{"id":2152,"date":"2019-04-06T15:09:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T19:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2019-06-25T07:59:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T11:59:48","slug":"explore-bhakti-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/explore-bhakti-yoga\/","title":{"rendered":"Essentials in Bhakti Yoga Sadhana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<em>There are different types of mind.\u00a0 People have different tastes, tendencies, temperaments, inclinations <\/em>and<em> capacities for Sadhana.\u00a0 So various paths are necessary although the goal to be reached, i.e., Self-realization is always the same.\u00a0 The path of Bhakti Yoga is open to all and it is the easiest path for God-realization in this Iron Age.\u00a0 Anybody can become a devotee.\u00a0 No distinction of caste, <\/em>colour<em> or sex finds a place in the realm of Bhakti.\u00a0 Devotion has nothing to do with age, caste, position or rank in life.\u00a0 The desire for liberation alone makes one a fit person for developing devotion and taking up the path of Bhakti Yoga. Merits acquired in the previous births generate devotion in the heart of a man in the following birth. Liberation comes to him who is devoted to the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Navavidha Bhakti or nine models of devotion should be practiced by all aspirants in the path of Bhakti Yoga.\u00a0 They <\/em>are: Sravanamhearing<em> the <\/em>lilas<em> of the Lord,\u00a0<\/em>Kirtanam<em>\u00a0singing His praise,\u00a0<\/em>Smaranam<em>\u00a0remembering God,\u00a0<\/em>Padasevanam\u00a0<em>worshipping the lotus feet of God (service of humanity, country <\/em>and<em> poor people),\u00a0<\/em>Archanam<em>\u00a0offering of flowers,\u00a0Vandanam\u00a0prostration,\u00a0<\/em>Dasyam\u00a0<em>service,\u00a0<\/em>Sakhyam<em>\u00a0friendship and\u00a0<\/em>Atmanivedanam<em>\u00a0complete self-surrender.<\/em>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sadhana &#8211; Swami Sivananda<br \/>\nChapter Fourteen, Bhakti Yoga Sadhana<br \/>\nEssentials in Bhakti Yoga Sadhana<br \/>\nPage 349-350<\/p>\n<h4>Interested in Exploring Bhakti Yoga?<\/h4>\n<p>Visit us at the Toronto Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre. Bhakti Yoga is incorporated into all we do in many ways. For example, we hold <a href=\"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/satsang-free-group-meditation\/\"><strong>Satsang<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0several times a week. Satsang includes chanting and kirtan, group meditation and a spiritual talk or story.\u00a0 We also have a <a href=\"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/puja\/\"><strong>Puja<\/strong><\/a> each Saturday morning,\u00a0a lovely ceremony whereby we chant and offer flowers and milk to various deities.<\/p>\n<p>Both <a href=\"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/satsang-free-group-meditation\/\"><strong>Satsang<\/strong><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/puja\/\"><strong>Puja<\/strong><\/a> are beautiful ways to experience Bhakti Yoga, purify the mind, open the heart and uplift the spirit. They are always offered free of charge. No previous knowledge required. Everyone is always welcome. Join us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;There are different types of mind.\u00a0 People have different tastes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,56,92,55],"tags":[60,70,72,59,57,73,61,58,71],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2385,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sivanandacanada.org\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}