The goal of Yoga is to become God conscious. The actual meaning of the word Yoga is to link with the Supreme.The practise of Yoga is not simply for the improvement of one’s health through the practise of breathing or stretching exercises or to attain material perfection.
This linking to God through the process of Bhakti yoga is attained through a nine fold process as follows. They are described by Prahlada Maharaja in the 7th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam as follows:
To hear the chanting of the transcendental names of God through the repetition of the holy names Hare Krishna, Hare Rama and to read about His pastimes, to remember them, to respectfully offer service to the Lord, to prayer, to consider the Lord as your best friend, to offer Him everything in your life. These nine processes are recognized as the pathway to pure devotional service and will lead to perfect union with God. So Bhakti yoga means actions taken in Krishna Consciousness.
Here are the nine processes along with their sanskrit names.
- HEARING (Sravanam)
- CHANTING (Kirtanam)
- REMEMBERING( Visnu Smaranam)
- SERVING THE LORD’S LOTUS FEET (Pada Sevanam)
- DEITY-WORSHIP (Arcanam)
- PRAYING (Vandanam)
- EXECUTING ORDERS (Dasyam)
- SERVING AS A FRIEND (Sakhyam)
- COMPLETE SURRENDER (Atma Nivedanam)
The two most important items to focus on and perfect in the practice of this yoga are the hearing and chanting processes, under the guidance of a bonafide pure devotee of Krishna only, as in the case of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.
Krishna tells his friend Arjuna in the fourth chapter 34th verse of the Bhagavad Gita As it is:
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaḿ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because he have seen the truth.
Purport by Sri A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:
The path of spiritual realization is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bonafide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. No one can be a bonafide spiritual master without following this principle of disciplic succession. The Lord is the original spiritual master, and a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message of the Lord as it is to his disciple.
No one can be spiritually realized by manufacturing his own process, as is the fashion of the foolish pretenders. The Bhagavatam (6.3.19) says, dharmam tu sakshad bhagavat-pranitam: the path of religion is directly enunciated by the Lord. Therefore, mental speculation or dry arguments cannot help lead one to the right path. Nor by independent study of books of knowledge can one progress in spiritual life.
One has to approach a bonafide spiritual master to receive the knowledge. Such a spiritual master should be accepted in full surrender, and one should serve the spiritual master like a menial servant, without false prestige. Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission constitute the proper combination for spiritual understanding.
Unless there is submission and service, inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be effective. One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding.
In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. Not only should one hear submissively from the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries. A bonafide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect.
There are two processes of acquiring knowledge: ascending and descending. The ascending process involves empirical research, the drawing of conclusions based on mental manipulation and in some instances mental speculation or mental concoction. This is not a reliable source for understanding our spiritual relationship with God. The human being is endowed with 4 defects, our senses are imperfect, we commit mistakes, we have a propensity to cheat and we under illusion thinking we are important in this universe when in fact we are minute insignificant beings is our handicap
The descending process of acquiring knowledge means receiving pure knowledge from guru scripture,and sadhu. This is the Vedic way to receive knowledge by submissive aural reception from the bonafide spiritual master to the inquisitive, humble student. That knowledge unlocks the mysteries of life that have been hidden to the conditioned soul through the influence of maya also known as the veil of illusion.
Prabhupada gives the example of mundane philosophers. He says that after the mundane philosopher studies other philosophers and their conclusions comes to his own conclusions and then concocts his own school of philosophy. The blind leading the blind. This is the business of the foolish class of men and their knowledge is based on the false ego conception of life. The false ego drives a person to believe I am this body, I am all knowing, I am the enjoyer of this body through mundane sense enjoyment and the owner of all I temporarily possess.
Krishna tells us that bewildered by false ego we cannot see the reality of who we are, why we were born? Actually human life begins when we ask the questions: who am I and what is the purpose of human life? Until we reach this platform of human life we are acting as sophisticated animals eating, sleeping, mating and defending. This is the current focus of most people born who have achieved the human form of life.
The quality of the spiritual body is Sat eternal, Cit, full of knowledge and Ananada, bliss or transcendental happiness. The qualities of the material body are diametrically opposite. Asat, temporary, Acit, ignorant and Nirananda, experiencing ongoing miseries.