Edwin F. Bryant is an authority on all-things-yoga. He’s one of two or three people who will forever be known as successors to the traditional yoga commentators. Mr. Bryant is a devout Bhakti yogi.
I am NOT an authority on anything, though I have a good depth of knowledge on two subjects: one I made a living at – the other is Raja yoga.
I am a Raja yogi, a devotee of Patanjali’s. The strength of my conviction has turned my family upside down, as I recently quit a lifetime of punching numbers for a living to – as I told an old friend yesterday – “introduce people to God.”
One of my problems is that I still want to punch something!! Service announcement: be kind to anyone who’s good at accounting; they don’t process information the same way other people do!!
It seems to me that if Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (Raja or “generic yoga”, according to my Bhakti friend and teacher) are a treasure map to eternal life, Bhakti yoga is a celebration of it.
The nine practices of Bhakti yoga are:
1 hearing about God;
2 singing about God;
3 remembering God;
4 serving God;
5 worshiping God;
6 glorifying God;
7 considering oneself God’s servant;
8 considering oneself God’s friend;
9 surrendering completely to God.
This holiday season express appreciation to the universe for your miraculous life. Be thankful for your body (the part that functions), your mind (the part that thinks) and your consciousness (the awareness OF both).
Love, Allan “Skip” Dowds
