A Bhakti-Karma Cocktail – Br. Shankara

Sunday, June 12, 2016

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A Bhakti Karma CocktailA close friend of this Center takes a daily “cocktail” of drugs to treat his Parkinson’s Disease. It’s become a common term for a prescription of two or more medicines. We’re going to give it a “Godward turn.”

Sri Ramakrishna once said to some visitors: Go and enjoy the world. When you are sick of it, come back to me. I have the cure. As we read elsewhere in his Gospel, Ramakrishna’s prescription often was a “cocktail” of Bhakti and Karma.

In Ch. 2 of Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna says, “Perform every action with your heart fixed on the Supreme Lord. … Seek refuge in the knowledge of Brahman.” Yet how can we fix our hearts on One we do not know. Therefore, Ramakrishna told spiritual aspirants to practice Bhakti along with Karma.

In this talk, we explore the connection between the self-surrender of Karma Yoga and the deep reverence that comes from practice of Bhakti.