The facts
Q: Why do we all want connection in the form of relationships?
A: Because this kind of connection is hard wired into being human. It’s in our DNA.
From a brief interaction with a storekeeper to an intimate loving relationship with a spouse, we are always connecting at so many different levels.
Even those who prefer their solitude can rarely escape connecting with others totally and completely.
Without connection, the effects can be truly dire, as seen throughout history in horrific examples where humans have been deprived of human contact and touch from infancy.
Ok, so we need it.
Which is why we look for it far and wide, at any cost.
At various developmental periods of our lives we look for different types of connection, but at every step of the way, it is all about connection, either physical, emotional or spiritual.
Family bonds, friendship ties, romantic attachments etc., all have one thing in common.
They involve an exchange between at least two people and ideally, that exchange is reciprocal.
You may call it an exchange of energy, an exchange of love or anything else, but you may agree that connections are rarely perfect in our troubled society of today.
Our entire film, entertainment and media industries depend on it!
The Faulty Mirror
Sadly, at some point in our dealings with others, we will inevitably meet with disappointment, discomfort and yes, potentially heartache.
This can be seen reflected in the descriptive terms used above:
Family bonds, friendship ties, romantic attachments…they all imply some kind of constraint.
Because rarely is an evolving human relationship without responsibility, and in many cases there even exists some kind of problematic inequality.
This of course is not a reason to avoid people, because this is the way we grow as human beings through the mirror of relationship.
However, it pays to adjust expectations to the fact that most ongoing human relationships have their challenges and limitations.
You may have many satisfying relationships in your life, but you may also agree that they don’t come without their fair share of effort.
There is a problem however when your relationship mirrors are so distorted and faulty that the reflection you see of yourself in others, is not a true likeness of your real self.
This is where it gets complicated.
When you don’t see yourself as you really are, you then seek out other connections that again confirm to you the faulty image of yourself and so the cycle continues…
Dysfunctional relationship patterns are often self perpetuated because of this lack of connection with your own self.
Discovering Yourself
This is where the science of Bhakti Yoga comes in very handy.
It connects you with yourself. It is essentially the science of self realisation.
When you make that most important connection - the connection with yourself in your truest spiritual expression - you are more likely to have authentic relationships at all levels.
After all, beyond this body, you are a spirit soul.
If you’re like me, the concept of connecting with yourself always sounds so mystical, inaccessible, remote and difficult.
But it is really and truly not at all.
There is a simple and joyful way to go about it, and also clear instructions to go with it :-).
Your heart is the seat of your soul, and there are practical ways to avoid your heart from breaking time and time again, and to finally allow your soul to sing the tune that it was always meant to.
What Yoga Really Means
The authentic connection with yourself starts first with the ultimate connection - your connection with the Supreme Soul, Krishna (God).
The clear instructions on how to achieve this goal are found in the teachings of Bhakti Yoga.
Yoga literally means to ‘yoke’ or connect, in Sanskrit. It is all about connection and relationship.
Bhakti Yoga is specifically about connecting in divine loving service to the Supreme Personality of all.
The natural outcome of this is that you connect with yourself - you come to understand who you truly are as a spiritual identity.
Any yoga practice at its core is about the science of connecting with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is not only about postures or asanas.
These physical manoeuvres are only a means to make the body a suitably fit and healthy place to be receptive to that sacred connection.
Once made, that connection which is the only relationship that can fully reciprocate with your every need and desire as a spirit soul, also ensures recognition, understanding and connection with your very own self.
It is the spotless mirror with which to see yourself once and for all.
It is the precursor for any healthy relationship, for now you know who you really are through your sublime connection with your dear most friend and well wisher, Krishna.
From there you can engage with others from a place of wholeness and authenticity that can only be found when you have made that heart connection with the Supreme Person.
As the celebrated Sufi poet Rumi has said, “I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God.”
In truth, you can’t find one without the other.
Sacred mantra meditation is the key to make that connection of all connections.
The Spiritual Sugar Hit
Sacred mantra meditation is the spiritual candy of Bhakti Yoga, because it is an exchange of love between your soul, and the Supreme Soul, Krishna.
This connection will never disappoint in the way other relationships can.
It will always nurture and reciprocate your love in the highest possible way.
When cultivated and when you engage in a daily spiritual practice, it becomes real and tangible and you can feel its support it as you go about your daily life.
And best of all, when this foundational relationship is nurtured and thrives, then your other relationships naturally fall into harmonious place.
Like any relationship, it takes time and effort, but luckily the effort is blissfully addictive in the most uplifting, joyful and healthy way possible.
When you open your heart to the offerings of the loving science of Bhakti Yoga, you will be like a child in a candy store as you discover more and more of its sweet, soul nourishing delights.
In this way, you may feel that when you discover Bhakti Yoga, you have hit the spiritual jackpot.
Like a finely tuned radio station, you begin to connect with those frequencies that meet you at a higher vibration and resonate with you on the same wavelength of divine love.
The spectrum of what you receive and emit thereafter in all connections, comes from the higher taste gained from the taste of this spiritual candy.
Tune in today and make the heart connection.
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Feel free to check out my other blogs for more information.
You can find a lot more concise information by checking out my videos containing secrets of the ancient, timeless knowledge of Bhakti Yoga - literally at your fingertips.
The Bookshelf is also a good place to start the Bhakti Yoga magic.
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A fabulous way to connect to similar minds and hearts is to find an international Bhakti Yoga Centre near you (Branches of ISKCON - The International Society of Krishna Consciousness), where you can speak to an experienced yoga practitioner and receive personal guidance.
If you would like to explore how you can incorporate Bhakti Yoga into your life in a balanced and harmonious way, and feel you would benefit from one on one support, you are welcome to book a Discovery Session with me, Rasika Manjari.
See you at the New World.