In this short video "The Inner Guru" from 1998 during Guru Poornima, Swami Satchidananda speaks about the true meaning of "Guru" and also about attuning oneself to the inner Guru. Using examples from his own Guru (Sri Swami Sivananda), the Bhagavad Gita and South...
My relationship with Swami Satchidananda began with meeting Dr. Sandra (Amrita) McLanahan, at a conference in Tarrytown, New York where she was one of the speakers. She was a student of the Swami, and she was young, energetic, and spoke of Yoga, spirituality, and...
Recently, someone was asking me about the connection to the Guru. Words are limited. Whatever “under-standing” I have on this matter comes from the experience of “standing-under” God’s Presence through Sri Gurudev Satchidananda’s loving guidance. Today I am far from...
We seem to do many things each day that create our problems. But, we can undo everything in a meditation practice. You just sit. You don’t need to do anything but = be aware of yourself. In meditation you are the witness that sits behind the body and mind. When you...
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...
Integral Yoga Media, in collaboration with Integral Yoga Publications is thrilled to announce the release of Beyond Words by Swami Satchidananda in audiobook form. Beautifully read by professional narrator Madeline Starr, this audiobook is now available exclusively on...
We can find lessons in everything we do. One of the lessons that I learned as a mechanic, many years ago, is very useful in being able to control the mind. The newer vehicles probably don’t require this anymore, but way back then, a car had to be periodically...
As the Integral Yoga Institute of San Francisco approaches its 51st anniversary on Dolores Street, Swami Ramananda gave the following update on the renovation of their iconic and historic building. Namaste and greetings of peace. I wanted to share with you that...
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,...
Sara Novak's article on Discover magazine's website was clearly written pre-pandemic. It turns out she (a writer for Discover, Discovery Health, Popular Science, among others) was writing about a visit to Satchidananda Ashram, what drew her there, and about the field...
In this video, host Kim Weeks and Swami Asokananda (president and spiritual director of the New York Integral Yoga Institute) explore the origins, evolution, and modern-day story of Integral Yoga. Hosted by Yoga Alliance, "Yoga Lineages" is a series of conversations...
Sometimes miracles happen through someone, even without their knowledge. There have been many who, like Jesus, performed miracles. And they didn’t claim that they were doing everything, but that it was the God’s will. That shows that there was no ego involved....
In the 1980s, when the gay community in New York City was under siege, suffering and dying from a vicious plague yet to be named HIV, Prema Pleva was an inspiring force for Integral Yoga in New York as she welcomed and served those suffering most. In 1985, she...
For most of us, this effort requires patience, persistence, and some means to renew this commitment. The obstacles are many: the countless stressors of daily life, the subconscious beliefs and habitual thinking that compel us to defend the ego-identity we’ve formed,...
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...
In this episode, host Avi Gordon (director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association) and his guest, Swami Asokananda, talk about how each works with self-judgment, resistances to daily sadhana (spiritual practice), pratipaksha bhavana, and other topics regarding...