In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives us five recommendations, called yamas, for how we should treat others if we want to attain liberation. The first yama is ahimsa, which means “non-harming.” Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati explains that “non-harming” means …
The key to effective spiritual activism is non-violent communication. An activist is someone who actively works for change, and to be spiritual is to feel your connection to all living beings. Spiritual activism is working actively to further the consc …
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi Not too long ago, on September 27th 1953, in a poor village near the remote backwaters of Kerala in Southern India, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi, affectionately known as “Amma” or the “Hugging Saint,” was born. From her early …
In this verse, the Bhagavad Gita teaches that cooperation with nature is essential: without acknowledging and caring for the devas – the gods, the multi-living dimensions of nature – life is not possible. In his book Gita Wisdom, Joshua Green describes …
What is yoga? The word has many meanings: relation; means; union; knowledge; matter; logic; and so on. For now, let us say that the meaning of yoga is upaya, which means path, or way which we follow or by means of which we attain something. What then i …
Most of us spend the first part of our lives desperately trying to acquire an identity and the rest of our lives defending that identity. The definition of an adult, after all, is one who has stopped growing. Addiction is a suppression of our creativit …
The teaching of yoga as found in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra does not say that violence is wrong or right or good or bad or justified or not. Patanjali does not pass a value judgment on any action for its own sake. He speaks to those who seek enlightenment, …
To the ancient Egyptians, the Goddess Isis was the divine personification of the perfection that comes through the ability to connect perfectly. It was Isis, after all, who, through her power of love, reintegrated the dismembered body of her brother/hu …
Guru is the remover of darkness: Gu means darkness, and Ru means remover. Darkness refers to what obscures the light of awareness. Guru is the enlightenment principal that aids one in the realization of the true Self, the whole Self, the holy Self. The …
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali gives us five recommendations, called yamas, for how we should treat others if we want to attain liberation. The second yama is satya, which means “truthfulness.” Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati explains that truthfulness means …
Happiness is the goal of yoga – the goal of life We can become stuck in negative habits that distance us from joy, which is our true nature. Yoga practices can help us overcome these habits by making us aware of them. When you practice asana, you may f …
Through deep relaxation, a state of Yoga Nidra arises, which can lead to kaivalyam, or samadhi, in which the sense of individualization merges with absolute, transcendental joy. The practice of shavasana (corpse pose) can facilitate the arising of this …