Yoga Philosophy

Devotion is the fuel for sādhana (spiritual practice), the sweet longing that inspires sitting for meditation, for ritual, for learning and teaching.

The more I experience being immersed in devotion, the more I appreciate any expressions of devotion from any tradition or none.

Images and text from Ekabhumi Charles Ellik. Previously published by Sounds True in The Bhakti Coloring Book (2018) and The Shakti Coloring Book (2015)

Śrī Krishna Caitanya is an extraordinary person of the sixteenth century whose example of ecstatic embodiment is unique in the world. His contagious spiritual emotions and kirtan flooded the Indian subcontinent and demonstrated the power of bhakti to dispel the deluding power of maya and bring one to love as an eternal state of being.

You’ve probably heard that bhakti is devotion or love. Though that’s correct, neither word completely conveys what bhakti is.

The Sanskrit word krishna has two meanings. It means the dark one. It also has another root and that is “karsha” which means to entice or enchant.

For the Bhāgavata School of Vedānta, Bhagavān is the divine perception of Absolute Reality as the Supreme Person intrinsically endowed (van) with opulence (bhaga) or sentient and insentient energy (śakti).

Among the many subjects that Bhagavad-Gītā (BG) is known for, one is the synthesis of the different Upaniṣadic yoga practices. Due to their terse and often cryptic style, the Upaniṣads’ discourse on yoga reads more like a gloss on the subject rather than an accessible exposition.