Saguna Brahma upasan

The process of worshipping various aspects of the total is called saguna upasana (when
joined in Sanskrit it becomes sagunopasana) or saguna Brahma upasana. Thus one can
invoke the total in any form prescribed already and he can even select one on his own.
The shastra (scripture) says that what is needed more is bhakti or bhava or devotion. It
is the  sincere  devotion  of the  bhakta (a  devote) that  brings in life to the idol and will
bestow the bhakta with whatever is necessary to that bhakta.
The  lives  of  great  bhaktas like  Prahlada,  Narada,  Dhruva,  Hanuman etc.  in the
Puranas and the Meera  Bai,  Tuka  Ram,  Ramakrishna  Paramahamsa etc.  of  modern
times  have shown us  that  it  is  the  bhakti or  devotion that is the one  thing  what  is
essential  and  not the  external  practices. External  practices  may  give  one  some  bhakti
and may lead him toward higher and higher understanding but external practices do not
guarantee this. In the Bhagavat Gita chapter twelve is called Bhakti  Yoga. Here Lord
Krishna talks  about  who  is  a  real  bhakta. Nowhere  in that  discussion  the  Lord  talks
about external practices. What all he talks there is only attitudes and temperament that is
needed.  Moreover in  chapter  ten  of the Bhagavat  Gita the  Lord  says  that  I  am  japa
among all yajnays (spiritual rituals). This in turn shows that japa is given a high priority
in the tradition  for spiritual progress. Saguna Brahma upasana is invariably associated
with japa, worship and meditation