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Light of the Spirit BLOG

Come back often to find new, valuable and practical articles to help you in your spiritual life. Below the latest blog posts we also list some of our most well received articles.
Wisdom Quote of the Day
“Since you have renounced everything, why should you give your mind to it again? Should one again take in the spittle that has been once spat out?”
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

Latest Blog Posts

Podcast: I Meet Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh

In this new series of podcasts about Swami Sivananda, Abbot George relates his memories in a much fuller form than in previous podcasts. Click here to listen to I Meet Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh if you do not see the player above. The podcast length is 14:32 minutes. I met God in flesh both in America and India in the

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Podcast: The Yoga Life 4: Niyama, the “Do”s of Yoga

Having finished Yama, the “Don’t”s of Yoga, in the last podcast, we now consider Niyama: the “Dos” of yoga. Shaucha: purity, cleanliness Santosha: contentment, peacefulness Tapas: austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline Swadhyaya: introspective self-study, spiritual study Ishwarapranidhana: offering of one’s life to God Click here to listen to The Yoga Life 4: Niyama, the “Do”s of Yoga if you

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Avidya: Primal Ignorance, the Source of Life’s Miseries

Sutras 4 and 5 of Book Two of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (Read Yoga: Science of the Absolute) 4. Avidya is the source of those that are mentioned after it (see What Are the Kleshas?), whether they be in the dormant, attenuated, alternating or expanded condition. This is why Shankara keeps insisting that jnana alone brings liberation. 5. Avidya is taking

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Podcast: The Yoga Life 3: Asteya, Brahmacharya, and Aparigraha, and the Great Vow

In today’s podcast Abbot George finishes the consideration of Yama, with its last three elements: asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha, and the sidesteps that people will take to avoid a strict adherence to these important principles. Then he considers the “Great Vow” of the Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Below is a brief summary of the major topics of this podcast. What is Asteya

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What are the Kleshas? (Hint: They Are Not an Alien Life-Form)

Sutras 2 and 3 of Book Two of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 2. (Kriya-Yoga) is practiced for attenuating Kleshas and bringing about Samadhi. “Klesha” means taints or afflictions. A klesha is something that diminishes or distorts our consciousness, bringing misery and pain in some form. It also hinders meditation, preventing us from rising to the state of calm, clear concentration

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Featured Articles

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:
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The Many Advantages of Vegetarianism

 
You can indeed reap a lot of benefits by being a vegetarian and people have become more aware of the health benefits of being a vegetarian. Animal rights issues is only one of the reasons why people decide to go on a vegetarian diet. People are beginning to care more about the environment. However, the main reason why people go on vegetarian diet is because of health benefits.
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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.

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7 Steps to Misuse Your Power of Thought

 
Thought is power–magnetic power, particularly. That is, thought can draw or repel whatever is thought about, depending upon the polarity of the individual mind. Many times we see that people bring to themselves the things they continually think about, but we also see that thinking about something can repel it from the person.

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