Devotional Wisdom of the Bhakti Sutra for Today’s Yogis
Sunday 12th June, 2.00 – 4.30pm
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Heart-centred spiritual practices can open us to the experience of the sublime as love: for the world, for others, for ourselves, for life itself. The complexities and possibilities of life’s journey give us an opportunity to strengthen and clarify our experience of spiritual love and to share in that sublime power through our sentiments of devotion to love itself.
This afternoon we will focus on a yogic understanding of bhakti as the refinement of spiritual love. As a way to do this, Bill will lead us in reflecting together on passages from the Bhakti Sutra, an important 10th century text from India that can inform us as we deepen our understanding of the of spiritual love that can stand at the heart of our yogic lives today.
The session will include short breaks and several extended moments of devotional chanting and meditation. Bring a journal and pen and a snack.
Our topic this afternoon will be the experience and expression of love and its place in the practice of yoga. Guided by a widely respected international senior scholar-teacher of yoga philosophy, and informed by short passages from an important Indian text on the topic, we will talk about the various kinds of love we feel in our lives, ranging from fuzzy feelings of fondness to profound feelings of cherishing another. This will invite us into a deeper understanding from a yogic perspective of Love as is the ultimate Source of all those various sentiments, a Love that resides within you as your truest nature. This afternoon will give you and opportunity to remember that Love.
Bill Mahony is known in the international yoga community for his deeply informed and refined knowledge and for his gentle, warm teaching style that is accessible to students at all levels. Bill travels widely to lead retreats, seminars and workshops on yoga philosophy and practice. He has a deep personal understanding of the yogic life grounded in nearly five decades of his own spiritual practice.
As William K. Mahony, PhD, he has written numerous well-received books on the religions of India, including The Artful Universe, which includes substantial discussion of the Upanishads, and Exquisite Love, which consists of his reflections on the spiritual love based on the Bhakti Sutra. He holds a BA from Williams College, an MDiv from Yale University and a PhD from the University of Chicago. For thirty-four years Bill has also been a full time Professor of the Religions of India at Davidson College, one of the premier institutions of higher education in the United States. For more information, visit www.wkmahony.com
