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
Latest Blog Posts
May Satsang Signup – Religious Imagery Podcast
Our May online satsang with Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) will be on Saturday, May 4th, at 12 noon, EST. Visit this page to register. Also, listen to or watch a recent podcast on “Religious Imagery and the Yogi.”
The Mother’s Ever-Living Presence
An outdoor Marian shrine is all that remains of a house that burned down during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point borough of Queens, NY – about 50 houses were destroyed in this neighborhood by fire – photographed by Frank Franklin II
A Selection from “The Catechism of Enlightenment”
We have recently added Abbot George Burke’s Commentary on some of Shankara’s works, which we have called “The Catechism of Enlightenment.” Below is the introduction to the commentary, followed by an short excerpt. The opening verse of Shankara’s Upadeshasahasri–A Thousand Teachings–is: “We shall now explain a method of teaching the means to liberation for the benefit of those aspirants after
Maintaining Peace With Others
“Others may not understand that we must practice self-control, but quarreling dies away in those who understand this fact” (Dhammapada 6). What? Buddha is advocating repression? Horror! We all know how destructive repression is, don’t we? No, we do not. We only hope it is destructive so we can run amok in our life-sphere and rejoice in our “healthy self-expression.”
What is “Spirit”?
We are gods within God, finite spirits within the Infinite Spirit. But what is spirit? Yoga tells us that spirit is consciousness. We are eternal consciousnesses, each of us individual and distinct. Yet we are more. Each of us takes our being from God as the wave takes its existence from the ocean. God is the eternal Root, the Ground,
About the Indignant “Injured”
“I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been robbed! Anger does not cease in those who harbor this sort of thought. I have been insulted! I have been hurt! I have been beaten! I have been robbed! Anger ceases in those who do not harbor this sort of thought” (Dhammapada 3, 4). Earlier
Your Two Selves: The Individual Self and the Immortal Self
“Who am I?” is the age-old question asked along with “Who is God?” The true “I” of each sentient being is the individual spirit, the Self (atman). But there is more. God (Brahman) is the Self of the Self–as the ocean is the “self” of every wave. The illumined know that they are the immortal Self whose ultimate Self is
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.