The document discusses the three yogas of bhakti, jnana, and karma and how to practice them together in daily life. It recommends choosing an Ishta Devata or beloved deity to center practices around. Practices include taking up a mantra associated with the Ishta, ritualizing actions by offering them up to the Ishta before and during tasks, and cultivating the feeling that nothing is truly owned by the self but rather belongs to the Ishta. Offering up all thoughts, emotions, senses, speech and bodily experiences to the Ishta throughout the day is encouraged to integrate the yogas in a balanced way.

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THE THREE YOGAS IN
DAILY LIFE
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©2010-2018. Kavitha Chinnaiyan. All Rights Reserved

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THE THREE YOGAS
Bhakti, Jnana and Karma Yoga are practiced together and are most
effective when practiced this way. Although each of us may feel like we
are drawn to one particular yoga, they all come together (and must) on
the path to liberation.
Here are some ways to practice these powerful yogas together:
1. Identify an Ishta.
An Ishta Devata is a beloved deity or ideal that each of us feels drawn
to. Pick one that you're particularly attracted to and begin to center all
your practices around it/him/her.
2. Take up Mantra Sadhana.
Pick a mantra that goes with your Ishta or reminds you of your Ishta, and
practice it (see the handout in the class on Tara).
3. Ritualize it.
Before beginning any task, think of your Ishta, and come up with a
sankalpa. Pledge to offer up your actions and the results of the actions
(known and unknown) to your Ishta. While performing the task, think of
your Ishta in a loving, loose kind of way. There is no need for intense
focus - it is always better to focus on the task! However, whenever your
mind wanders, repeat the mantra for a moment or two, and go back to
your task. Importantly, remind yourself of the sankalpa to offer your task.

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4. Offer Up
Offer everything to your Ishta as you go about your day:
- As you wake up, offer your gratitude, your breath and the feel of your
body as you bring your mind to your mantra.
- As you get out of bed, offer up your ability to move.
- Offer your ability to taste your coffee, your ability to feel the water
under a shower, the ability to look at your face in the mirror, your smile,
your laughter, your senses.
- Offer your thoughts - there are no pure or impure ones - all are
acceptable to your Ishta!
- Offer your emotions - the joy, the pain, the disappointment, the self-
doubt, the rage, the jealousy, the hatred - your Ishta owns it all.
- Chant a prayer before you eat anything, or chant your mantra. Think of
your Ishta sitting in your mid-section, consuming all that you put in. How
would you like to feed him/her? Choose accordingly.
- Before you leave the house, chant your mantra.
- When you're driving, remember it is your Ishta doing the driving, seeing
through your eyes, hearing through your ears, responding through your
hands, feet, and speech.

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- Offer your speech, knowing that your Ishta is both the speaker and the
listener in the other person. How will you speak? How will you respond?
- Offer up your bodily sensations - the aches and pains, the discomfort,
the pleasure, the ecstasy of sexual intercourse - all of it belongs to your
Ishta.
- Again and again, notice that everything that you think belongs to you
doesn't - everything belongs to your Ishta. Your body-mind is just for rent
- your Ishta inhabits it. Even your thoughts about yourself belong to your
Ishta.
- Cultivate the feeling that nothing is yours.
- Whatever the result or outcome of a situation is, offer it back to your
Ishta. You are merely giving back what is already his/hers.
- Practice self-inquiry. See if there really is a doer, except as a thought
(which again, isn't yours!)
- Cultivate equanimity in seeing your Ishta in all that exists. Fervor like
this is very, very good!
- When helping someone, notice that it is ultimately your Ishta helping
himself/herself. There is no other to help; there is no other helper. Throw
away all your expectations of what might come from helping.