Rather than asking for withdrawal from the world, Bhakti invites us to infuse ordinary acts—work, cooking, caring, reading, giving—with devotion and conscious love. In this episode, we explore how simple daily practices can gradually awaken a living relationship with the Divine Friend, helping us move from striving and fragmentation into remembrance, meaning, and heartfelt connection.
Transforming Daily Life into Devotion
How would you like to structure your days to invoke the magic of a spiritual life? In Episode 16, I introduced the nine practices of Bhakti, which are tailored to develop love for the Sweet Absolute by using our faculties to hear about, chant-sing-speak about, and remember the Supreme.
Today, we speak about what a practical daily practice might look like. People have different amounts of time and levels of attention or interest to devote to a Bhakti practice. The daily practice for a working mother with a toddler will differ from that of a retired man with no dependents. A healthy person’s practice will differ from that of an unhealthy person. And a person who is charmed and captivated by Bhakti will practice more intently than someone who is only curious about it. That said, the young mother or the person with health challenges aren’t at a disadvantage, nor is the person who is just cautiously interested. Bhakti meets us where we are and responds to our motives and intentions; our progress isn’t predicated on how much we do, but on how much heart we offer.
Bhakti practices transform everyday acts like cooking, exercising, working, relating, and relaxing into sacred offerings; each simple act can become like a fragrant flower placed at the feet of the Divine. We continue to carry out all our regular activities, but instead of acting for self-gratification, we offer our work, actions, thoughts, words – everything – to our Beloved. Because Bhakti practices are directly related to the Absolute, they carry spiritual power otherwise unavailable. Just as a candle draws its light from the sun, every act of Bhakti ignites illumination within us because they are connected with the very root of our existence.
Put simply, love is cultivated by focusing the mind on our loveable object and then offering practical acts of devotion to them. Love feeds on attention; where we place our awareness, the heart follows. And at the root of Bhakti is understanding that our Divine Friend is a real person, and we are to begin to treat him as a person. So you can have a personal experience of a tangible relationship with the Divine Person by engaging in daily practices of love.
Let’s go over them.
- Private mantra meditation (japa)
- Offering your food to the Supreme Person
- Reading sacred texts
- Serving others and giving of your time and money for furthering spiritual knowledge
- Spiritualizing your work
Creating a Daily Bhakti Practice for Real Life
Private Mantra Meditation
Maha-mantra meditation is the most important aspect of a daily practice. I covered details of this practice, experience, and benefits in previous episodes, and I’ll put links to them in the description below. I’m not going to go into those details today, so please have a listen to the earlier podcast.
But basically, we’ll set aside some time every day for meditating on the mantra. People find chanting in the morning, before the day begins, most effective for concentration. You can try chanting in a meditative manner for half an hour per week for a week, then take note. Did you notice anything different about your consciousness, awareness, mental state, or how the day unfolded?
I’ll also include a link to a short video about how to chant and use a mala in the description.
Offering Food
Another powerful activity that will expand consciousness is offering food to our Beloved. In the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says, “If one offers me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, I will accept it.”
What could be simpler? You can just offer water to your Divine Beloved. There are a couple of things to note in this statement. First, the primary ingredient of any offering should be love and devotion. And the ingredients themselves should be pure.
Second, our offerings need not be elaborate. Whatever our means, we can make a humble offering.
Third, our offerings should not be tainted with violence toward others, the planet, or animals. Nonviolence is an absolute necessity in dealing with the Supreme, who has equal affection for all living beings.
All life is sacred, and to kill animals is a gross violation of the Supreme’s desires for the well-being and unity of all. Though a vegetarian or vegan diet also includes some violence, it is minimal, and by offering the food to the Supreme Person, our inadvertent participation in violence is eradicated. People who take the time to consider the advantages of a vegetarian diet will be in the company of Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein. Vegetarianism makes sense on many levels, including health, ecology, economics, ethics, and spirituality.
By preparing pure, natural vegetarian or vegan food and then offering it to Krishna in a spirit of devotion, we turn a daily chore into an enjoyable, enlightening experience and part of a meditation practice. It’s a natural, healthy, and nonviolent way of life that gives rise to self-discipline and compassion.
Eating is at the root of our material existence. And eating binds us because we must take from the environment to keep the body alive. And taking always incurs a karmic debt. Yet we have no choice. We must eat to live. Unfortunately, these days, many people live to eat and therefore become overweight and ill, and by taking more than necessary, they create a lack of food for others.
In Bhakti, we choose to eat to live healthily and make eating a sacred activity by making our meals sacramental. Such eating purifies the heart and spiritualizes the mind-body. Therefore, it’s an immensely powerful aspect of a Bhakti practice.
