Bhakti Yoga – the path of least resistance to God

Hare Krishna Mantra

Physicists tell us that water flows down a mountain in a path of least resistance. 5ooo years ago, such a direct path was given to the human kind in Vrndarvan, India by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Krishna is a name of the original, unique Supreme Person, the source of all that exists. God has many names, and each describes a different aspect of His personality- creator, maintainer of the universe, and Lover of all. The name Krishna—”the all-attractive one”—indicates the unequaled charm and beauty of the Supreme Person, as He appears to His most dear devotees. Krishna appears as other forms of God—avatars—to create and maintain the universe, while He simultaneously enjoys loving relationships with His countless associates in the spiritual world. He visits this material world from time to time to free His devotees from material existence and establish Bhakti Yoga or Krishna Consciousness.

The ancient Vedic literatures clearly reveal the nature and identity of the Absolute Truth or Supreme Personality. One such reference is the first and second verses of the Vedanta Sutras. The first verse states simply that “…now one should enquire into the Bhagavan.” This means that now that you have attained a human body, you should use your intelligence to discover what is really spiritual and what is the Absolute Truth. In no other form of life does the living being have such an opportunity. The second verse begins to explain what is this Absolute Truth: “He from whom everything originates is the Absolute.” Thus, as it refers to “He”, the source of all that exists, the ultimate point of creation is a person. Lord Krishna Himself is the one undivided Absolute Truth and ultimate reality. He manifests in three features, namely the Brahman (all-pervading spiritual energy), Paramatma (Supersoul in all beings) and Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality); Sri Krishna is the Supreme Divinity as the Paramount Eternal Reality among all other sentient beings and the Fountain-source of consciousness to all conscious beings. He is the only reality without a second but as a Supersoul dwelling in the cave of the hearts of all beings. Krishna is the source of all other incarnations and forms of God. He is the ultimate and end of all Truth and philosophical enquiry, the goal or end result of Vedanta. He is the all-attractive personality and source of all pleasure for which we are always hankering. He is the origin from which everything else manifests. He is the unlimited source of all power, wealth, fame, beauty, wisdom, and renunciation. Thus, no one is greater than Him. Since Krishna is the source of all living beings, He is also considered the Supreme Father and source of all worlds. He is shown with a blue or blackish complexion. This represents absolute, pure consciousness, which also is unconditional love. Krishna is the embodiment of love. He is also sat-chit-ananda vigraha, which means the form of eternal knowledge and bliss, for which we are all seeking. If we are expected to understand God, then who better to explain His qualities and characteristics than Himself? So in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna provides the Self-revelatory truth about His position in His explanations to Arjuna. There are numerous verses in this regard, of which the following are but a few: “And when you have thus learned the truth, you will know that all living beings are but part of Me–and that they are in Me, and are Mine. (4.35) The sages, knowing Me to be the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries. (5.29) Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both its origin and dissolution.” (7.6) “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.” (Bg.10:8) In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna specifically explains that before, during, and after the creation, there is always Himself that exists. “Brahma it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Supreme Lord.” (Bhag.2.9.33) The Brahma-samhita (5.40) explains how the Brahman is but Sri Krishna’s physical brilliance: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord who is endowed with great power. The glowing effulgence of His transcendental form is the impersonal Brahman, which is absolute, complete and unlimited, and which displays the varieties of countless planets with their different opulences in millions and millions of universes.” It is clear from the ancient Vedas that Lord Krishna’s name, form, pastimes, etc., exist eternally in the spiritual dimension and are never affected by even a tinge of the material energy. Thus, He can appear as often and whenever He likes as He is, or in any form He chooses within this material manifestation. He is completely and totally spiritual for He is the Absolute Truth. As the Vedanta Sutras explain, the Absolute Truth is He from whom all else manifests. Thus, the Absolute Truth is the ultimate Person known as Sri Krishna.

Krishna consciousness means an awareness of and affection for the Supreme Person, Krishna. It is the culmination of all forms of yoga, knowledge, meditation, and spirituality. Krishna consciousness is the natural, original, and blissful condition of every individual soul. Only when we’re covered by maya, illusion, do we forget who we are and who the Supreme Person is. We want happiness, but without Krishna consciousness, we don’t know who we are or what we’re supposed to do. We try to enjoy life through the body and mind, with hit-or-miss results. And we fear death since we don’t know what happens afterwards. Einstein said energy can neither be created nor destroyed and he was right. The soul as an inconceivable unique individual and expansion of the Supreme; it is eternal, never was born and will never cease to be. The practices of Krishna consciousness, or bhakti-yoga, are meant to free us from the root cause of all anxiety by reawakening our normal, eternal spiritual happiness. The process is simple—meditation on the name, form, activities, and qualities of Krishna. He’s known by different names in different cultures, but all genuine spiritual traditions agree that there’s only one Supreme God. The goal of bhakti-yoga is to recover our natural sense of connectedness (yoga) with that one supreme God by serving Him with love (bhakti). Krishna personally gave us the “Maha Mantra” and as inconceivable as it is, this mahamantra (maha=great/man=mind/tra=to liberate ones self from) is the original sound vibration of the living entity. Not only does it give direct perception of the “Self” (you’re a soul, not a material body), it serves 33 billion demi Gods that serve Krishna in His form as Maha Vishnu. This is also the sound vibration of the Lord residing within your heart chakra as the “Paramatma” (Supersoul). I’ve attached an MP3 of a holy sage from India chanting the mantra- the first 3 mins are his invocation prayers to the gurus and sages that can be traced back to Krishna from 5ooo years ago, then the mantra begins at the 3:11 mark. It is said that the mood for chanting this mantra is like a baby wailing for his mother, as the soul longs to be liberated from the pangs of material existence.