BHAKTI YOGA

In Vedanta, there are four principal yogas or paths to union with God.  They are jnana yoga, the path of knowledge; karma yoga, the path of selfless work; raja yoga, the path of formal meditation; and bhakti yoga, the path of devotion.
 
Bhakti yoga is the most natural path to God-realization.  The bhakta does not suppress his emotions, but rather intensifies them and directs them to God.  The majority of believers in all the great religions are followers of this path.

After cultivating a strong love for his Chosen Ideal, who is God as a personal being, of which there are many, the bhakta will merge with that Chosen Ideal.  A Chosen Ideal is a divine incarnation or avatar such as, for example, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus.
     
The attitude a bhakta assumes toward his Chosen Ideal is called bhava, defined as a state of being, feeling, emotion; in its mature form it is experienced as ecstasy. 
 
The five primary bhavas are (1) shanta, the attitude of peace and serenity in which the Chosen Ideal is felt near although no definite relationship has been established between the bhakta and the Chosen Ideal; (2) dasya, the attitude of a servant toward a master, or a child toward a parent/protector; (3) sakhya, the attitude of a friend toward a friend; (4) vatsalya, the attitude of a parent toward a child; and (5) madhura, the attitude of a wife toward her husband, or a lover toward his or her beloved.

There are stages in bhakti yoga:  (1) again bhakti, devotion; (2) again bhava, ecstasy; (3) prema, where the bhakta forgets the world and his own body; (4) mahabhava, which is the highest manifestation of love between a bhakta and his Chosen Ideal.

Only avatars, and ishvarakotis, perfect souls similar to avatars, can transcend the stage of bhava, ecstasy.