And isn’t inviting someone for a meal an act of love that is enjoyable for those who prepare it? When preparing a meal, we’ll use fresh, natural, and wholesome ingredients.
Cleanliness is also important. Bhaktas wash their hands before beginning to cook and avoid tasting the food while cooking because the meal is for Krishna’s pleasure, so he should taste it first. We take a special plate reserved for him or her, and place it before them in our sacred space or altar at home, offer thanks for providing the ingredients, and ask that our offering be accepted. You may leave the plate before them for a few minutes, and then serve the meal to your family. In this way, food is transformed into prasadam, or the spiritual potency of mercy. When we eat prasadam, we’re eating mercy, or eating love and devotion, two elements that were used as the special ingredients of our offering.
When we eat spiritualized food, the body and mind gradually become purified and spiritualized. Eating in this way doesn’t produce karmic reactions. Without offering the meal to the Supreme – even if we’re a vegan or vegetarian – then our eating incurs karma. Bhakti makes the act of eating sacramental and, in the process, releases us from karmic bonds. Therefore, eating prasadam nourishes the body and transforms consciousness. Just as a vaccine can protect us against an illness, eating prasada protects us from the illusion and influence of the material world. It also vanquishes past karmic reactions and immunizes us from future material contamination. Eat and become liberated! Preparing karma-free vegetarian or vegan food like this is a devotional focal point in Bhakti.
Many Bhaktas also offer fresh flowers, either in a vase or a single flower, every day on their altar. Flowers that actually smell are preferable. When that’s not possible, get attractive flowers.
You can also burn incense or perhaps place a Q-tip dipped in an essential oil at the base of the picture or statue. You could even hold up the Q-tip and at the nose of your Beloved for them to smell before placing it at their feet. Do you see how that would be even a more personal gesture than just placing it at their feet?
As you engage in various offerings, you’ll come up with other ways to personalize your relationship. You’ll find beautiful or special things to offer the Beloved, and you’ll make the area – their “home” – attractive and welcoming for them. Where love abides, space becomes a sanctuary. In your sanctuary, speak to Radha. Reveal your mind to Krishna. Better not go before them to ask for this or that. Go before them with honesty and speak your mind. Then listen. Listen so you can learn how to serve, listen to learn how to love. So much will be revealed in your heart.
These are some ways to bring the Supreme into your home and engage in practical acts of devotion. And as I said, the sacred space you develop is also a place where you can practice hearing, chanting, remembering, praying, and other acts of Bhakti.
Nourishing the Heart Through Sacred Study and Service
Reading Sacred Texts
Another practice of Bhakti is fortifying and purifying the intelligence by reading sacred texts.
Sages explain that just as we bathe in water every day to cleanse the body, we should bathe in the words of the sacred texts daily to cleanse our consciousness. That philosophical bath wakes us up to reality, removes unhealthy qualities, and ultimately becomes something we enjoy and look forward to. Also, staying in daily contact with these wisdom texts inspires and enlivens our core mantra practice. This is important for our longevity and developing patience when we’re not feeling as enlivened as on other days.
When we read, we’re not alone. The Infallible Person and the illustrious saints who we hear from and about are present with us. And if we seek their guidance and ask to be shown the meaning of the text, we’ll receive responses. We can make a thorough study, noting interesting or difficult passages, or we can simply read, confident of our spiritual purification. You can offer respect to Krishna and his representatives before you begin reading and pray that the words you read will penetrate your heart and transform your character.
After all, reading isn’t an intellectual exercise; we read to be informed in a way that transforms us. And when you regularly hear, you begin to understand truths about reality, which enlivens your practice, solidifies trust, and also gives you topics to discuss with others. Speaking or lecturing is another excellent way to assimilate knowledge because it forces us to really understand and internalize what we’ve heard. Reading books that teach or enhance one’s Bhakti is a form of Kirtan, and it fortifies our daily practice by strengthening our intelligence. This helps fix the mind and expand consciousness.
Serving Others
The next item of a Bhakti practice is to serve others and give of your time and money toward propagating knowledge of Bhakti. Giving and serving make us happy. It’s a common experience that when we give, we receive. What we receive may appear intangible, but the emotional and transformative experience is real and substantial. Most often, we feel that we have received more than we have given.
Giving and serving are the natural qualities of love. And if we’re trying to cultivate love, then we’ll cultivate these behaviors in all our relationships. By giving and serving others, we’re becoming groomed for entering the spiritual environment, which is the land of love, serving, and giving.
The Bhagavad Gita explains that spiritual life is not about stillness and contemplation. Rather, meditation and study should give rise to vigorous and practical activities dedicated to the Sweet Absolute. In other words, Bhakti isn’t just a theoretical philosophy but a pragmatic way of life – an opportunity to practically apply philosophical conclusions.
