a   p e r s p e c t i v e

Bhakti is devotion. Bhakti is love. Bhakti is its own reward. Bhakti is love for the sake of love; devotion for the sake of devotion; it is a way of life. Bhakti is the knowledge that we all are intimately connected; it is wisdom. For the bhakta (i.e. one who practices bhakti), the Divine is everywhere. Although bhakti can, is often — and perhaps should — be begun without consciously or unconsciously seeking ego gratification, there can nonetheless be a very vast reward or reciprocation through the practice of bhakti. In this case, such an unexpected reciprocation strengthens the practice of bhakti. Importantly, a life of bhakti does not lack anything; it is not a consciousness of lack, but instead one of fullness, unity, and unselfish love. Bhaktas (and here I mean those who adopt bhakti as a way of life; as a way of living with others in the world) always find themselves in the grace of the Divine, regardless of circumstance. Many bhaktas can quietly undergo great trials in life, yet not see them as such at all, and appear to others as consistently protected or oft redeemed by the Divine.

Successfully living in bhakti can perhaps begin easiest within the person who loves all of humankind as much as possible, consistently and regardless of circumstance. It can begin in the person who sees God, or, him or herself in all others regardless of whether or not he or she likes or dislikes these others. It can begin in the person who sees God, divinity or holiness, in all. Bhakti is somewhat more akin to an art or a science rather than a simple emotion that may change of over time or, perhaps more unfortunately, from moment to moment. Hence, bhakti differs from the practice of simple likes and dislikes; bhakti is the art of love, and hence it has the tendency to naturally surpass both of these (i.e. likes and dislikes). To practice bhakti is to practice love and to recognize and accept love; it is not an emotional reaction nor is it a stifling attachment. Rather, it is freeing. It is love, it is acceptance, and, it is exceeding difficult for me to humbly share my thoughts with you about it!

Through the practice of bhakti, there can be an experiential realization of the nature of the innermost Self that baffles common expression. From the birth of this consciousness  — an experience perhaps best described as simultaneously Oneness, nirvikalpa-samadhi, nothingness, Everything and Bliss — strong adverse reactions in life (such as anger) can be revealed as unfortunate, pitiable, harmful, and futile. Love can be strengthened as the path, goal and highest value of life. Reducing or eliminating harm can also be revealed as of the utmost importance.

Swami Vivekananda writes:

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 of God brings us eternal freedom. "Bhakti", says Narada in his explanation of the Bhakti-aphorisms, "is intense love of God"; "When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none; he becomes satisfied for ever." "This love cannot be reduced to any earthly benefit", because so long as worldly desires last that kind of love does not come; "Bhakti is greater than Karma, greater than Yoga, because these are intended for an object in view, while Bhakti is its own fruition, its own means and its own end." (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. III, pp. 31-36).

Bhakti is the surrender to that which already has and holds everything. As such, bhakti is the art of living in Truth. Bhakti is the willing, complete, and pure surrender of everything to the infinite, unchangeable, timeless, loving, foremost caregiver, love, and best friend; to Everything.

Bhakti strengthens actions that seek to help others in true partnership or fellowship. Such actions balance individual freedoms with collective interests while maintaining awareness of our intimate connectivity, our true nature.

While on the path of bhakti, one can come to the viewpoint the root cause of suffering revolves around how we love each other. That is, one might see suffering as essentially the result of the struggle that people experience around the giving, expressing, or perceived reception of (Divine) love. 

Bhakti is a serious business that is not for the light of heart, and yet all of us are completely capable of mastering it. Sometimes, practicing bhakti can be a challenge within an individual and between individuals. Swami Vivekananda notes:

One great advantage of bhakti is that it is the easiest and the most natural way to reach the great [D]ivine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous fanaticism. The fanatical crew in Hinduism, or Mohammedanism, or Christianity, have always been almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers on the lower planes of Bhakti. That singleness of attachment (Nishtha) to a loved object, without which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the cause of the denunciation of everything else. All the weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or country have only one way of loving their own ideal, i.e. by hating every other ideal. Herein is the explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal. This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct of guarding the master's property from intruders; only the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an enemy in whatever dress he may come before it. Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment. Personal considerations are in his case of such absorbing interest that to him it is no question at all of what a man says — whether it is right or wrong; but the one thing he is always particularly careful to know is who says it. The same man who is kind, good, honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will not hesitate to do the vilest deeds when they are directed against persons beyond the pale of his own religious brotherhood" (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. III, pp. 31-36).

At the same time,

...this danger exists only in that stage of Bhakti which is called the preparatory (Gauni). When Bhakti has become ripe and has passed into that form which is called supreme (Para), no more is there any fear of these hideous manifestations of fanaticism; that soul which is overpowered by this higher form of bhakti is too near the God of Love to become an instrument for the diffusion of hatred" (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. III, pp. 31-36).

 
Eppi Sukhu, MHSc.

Reference:

Swami Vivekananda. 1847. Bhakti-Yoga: Definition of Bhakti. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Vol. III. Mayavati Pithoragarh Himalayas, India:  President Advaita Ashram. Pp. 31-36.

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