[Note from Pamela: Within the past 24 hours Spirit has been introducing me to some new material to structure my practice. As part of this structure, I was led to information about Bhakti Yoga. Personally, I not familiar with yoga (except for the raspberry kind -- teehee) but found many of the insights parallelling to Course teachings. Mainly, for this Bhakti Yoga, the practitioner focuses mainly on allowing right-mindedness and awareness of connection through God to flow through them all through the day. With Spirit's guidance, I was led to "translate" a document found online about the practice of Bhakti Yoga. In this translation, Spirit further explained many of its teaching principles as well as added some of His Own. This rewritten document is what follows. All in all I found it fascinating and I look forward to making it a part of my daily practice.]
Devotion Intention:
I choose to remember my unification in God. I choose to know my Self as love for love's sake and desire God and God alone. I easily let go of all self-serving expectations, fear, or need here with compassion, seeing that this part of mind wants and fears simply because it does not know. I accept my choice to remember. I acknowledge joy is being in the presence of God. The presence of God has me know I am connected with all, seeing my Self in all, complete. I believe, conceive, and accept that my total Self is an Ocean of Love.
In this intense devotion, I center my mind on the supreme love for God, dedicating my thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions only to a complete out-pouring of Love towards the Beloved. I rest in His arms of pure, divine love without selfish desire. There is not a bit of bargaining or expectation of anything here. I am not here for something. All is clear and certain. Here I know I have all in perfection. This higher feeling is indescribable in words and is dependent on nothing. I accept this devotion in sincerity. I focus my complete being in this sacred, higher emotion, knowing it transcendentally unifies all with Truth.
I choose to remember my unification in God. I choose to know my Self as love for love's sake and desire God and God alone. I easily let go of all self-serving expectations, fear, or need here with compassion, seeing that this part of mind wants and fears simply because it does not know. I accept my choice to remember. I acknowledge joy is being in the presence of God. The presence of God has me know I am connected with all, seeing my Self in all, complete. I believe, conceive, and accept that my total Self is an Ocean of Love.
In this intense devotion, I center my mind on the supreme love for God, dedicating my thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions only to a complete out-pouring of Love towards the Beloved. I rest in His arms of pure, divine love without selfish desire. There is not a bit of bargaining or expectation of anything here. I am not here for something. All is clear and certain. Here I know I have all in perfection. This higher feeling is indescribable in words and is dependent on nothing. I accept this devotion in sincerity. I focus my complete being in this sacred, higher emotion, knowing it transcendentally unifies all with Truth.
Devotion Instruction:
Mark how an awareness of love develops. First, faith arises. Then follows attraction and after that adoration. Adoration leads to the intended suppression of mundane desires. The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. From this single-mindedness to purposeful unification with God, grows awareness of complete attachment and supreme love in God’s grace. This is not only a chosen certainty towards God, but is mainly an acknowledged certainty of God being All You Are in this dedication.
In this type of highest dedication, all attraction and attachment, which one has for objects of enjoyment, are transferred to God. Here, God is all, seen as all and you see with Him. You invite Him to be a part of your life in all things, knowing He is life. In this, you have opened a way to being with God. As you open the doorway to let in God, this awareness moves from conscious practice to continual allowance. Naturally, God always is, and so in our allowance, we prepare a room for His Beingness to Be through us. With practice and dedication, this leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved (God) and culminates in oneness.
Whatever you want the Lord will certainly give you. He withholds nothing. Only our mind has convinced us of the possibility of limitation. Do not seek to understand a limitation from God, for He knows no limitation. See where you still believe in limitation before you desire to approach God. Step out of the way and allow the opening to God instead. Before you wish to seek God’s connection to a problem, contemplate how you can release your attachment to this belief and leave these separate wills at the doorsteps of your temple. Seek instead to allow God in, acknowledging His Love is all He wants for You.
Want for peace and peace is yours. What for Truth and Truth is yours. Want for joy and joy is yours. Want for guidance and guidance is clear. Want for awareness of connection and you hear and see through Light in all moments. Your faith is your dedication. As you open the door beyond your thinking, God will simply walk through. Your dedication allows Him to guide you when offered sincerely. Accept all images as God’s blessing. See His hand in all you own and do. See His companionship in all who join you as friend, family, companion, or acquaintance. See His abundance in all forms of wealth. Witness your completion in all things and be contented with these. This contentment will allow you to welcome God’s continual blessing rather than seek out a way to control or define it.
