How can we practice bhakti-yoga on a daily basis?
Answer Podcast:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
So, how do we practice bhakti yoga on an everyday basis? There is, bhakti yoga has one dimension which is a direct connection with God.
And there is another dimension to it which is a diffused connection with God. A direct connection with God means that we allocate some time in our life on a daily basis for what is called traditionally a sadhana. We pray, we do some scriptural study, we connect with, expose ourselves to spiritual stimuli.
And that creates a spiritual orientation for our mind. It is best if we can do this at the beginning of the day. Even if it is for a short time, that gives a spiritual orientation for the whole day.
And then after that, during the rest of our day, we understand that whatever we are doing, it is in our life, God is in control. It is by God’s plan that we are in a particular situation. We are doing a particular duty.
We don’t see our family members as my family members. We see them as God’s children, interested in our care. And whatever responsibilities we have in our family, we do them as a service to God.
Srila Prabhupada, the founder Acharya of ISKCON, he would say that our children are not our children. They are Krishna’s children, placed in our care. And we express our devotion to Krishna by how we take care of them.
Similarly, whatever profession we have, we see that profession not just as a means for proving how great I am to the world. Nor do we see it just as a means for earning a livelihood. We see that as an avenue where we can actually do justice to whatever God-given talents we have.
And by our example, we do our work for the glory of God. In the Mahabharata, Yudhishthir is the king. And Yudhishthir, his purpose in being a king is, he performs a great sacrifice called the Rajasuya Yajna.
And in that sacrifice, he celebrates that the greatest person is Krishna. So his whole purpose of becoming the world emperor was ultimately to glorify God. So, you know, if we have devotion, or if we want to have devotion, the nature of devotion is that we want to share our secret values.
We want to share the glories of the person whom we are devoted to with others. How we share that will vary according to our time, place, circumstance. We live in a multicultural society where things may have to be adjusted.
But the intention is that we see our work as also a part of our devotion to God. That means, whatever work we are doing, we do it well. And do it well, not so that the world thinks that I am such a great person.
Not to tell the world how glorious I am. But, to see that this is also one way I am contributing my bit to this world in service of God. So, if a devotee of God is a competent, committed professional, people ask, what makes you tick? And then you can say, it is my devotion to God that helps me.
How, where, you tell it, that will vary according to time, place, circumstance. But that way, people see, people need examples of spiritualists who are activists. Not just spiritualists who are renunciates.
In fact, if you see that in the Krishna Consciousness Movement, Srila Prabhupada, he was a renunciate. But even as a renunciate, he was an activist. Even at the old age of his life, he was travelling around, he was writing books, he was sharing the bhakti legacy with the world far and wide.
So, according to our time, place, circumstance, we can imbue our life with a devotional intention. But to sustain the devotional intention, we also need time. Devoted time for directly devotional activities on a regular basis.
Because without that, we will not be able to sustain the devotional intention. Because whatever we associate with, that will influence us. So, usually, for people who are working in the world, one of the activities that is recommended is charity.
The purpose of charity is not just giving money. The purpose is that we want to offer our heart to God. But our heart is filled with many things.
So, when we can’t offer our heart to God right now, we can offer what is in our heart to God. Now, this is not just with respect to money. This can be with respect to our position, our influence, our talents.
So, whatever is in our heart, we offer that to God. When we offer that to God, by that, we give Him a place in our heart. And in that way, we move closer to Him.
So, specifically, according to one’s own situations, we can offer our heart to God or offer what is in our heart to God in different ways. But to maintain that intention of wanting to offer our heart to God, we need to have regular, directly, spiritual activities. So, we need to especially associate with those who are devoted to God.
Otherwise, that intention will not be sustained. And our devotion will remain largely an abstraction. Just something which I think I am doing, but the rest of our life will just be something which is largely materialistic.
So, by direct devotional activities and by imbuing our life with a devotional intention, we can practice bhakti yoga in today’s world also. Thank you.