The Ninefold Bridal Mysticism, the Nava Vidha Bhakthi Yoga

Sravanam - Hearing His exploits
Keerthanam- Singing his praises
Archanam - Worshipping Him
Pada Sevanam - Service for Him
Arpanam - Consecration to the Divine
Vandanam - Bowing before the Tutelary Deity
Dasyam - Being His servant
Sakhyam - Eternal Friendship with Love Immortal
Atma Nivedanam - Sacrificing for Him

Having a Tutelary Deity is the first step. This Deity should be worshipped in thought, word and deed.

" By giving thyself up in heart and soul to Me, thou shalt overcome all difficulties by My Grace " says He in the Geetha.

Only Universal Love can redeem the world. The salvation of the world is in love and through love.

"Take away Love and the whole world becomes a tomb" said Byron

Man is endowed with many positive qualities. Truth, Ethics, Peace, the Discriminative intellect & Love are the major five positive qualities in man. Of these, Love is the greatest positive quality.

If we incorporate love, we can see that our lives become peaceful & spiritually resplendent. We are asked to incorporate this supreme quality, which is a prerequisite for Liberation or Self-Realisation.

 Freud identified Thanatos ( Death Instinct ) as the destructive element in Man. Contray to Thanatos is Eros or the Life Instinct. It is true that Thanatos ( Death Instinct ) or the Vedantic Thamas is the villain of the piece as far as this sin-sick world is concerned. The Mr Hyde in man is very powerful. In Man there is an eternal fight going on between Conscience and Expedience. between Eros and Thanatos! We have not yet defined the Life instinct. This anti-Thanatos principle is Love !

So the preserving quality is Love. Love alone is the Saviour, Love alone is the Redeemer. He who embraces Love is blessed and he alone can save the world.

His light and life is given to balance here
The dark account of mortal ignorance!

It is this quality which is highly favoured by Heaven !

Love rules the court, the camp and the grove,
All men below and saints above
For Love is Heaven and Heaven is Love !

As one Great One said

Love all beings
That is enough !

Or Alexander Pope

He prayeth best who loveth best
Both bird and man and beast

When it comes to Jnana & Bhakti Yogas, it is said that He, before whom even the Vedas remain mute, prefers Union via Love to Union via Wisdom.

It is like the wife and lady love. Jnana Yoga is the wife and Bhakthi Yoga is the lady love.

Jnana Yoga is like the wife. It asks " Why didnt you actualise the Self ?"

Bhakti Yoga is like the lady love. It asks " No problem ; there is still time for you to actualise"

In the Divina Commedia, Beatrice criticises Dante for following Philosophy and not Religion. Under Beatrice's compulsion Dante changes over to Bhakti Yoga, away from Being and Becoming !

I wake amaze and in the windows blaze
The forms of saints & holy men who died
Hereafter martyred and hereafter crucified
And the Great Rose upon its leaves displays
Love's triumph and the angelic roundelays
With splendour upon splendour multiplied
And Beatrice again at Dante's side!
No more rebuking but smiling her words of praise ( Longfellow )

The strict restrictions in other Yogas make it difficult to practise them. On the other hand, there are no restrictions in Bhakthi Yoga. The process of spiritual evolution is automatic and all blocks will be removed by Divine Grace.

In the Geetha, He hath declared that Bhakthi is the greatest of all yogas. The bliss that accrues from sheer devotion is ineffable !

The basic dictums of Bhakthi Yoga are simple. They are

Love  All
Serve  All
Help  Ever
Hurt  Never
Hate  None
Nurture  All
Educate  All

If we can do this spontaneously, we have reached Universal Love.

"I shall deliver thee from all sin and evil" says He in the Geetha. The debit in our Karmic balance sheet will be exhausted & we become eligible for Self-Actualisation.

As Robert Bach said " At the end of our terrestrial journey, one question will be asked. How much did we love and what is the quality of our love ? "

Love your neighbour because he is like you; and love your enemy because enmity is a misunderstanding.

Start the day with Love
End the day with Love
Spend the day with Love
Fill the day with Love
That is the way to the Divine    ( Sai )

The simple wisdom which is Love can redeem us & this world!

Economists say that Money makes the world go around. While this statement is true superficially, when we go deeply, we find that some other emotion makes the world go around. It is Love that makes the world go around!

When we ask one thing, God gives that one thing but when we ask nothing, He gives everything, He gives Himself & also the spontaneous boons of His love! Our prayer should be like the prayer of the poet who prayed " I desire nothing
from Thee, I desire only Thee ! ".

The Fourfold Dharma & the Fifth Dharma

The Law asks us to practice the Fourfold Dharma

They are

1) Brahmacharya - During pre-marriage days one should steadfastly follow Dharma

2) Garhastya - Once married, should do both duties - worldly & divine

3) Vanaprastha - Once responsibilities are over, one should seek the Divine

4) Sanyasa - To walk in the Self; to embrace none but Him.

There is a fifth Dharma. It is called Prajna Dharma, the Highest Wisdom is Love!

The Four Purusharthas ( objectives ) & the Fifth Purushartha

There are four purusharthas. They are Artha ( Wealth ), Dharma ( Ethics & Morality), Kama ( Desires ) & Moksha ( Self-Realisation ).

There is a fifth Purushartha. It is Prema, Love !

And His mantra is LOVE !