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.

Is Exoteric Religion Necessary?

Q: Is an exoteric religious tradition necessary? Though it may not be easy to see how or why, everything in this world is necessary and has a purpose. There are two classes of human beings: those that are mostly aware of external existence and therefore … Continue reading

How and Why to Purify the Memory

Q: What are the indications of purification of memory in the context of the Nerve of Memory? In the Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita (English version: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna) we find the most authoritative teaching about both the nerve (nadi) and its indications. On … Continue reading

Why Are People Born with Psychic Abilities?

Sutra 19 of Book One of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 19. Of those who are Videhas and Prakrtilayas birth is the cause. Patanjali is now discussing those people who from birth are seen to possess marked psychic faculties and psychic powers–even to a miraculous degree. Such … Continue reading

How to Expand Your Glory

A Continuation of the Commentary on Buddha’s Practical Wisdom found in the Dhammapada Expanding Glory “When a man is resolute and recollected, pure of deed and persevering, when he is attentive and self-controlled and lives according to the Teaching, his reputation is bound to grow” … Continue reading

Patanjali’s Two Types of Samadhi

Sutras 17 and 18 of Book One of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 17. Samprajñata Samadhi is that which is accompanied by reasoning, reflection, bliss and sense of pure being. Samprajñata samadhi, also known as savikalpa samadhi, is defined by A Brief Sanskrit Glossary as: “State of … Continue reading

The 5 Kinds of Modifications of the Mind

Sutras 6 through 11 of Book One of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 6. [The five kinds of modifications are] right knowledge [pramana], wrong knowledge [viparyaya], fancy [vikalpa], sleep [nidra], and memory [smritaya]. Each of these merits an individual consideration. Pramana includes the means of valid … Continue reading

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