Bhakti

 To understand Hinduism  or Hindutva better specially bhakti,  one needs to read Adi Shankaracharya

Listen to  Nirvan Shatakam on one hand and Kanak dhara strotram on the other,
both written by him.
One is profoundest exposition of advait philosophy and the other a beautiful hymn of deepest bhakti to Goddess Laxmi.

One can uplift your soul to the level of pure consciousness ,to  truth, awareness and bliss and while reciting the other it is said that Goddess Laxmi  herself appeared before Adi Shankar and a stream of pure Gold started flowing.
One is denial of the whole world as Maya and only consciousness as truth , the other is totally immersed in the world so much so that it may appear materialistic.

His writings are epitome of philosophy and deepest bhakti or what is called para bhakti. The blissful worship of different  devine forms  after having realised the true nature of existence. When one has totally shed the ego ( the sense of I ness) and has merged his consciousness with the supreme.
In this context it will be fruitful to know that there are 4 stages in the spiritual journey of anyone.
First stage is the stage of ritualistic worship where one follows the practices of  their ancestors or books or guru without really knowing the meaning behind such practices. This is more like a forced and indifferent practice, when the mind is elsewhere and the ritual is followed because of fear of divine retribution in whatever form or in anticipation of a reward or fulfillment of a desire. Majority of religious people will fall into this category.
In the second stage, one develops some critical thinking and becomes what is known as ' rational'. In this stage there is total denial of all rituals , calling them superstitious practices of unscientific minds. All old rituals are discarded. Worshipping a deity or going to temple is called regressive idol worship . A song like Kanak dhara strotram will be called workings of a feeble mind. Most of the rest of educated , non religious people will fall in this category.

Then comes the third stage when a person develops some understanding of the nature of consciousness and begins to realize that even the most advanced science starts to flounder when confronted with the problem of consciousness. Then he turns back to philosophy or religious philosophy and discovers that maybe there is some substance in these writings. This is the stage of reading Upanishads and development of some understanding of advaita vedanta. The person will still scoff at rituals of Vedas and bhakti towards a deity. He has not yet understood the nature of ego and is clinging to his sense of I ness. He has not yet gone beyond the mind and reach the light which illuminates  not only his mind but the mind of everything else in this universe . Very few people are able to reach   this stage.

Then comes the fourth and final stage when even this last hurdle is overcome and the true nature of creation and consciousness is realized. A rare person like Adi Shankar is able to see the cosmic dance of Shiva and Shakti in full glory.  And in that state of realization when the rituals are perfomed or the hymns praising a deity is sung then it is the state of para bhakti. The words flow spontaneously  and the deity becomes manifest in whichever form  worshipped.Because all creation is the manifestation of the same divine shakti and the same consciousness or shiva is perceiving it.

This is the stage when the bhakt and deity become one and there is complete submission of ego or sense of individuality.

The beauty of Hinduism or Sanatan is that there is an inherent understanding of this process and there is scope for everyone in whatever stage they are. Moreover it is   understood that everyone is travelling in the same direction and there can be many births before all stages are traversed and one becomes liberated.