When we talk about integrating Yoga and Buddhism, we must first be clear about what we mean. In the modern world, Yoga is often reduced to asana or its physical side. Buddhism is reduced to meditation, which many Buddhist groups emphasize. Yet Yoga has its meditation...
There’s no doubt that Patanjali intended brahmacarya (brahmacharya) to mean “celibacy.” He wrote for and to young men who were monks in training. Let’s break the word down just a bit. Brahma means God, specifically the God of creation. And it also is a shortened form...
In this column, Dale Ann Gray offers reflections on the yamas and niyamas of the Yoga Sutras, incorporating insights from classical Nondual Yoga. With the yama of asteya, we arrive at Patanjali’s second use of a negative prefix in the yamas. The definition indicates...
Everyone wants to be happy, but the happiness we seek is elusive. Our lives are spent seeking happiness through possessions, positions, relationships; even our addictions are a misguided search for happiness. And what do we find? Generally, we get a little happiness...
At a satsang in New York some years ago, I raised the question, “What matters most to you?” I spoke about the importance of clarifying what we value and reflecting on the ultimate purpose of our lives. Speaking to a group of yogis, I was not surprised that someone...
In part 4 of this series, we talked about Dhritarāśhtra, the blind king. We can consider him to be manas, the lower mind. And we also talked about Sanjaya, his minister, who we said could be considered our conscience. The king is blind, but he is not deaf. He does...
Joseph Campbell was an American author and editor whose works on comparative mythology examined the universal functions of myth in various human cultures. During the final years of his life, Campbell embarked on a speaking tour in which he drew together all that he...
In Part 3 of this series, we read the first verse of the first chapter, and we were introduced to the blind King Dhritarāśhtra. This week I’d like to introduce us to Sanjaya. Let me share the first verse again: “Dhritarāśhtra asked, What did the Pāndavās and my sons...
This short video gives an overview of the science behind temple construction and how it is precisely based on the vastu and shilpa sastras. Powerful vibrations emanate from temples constructed in this way. The location and design of the Light Of Truth Universal Shrine...
In this essay, Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB, reflects on how we make ourselves whole by making each other whole. He explores the classic teaching story “Ten Oxherding Pictures” from the Zen Buddhist tradition. Wholeness has intrigued me ever since we boys built...
In this episode, Avi Gordon speaks with Robert Sankara Moses, who has taught Yoga and Advaita Vedanta for 50 years. Born in South Africa, in 1972 he discovered Yoga in the tradition of Sri Swami Sivananda (Swami Satchidananda's Guru). He served in the International...
In 2002, Sri Swami Satchidananda was invited to be a keynote speaker at the World Congress on Peace, Nonviolence and Harmony in South India. He left the body and entered Mahasamadhi a few days after the conclusion of the World Congress—his participation a fitting...
This series continues with part 3, in which we’re going to start at the very beginning. I remember, growing up, Julie Andrews singing in the film The Sound of Music, “A very good place to start . . .” So we’ll start with chapter 1, verse 1 of the Bhagavad Gita. Take a...
It was in September 1970 that I first met my spiritual master. It was a time when many great Gurus were being drawn to the West, attracted by the awakening aspiration of the youth. Several hundred of us had gathered at a rustic site in the mountains of California for...
I would like to continue this series with a little more background and history to set the stage and context for our study of the Bhagavad Gita. Throughout the ages people, probably throughout the planet, maybe possibly other planets, went deep into the mind,...
In this video, Deepak Chopra, MD talks with Yoga scholar/practitioner Christopher Hareesh Wallis about the 1,000 year-old tradition of Nondual Saiva Tantra. Dr. Wallis is asked to explain the essence of mantra and yantra, considered "pre-modern technologies," which...