What does it mean when a scripture or spiritual teacher tells us to “mentally keep quiet?” It means to raise above your mind. When I did that, in that moment, I didn’t see all the differences, all the separateness. I saw only the unity in all of the diversity—the...
The real goal of Yoga is to understand oneself by making the mind clean and calm. Yoga is not just a set of physical postures, meditation, and breathing techniques. Yoga helps us to develop mental purity and serenity, which are both necessary to understand oneself....
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...
To maintain our peace of mind we must raise ourselves above the duality to experience the nonduality. But what does that mean? It doesn’t mean we need to leave our homes and go somewhere else. And we don’t need to just sit and be quiet doing nothing. If that were the...
We seem to have been running around a lot, doing all kinds of things, just to find a little happiness. When everything failed we looked elsewhere and thought, Maybe I can have a little peace if I move to such and such place. Unfortunately, wherever we go, we carry our...
In this podcast, Rev. Jaganath Carrera and Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) discuss the importance of wonder and attention, the nature of the mind and the power of acceptance. Rev. Jaganath is the founder of Yoga Life Society. He's a...
What we call “God,” is the Cosmic Consciousness. It is our natural state of peace and joy. That Cosmic Consciousness is infinite. It has no limitation, it never changes, it is omnipresent and eternal. That’s what is meant by immortal. It is in you, as the real you. So...
Happiness is not something that can come from the outside. One of the things we seem to depend upon for our happiness is physical beauty. We don’t want to accept the fact that we will get old and our bodies will change. When we see others getting old we may think to...
In this short video, Dr. Deepak Chopra (doctor, spiritual teacher and author) summarizes the teachings of the nondual traditions with this explanation of one's true essence-nature. He says, "The knowing secret is in the gap between every thought, every sensation,...
You don’t need to do anything or go anywhere to become peaceful. There’s no need to go live in a cave or somewhere in the forest. And then how many people would lose their peace when they become very excited about living in the cave itself? Just be as you are. You...
Equanimity is Yoga. To know yourself, to see yourself and others clearly, you should have neutrality—complete neutral vision. The scriptures ask us to know ourselves. Check yourself or weigh yourself. The first thing many do in the morning is to step on the scale,...
There is a saying, “Variety is the spice of life.” Just imagine if some force could come and makes us all look alike. Everybody would end up six feet tall, the same color skin and hair, the same weight, and maybe even the same gender. Would you want a world like that?...
We say that a person is a good person if they have good thoughts and ideas—the kind that will bring benefit to humanity. We say a person is not good if the thoughts in their mind are selfish and are of a bad quality. A person may look very beautiful or handsome and...
In Episode 3 of the "Two Old Fogey Yogis" podcast, our two yogis (Swami Asokananda and Rev. Prem) began a discussion of the “Big E,” or enlightenment. Now, in Episode 11, they dig deeper—unveiling an even more profound understanding of what it’s like to be fully awake...
The ego should either become nothing or everything. When it comes to the ego, I don’t believe in the proverb that says that something is better than nothing. You should either become nothing or become everything, but not something. Nothing is better than something. We...
What drew you to your spiritual path? Does modern Yoga throw out the “baby with the bathwater” when it goes post-lineage? In Ep 10 of the “Two Old Fogey Yogis” podcast, our hosts explore the relevance of a traditional spiritual path in today’s world and what drew each...