Raja Yoga

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How to Control Thoughts and Stop Vasanas?

In this short video, Swami Ramanacharana Tirtha answers this question. Sri Swamiji is an Acharya of Vedānta sampradāya. His discourses and writings are filled with the power of Atmajñāna and the fragrance of bhakti and one gets an intimation of one’s spiritual essence...
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Ahimsa As a Gift

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word that translates as “without injury” or “nonviolence” in English. It’s a principle in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist philosophy that involves causing the least amount of harm possible to all beings. It’s the first ethical principle given as a...
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Practice and Non-Attachment:  A Two Pronged Approach to Liberation

If you want to see well through a window, you have to clean both sides. Practice (abhyasa) and non-attachment (vairagya) work much the same way. They are the complimentary practices given in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as a means to quiet the movement of thought in the...
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Patanjali’s Raja Yoga

Patanjali’s Raja Yoga

Patanjali’s Yoga system is written in sutras. A sutra is a terse verse. It is an aphoristic saying. It is pregnant with deep, hidden significance. Rishis of yore have expressed philosophical ideas and their realization in the form of sutras only. It is very difficult...

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Lessons from Raja Yoga: Viveka (Discrimination)

Lessons from Raja Yoga: Viveka (Discrimination)

Patanjali once beautifully said, “Dukham evam sarvaam vivekinaha.” For a viveki, a person with discriminative knowledge, everything is painful. When you realize that everything is painful you cease to develop attachments toward those things. In fact, it is to relieve...

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Spiritual Hints for Daily Life — Raja Yoga

Spiritual Hints for Daily Life — Raja Yoga

Depending on our temperament, we can pursue the journey of awakening in various ways. If we wish to develop the will and gain mastery over the mind, we can take a Raja Yoga approach. If we tend to be analytical and intellectual, there is the path of Jnana Yoga. If we...

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Raja Yoga: Questions and Answers

Raja Yoga: Questions and Answers

Sri Swami Satchidananda was one of the earliest teachers of Raja Yoga in the West. On November 21, 1966, in New York, he lectured on this topic and answered these questions about the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The second sutra gives the aim of Yoga in a nutshell:...

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Raja Yoga: The King of Yogas

Raja Yoga: The King of Yogas

Raja Yoga is the king of Yogas. It is concerned directly with the mind. The Yogi sits at ease, watches the mind and silences the bubbling thoughts. The Yogi stills the mind, restrains the thought-waves and enters into the thoughtless state or asamprajnata samadhi....

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