Wikipedia defines Bhakti yoga as one of the types of yoga mentioned in Hindu philosophy, which denotes the spiritual practice of fostering loving devotion (bhakti) to a personal form of God. Jesus said “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30), so fostering loving devotion to Jesus is bhakti, because Jesus is a personal form of God (from the viewpoint of yoga). This is not necessarily the viewpoint of the traditional Christianity, which refers to Jesus as Christ, the Son of God. Nevertheless, Christianity considers Son to be part of the Holy Trinity, which is a teaching that one God appears as three distinct persons: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. So there you go, Jesus, being the Son of God, is God, and loving devotion to Jesus is bhakti yoga.
Yoga means “union with God”, or as Dictionary.com puts it, “union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.” In Bible we find that Jesus prayed for all those that will believe on him, through the word of the apostles, to be one (united) with him and the Father: “Neither pray I for these alone (i.e. my disciples), but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:20-23).
This doesn’t include just those that actually heard apostles speaking about Jesus (i.e. early Christians), but also us today, who are learning about Jesus through the Bible (which contains written words about him). In other words, Jesus prayed for our divine union with God; for us to attain yoga.
In the second part of this prayer we also find his promise that, to all that will believe in him, he has given the glory that he had received from the Father. We find the same promise in Mark 16: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18).
The purpose of all of this is to reveal Father’s love for all of His children (“that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me“) and how deeply runs His care for their wellbeing. So, it’s no wonder that Christians, more and more, witness miraculous healings in the name of Jesus, which forms the foundation of the revival of love for Jesus in the growing pentecostal and charismatic movements.
And these movements are breeding new type of believers: those who believe that God will do “impossible” for his loving child; and are also setting a new trend: out with the old concept of “stern” God—ready to punish your every little mistake—in and welcome to the Loving Father, infinitely patient and ever ready to help His stumbling children.
