Shree Swamiji Resources

The Path of Divine Love Consciousness (Bhakti Yoga)

Words are not enough to describe the inner contentment of divine love consciousness, or the love of God. A mango from India is much sweeter, stronger and more vibrant than a mango from South America. But you still wouldn't know what it is. You'd have to taste it to know the difference.

Raganuga bhakti is part of the Vedic tradition, based in India. It is based on the Holy Scriptures - the Vedas, Gita and Bhagwatam.

Divine love consciousness makes a person aware of a love that is infinitely deeper, sweeter and more lasting than what one feels when he or she totally falls in love with another person.

It is soul-consoling, and it is happiness, but it is not material happiness, which is transitory. It is feeling the presence and love of God, and it goes to the root of all discontentment.

People spend their lives as if they were watering a plant, one leaf at a time. That is, they try to cure their unhappiness, one symptom at a time.

If a person feels lack of money is the cause of the unhappiness, he or she desires to become wealthy. But once there is wealth, there is a new symptom: The person wants to be healthy, or to be in love.

We always try to cure from the outside, instead of saying "what is the source of all my desire?". It's that the soul wants to experience divine love. It wants to experience God.

The Vedas describe that God is one and he is infinite. But God is also personal, like a father, friend, mother, beloved one.

His Divinity Swami Prakashanand Saraswati is the foremost disciple of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. Shree Swamiji is an exponent of the path of Divine Love Consciousness (bhakti yoga), and has established a number of ashrams and temples in India and America. Visit the Barsana Dham website for much more information than is available on this website: www.barsanadham.org

Meditation is part of the path of bhakti, but it is not simply chanting God's name over and over again as a technique to quiet the mind. It is thinking about, loving and remembering God through the day. It is allowing the power of love to unfold in one's life.

Why are people unhappy? Because they have expectations that their lives should fulfill, and then they don't. We always expect an unlimited experience from limited phenomena. We expect divine results from a material world. When you start experiencing divine love in your heart, those expectations aren't there. You've found that level of - it's more than peace - contentment that you were looking for.

Now, you still walk and talk and eat and work and do everything you're supposed to be doing, but you have the inner contentment already. So your life isn't about trying to find it. You live a life that is much more even and balanced and easy.

Barsana Dham Ashram, the US headquarters of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat holds community satsangs from 11:00am to 12:30 p.m. every Sunday. It features prayers, devotional chanting and videotaped teachings by Swami Prakashanand Saraswati or Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.

In addition, followers of the path of bhakti taught by Shree Swamiji meditate twice a day on their own, for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

There are many chants that are sung, but the idea is not just to say God's name, but to feel God's presence and the love you have and the love you receive. You are welcome to visit www.BarsanaDham.org for more information about JKP Barsana Dham and Shree Swamiji, or email me at admin (at) swamiprakashanandsaraswati.com