Bhakti yoga (Yoga)

This yoga is one of the forms of Laya yoga and is primarily intended for those of emotional or devotional disposition. Devotion is centred on God, on a great saint, or on some great task. It is the path of service, of devotional submission to the divine and to one's guru or spiritual master. As the way of devotion or of love, the aim of this yoga is to develop the individual's love of God and his surrender to this love, which is a spiritual transformation of all the types of love felt for friends, family and spouse. God is sensed as a distinct personality, however exalted his attributes of wisdom, compassion and grace. The sense of the otherness of God leads the individual to adore him with every element of his being. The aim of the individual then becomes to love God only (and others through him), for no ulterior motive (not even the desire for liberation), but for love's sake alone. Insofar as he succeeds, he will experience pure joy, and to the extent that he strengthens his affections for God, he will weaken the grip of the material world upon his attention.

Mystical disciplines of this kind yield a trance-like state - [bhava samadhi]

- in which, after concentration on the personal God and his vision, a state of complete merging, quiet or silence ultimately supervenes. This last stage involves a complete relaxation of thoughts and emotions, and a relinquishment of the ego focus.

The levels through which the follower may pass include: (i) [Bhakti]

- as [guru-bhakti]

, the awareness of love or surrender towards the [guru]

(teacher) - this may be the first step towards love for God; and [vaidhi bhakti]

- complying with all directions of the guru for following the way of love. (ii) [Raga bhakti]

- in which the follower is aware only of God, and of all things as related to God, through all aspects of [bhava]

(devotion). (iii) Love of God, variously experienced as [para bhakti]

, [prema bhakti]

or [mahabhava]

, an ecstatic yet intense consciousness of unity with God, the state of the [avatar]

or the [ishvarakoti]

whose birth is to lead humanity to realization of truth.