Any questions about bhakti yoga/the devotional path”? There was an earlier question about whether anything can be the object of devotion. The answer was complicated so I put it off until now, but the answer is yes.

Everything that exists has it’s existence in the divine, in the universal spirit that gives rise to all reality. Now where the follower of karma yoga might achieve their enlightenment by realizing harmony in their behaviour, by keeping pace with events in the world and seeing how those events set a rhythm up in themselves, seeing the unity that way, the follower of the bhakti path, even if they are pursuing the same relationship, knows their enlightenment when they live and breathe the object of their devotion.

Let’s take art as an example. Anyone familiar with Zen ink painting? They use only the simplest medium, and only the ink which has one color, and they try to capture their experience of anything in the moment. So they might try to capture their experience of a little bird standing in the grass, but their work ends with their experience of the bird. If they lose their perception of the bird for whatever reason, their painting is finished, no embellishment. This would be karma yoga in artistic medium, the realization of the fleeting moment.

Now many great artists painted more from the heart and devotion than they did from their sense of the moment. Picasso was quite devoted to his realization of the world as it was reflected in his work. So great does their devotion become that they can’t draw a dividing line between their artistic work and their daily life.

Dali also. Dali is an excellent example, and honestly most of these ecstatic artists would not want to divide their art from their life even if they could. Dali was quite artistic in how he lived, flagrantly so, and proud of it. Picasso was conflicted, but expressed no desire to actually disengage from his art. Picasso was conflicted because he was frustrated with his art and frustrated with himself as well. There was no separation. The follower of the bhakti path seeks this state in whatever they devote themselves to. One could be a bhakti scientist, a bhakti cook, anything, same as the karma path can be found in anything.

So I will ask, do any of you recognize the bhakti path being stronger in you than another path might be? Karma yoga is stronger in me. I can and do feel devotion, but my soul speaks the language of action more fluently than passion.

An example, not meant to offend, is just my experience of my own path. I have seen many a soul enraptured with a realization of unity, and in their ecstasy I also saw stagnation. Their relationship to their devotion became a poisoned thing, but they could not bring themselves to “break the mold.” I did what I could to shake up that stagnation without harming their devotion.

We all have moments when we fall into functioning in a path, moments of inspiration where we see things differently than we usually do.

That’s good! Yes, it is a good thing. These events serve to strengthen our core talents even more.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~