Each of us has skills and talents. We’re to use these gifts in service. For instance, if you’re a singer or musician, you can make music for the Supreme Person with lyrics that are meaningful and uplifting. If you’re an artist, draw, paint, or sculpt for Krishna. If you’re a writer, then write about spiritual life, philosophy, and your Divine Friend. You can use your talents to promote spirituality through music, writing, art, video, or drama. Almost any activity can be transformed into devotional service as we direct our consciousness and motivations toward pleasing Radha and Krishna and creating spiritual benefit for others.
Some Bhaktas engage in spiritual welfare work, cooking, and distributing prasada (food offered to Krishna) to sick, needy, or homeless people. Others are spiritual activists working to save or improve lives and the planet. Such practical devotional activities further our personal connection with our Beloved and remind us that real happiness lies in selfless service.
The life of an atma is a life of giving, a life of compassion, and a life of sacrifice for the upliftment of society. Selfless service conscious of the Supreme Person is at the very heart of Bhakti.
Living Bhakti Through Work, Offering, and Remembrance
While engaging in any activity, we can share knowledge and insights with others. You can strike up a conversation about what you’re reading or experiencing in your Bhakti practice. You can organize a spiritual evening at your home and invite family and friends to hear about the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita or hold a kirtan.
Make prasadam cookies or other treats and give them out as gifts to friends, family, acquaintances, or colleagues at work. I make a point to bring prasadam to doctor’s appointments – or other appointments – and hand them out to the staff and others. And I like to have some prasada in the car if I come upon someone begging for food or money.
Sharing the message of Bhakti is not dull or boring. Through dynamism, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm, we can enrich people’s lives and simultaneously accrue great spiritual merit. This is how we Bhakti-ize all aspects of our lives.
Elsewhere in the Gita, Krishna says, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that as an offering to me.” In other words, instead of taking or acting to gratify my senses, I’ll offer all my acts to the Supreme Person. We simply adjust our perspective and change our mental state to one of giving instead of taking.
Our perspective will be informed by knowledge and will focus on the nature of our true self and our eternal identity as part of the Whole. Understanding this, we’ll move from taking for me to giving to my Source. I’ll move from thinking I’m the center to placing the Supreme in the center.
Work as Worship
While I work, I’ll try to remember the Sweet Absolute by chanting in my mind, remembering prayers, or stories about him. I’ll work responsibly and attentively while also consciously trying to develop good qualities. I want to be a representative of my Divine Friends in this world and behave in a way that would please them. In other words, with a bit of awareness, we can make work worship.
And if necessary, we can change jobs because some work environments are so competitive and stressful that they create frustration, confusion, and anxiety, or even make pursuing our spiritual aspirations too challenging. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna proposes to leave the battlefield for the contemplative, secluded life of a monk. Krishna doesn’t recommend this. Instead, he says we should choose to engage in righteous work.
Certain occupations and livelihoods are based on exploitation, violence, and dishonesty, and generally cause harm and disruption in the world. Such work is neither progressive for an individual nor favorable for society. Although every type of work in today’s world is tainted by some fault or imperfection, the spiritualist should nevertheless strive for a career that promotes harmony, compassion, and upliftment. Certainly, we won’t take up an occupation involved in direct violence against others.
One of Krishna’s main teachings in the Gita is that we should dedicate the fruits of our work to the Supreme. He’s speaking about detaching ourselves from the results that accrue from working, knowing that we’re not the doer, nor do we actually have a say in how things will turn out. Some people work very hard and make little, some people work little and make a lot. The results are not in our hands. And whatever does come to us, we can use in service to the Supreme.
The word “fruits” in the Gita refers to remuneration, knowledge, expertise, skills, and influence in any particular field. Some measure of these things helps us survive in the world, providing the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, yet a certain portion of whatever we receive should be reserved for the spiritual cause.
By offering charitable contributions toward the worship of Radha and Krishna and the spiritual upliftment of others, one also develops detachment and selflessness, which are hallmarks of a genuine spiritualist. And when we’re at work, we’ll cultivate an active spiritual consciousness of Krishna.
We may be able to listen to Kirtan or lectures depending on the type of our work. Or we can take breaks in the day to chant or read. We can take a moment here and there to reflect on some philosophical point that we’d like to understand. By remembering Krishna, even in little ways, throughout the day, we will gradually become wrapped in thoughts of him, just as a young boy and girl who are in love naturally think of each other while doing other things.
