Visions a "Fruit of Bhakti"

In a recent topic, it was was that divine visions were the fruit of "Navdha Bhakti". WHilst I am in no position to question or refute this, can I ask how this refers to non-Hindu religions people who also have divine visions?

Of course, even non-religious poeple also have visions. I am sure that this could be answered by saying "fruit of efforts in their past life" but I am not sure if that is true either. A question of faith I guess.

Navdha Bhakti consists of the following nine types of Bhakti:

1 Shravanm Bhakti

A devotee listens to the divine names and qualities of Shree Krishna.

2 Kirtnam Bhakti

A devotee sings bhajans-kirtans about the names, deeds and other divine qualities of Shree Krishna.

3 Smarnam Bhakti

A devotee constantly remembers and meditates on the names and lilas of Shree Krishna.

4 Paad-Sevan Bhakti

A devotee does seva of Shree Krishna’s divine feet.

5 Archnam Bhakti

A devotee performs seva of an idol of Shree Krishna.

6 Vandnam Bhakti

A devotee prostrate before Shree Krishna.

7 Dassyam Bhakti

A devotee becomes a volunteer servant in the service of Shree Krishna and dedicates all his actions to Him.

8 Shakhay Bhakti

A devotee worships Shree Krishna in the form of a friend and cultivates his friendship.

9 Atma-Nivedan Bhakti

A devotee dedicates all his body and material possessions to Shree Krishna.



1 Satsang Bhakti

Satsang with other devotees is the first Bhakti.

2 Love for katha of Shree Ram

Love and interest in kathas of Shree Ram is the second Bhakti.

3 Paad Seva of Guru

Seva of Guru’s feet without any pride is the third Bhakti.

4 Gun-gaan Bhakti

To sing, without any deceit, bhajans of Shree Ram’s divine merits is the fourth Bhakti.

5 Ram Nam jaap

Jaap of Ram Nam with rock solid faith is the fifth Bhakti and it famous inVedas also.

6 Viragya living

Living a life of free from desires of indriyas, with simple and high moral character, having viragya from many activities and doing dharmic duties with pious people is the sixth Bhakti.

7 Shree Ram’s presence in all

Seeing Shree Ram in everybody and treating them accordingly and considering Sants even higher than Shree Ram is the seventh Bhakti.

8 Contentment

Being contended with what you have and not seeing faults in others is the eight Bhakti.

9 Straightforwardness

Without deceit and straightforward dealings with others, heart full of faith in Me and reamining calm in good or bad situations (Stithpragana) is the ninth Bhakti.

Shree Rams says to Shabari that even if only one of the above Bhakti is present in any one than he or she is Priya to Me.

Considering the multi-mention of Shree Krishna in this thread and also bringing into mention the other postings about who is Krishna in other parts of this forum. Does anyone agree that "Krishna" may just be a symbol of something that once was and what could also be, and may not be a human being at all? Rather like someone living with a memory of what was and wanting it to return to them? Living in the past ...

For example, if Krishna is supposed to be the first being of the Golden Age, then we can also say that he is the first Golden Aged being, simple to understand such.

However, what I wish to comment that the Golden Age for each one of us could dawn once we've brought our own Golden Aged inner child into being. The process and journey of self-mastery could be the pathway to learning how to re-emerge the GOlden ageD child apparent within all of us? i.e we are all Krishna, we are all Adam, we are all G-D ...
In "New Age' healings and channelings, it is often seen as neccessary to 'heal the inner wounded child' ...

Bhakti could also be just a need to worship the self in one's highest form ... no wonder one receives visions. Its because it's already within the template of the self ... from earlier births so to speak.

Thanks paulkershaw, very interesting post with thoughts that can potentially free us to explore our subtle selves without the BK oblox getting in the way. Somewhere on the forum i alluded to a brief exposure to the Krsna Consciousness Movement that i had - mainly through 'chance' discussions & meetings with souls who chanted the name of Krishna; and also through my own reading Sri Prabhupada's discourses on the Bhagawad Gita.

One of the things that struck me is the observation that in many of their conversations they title Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It may be a language thing but to my mind this is not the same as saying that Krishna is God. But who am i to foist my own oblox on them?

This description of Krsna sets me to churning on the aspect that as a human being Krishna may actually be meant to serve us as the the ideal representation of "Godliness" on earth (a bit like the way that we BKs are encouraged to see Dada Lekhraj as Brahma). It also sets me free from worshipping Krisha as The One & Only G-O-D.

Maybe this form of 'freedom' comes easier to a double foreigner because of not being culturally-wired to accept that "Krishna-as-God" oblox as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Additionally, the BKs may not fully appreciate the extent to which some of its double-foreign students have been exposed to this stuff pre Gyan. No human being is a completely blank slate upon which re-programming can simply be embossed.

I will dig out some of the books I collected in which the life and pastimes of Krsna and his Brother are discussed - just for my own education of course. I will refrain from saying more on this Krishna front just in case my memory fails me. I do not want to get slapped down being uninformed.

Another aspect of Paul's churnings that is of interest to me is that:

The process and journey of self-mastery could be the pathway to learning how to re-emerge the Golden Aged child apparent within all of us? i.e we are all Krishna, we are all Adam, we are all G-D ... In "New Age' healings and channelings, it is often seen as neccessary to 'heal the inner wounded child' ...

To some this type of talk may run contrary to all we are taught as BKWSU students, but am I really to believe that mankind acquired no spiritual insight of any worth till this ancient Raja Yoga of Shiv Baba's came along?

Could it also be the case that the "deeply ingrained cultural persuasion"; the "level of formal education" and "the capacity to churn" amongst the very early students was such that they felt it safest to take quite literally ALL of the messages and teachings that the channeled entity spoke? And so, by regarding this "new yet Ancient Raja Yoga" as the "Fruit of Bhakti" could the concerns that some may have had been eased? Enabling them to assert that this new knowledge was very much in line with whatever prior worship they had been doing - only up a level.

Thanks Paul for sharing your thoughts.