Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri)

Abbot George Burke (Swami Nirmalananda Giri) is the founder and director of the Light of the Spirit Monastery (Atma Jyoti Ashram) in Cedar Crest, NM, USA.

In his many pilgrimages to India, he had the opportunity of meeting some of India’s greatest spiritual figures, including Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh and Anandamayi Ma. During his first trip to India he was given sannyas by Swami Vidyananda Giri, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, who had himself been given sannyas by the Shankaracharya of Puri, Jagadguru Bharat Krishna Tirtha.

In the United States he also encountered various Christian saints, including Saint John Maximovich of San Francisco and Saint Philaret Voznesensky of New York. He was ordained in the Liberal Catholic Church International to the priesthood on January 25, 1974, and consecrated a bishop on August 23, 1975.

For many years, Abbot George has been engaged in deep study of the spiritual unity (actual identity) of Jesus Christ and his teachings with India and Sanatana Dharma. It is his conviction that original Christianity (not contemporary “Churchianity”) and original Yoga are not just compatible, they are essentially one; that Jesus lived in India for most of his life, being a Sanatana Dharma missionary to the West, and that after his resurrection he returned to India and lived the rest of his life in the Himalayas.

He has written extensively on these and other topics, many of which are posted here at OCOY.org. Of major significance are: The Christ of India, Soham Yoga: Its Theory and Practice, The Bhagavad Gita for Awakening and his various commentaries on spiritual texts which you can explore in the Dharma for Awakening section.

Most of his writings available here at OCOY.org are also available in print and ebook formats at Amazon and other online book outlets.

In the Beginning and Before: the Inner Meaning of The Gospels

Today we are beginning a new series of occasional blog posts: selections from Abbot George’s Commentary on the Four Gospels, which he is currently working on. We begin with his introduction.

How “Wisdom” Can Get It Wrong

Arjuna looked out at the battlefield, and seeing those he loved and even revered was overwhelmed with the enormity of killing them, and expressed his feelings to Krishna. Krishna’s reaction to this impassioned speech was to smile and say: “Your words are wise, Arjuna, but you are wrong.”

Faith in Jesus?

Jesus is not saying “believe in Me,” but “believe into Me.” He is urging us to merge our consciousness into His consciousness–which is not the limited consciousness of an individual, but the boundless Christ Consciousness.

Seeing the One in All

In response to our recent blog posting about the reality of Jesus in the experience of India’s great yogis, we received a most heartening letter from India. I want to share parts of it with you and my reflections on it for I feel it presents the most authentic perspective on these matters.

Karma or Jnana: What Is the Path to Liberation?

The basis of our wandering in samsara and undergoing continual birth and death is not karma–that is a side effect–but our state of consciousness which is ignorance: avidya.

Following Christ: A Raja’s Example

I saw for myself the ideals of Jesus being lived by the Raja of Chandod–and by others I met in India. No wonder Jesus loved that land.

Podcast: The Esoteric Side of Good and Bad Association

In today’s podcast, Abbot George discusses the inner mechanism of how the senses affect us, and how external connections influence our inner make-up, for good or ill. He begins by talking about the positive effect of darshan and satsanga, recounting his own experiences with holy people.

What and Why is a Sadguru –The Tradition of the Nath Yogis

There is a tremendous amount of mythology current in the world (including India) as to what constitutes a true guru. In the view of the original yogic tradition of the Nath Panth, the definition is very simple. A sadguru is someone who knows the way to the Real, the Sat, and can teach and guide seekers.

Yoga in Four Words

Chitta is the subtle energy that is the substance of the mind, and therefore the mind itself. Vritti is thought-wave; mental modification; mental whirlpool; a ripple in the chitta. Nirodha is restraint; restriction; suppression; dissolving.