Every year on his birthday, as we gathered to honor Sri Swami Satchidananda, the tables would turn in the most profound way. Rather than our offerings of gratitude and celebration taking center stage, Gurudev would bless us with a birthday message brimming with wisdom...
The Way of Recognition
Understanding Enlightenment and Awakening For many, the terms enlightenment and awakening evoke the promise of extraordinary experiences. Referring to a concept that has intrigued and captivated truth seekers throughout history, these terms are often associated with...
Go Within
In this episode of the Integral Yoga Podcast, host Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) discusses with Amma Kidd the significance of collective prayer, the transformative influence of a Guru, surrendering to God's will, and the...
Challenging the Norms: A Journey into Yoga’s Heart
In this enlightening episode of the Integral Yoga Podcast, hosted by Avi Gordon (director, Integral Yoga Teachers Association), Michelle Jacobi shares her captivating journey into the world of Yoga. Starting as a professional dancer in New York with a keen interest in...
Advaita Vedanta and the Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
This video features special guests Swami Sarvapriyananda (spiritual director, Vedanta Society of New York) and Michael James (a translator of Sri Ramana Tamil writings) as they discuss the essence of Advaita Vedanta and Sri Ramana's teachings. They also focus on how...
Spiritual Media Blog Podcast: Practicing the Yoga Sutras in Daily Life
Matthew Welsh, JD, PhD, (founder of Spiritual Media Blog and his podcast of the same name) recently invited Carroll Ann (Prashanti) Friedmann to be a podcast guest and talk about her new book (Practicing the Yoga Sutras, from Integral Yoga Publications). The book...
Jnana Yoga’s Fourfold Sadhana
The Fourfold Sadhana of Jnana Yoga consists of viveka, vairagya, shadshampat or sixfold virtues and mumukshutva or strong yearning for liberation. Viveka dawns in one who, through the grace of God, has done virtuous actions in their previous births as offerings unto...
Learning to Work Through Challenges: Tapas (Self-Discipline)
"God knows your breaking point. You simply don't know your own strength." –Swami Satchidananda How many times have you been a safe container for those you care about? What did it look like? What did it feel like? Challenging oneself to be disciplined or to attain a...
Staying Balanced in the Midst of Pain
Someone once asked me the following question: “In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says, ‘The yogi who perceives the essential oneness everywhere naturally feels the pleasure or pain of others as their own.’ Is it possible to feel the pain of others without losing...
VedantaWorks: The Teachings of Swami Vivekananda
VedantaWorks recently released their third podcast series: The Raja Yoga classes of Swami Vivekananda. VedantaWorks is dedicated to the teachings of Vedanta, the basic philosophy of Hinduism as expressed through Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was an...
The Path to Spiritual Awakening
The Cosmic Guru is the only Guru. All the rest is just comic. The real Guru is everywhere. Within, without. The Guru is above all the qualities, at the same time you see every kind of quality there. Sometimes the Guru is all sattvic, sometimes very rajasic, sometimes...
Embarking on a Spiritual Odyssey, Part 9: Sri Ramakrishna–All Paths Lead to God
In Part 8 of this series, we explored how Ramaswamy (Swami Satchidananda’s birth name) delved deeply into his spiritual yearnings, engaging with sacred texts and absorbing the wisdom of saints. Another profound influence during this formative period was the life and...
No Separate Little You
In this inspiring contemplation, renowned Yoga teacher Erich Schiffman offers an embodiment practice. He gently guides us toward the recognition that we only exist because "The All, The One, the only Mind, Consciousness or Presence in existence anywhere is what is...
Understanding the Ego
God or Infinite Consciousness is That through which our own egos move. Unfortunately, the ego tends to overlook the fact that its capacity to function is from that Source, and instead it comes up with the notion that I am doing everything by myself. But it would be a...
Light on the Yamas & Niyamas: Awakening to Ahimsa
In this column, Rev. Dale Ann Gray offers reflections on the yamas and niyamas of the Yoga Sutras, incorporating insights from classical Nondual Yoga. In this article, she unpacks the first yama, ahimsa (non-violence, non-harming). In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,...
Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is a foundational Yoga text. Integral Yoga Master Teacher Swami Asokananda, E-RYT 500 will explore "Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita" with participants from May 3 - 5, 2024 during this weekend immersion into this sacred text. The program takes place in...