Bhakti Yoga is the path of Love, the path of the heart, in which the yogi, or ‘devotee,’ calls upon Spirit by chanting the holy names, offering flowers, food and gifts to the Eternal, reading sacred songs, and conversing with friends about their eternal Beloved…or Friend, Child, Mother or Father. Spirit is considered to be near and dear to the devotee who speaks to the Eternal one with a chosen ‘bhava’ or devotional mood, and interacts constantly in communion with that Light and Love, the Indweller within all beings. To learn more about this path, you can read the Narada Bhakti Sutras, an ancient yogic text describing Bhakti Yoga, the path of Love. The idea is: if we are going to love, then love the highest, the Spirit that dwells within all hearts.
We are so fortunate to live in this time when Krishna Das, Deva Premal, Jai Uttal, Girish, Wah! and others have rocked the musical world and the yogic community with their devotional music. If you haven’t heard their chants, you are in for such a treat! And if you have, then I’m guessing you know what I mean. Not since Mirabai during the 1500s in India, and Chaitanya long before her, have so many people been swept away in the ocean of devotion that is ‘sacred chant.’ Robert Gass has explained it well in his book, Chanting: Discovering Spirit in Sound.
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