ALUNA TEMPLE MAGAZINE Edition No3 'INITIATIONS' | Page 15

INITIATION INTO BHAKTI YOGA (Yoga of Devotion) Yugal Kisor ? Teacher of Bhakti Yoga ? Study of Bhagavad-Gita [email protected] “What do you mean that you have a different name now,” my parents asked me when I explained to them that I got initiated. “Initiated, what's that,” they inquired further. Coming from a Christian religious background and Western/European social milieu, it was challenging for them to grasp the intricacies and full meaning of Vaishnava initiation, a sacred ceremonial observance stemming from an Indian spiritual tradition. This was in 2004. But I have been a bhakti-yoga (the yoga of devotion) practitioner since 1998 and the actual change in life-style happened much earlier. By that time they got used to their 'non meat eating and non-coffee drinking' son, but why get initiated? What was the need for it? The easiest way of putting it, I thought, and without much unnecessary philosophizing on my part, was that the actual initiation merely formalized my commitment to the spiritual path that I have chosen. Just as a marriage ceremony signifies the trueness of love between the two people, spiritual initiation indicates practitioner's commitment to the teachings and practices of a particular sacred tradition. Without the loving affection a marriage has no real purpose, and without the inner firmness of purpose spiritual initiation bears no meaning. The outer form of a ritual observance, the Vaishnava tradition teaches, assists the person's inner spiritual growth, the development of loving devotion to God (bhakti). Among the numerous Indian sacred traditions, the Vaishnava tradition stands unique with its emphasis on the eternal relationship between the self (atman) and God. This relationship is never broken. Rather, it is merely forgotten, and the link between the inner world of God and outer world of souls is yoga. In other words, this yoga is about union. Yoga entails a certain level of discipline, self-restraint and even asceticism, but the overall intention of yoga is to yoke, harness, or connect oneself. Radha & Krishna © www.hdwpapers.com The highest level of yoga or the most intimate connection with God, according to the BhagavadGita (which has been, since the seventh century, not only the most widely read and commented sacred text of India, but also the foundational scripture of various devotional schools which focus on Vishnu or Krishna), is the development of loving devotion to God. 15