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.
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September Satsang Signup | Past Lives Recall?
The September online satsang with Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) will be held on Saturday, September 6th, at 12 Noon, EST. Register on this page.
Podcast: The Yoga Life 5: The Importance of Vegetarianism for the Yogi
Click here to listen to The Yoga Life 5: The Importance of Vegetarianism for the Yogi if you do not see the player above. The podcast length is 15:41 minutes. Since we have considered shaucha in the last podcast which includes purity of diet, let’s take a brief look at the spiritual benefits of being a vegetarian yogi. The mind,
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 “Do”s 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
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
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
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
The Yoga Life 2: a Practical Understanding of Harmlessness and Truthfulness
In this podcast Abbot George begins a practical and detailed analysis of the first of the components of Yama: Ahimsa (harmlessness) and Satya (truth), which it is essential for the aspiring yogi to understand. Ahimsa is not willfully causing any harm or pain whatsoever to any being whatsoever, in any degree whatsoever. Ahimsa includes strict abstinence from any form of
Featured Articles
Yogis Who Saw Jesus
The Many Advantages of Vegetarianism
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.