother as an avathar of the Lord. Therefore the only function he attends is his mother’s funeral.

1. 3.     He would never sit on an asana or seat that his not his.

1. 4.     He would generally cook his own food and wash his clothes by himself.

1. 5.     He would never touch others, allow others to touch or feel him. He will  maintain arm’s length at all times.

All the above and many other things are done because thoughts, feelings and actions of others do effect a spiritual person. In the process he himself suffers the bad Karmas of others. Even his close disciples’ Karmas act on him. This leads to actions or reactions within him. Giving an audience to other people easily triggers his feelings and causes reactions.

In such situations you will find a spiritual person spending most of his waking time by himself, shutting his mouth, ears, tongue, touch, eyes and thoughts and meditating on the Supreme Lord.

Most of the times a spiritual person is very calm as long as he is by himself. But if someone tries to take him on or irritate him, he can become very hostile and lethal. Indian scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita are full of incidents when Maharishis have lost their tempers and burnt their adversaries to ashes by a mere look. Lord Shiva, though very benevolent, was very nasty if and when provoked. In order to avoid such severe situations , a spiritual person prefers to lead an isolated life, away from the human civilisation, so that he does not lose his self control and commit a wrong. Many spiritual persons are therefore known to give up family and friends and have lived in forests or mountains.

A spiritual person is as prone to add to his Karma as much as any one is. The only difference being, he will try to discharge the Karmas, in this life itself, unlike a non-spiritual person who is unable to discharge his Karmas. In the end, a bit of Karma of a spiritual person invariably gets carried over to the next life, in case he has to be reborn. A spiritual person’s capacity to absorb other people’s Karma may be high, but he has to suffer a lot in the process.

Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that by resorting to Bhakti Yoga alone a person would have erased his past and present life Karma. This is possible by devoting full time to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. The way a person can prevent further additions to his Karma is:

• 1.     To surround himself by those who are similarly placed in devotion and bhakti. And

• 2.     To constantly utter the Holy name of the Supreme Lord Krishna in his wakeful state.

When he utters the name of the Lord in his wakeful state, the name percolates deep into his body, mind, senses and the soul. And the Lord’s name echoes even when he is asleep.

It is therefore better to start uttering His name at all times, irrespective of our age and state of health. Always be  in Krishna Consciousness and accumulate the best Karma.

 

HARE KRISHNA