| From The River Of Heaven |
 |
| Books By David Frawley |
| THE PATHS OF YOGA : YOGA | |
| Islam
itself is primarily devotional but it follows a strict formless
devotion which prohibits all use of images, though the Koran like
the Bible uses many poetic metaphors, the images of the mind.
Hinduism contains a similar devotional approach but free of the
fanaticism and violence we more commonly see in these exclusivistic
religions.
Devotion also appeals to an artistic mentality. The muse is nothing but a lower form of the Divine beloved. The use of images, statues, rituals and chants is a subtle form of art and poetry directed towards the Divine through devotion. Art is in its true form a path of devotion. It directs the mind and the senses towards the appreciation of the eternal. Great modern teachers of the Yoga of Devotion include Ramakrishna, Paramahansa Yogananda, Anandamayi Ma, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The list could be made much longer as devotion is perhaps the essence of Hinduism.The classical text is Narada's BHAKTI SUTRAS. Philosophies have been built on devotion also like the Vedantic approaches of Ramanuja and Madhva. These express theism as the ultimate reality and give emphasis to the personality of the Divine. But they recognize the unity of the Godhead as the basis of the play of the Divine personality.
|
|
|
|
