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.

The Surest Way to Realize God

The easy way out The attainment of liberation (moksha) is very simple in principle–and in practice, as well. Perhaps it is its simplicity that keeps people from managing it. However it may be, Krishna explains the whole matter in a very simple manner: “At the … Continue reading

The Four Qualities Necessary for Samadhi

Sutra 20 of Book One of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 20. [In the case] of others [upaya-pratyaya yogis] it is preceded by faith [shraddha], energy [virya], memory [smriti] and high intelligence [samadhi-prajña] necessary for Samadhi. Upaya-pratyaya yogis are those that have followed the traditional sequence of … Continue reading

Signs of an Awakened Kundalini

Q: Can you please tell me about signs of awaking of Kundalini? How is a sadhaka supposed to detect it? Here are the words of Sri Ramakrishna on the subject: “The mind of a worldly man generally moves among the three lower centres: those at … Continue reading

The Second Coming of Christ, by Paramhansa Yogananda

We are now posting on this website a most valuable–indeed invaluable–writing of the great Master Paramhansa Yogananda: The Second Coming of Christ, his commentary on passages from the four Gospels. At his first speech given in America at the Congress of Religious Liberals in 1920, … Continue reading

Christians or Hindus?

Q: Are you Saint Thomas Christians or Hindus? To us they are the same thing. Jesus lived in India from the age of fourteen until he returned to Israel when he was thirty. There he taught the dharma he had learned in India and incurred … Continue reading

How to Develop Sattwa Guna

Q: Can you please guide me as to how to increase the predominance of sattwa guna so as to move steadily in the path of devotion while continence is being practiced? Two things are necessary to help the sadhaka increase in sattwa, and both are … Continue reading

Explore Blog Categories