Bhakti Yoga – Devotion

What is Bhakti Yoga?

Swami Vivekananda said “BHAKTI-YOGA is a real, genuine search after the Lord, a search beginning, continuing, and ending in Love. One single moment of the madness of extreme love to God brings us eternal freedom.”

This statement sums up all that Bhakti is – the love for God. This unconditional love for the Lord will engulf your mind and it will ultimately lead you to seeing the oneness of the lord everywhere, the omnipresence of the lord, which is the highest form of Bhakti.

Your Bhakti Yoga

We all feel a draw towards a certain deity, maybe because it is the deity worshipped in your own home, or your parents used to worship this deity or perhaps we have past life impressions for this deity. Nevertheless, this chosen deity of yours is your Ishta Devata. This is the form of the lord that you should worship but at the same time always remembering that the Lord is only one but has many forms. Just like each one of us has many different roles in life, for example, you may be a mother, a sister, a wife, a daughter, a manager, a friend etc, but ultimately you are only one person seen in different ways and in the same way the lord has many roles to play but the Lord is also only one!

There are many ways to worship and increase your love for the lord. You can worship the lord wherever you may be, by offering everything you do to the bhagawana’s feet. However, a great way to feel the energy of the lord is to be in spiritual company which is called satsanga. Satsanga is a sanskrit word which means truth or ideal (Sat) and association or union (Sanga). A Satsanga is therefore the union with the truth which is the union with Brahman (God).

See below on what to expect from our satsanga.

Mantra

We will chant Mantras to purify ones heart and mind. The meaning of Mantra is Mananat-trayate iti Mantraha meaning by constantly thinking / recollecting the mantra it will free one from pain and suffering.

Bhajan

We will sing bhajan’s, dhun’s etc together and with the help of our respected musicians (the kirtan group) to increase the love in your heart for Bhagwana and all beings.

Havan

We will perform an Agni Havan (fire ritual) to purify our minds and body’s with Vedic Mantras and receive healing energy from Agni Deva.

Puja

We will perform simplified Puja’s to various deities to remove any obstacles in path, to honour and worship the lord in that form and to increase our devotion to Bhagwana.

Katha

We will share the open secret of the self through the teachings from Vedanta, namely, the Bhagavadgita, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, The Ashtavakra gita and many other gems.

Join Us

You can join us in either Waltham Cross in London or in Northampton at one of our satsanga’s – see our calendar for our next Satsanga. Our satsanga, puja, havan, katha, lectures and classes are conducted by Pandit Hamesh Kharag who is the officiating pandit at the Sanatan Cultural Society Mandir in Waltham Cross.