In True Prayer, you cannot bring false witness. True Prayer is the living experience of allowing God’s One Existence to flow through all awareness. Your intention is purified as God knows your Heart Self. He speaks His Divine Grace with you. Be in communion with the Lord and you will become one with the Lord as you are. Here you will enjoy all the Divine attributes like wisdom, sincerity, joy, awareness, faith, and certainty of Will. All the ways in which the Lord manifests He will give you. He will help you to dwell in Him as You are. At the same time, He bestows all the Divine attributes and this blesses into you from the moment of your own awareness.
As you come to practice this intention, you will see the Lord everywhere and feel His Power manifest as the entire universe. God’s Vision is known in all things and all things are seen clear in God’s Vision. This witness remembers God as all encompassing. “Thou art the Supreme Light, in whose borrowed Light the sun, the moon, the stars and the fire shine." Here the devotee recognizes the transcendental nature of God and extends this Vision to all, accepting Light is all. Be still and know.
Practice devotion intention through all daily activities. Before you take your food, offer it to God mentally; and see the food as purified for mind and body. When you pass through a garden of flowers, mentally offer all the flowers to the Lord in worship. See every creation in essence as perfuming the Light you are. Here each aspect of the world is envisioned as a complement to Love’s beingness. It is not guided for loss but for representation of the artistry of pure creation. When you pass through the street and see passersby, offer a connection with them. Smile and extend a joy for their being. Remember your Self in Spirit with them. See their being as perfect for exactly every step they take. Bless every footfall. Such practices will lead to full awareness.
Go from stage to stage. Just as a flower grows in the garden, so also does love gradually develop in the garden of your heart. Practice and be gentle with yourself as you grow. Trust that you cannot fail. God will always meet you where He knows His Son to be.
The main distraction of devotion is egoism and a belief in loss. Where there is no self-will for fear or desperation, a remembrance of the Lord manifests Himself. Consequent distractions of peace and devotion are envy, anger, and insatiability. Anger destroys your awareness of peace and your health also. It says you do not have all and are at risk. Therefore, if an opportunity for anger’s voice asks to speak, instead of mouthing its words, be grateful for the opportunity to be aware of what you have forgotten. Keep peaceful and see yourself as set in unity with this apparently conceived false division. When blood begins to boil, it is impoverished. Here you see yourself in loss and not completeness. You exchange vitality for a role of prey to fits of temper.
HOW TO CULTIVATE DEVOTION
It would be a gross mistake if you consider devotion as merely a stage of emotionalism, or merely another temporary practice to say or do. Devotion is actually a thorough discipline and training of one's will and the mind. It is a sure means to intuitive realization of God Almighty through intense love and affection for Him. It is a means to the true knowledge of Reality. You may begin from the ordinary form of dedicated organized worship, but you will cultivate awareness in your practice. This practice results in the highest form of cosmic realization of your oneness with Him.
You can achieve this by following the eleven fundamental factors:
1. Practice of continuous thinking of God. Focus to have a remembrance of wholeness in all thoughts.
Mark how an awareness of love develops. First, faith arises. Then follows attraction and after that adoration. Adoration leads to the intended suppression of mundane desires. The result is single-mindedness and satisfaction. From this single-mindedness to purposeful unification with God, grows awareness of complete attachment and supreme love in God’s grace. This is not only a chosen certainty towards God, but is mainly an acknowledged certainty of God being All You Are in this dedication.
In this type of highest dedication, all attraction and attachment, which one has for objects of enjoyment, are transferred to God. Here, God is all, seen as all and you see with Him. You invite Him to be a part of your life in all things, knowing He is life. In this, you have opened a way to being with God. As you open the doorway to let in God, this awareness moves from conscious practice to continual allowance. Naturally, God always is, and so in our allowance, we prepare a room for His Beingness to Be through us. With practice and dedication, this leads the devotee to an eternal union with his Beloved (God) and culminates in oneness.
Whatever you want the Lord will certainly give you. He withholds nothing. Only our mind has convinced us of the possibility of limitation. Do not seek to understand a limitation from God, for He knows no limitation. See where you still believe in limitation before you desire to approach God. Step out of the way and allow the opening to God instead. Before you wish to seek God’s connection to a problem, contemplate how you can release your attachment to this belief and leave these separate wills at the doorsteps of your temple. Seek instead to allow God in, acknowledging His Love is all He wants for You.
