by Gurudevi Nirmalananda

Devotion is the sweetest, easiest and most intoxicating of all the yogic paths.

Yoga has multiple branches, like other sciences. Most well known are the physical aspects, with meditation now becoming more widespread in the West.

As a comprehensive science of spirituality, yoga includes your heart along with your body and mind. Bhakti yoga is the yoga of devotion, with practices that grow your love for God and Guru.

Bhakti yoga practices include chanting and candle flame ceremonies along with traditional fire ceremonies. Formal rituals often include the ringing of bells and beating of drums. Fragrant incense wafts through the air and people bow as well as experience quiet communion with the Divine.

You see all of these in any Ashram, in every temple in India and in most Christian churches worldwide. Why? Because doing these things opens your heart to the Divine.

A seeker asked my Baba, “I don’t feel very devotional, so I don’t wave the candle flame in front of your picture. Should I be doing this?” Baba answered, “If you don’t wave the flame, when will you begin to feel devotion?”

This means you may have to prime the pump. If you want to feel love, do things that open you to experiencing love. Chanting opened my heart more than anything else. I certainly needed the help. I was very shielded. I had tried love in many…