If we use our emotions to try to reach the ultimate
goal of yoga, that of union with the supreme or universal consciousness, this
is called Bhakti Yoga, and is an essential part of our practice. The practice transmutes our lower
emotions turning them into devotion or to feelings of joy, or we could say it
turns all the unpleasantness into pleasantness or the negatives into
positives. We as human beings
naturally have emotions, some that come fast and some that have a negative
effect on ourselves and those that surround us, but learning how to channel
those emotions properly can lead to a state of liberation. Our lower emotions or those that are
referred to as poisons in Buddhism, those of hatred, anger, greed, ignorance
and pride shouldn’t be suppressed, this in turn would cause disease to the body
as well as the mind, but it is learning how to turn those negativities around
to lead us to a positive goal and find divine joy, peace and infinite love.
Sometimes we can feel very alone with these lower
emotions but the practice of Bhakti yoga can take those feelings of solitude
away as we move away from our ego and become one with the consciousness that is
surrounding us and in turn this releases us from these feelings, our fears and
anxieties and allows us to feel part of something whole and beautiful.
To me I feel that it is pretty obvious that today the
worlds major religions have failed in bringing people closer to the truth, to a
place where they can feel safe, loved and the bliss of taking refuge in a
higher power, this is where so many people are resorting the use of substances
to get this feeling, with disastrous effects on the health of their whole
system both body and mind. We
don’t need to look for answers in this way, this is not the right way, all we
need to do is let go and look inward for an inner state of blissful
consciousness. One way to do this
is by the singing of Kirtan, the chanting of mantras, prayers and songs to the
divine. It has been scientifically
proven that singing each day only for a few minutes can improve digestion,
posture, reduce stress and elevate our moods. Our emotions can be very intense right, if we are really
angry over something we may not sleep at all or be able to eat, our whole day
and night can be effected and it is not something we can just switch off from
as easy as that. But the practice
of kirtan or other forms of Bhakti yoga can take us quickly away from those troublesome
emotions. Even the same for the
opposite end of the scale, when we fall in love also sometimes we can’t eat,
sleep etc, and also in this case bhakti can keep us on the middle ground and
enable us to operate with balance.
I believe that every one loves to sing but through life experience and
in many cases bad schooling this joy has been stubbed out of us. Secretly when you are alone and you
find yourself singing doesn’t it make you feel better? Maybe because we have
allowed our egos to become to obsessed with the ideas of perfection and how we
are perceived then we are afraid to sing, but if we think of how big the planet
is, how big the universe is, how big the whole cosmos is, we are a tiny tiny
speck so a little singing is not going to harm you, but it is going to bring
you back to harmony and balance, harmonising our emotions. Chanting Kirtan consists of working
with basic patterns of sound, that work their way through our clogged minds,
and eliminate all the worries, strains and fears that have been deposited in
the mind over years allowing them to gradually crumble away. Inspiring emotions are raised that can
be maintained and elevated often to a point of natural ecstasy, it gives us a
good clean release of pent – up emotions which can accumulate from day to day,
it is a way to clean our souls, no matter how your voice sounds or how shy you
may be, to all the singing of Kirtan offers a means of touching upon
bliss.
What could be better?
Join me every Friday after asana class at Patan
Studio, Moksh, Kathmandu for a glorious session of Kirtan and its free so why
are you not there already!!
Asana class 9.15-10.30am and Kirtan 10.45-11.15am
every Friday, start the weekend well!
Wishing everyone bliss in finding their voice!
Mangala / Nicky