Want for peace and peace is yours. What for Truth and Truth is yours. Want for joy and joy is yours. Want for guidance and guidance is clear. Want for awareness of connection and you hear and see through Light in all moments. Your faith is your dedication. As you open the door beyond your thinking, God will simply walk through. Your dedication allows Him to guide you when offered sincerely. Accept all images as God’s blessing. See His hand in all you own and do. See His companionship in all who join you as friend, family, companion, or acquaintance. See His abundance in all forms of wealth. Witness your completion in all things and be contented with these. This contentment will allow you to welcome God’s continual blessing rather than seek out a way to control or define it.
In True Prayer, you cannot bring false witness. True Prayer is the living experience of allowing God’s One Existence to flow through all awareness. Your intention is purified as God knows your Heart Self. He speaks His Divine Grace with you. Be in communion with the Lord and you will become one with the Lord as you are. Here you will enjoy all the Divine attributes like wisdom, sincerity, joy, awareness, faith, and certainty of Will. All the ways in which the Lord manifests He will give you. He will help you to dwell in Him as You are. At the same time, He bestows all the Divine attributes and this blesses into you from the moment of your own awareness.
As you come to practice this intention, you will see the Lord everywhere and feel His Power manifest as the entire universe. God’s Vision is known in all things and all things are seen clear in God’s Vision. This witness remembers God as all encompassing. “Thou art the Supreme Light, in whose borrowed Light the sun, the moon, the stars and the fire shine." Here the devotee recognizes the transcendental nature of God and extends this Vision to all, accepting Light is all. Be still and know.
Practice devotion intention through all daily activities. Before you take your food, offer it to God mentally; and see the food as purified for mind and body. When you pass through a garden of flowers, mentally offer all the flowers to the Lord in worship. See every creation in essence as perfuming the Light you are. Here each aspect of the world is envisioned as a complement to Love’s beingness. It is not guided for loss but for representation of the artistry of pure creation. When you pass through the street and see passersby, offer a connection with them. Smile and extend a joy for their being. Remember your Self in Spirit with them. See their being as perfect for exactly every step they take. Bless every footfall. Such practices will lead to full awareness.
Go from stage to stage. Just as a flower grows in the garden, so also does love gradually develop in the garden of your heart. Practice and be gentle with yourself as you grow. Trust that you cannot fail. God will always meet you where He knows His Son to be.
The main distraction of devotion is egoism and a belief in loss. Where there is no self-will for fear or desperation, a remembrance of the Lord manifests Himself. Consequent distractions of peace and devotion are envy, anger, and insatiability. Anger destroys your awareness of peace and your health also. It says you do not have all and are at risk. Therefore, if an opportunity for anger’s voice asks to speak, instead of mouthing its words, be grateful for the opportunity to be aware of what you have forgotten. Keep peaceful and see yourself as set in unity with this apparently conceived false division. When blood begins to boil, it is impoverished. Here you see yourself in loss and not completeness. You exchange vitality for a role of prey to fits of temper.
HOW TO CULTIVATE DEVOTION
It would be a gross mistake if you consider devotion as merely a stage of emotionalism, or merely another temporary practice to say or do. Devotion is actually a thorough discipline and training of one's will and the mind. It is a sure means to intuitive realization of God Almighty through intense love and affection for Him. It is a means to the true knowledge of Reality. You may begin from the ordinary form of dedicated organized worship, but you will cultivate awareness in your practice. This practice results in the highest form of cosmic realization of your oneness with Him.
You can achieve this by following the eleven fundamental factors:
1. Practice of continuous thinking of God. Focus to have a remembrance of wholeness in all thoughts.
2. Discrimination for where you do not remember. Be gentle and see where you do not remember.
3. Freedom from everything else and longing for God. Accept where you replace illusion for Truth. See freedom in all illusions, but ask to see clearly.
4. Truthfulness. Originates from awareness of faith. As you dedicate yourself in faith, you center fully in certainty and faith. Truth is always clear and faith knows.
5. Straightforwardness. To be straightforward is to be dedicated. It speaks of the disciplined mind, who aligns with His Teacher.
6. Doing good to others. This is simply a remembrance of who you are in form. All that you ask to give to your brothers in simply a remembrance of all you are.
7. Wishing well-being to all. In this, we release ourselves from judgment. Judgment only seeks to see your brother differently. Judgment does not accept or wish for wellness but seeks only for guilt.