Until this remembrance of the Beloved becomes automatic, we have to make a conscious effort. Perhaps you can keep devotional pictures on your desk at work, change your computer passwords to Krishna’s names or to things that remind you of him, talk to your colleagues about spirituality, play soft Kirtan in the background – be creative! We must perform our daily duties with due care and attention, and we can also actively remember that we are ultimately working for Krishna, our true employer and master.
Making small changes in your life is powerful. Isn’t it true that a pilot making a slight adjustment to the longitude and latitude coordinates will navigate the plane to a completely different destination? Make gradual shifts and see how your true self shines, and you become happy. We’ll gradually develop detachment from our desires and things of this world, and offer the fruits of my work to the Supreme.
When I have some free time, I might like to offer it in service to a Bhakti activity or project. I’ll give some of the money I make to support the spreading of spiritual knowledge and the distribution of prasadam to the needy. In short, donate some of your time and hard-earned money to Bhakti-related projects that inspire you.
Spiritual activities like these lift us to higher states of being and purify the false identification with the material world and the body. It’s not that we just want to do pious activities. Virtuous activities are fine; however, they aren’t spiritual. We need to plug directly into the spiritual energy of Bhakti to be free of karmic reactions. As you try to shift these focuses in your life, you’ll begin to see newer and newer ways of spiritualizing your actions outside the home.
And it’s especially helpful to practice seeing others as a spiritual being at the heart, accompanied by the Supreme Soul; your relationships will shift into spiritual alignment. I’ve had many transformative experiences by engaging in this practice of shifting my vision to align with reality. Whenever we first offer, whatever we receive, or whatever we do with love, we begin to realize just how many gifts we receive from our Divine Friend. And you’ll begin to realize that you’re more of a steward than an owner. This will help you to cultivate detachment and to acknowledge that everything is on loan to us, even our bodies. Not only does gratitude develop, but we begin to appreciate how dependent and connected we are. We experience the profound unity of love. This raises our consciousness beyond the mind-body and our tendency for selfishness.
So this is how Bhakti works: Make offerings to the Supreme. Then not only is your heart purified, expanded, and softened – which gradually increases your capacity for pure love – but your environment becomes peaceful, your life choices transform into wholesome, joyful possibilities, and your relationships become more meaningful. You’ll find that through these simple acts, you’ll develop a deeper appreciation and respect for what you have.
Let’s quickly look again at the list of possible daily practices:
- We find that making an offering of food takes practically no additional time, since we already have to cook and eat.
- Adding a mantra meditation will require some time management, but the practice is not difficult, and it’s free.
- We can read as little as ten minutes a day and receive many benefits.
- Or you can get your reading in by listening to lectures or audiobooks while engaged in other activities such as exercise, cooking, shopping, driving, etc.
- Serving others comes naturally when you change your perspective on yourself and your place in the world.
- You might consider giving up some of your time watching TV or being less focused on a social media stream.
- And spiritualizing your work doesn’t take additional time, but a different mindset.
So you see, a Bhakti practice is intuitive and easy, and yet it’s extremely powerful in delivering us our treasured goal of remembering our innate brilliance as a spiritual being. All these Bhakti-infused acts are joyful and gradually remove selfishness and small-mindedness. They expand our capacity and inclination to be a lover and giver and awaken our true identity as lovers of the Divine. Then genuine affection for the Sweet Absolute begins to awaken, and our loving relationship thickens as we feel the presence and reciprocation of our Divine Friend.
As we continue to engage in mantra meditation and these practical acts of love, our love becomes pure and spontaneous. In a further evolution, love becomes uninterrupted and continues to deepen. When our Bhakti reaches this level, we’re taken into the presence of the Supreme Person. In this way, through mantra meditation, sacred offerings, reading sacred texts, and acts of daily service, we reorient our lives with the purpose of developing love for our Source and Beloved. In time, even ordinary acts become sacred when done in devotion, and we begin to feel the presence and reciprocation of our Divine Friend.
Thanks for joining me today. I hope this glimpse into the practice of Bhakti inspires you to spiritualize your day-to-day life. Until then, may your days be filled with peace, purpose, and devotion.
Svasty astu visvasya: May there be good fortune throughout the universe and for you.
Episode 16: 9 Daily Moments of Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mAVprm2Ulc&list=PLj3zEOx90W0Ya58-XbEoAr3gYL_wbLGZs&index=17
Episode 18. Kirtan: The Joyful Sound: https://youtu.be/kxGUpqmkz1U
Episode 19. Whispers of the Soul: https://youtu.be/6-bYe5ZrThs
Episode 20. The Power of Mantra Meditation: https://youtu.be/Mpu3LwfKLDE
Books for reading Kirtan: https://www.pranadacomtois.com/books-for-reading-kirtan/
Prema Kirtans: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj3zEOx90W0bJXrFPOiUXRPFI5fU6ABDO
