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Original Christianity is the teaching of both Jesus of Nazareth and his Apostle Saint Thomas in India. Learn about Jesus’ life in India, and the inevitable conclusions that must be drawn about The Real Jesus and His Real Teachings, which were really the classical, traditional teachings of the ancient rishis of India. Read Articles about Original Christianity.
With all that is called “yoga” nowadays, it is hard to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Abbot George clarifies what real yoga is both as a philosophy and as a liberating practice in its classic form of Soham Yoga, and gives practical advice on the Yoga Life that facilitates this practice. Read Articles about Original Yoga.
Most of the articles and books on this site were written by Abbot George Burke, (Swami Nirmalananda Giri) the founder and director of the Light of the Spirit Monastery (Atma Jyoti Ashram) in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, USA.
“The scriptures contain a mixture of sand and sugar, as it were. It is extremely difficult to separate the sugar from the sand. Therefore one should learn of the essence of the scriptures from the teacher or from a sadhu.”
–Sri Ramakrishna
Abbot George has spent a lifetime helping spiritual aspirants separate the sand from the sugar. Grounded in the perspective of classic Indian thought, directly taught by such luminaries as Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh and Sri Anandamayi Ma, and blessed with the clarity and originality of thought that can only come from years of spiritual practice (sadhana), his answers to his inquirers’ questions are unique, fresh, and authoritative.
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Visit our Podcast Page to listen to talks by Abbot George Burke about various aspects of practical spiritual life, and remarkable spiritual people he has known. These podcasts include talks on Original Christianity and Original Yoga, Soham Yoga Meditation, the Yoga Life, the connection between Jesus and India, monastic life, and much more.
Light of the Spirit Monastery is an esoteric Christian monastic community for those men who seek direct experience of the Spirit through meditation, sacramental worship, discipline and dedicated communal life, emphasizing the inner reality of “Christ in you the hope of glory,” as taught by the illumined mystics of East and West. Special attention is also given to the pre-Christian roots of the Gospel of Christ, especially those in India. Read about Light of the Spirit Monastery and monastic life.
Below are our latest blog posts. Explore our Blog, with hundreds of always-relevant posts on practical spiritual life.
In this podcast Abbot George discusses the “Great Power” (the meaning of Mahashakti) as the entire range of relative existence, composed of vibrating energy. There is nothing but Consciousness. But when Consciousness does not move, we call it spirit. When Consciousness moves, we call it energy or shakti or power.
The current Shankaracharya of Puri, Jagadguru Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, recently created a stir among Christians in India who are ignorant of Jesus having lived in India, by publicly stating that “Jesus Christ was not only a Hindu but lived in India over 10 years.”
The world is absolutely real, but our ideas and even our experiences of it are to a great degree illusion. The illustrations of the snake in the rope or the man in a tree trunk apply here. The impression in the mind is a real experience, but it is mistaken–misinterpreted by us. The object that produced that impression is real, but our seeing of it is completely wrong, arising from our own unenlightened mind.
Though you can explore or read the books from our website online or as free PDF downloads, you can also purchase them as ebooks and paperbacks to add to your permanent spiritual library
Below is a sampling of the titles available, and they can be purchased on Amazon or other online retailers.
