In this article, we will talk about Bhakti yoga as the fastest path to enlightenment. We will discuss how it can erode the ego and still let us be integrated into the world. We will talk about the effects of increasing love and the stages of Bhakti. Finally, we will discuss how to grow in Bhakti.
The Yoga of Love
There are four fundamental yogas. Jnana yoga; the yoga of discernment. Raja yoga; the royal path. Karma yoga; the yoga of action. Finally, Bhakti yoga, the yoga of love. In Bhakti yoga, you come to such a love for your spiritual ideal, that it takes you right to the end of the path, all the way to liberation. It is a very straightforward and clear mechanism. Bhakti yoga is widely considered the easiest way to attain enlightenment. All traditions that include prayer, include Bhakti. Prayer involves heartful communion and love between the part and the whole.
The Ego
The ego is the line that defines the part. Bhakti eliminates these lines. It pushes what is inside the limited part, back towards integration within the whole. When the part loves the whole, the part will integrate harmoniously into the whole. When a member of the family loves the family, he will be harmoniously integrated. When a man loves his country, he will integrate into his country. When we love the entirety of the universe, we will be integrated into the whole universe. When you intensely love all things, you are at home wherever you go.
Integrating into the World
Bhakti yoga is very suited if you want to live in the world and follow a genuine spiritual path. If you are solely working on activating kundalini, there will be moments when you cannot function in the world. There will be moments that are so intense, that you will have to leave your place of work. If you focus on Jnana yoga you will start to see the world as illusory. If you focus on Raja, you will need to make huge efforts and sacrifices and may want to remove yourself to a cave so you can focus intensely. Bhakti, however, will activate so much love that you will find it easy to integrate into the world. Your relationships will become very harmonious and fruitful. It is a genuine spiritual path for those who are not ready to renounce the world.
Increasing Love
The path of Bhakti yoga involves increasing love. Love is an organizing factor, it brings harmony on all levels. Love makes us similar, and eventually identical, to that which we love. If we love the wholeness of the universe, the Supreme Absolute, we eventually become like that.
Love brings meaning to everything. Take out love, and nothing has meaning. Love brings joy, and eventually bliss. Love brings forgiveness and compassion. It gives birth to wisdom. It reduces selfishness, attachment, and pride. The love that is attained through Bhakti is a love that will never leave you. Read devotional poetry and you will understand that this ecstatic love for the whole is the only safe refuge. The more that you direct your love toward that, the more safety that you feel. All the traumas of human love will dissolve because you are connected to a continuous source of love.
Stages of Bhakti
In the first stage of Bhakti, you feel nothing. However, you have some intellectual curiosity. Through practice, you will move to stage two, where the first sparks of love will appear, either through practice or through grace.
When you feel moments of love toward the Absolute, there are glimpses of a totally new perspective on life. There starts to be a different feeling of identity. The ego starts to dissolve into the whole.
In the third stage, the love becomes intense. The currents of the whole begin to work inside you. You begin to detach from the world and to become very pure. The personality can transform very fast when this love awakens. When the joy of love for the Absolute is savored, the things of the world lose their attraction. You can continue with your duties, but your joy is in your love for the Absolute.
In stage four, the love for the Absolute becomes more intense than the love for this world. Ecstasy begins to appear. You completely lose the feeling of the body and the feeling of the outer world. There is only love and awareness. Clear states of samadhi begin.
In the fifth stage, you are continuously established in this love. This is the state of enlightenment where the part is totally identified with the whole. Pure love, Prema, is considered the most valuable jewel in Yoga.
How to Grow in Bhakti
Listen to this lecture. Read devotional books. Start to understand Bhakti. When you get an understanding of this love, you will realize that deep inside, this is the only thing you ever wanted. Life is frustrating because we never find this love. Understand that you want supreme love more than anything else and the path of Bhakti will begin. Pray to the whole to have more love for the whole. Work an Anahata chakra. Detach from your personal agenda and from the things of the world. There is either space for love or for attachment, not for both. Be very authentic in front of your emotions. Be open to experiencing them sincerely. Hold on tight, because on the path of Bhakti transformation can come very fast. Finally, you can contemplate the moment of death. Love will survive death, and all your earthly pleasures will not survive.
Transcribed and edited by Charlie Wilson from