DEVOTION TO GOD VS YOGA VS INTELLECTUAL METHOD
It is a contradiction between heart,mind and intellect.
The difference between Devotion to God ( Bhakthi ),Yoga ( focus on mind) and Intellectual thinking ( Advaita Vedanta) is in the Method you choose.
Method of Bhakthi is Emotion and it uses Heart not intellect.
Method of Yoga is the Mind , concentration , (not on doing something .)
Intellectual learning – Advaita Vedanta is not Bhakthi ( Devotion to God) -because it has no religion.
Advaita Vedanta is not closing eyes for Meditation because in Vedanta you open your eyes and see God and focus on your intellect ( consciousness). So Doing something is of prime importance , And what you focus on doing is also important.
Swami Vivekanada said, God Manifested himself on earth in the form of living creatures. After enlightenment you don’t become /God/Supreme Being , you will see that you were always God in contrast to Bhakthi Yoga which teaches that we reach God after enlightenment ( Moksha). – But in Advaita Vedanta you are already God now itself and after enlightenment you will learn you were always God .
So Which method is practical to a rational mind ? Choice is yours.
In the Corporate world- A Good Action Violently executed now is better than a Perfect Action planned next week.
I am not totally saying all Bhakti Yoga people and Yoga people are like this. But some practical examples I am sharing below .
Experience 1 ( lack of humanity/courtesy)
When you go out for a lunch ,dinner etc with friends and families in hotels, at the time of settlement of the food bill, that moment all will have to make a urgent phone call to somewhere/ or will receive a phone call/or will get a whatsapp message/ so they look at phone/or they urgently want to go to wash room- This is to avoid paying the bill. So you pay the Bill.
They will say many things about God and will say all you need is Bhakthi. Not money. But in reality you saw how they avoided paying the food bill which is just a few hundred rupees.
If they cannot spend 1 paise from their earnings of 1 Rupee. They will also not spend 10 Rupees from their earnings of 100 Rupees. So even if they get a handsome salary of 1 lakh Rupees per month,they will not pay Rs 1000 for the hotel food bill. . The devotion to God is there but the basic nature of intellect is not mankind attractive.
Experience 2 ( High interest in Tamas-food etc)
Prayer 2 times a day 1 or 2 hour each and some others are praying 5 times a day.
The Bhakthi yoga focuses on prayer towards God.
But when we go with them to a hotel for lunch or dinner, they will be looking at the Food Menu Card for more than 15 minutes discussing and reviewing food before ordering. They are so much attached to food and they are confused which one to select. That is why discussion is going on .
5 minutes looking at the Food menu card is acceptable.
15 minutes is ok ONLY for ordinary people.
But they were God Devotees ( Bhakti Yoga devotees).
They should be aware that happiness doesnot comes from Food.
If food is giving happiness, then same food should give happiness to everyone.
Secondly they should be aware that food is an illusion.
Let them focus on the nutritional value or functional value of food.
Because only nutritions.will be absorbed in to their bloodstream- balance food will exit from the body
From our mouth our food will be immediately changed to maltose and in the stomach it becomes Chyme.
Now forget about excretion.
If they able to see and smell their own mallose and chyme, they will never have looked at food menu table for 15 minutes,
Small intestines and large intestines help you excrete that food you eat. Nutrients go to blood.
Don’t you think it as Maya- Illusion
So why is it attached to food?
Eat healthy food.
If you focus on Devotion to God for Moksha ( enlightenment)without Loving your Mother, Father, family ,siblings, , old people and animals and plants it will only give you one side development ….Other living beings need your support and care.
The Kids 5 years old, 10 year old , 14 years old etc.I was surprised.They are chanting Mantras by heart. Now it has also become a fashion.
If they are trained in Vedanta also they can be easily transformed into leaders.
Because Vedanta is capable of transforming a human being much quicker than other yogas.
In Vedanta You are not Mind ., no Body
Only focusing on your inner self which is finite and is already a part of infinite.
Traditional Yoga ( not all of them)..I am sorry it is useless .
Health perspective ok
But don’t connect it with intellectual uplift,
You can get in to meditation opening eyes just concentrating on your Vidhya
You can get in to mediatation opening eyes just sitting even in busy parks where lot of sex enjoyments going on opposite side or near by. If you can concentrate your intellect in such circumstances you need not go for Yoga with closing eyes. IYoga is a business nowadays. They focus on Mind.
Vedanta says You are Beyond Mind , Body ,Space
And focus on Inner Self who is the actual God.
So which one to choose for a rational mind ?
Yoga is closing your eyes and focusing your mind using breathing methods
If you see something your concentration goes away. Useless approach
( what all things happening read news papers)
In vedanta , you are watching your Mind
You don’t control it.
We are giving freedom to our Mind
Problem happens only when u control something
( for more reports read news papers., i hope you understand)
Sri Krishna is actually doing an integrated approach in Bhagvat Geeta.
He himself introduces to Arjuna that I am the Sama Veda