Bhakti is the most important thing that contributes to liberation. One definition of bhakti is the search for one's true nature. Exploring the truth of one's being is devotion.

Shankaracharya's Viveka Chudamani, shlokas 31, 32.

The word bhakti comes from the root bhaja, which means "to bow down, to love, to be devoted." And this accurately captures the essence of bhakti-yoga. From the same root comes the word bhakta, meaning a person who practices bhakti-yoga, feels devotion.

Bhakti-yoga is the most natural search for the Divine, beginning, continuing and culminating in love. One moment of fervent, all-consuming love for God brings us eternal freedom.

"Bhakti," says Narada in his explanation of the aphorisms of this teaching, "is an unstoppable love for God.

"When one is penetrated by it, he loves everything, always feels satisfied, and has no hatred for anything."

"This love cannot be accompanied by the thought of any worldly gains, because as long as worldly desires continue, there is no such love."

"Bhakti is higher than karma, higher than yoga; they mean the aim, but bhakti is both the tool and the aim itself."

The universality of this path is as follows. One who is inclined to deep devotion and worship can follow the path of bhakta by concentrating his whole being on the object of worship. This method can eventually lead the devotee to the transcendental experience of all-absorbing bhakti. With time and accumulation of experience, such bhakti will become stronger and stronger and will lead to transcendental knowledge.

On the other hand, if a person is not inclined to service and devotion and has chosen another path of yoga, that path will eventually lead him to spiritual experience as well, which will automatically lead him to bhakti, because he will realize something that he did not know before. That is, the paths of people who are inclined and those who are not inclined to worship eventually converge.

In the beginning, bhakti-yoga presents complete concentration on the object of worship and love. This limitation automatically disappears when devotion brings one to an expanded realization and spontaneous bhakti arises from the very depths of his heart. He then realizes the divine essence behind all beings.

Also important in the practice of bhakti-yoga is worship without any expectation of result.

In the Uddhava Gita it is said, "He who worships me desires nothing, not even transcendence, unless I offer it to him, for absence of desire is the most direct path to liberation."

The absence of expectations represents a fundamental aspect of bhakti-yoga. This idea was succinctly expressed by the great Bengali bhakta Chaitanya: "I pray not for wealth; I pray not for honor. Not for pleasure or even the joys of poetry. I only pray to have love and devotion throughout my life... To have pure love, to love You."

Bhakti brings fulfillment of all desires. Christ said, "But whosoever shall drink the water which I give him shall never thirst forever; but the water which I shall give him shall be made in him a spring of water flowing unto everlasting life." (John, 4614)

Regarding humility and dedication, we can cite a very powerful statement from Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. It says without further ado: " Self-giving to the supreme (ishvara pranidhana) leads to samadhi.

When there is a Guru, bhakti is necessary. It forms the basis of the disciple-Guru relationship. Without bhakti, the disciple is not receptive to the instructions and vibrations of the Guru's consciousness, and then the Guru cannot transform the disciple's gross nature into a more subtle form.

The path to perfection is difficult and dangerous, and it is often compared to walking on a razor blade: if a person deviates too much into one form or another, he runs the risk of falling into delusion. It is the Guru who shows the disciple how to bypass the obstacles.

As Kabir enthusiastically said: "If God and the guru were to appear at the same time, to whose feet should we fall? The answer is certain - we should fall at the guru's feet, for it is he who has shown us God. This would never have happened had it not been for the guru's grace."

The Kularnava Tantra says, "The flame of guru devotion burns away all impurities of bad thoughts."

Guru devotion is extolled by all the scriptures of the whole world.