Meditation or prayer brings relief to those of us who feel “harassed by the suffering of an un-fulfillment inherent in embodied existence” (Edwin Bryant). In other words, for the same reasons we escape by indulging in unhealthy habits: we’re unhappy!!
RAJA YOGA is the practice of meditation or mind control. We practice to improve self-awareness and control, and to reduce emotional stress and its symptoms. Raja Yoga is about tapping into our own immutable, compassionate sense of awareness (consciousness) to find relief from suffering. The practice brings realization of the Truth of our energetic and divine nature – akin to developing faith in the existence OF God [in the sense that – whatever the source of our consciousness, IT is unquestionably divine.] (source text: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras)
BHAKTI YOGA is the practice of expressing devotion TO God. (source text: Bhagavata Purana)
In the intro to his latest work, “Bhakti Yoga – Tales and Teachings from the Bhagavata Purana,” Edwin Bryant says he wrote it for people interested in “Bhakti as a lived reality.” <3
Copies of the following works by Edwin Bryant are available to members of the Yoga Instructors Association at 50% of cost:
BHAKTI YOGA Tales and Teachings from the Bhagavata Purana– This is the second book I’ve recently literally hugged to my chest after reading it. The other was Amma’s biography. <3
My sincere best wishes to all, Allan
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