Divine Love is never fading, ever-growing, and there is nothing higher.
– Paramahamsa Vishwananda
True Unconditional Love and Lasting Happiness
When we feel a void inside, we often look outside ourselves to satisfy our craving for true unconditional love and lasting happiness. The trouble is, it can’t be found outside because everything in this physical reality eventually fades away. If unmet expectations and disillusionment don’t rob us of love, then sooner or later death will come to take you or your loved one away.
So how can we avoid this misery and find true love and lasting happiness? It can only be found when we redirect our attention towards the eternal. Only God and the soul are eternal. Only God loves us unconditionally.
Eternal Nature of the SoulThe Bhagavad Gita is an ancient scripture filled with timeless wisdom about how to realise our own eternal nature, and ultimately how to realise our eternal relationship with God.
The material bodies of the Self are said to have an end, while the Self Itself is eternal, indestructible and incomprehensible.
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, verse 18
The Lord abides in the heart of every living being, Arjuna. By His power, He controls all their movements through life, as if they were seated upon a machine.
- Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, verse 18
Diving into the Heart of Divine Love
Atma Kriya Yoga gives us a lived experience of these concepts. The good news is, you don’t have to run off to a cave in the Himalayas to meditate, you can simply make a 40cm pilgrimage from the mind to the heart. Atma Kriya Yoga gives you the tools to do just that. Through the meditation practice, you can learn to escape the trappings of the mind and enter into the stillness of the heart where the Lord resides.
Action with Awareness of the Soul
Atma Kriya Yoga means ‘action with awareness of the soul’. The more you engage in conscious action, the more you will be able to realise who you truly are. The more you focus your awareness on the soul and its relationship to God, the more you can enjoy a lived experience of your eternal relationship with the Divine. Practising Atma Kriya Yoga with love and devotion opens the door for us to truly experience unconditional love and lasting happiness through God-realisation.
Lover-Beloved
In human relationships, people are fond of saying, ‘I’m falling in love’. This process tends to go through certain stages over time. We hear about someone, we are attracted, we want to know more, and then in time, we give more and more of ourselves into the relationship.
Our love affair with the Divine also goes through similar stages. Yet, when our focus is on God, we do not fall in love, we rise in love. In Sanskrit, this Lover-Beloved dance of relationship is referred to as bhakti: love and devotion to God.
"Bhakti is the highest." His (Krishna’s) words, which He spoke 5200 years back, are not in vain for saying that bhakti is important. Because bhakti consummates everything. And in Atma Kriya Yoga there is this Navadha-bhakti with nine forms of bhakti which consume everything.
- Paramahamsa Vishwananda
Navadha-Bhakti, Nine Forms of Divine Love
There are nine different forms of bhakti, or Divine Love. Bhakti is what makes Atma Kriya Yoga so powerful; it is inherent in each of the 15 techniques. Through practice, each technique awakens a different form of bhakti.
The more you are able to do your practice with an awareness of the soul and the more you can do it with love and devotion for God, the more you will be able to truly rise in love and experience the never-ending nature of Divine Love.
- Shravana-bhakti – Sravana means to listen to the stories and glories of the Lord and His saints. The Name of God is God Himself. By chanting the Divine Name our mind becomes absorbed in the Divine and a deep unconditional love awakens inside of us.
- Kirtana-bhakti – Kirtana is singing the glories of the Lord. Singing often awakens joy inside of us. When we sing the Divine Name our whole body, mind and spirit begins to resonate with divine vibrations.
- Smarana-bhakti – Smarana means to constantly remember the Divine. Once we taste the nectar of being in a relationship with the Divine, our mind begins to let go of its worries and turn its attention to That which is in control of everything.
- Padaseva-bhakti – Padaseva is a service to humanity. The Lord resides in everyone’s heart. Recognising this divinity in ourselves and others is a beautiful way to make the world a better place.
- Archana-bhakti - Archana is the external worship of the Divine. Breathing techniques purify the body and focus your mind. Thus promoting a profound awareness of the Divine life-force energies that flow both inside and outside of our body.
- Vandana-bhakti – Vandana means to bow down. Bowing down before the Divine is an act of humility, it is an acknowledgement that the Divine is greater than ourselves. When done with an attitude of love and surrender, Yoga asanas (postures) allow us to offer our body and actions in service to the Divine.
- Dasya-bhakti - Dasya is offering service to the Divine through our daily duties. When everything is seen as the Divine, every act becomes an offering of love and gratitude. It is a redirection of effort towards serving the Divine with every action.
- Sakhya-bhakti – Sakhya is the personal relationship we all have with the Divine. As our soul is eternal, so is our relationship with the Divine. Each person’s relationship is unique and can be expressed, experienced, and enjoyed in a variety of ways.
- Atmanivedana-bhakti –Atmanivedana is the natural devotional expression of our soul once we realise there is nothing but the Lord. It is the highest form of realisation. God-realisation–communion with God–is only possible through the grace of a God-realised master. The seed for this realisation is planted through the grace of Atma Kriya Yoga’s Shaktipat Initiation.
Realising the Mystery
Atma Kriya Yoga reveals this mystery between our soul and the Divine. Through regular practice, our judgments and conflicts begin to dissolve, and we start feeling more peace, love, and connection. It’s as if the mind vibrates on a higher frequency, allowing us to face life’s challenges, knowing we are not alone. The Divine is ever-present in our lives and only has our best interests at heart.
Kriya is Love in Action
Atma Kriya Yoga helps us to become aware of the divinity that resides within everything, including ourselves. Through mantra, breath, and focused awareness we can redirect our mind’s attention away from the problems of the world and turn it inward to find God. Through the practice, we can cultivate a loving, devotional relationship with God who resides in our own heart.
In Kriya, we are gently touching our inner space, our chakras, with breath and OM, like a loving mother who tenderly wakes up her child. Kriya is love in action, patience in practice, and sadhana, which means a decision is made. The focus is not on the goal and result, there is no time! It is about: it has been decided to do this forever, so no hurry, only sincerity, intensity and focus. Yes, all this is patience. What do lovers know about the time they are together? Do they have any goal or expect some result from their love and being together? No, love is all they are there for, love is all they need, love is all they seek. So they reach their destination: Love is the path, the goal and the journey.
- Paramahamsa Vishwananda
Next Step
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