8. Compassion. True compassion is an awareness of Self beyond all images. Here you see the radiance of Self in all.
9. Non-injury. The Buddhist sense of this focuses on form. I guide you not to focus as much on form but on ideals of limitation. Do not seek to limit yourself or your brother.
10. Charity. Offer an awareness of abundance to your brother. See him beyond all his perceived limitations. Ask to see remember for him or her, allowing this remembrance to lead the way for all interactions.
11. Cheerfulness and optimism. Joy is an extension of Love’s Awareness. There is only joy in the Kingdom of God. To offer only joy is to align with the Kingdom within You. Here we make each moment a celebration of grace.
In the practice of the traditional ways of devotion, the devotee uses every routine act to organize an awakened awareness of his or her connection. Here we use every moment and aspect of the world, not as a way to limit or express in material attachment, but to continue the flow of awareness throughout all experience with images. For instance, organize a sacred space in your home if you desire. Keep the worship room clean. Decorate the room with images that remind you of your intent. Bathe. Wear clean sacred clothes. Burn incense, apply ash to the forehead, light candles, or play intonation music. Keep a comfortable clean seat for quiet meditation. Although Heavenly awareness does not require these rituals, the mind that you define yourself through often sees them as purposeful.
Do not doubt or judge yourself for any wish for expression in form. Remember you are free. Use these tasks for calming effect and as a reminder to what you choose in the moment. All these produce a benign influence on the mind and elevate its thoughts using the ways it chooses to know itself. These rituals may generate piety or help you to create the necessary feeling to invoke the awareness that enlightens you to worship. If these rituals are purposeful to you, do not judge or fight them. Ask to use them instead for a greater clarity and me. If it is through these rituals that your thinking mind will be more easily concentrated, they cannot cause harm.
Existent Being in Devotion
When the devotee grows in devotion there is absolute self-forgetfulness. This is called Existent Being. Existent Being establishes a true relationship between the devotee and the Lord. Existent Being then grows into Great Being wherein the devotee lives, moves and has his being in the Lord. This is the consummation of love or Supreme Love.
There are five kinds of Existent Being in Devotion. They are Peacefulness, Service, Friendship, Guidance of Protection and Innocence and Practice of Intimate Love. These practices of being or feelings are natural to human beings and so these are easy to practice. Practice whichever practice of being suits your temperament.
1. Peacefulness. His heart is steadily filled with love and joy.
Existent Being in Devotion
When the devotee grows in devotion there is absolute self-forgetfulness. This is called Existent Being. Existent Being establishes a true relationship between the devotee and the Lord. Existent Being then grows into Great Being wherein the devotee lives, moves and has his being in the Lord. This is the consummation of love or Supreme Love.
There are five kinds of Existent Being in Devotion. They are Peacefulness, Service, Friendship, Guidance of Protection and Innocence and Practice of Intimate Love. These practices of being or feelings are natural to human beings and so these are easy to practice. Practice whichever practice of being suits your temperament.
1. Peacefulness. His heart is steadily filled with love and joy.
2. Service. He serves the Lord and all he meets whole-heartedly and with dedication through all things. This devotee seeks to be of pleasing certainty in all possible ways. He finds joy and bliss in the service of connecting with God in all.
3. Friendship. The devotee moves with the Lord and all on equal terms. You feel the welcome comfort to sit, eat, talk and walk together as intimate friends.
4. Guidance of Protection and Innocence. Here you see all in mother / child relationship. There is no fear here, because all are equally accepted for their innocence. You easily forgive, seeing the inability for any real harm to come from any experience. There is no sin, judgment or guilt extended, but simple freedom and blessing to all for all. You know all are here to learn and mean well in their best-recognized efforts. Likewise, as you would a child, you choose to be a guide of protection. Remembering Truth for all you encounter. Not to convert them. This is not done to speak for anyone in belittling. But you join all in companionship and you witness as the one who remembers. This devotee serves, feeds, and looks upon all as a mother does in the care of her child.
5. Practice of Intimate Love. The lover and the beloved become one. Divine love is the product of loss of egoism. Intimacy is complete sharing without boundaries. Here the devotee welcomes God as a lover, knowing there is nothing to hide. There is no reason for shame. Here you enjoy the bliss of companionship and openness without limitation. You can stand naked before your God and know there is nothing but welcome gratitude and appreciation for all you are.
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