Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke)

Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) 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.

For many years, Swami Nirmalananda 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.

Yogis Who Saw Jesus

The day our Original Christianity and Original Yoga website was launched we received an irate communication from one of those Western “Hindus” that believe they are more truly Hindu if they hate other religions–especially Christianity–and deny that Jesus ever existed. Here is our answer:

Podcast: Diet and Consciousness: The Importance of a Pure Diet for the Yogi

In today’s podcast, Abbot George Burke talks about how diet affects consciousness, and the importance of a pure diet for the yogi.

Consciousness and Energy: A Reader’s Inquiry

Q: Gorakhnath describes God as a Oneness of Shiva and His Shakti. Do you agree with this Philosophy of a Father-Mother God?
Yes and No. For us in this relative existence, there appears to be a duality of Consciousness/Energy. But that is a misperception. There is only Consciousness.

Podcast: Swami Sivananda’s Humor (Updated 5-2022 with a Video Podcast)

Swami Sivananda’s joyful sense of humor are evident in this podcast. This includes the following incidents:
• Sivananda’s riddle and the over-serious student.
• The story of the rare color film photos of Swamiji.
• Sivananda’s omniscience regarding what was going on in Sivanandashram.
• And more!

What is Sin? – A Yoga Perspective

The Sanskrit word for sin is papam, which means harmful negativity. In the New Testament the word translated “sin” is amartano, which simply means to miss the mark, or to fall short of the ideal.

Podcast: The Real Yogananda – 8 Stories of Mischief and Mercy

There are a lot of stories that people have never heard, so here are some things that were told to me by direct disciples of Yogananda who were there when these incidents took place that you might find interesting.

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