Ongoing and Future Plans for Daily Bhakti

[DharmaCatLamp]

Howdy.

So, I have been starting some daily practices to try and connect closer with God. These next two weeks are going to be more devotional than usual for me as I am new to this and my recent interaction with Kali has led me to believe this will be good for me. I figured I would share what my plans are and see if anyone else had any comments, suggestions ect that I might take note of.

I will say that currently there are 4 manifestations of God or forms of God which I find myself rather attracted to. Krishan, Kali, Shiva, and Durga. I listen to mantras regarding each of these deities daily lately. The Buddha is also one of if not my favorite teacher for things like meditation techniques and I find his insights into reality very helpful for furthering my understanding of the Gita and my relationship to Ultimate Reality in general. I will also say that I have had recurring images of various other entities during deeper meditation and dreams ect.

Daily meditation : So, each day when I wake up, I have been meditating with a focus on one of the various manifestations of God.

Mantras : I have been listening to and chanting along to mantras each day. This has been me listening to several mantras on repeat with the two I listen too most often being a 20-minute kali mantra and a 1-hour long Durga mantra. I have also been listening to various lengths of Krishna and Shiva mantras.

Puja : I’ve been incorporating daily puja into my practice and was planning on doing so each day during the upcoming two weeks.

Listening to the Bhagavad Gita and various other holy texts: I’ve been listening to the Bhagavad Gita every day, reading verses from it and listening to various teachers discussing it. I have also been listening to various other texts and contemplating them each day.

Contemplating God and reality : So, every day I take walks during which I examine my relationship to God, God in general and reality. I consider a rather wide variety of topics during this contemplation and use it to further my understanding.

All in all, this ends up being a large portion of my day, I have been turning my thoughts towards God and asking God various questions during my day. Before each meal I keep God in mind, and I try to thank God while writing or doing other things. Keeping my mind turning back to God and doing things for the sake of God keeps me focused and I have already noticed a general improvement in mood among other things. I figured I would share these daily activities as they are my current plan to continue forward in this newfound relationship with the divine.

I am currently not planning on any specific time required for each activity as I think doing so would limit my flexibility. I want to be able to maintain God consciousness throughout the day without having to focus on any activity for an exact amount of time. It’s not “okay, now I am going to do 30 minutes of meditation and nothing else.” It’s more like “ Okay and now I am going to meditate for as long as I want to before switching to another activity.”

What do you guys think? Is there anything I should add or maybe something you think might be worth sharing about this?

I will also say that this might sound like a lot of stuff to do each day but as of yet I have not tired of it and I almost feel like I could do more. We'll see how it is going by the end of these two weeks though.

 

[Viraja]

As long as you like what you are doing, you will continue. Good luck. Your devotional routine sounds good. Best wishes.

 

[mangalavara]

Before each meal I keep God in mind

Do you offer some or all of a meal to Bhagavān before eating?

It’s not “okay, now I am going to do 30 minutes of meditation and nothing else.” It’s more like “ Okay and now I am going to meditate for as long as I want to before switching to another activity.”

I think this approach to meditation could lead to meditating only when you feel like it, which would likely involve skipping any number of days before meditating again. To prevent that from happening, you might consider making it a rule to meditate at a certain time for five minutes every day. Additional minutes (or hours) that are not required would be a 'bonus.'

We'll see how it is going by the end of these two weeks though.

I look forward to your findings.

By the way, if you care to listen to Swami Sarvapriyananda, I highly recommend listening to a talk of his about Bhakti Yoga. I find his talk very helpful, and it has just recently influenced and changed my own practice.

Namaste.

 

[DharmaCatLamp]

Do you offer some or all of a meal to Bhagavān before eating?



I think this approach to meditation could lead to meditating only when you feel like it, which would likely involve skipping any number of days before meditating again. To prevent that from happening, you might consider making it a rule to meditate at a certain time for five minutes every day. Additional minutes (or hours) that are not required would be a 'bonus.'



I look forward to your findings.

By the way, if you care to listen to Swami Sarvapriyananda, I highly recommend listening to a talk of his about Bhakti Yoga. I find his talk very helpful, and it has just recently influenced and changed my own practice.

Namaste.

I offer parts of the meal on occasion but in general just thank lord Krishna and other aspects of God for the food.

In terms of meditation I have just been doing it when I wake for a brief bit, usually 10 - 20 minutes, as well as before I go to sleep. I try to add extra time during the day as well but I usually consider that sort of a bonus.

I will take a look at the Swami and greatly appreciate all your advice!