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.

Podcast: About Spiritual Experience and Abilities–What Should the Beginner Yogi Know?–Part 4

In this 4th podcast on Spiritual Experiences and Abilities, Abbot George delineates the very real and very extreme dangers of imbalancing experiences that fake yoga can produce, contrasting this with his observation of the cardinal qualities of real yogis he met.

The Inner Meaning of the Baptism of Jesus

A Continuation of Abbot George’s Commentary on the Four Gospels (Abbot George’s writing on this new book is nearing completion and we hope to publish it in late Spring.) Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John … Continue reading

Podcast: What Should the Beginner Yogi Know About Spiritual Experience and Abilities?–Part 3

“Have I learned anything? Has this spiritual experience changed my awareness, my meditation?” Abbot George contrasts the effect of real spiritual experience with examples of people who were deluded by visions and dreams.

Dreams: What Are They and How Should We Relate to Them?

Dreams are the subconscious mind talking to itself and usually reflect moments of the previous day that for some reason caught its attention. Authentic meditation affects the entire life of the yogi including his dreams.

Podcast: Spiritual Experience and Abilities–What Should the Beginning Yogi Know?–Part 2

The state of perfected beings like Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus is far greater than most people’s concept of God. Abbot George tells the story of Catholic stigmatist and visionary Therese Neumann’s response to Christian who were overwhelmed with Christ’s miracles, as an example of how … Continue reading

Podcast: What Should the Beginner Yogi Know About Spiritual Experience and Abilities?

In this four-part podcast Abbot George expounds on the attraction and many dangers of these kind of practices and the experiences they produce, and most importantly, presents the important questions the meditator needs to ask himself in assessing his spiritual practice and its effects.

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