The spiritual life has only one ideal, the realization of the Supreme Spirit, Brahman, God. The theoretical and intellectual knowledge of God is not enough; in fact it is of secondary importance in our spiritual endeavor. What is of supreme importance in our spiritual aspiration is that each of us must attain the realization of God within his own effulgent cosmic pure consciousness, for thus alone we reach Kaivalyam, we become the absolute One.
Read moreOur Legacy and Our Future
In religion, in the arts, in science, as in many fields of human relations and vocations, representatives as pinnacles of achievement emerge to help us and to teach us. We continually turn to those whose examples we need and respect for their experiences to inspire and nourish our development. In their presence and with their encouragement and guidance, we find ourselves ennobled and enriched.
Read moreThe Breath of God and Pranayam
“To live is to breathe” is to assert the obvious. We do not need medical science to tell us that the whole marvelous mechanism of the human body stops when breath departs. Otherwise stated, however perfect the physical body is, with the absence of breath it is but a corpse. Yet there is more to know about breathing than the obvious, and from the spiritual heritage of Yoga comes the invitation to learn to expand what it is “to live.”
Read moreThe Power of Ahimsa
Ahimsa, in its subtle power, depends on a cosmic principle — that of the oneness of life. Ahimsa, in its positive form, means the largest love, the greatest charity. When ahimsa becomes all-embracing it transforms everything it touches. There is no limit to its power. Gandhiji understood that power. He made a conscious and constant effort to apply the power of ahimsa in his daily life. Ahimsa is living so as to realize the oneness of life.
Read moreChildren of Immortality
The source of man’s divine qualities is the infinite perfection of God. But man cuts himself off, though not completely, from this cosmic spiritual reservoir by his own thought of self-separateness and consequently of self-limitation. “Man thinking himself separated from Brahman, revolves on the wheel of birth and death.”
Read moreMeditate on the Light of AUM
“By meditating on AUM, the Word, within the effulgence of each of the seven lotuses, the mystic centers of spiritual revelation, is gained the inner illumination of the self which consumes the causes of all finiteness and self-limitation.”— Kaivalya Upanishad “The Self is symbolized by the word AUM. AUM is composed of three mystic sound vibrations. These also signify the first three states of consciousness in the self." — Mandukya Upanishad
Read moreHong Swa & Pranayam: The Breath of Life
“Rise above the consciousness of separation and realize thyself in all and all in thee.” -Adi Shankarachariya “The flame of pure-consciousness is eternally ignited within this body. By the meditation of Hong-Swa, all delusion having been dispelled, the Self is revealed in its effulgent glory. The supreme Self is Hong Swa, which leads to the realization of Sohong in wisdom and bliss.” -Svetasvatara Upanishad
Read moreFinding Freedom from the Gunas
All aspects of creation are the various modulations of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas—the law of harmony, the self-manifesting power, and the evolving potency—but in reality these are the objective manifestations of myself. I am not limited by them, though they exist in me... Rise above the pairs of opposites, be thou firmly established on truth, be not attached to material gain and possession, be established on the Self, and thus thou shalt find freedom in and from the relative world of the Gunas.
Read morePower of Cosmic Prana
Like the spokes on the hub of a chariot wheel, all beings are established on Prana. Life, Prana, is born of Atman, the absolute Self. Prana sustains and determines the functions of various currents of life-force within the body.
Read moreGuiding the Mind in Meditation
The Self is immutable and self-composed. It is transcendental. It is more subtle than the mind. It is beyond the limits of sense perception. It is serene; yet it is more active than the mind or the sense faculties.
Read moreHeart-Centered
The state of pure-consciousness, transcends all other states of spiritual enlightenment; it is enshrined within the effulgence of the heart lotus, Anahata. Those who aspire with patience and perseverance to reach that blessed state become completely immersed in it. Meditate on the lotus of the heart with calm serenity and subjective purity.
Read moreSelf-Subjectivity
The self is endowed with the power to guide itself to the realization of absolute perfection. And the self, having fulfilled its divine duty by revealing cosmic illumination at Sahasraram, merges in the limitless, luminous dynamic stillness.
Read moreOne God, Variously Called by Thy Devotees
Awaken us to the realization that this manifested universe Is but an infinitesimal part of thy stupendous whole. Let us realize that thou art the Brahman of the Hindus, Jehovah of the Jews, Christ of the Christians, Allah of the Muslims: One God, variously called by thy devotees.
Read moreThe Authority of the Mind
By what power does the mind color our vision and govern our personality? Is the mind an entity which, once set in motion, proceeds of its own will to be the final authority to our consciousness?
Read moreGandhi's Inspiration from the Prophet Muhammad
During his prayer meetings, Gandhiji always included verses from the Qur'an Sharif. He would not hold prayer meetings without recitations from the Qur’an. He had a profound admiration for the refined character of the Prophet Muhammad, as a man of faith and action.
Read moreAwakening
I was alone on the lonely mountain when I heard thy voice in the song of a spring bird. I opened my eyes and beheld thy form. I looked within and found thee in my heart. The light of the new dawn has touched my soul and I am awakened with the vision of thy all-pervading universality and thy transcendental infinity.
Read moreKriya Yoga
In this Kriya Yoga Meditation series we will examine the life and practice of Kriya. Each evening we will explore the abode of PEACE within us by our own personal effort and unfoldment. AUM-SHANTHI
Read moreFive Ways of Meditation
Meditation is a very broad term in the field of philosophy and religion. It includes all righteous efforts of mind, heart and soul that lead to enlightenment, revelation and realization. Enlightenment is the result of the right comprehension of truth. Revelation is the result of the inner unfoldment of truth. Realization is the perfection of becoming one with truth.
Read moreThree Ways of Living
Buddha’s many stories are teachings, rich with illustrations from animal and human life, helping us to discover and perceive as he did that the Eternal lives with us here on earth in companionable ways. In one Nirvana Sutra (teaching on self-realization) he brought to mind three ways of living by describing how three animals - a hare, a horse, and an elephant - cross a river.
Read more"Tapas" as Spiritual Discipline
The meaning of discipline in yoga is self-mastery. The Sanskrit term used by Patanjali expresses the goal: “Tapas” is “that which generates heat or energy.” Discipline in yoga philosophy as explained by Patanjali is the practice of directing or channeling energies towards a spiritual goal and thereby realizing greater light or energy.
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