Meditation

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Reflections on Prayer

It takes a long time to learn how to pray just for the sake of praying and not for anything else, not for our own selfish desires. The reason that we obtain little satisfaction from our prayers is that they are not really sincere attempts to touch God. When we begin...

Integral Yoga Guided “Om” Meditation

Integral Yoga teacher Zac Parker leads a short guided meditation utilizing the mantra Om. This mantra is considered to be the primordial sound of the universe, representing the essence of existence and the ultimate Reality. When meditating on Om, practitioners feel...

We Are All Parts of a Whole

In the last ten years my work has been made much easier by the progress made in the fields of Neuroscience and Epigenetics. Following a great deal of scientific experimentation, significant evidence has materialized to show how the brain works and how meditation...

The Practice of Trataka Meditation

There are so many methods of meditation and Trataka meditation is among them. Even though you might have an image in your mind of what meditation is, there are actually so many ways to meditate. You can try out all the different types to see what works best for you....

Carrying Inner Peace Out into the World

It is a tradition in Integral Yoga that after daily meditation we repeat Shanti mantras, or peace prayers. These prayers are a beautiful way to end one’s formal meditation sitting and are a spiritual support in that they are affirmations of peace. The Yoga tradition...

Spiritual Independence

Independence implies a freedom from being controlled or unduly influenced by an outside source. Spiritual independence suggests the freedom to live in harmony with the spiritual truth at the heart of our being. It implies freedom from depending on any outside source...

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What Really Happens in Meditation

What Really Happens in Meditation

In the real world, there are all kinds of things you hear about meditation if you listen to people who have busy, active lives as well a thriving meditation practice. When people grab a few minutes to meditate, the impulse toward action continues. There is an...

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The Monkey Mind

The Monkey Mind

Some of the great Yoga Masters have compared the mind to a drunken monkey that has been bitten by a scorpion! You have such a mind, but when you allow the mind to do whatever it wants, you don’t really notice how mischievous it is. It is only when you try to keep it...

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Meditation: Getting Unstuck

Meditation: Getting Unstuck

In this interview, one of Buddhism’s most respected teachers in the West, shares her initial experiences with lovingkindness meditation, and the value of beginner’s mind. Sharon’s belief in the power of meditation as a conduit to happiness is the subject of her book,...

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Meditation for the World

Meditation for the World

In honor of International Day of Yoga (June 21) and World Unity Week (June 20–27), a beautiful meditation is offered by Nalanie Chellaram (director, Integral Yoga Gibraltar and Sotogrande and founder of Service in Satchidananda). You can watch and join in sending out...

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How Meditation Helps

How Meditation Helps

People used to think that Yoga only meant standing on the head and doing some breathing techniques. But a very important practice is meditation—working directly with the mind. After all, the body is only a concrete expression of the mind. If you change the mind, you...

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How to Meditate

How to Meditate

Learning to meditate can be overwhelming for some. The mind can feel less like a place of quiet refuge and more like Times Square. In this video, you can follow along with Yoga master Sri Swami Satchidananda's instructions (read by Saraswati Ishaya from the booklet,...

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Why I Hate Meditation

Why I Hate Meditation

I have a friend who has told me, on multiple occasions, that she cannot meditate. Up to this point, I have failed miserably to convince her otherwise. I have used all the best quotes, like the old Zen saying, “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day,...

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Meditation in Action

Meditation in Action

Continuous meditation is meditation in daily life. It reminds me of the well-known tea ceremony in Japan. It’s a way of welcoming a guest into your home. And when the guest comes, you just give them a cup of tea, which we normally do, but in Japan, giving a cup of tea...

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How to Make Your Formal Meditation Practice More Effective

How to Make Your Formal Meditation Practice More Effective

Meditation is something we should learn to practice, not just in formal meditation, but all the time. But, for our formal, sitting meditation practice, preparation is most important. Is there not a saying, “Well begun is half done?” We often don’t begin well. We don’t...

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Learning the Method of Direct Inquiry

Learning the Method of Direct Inquiry

It’s nearly impossible to calm the waves of the mind completely, but we can learn to dive under them. You don’t have to make all the waves calm. The Bhagavad Gita says that the mind gets tossed like a boat on the surface of wavy water. It’s very hard to keep the mind...

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