I was as woke as a young white man could be, back when the terms closest to “woke” were “hip” and “cool” and pretty much anything else that wasn’t “straight,” which referred not to a sexual orientation but to people living an ordinary, conventional way of life. To me,...
During the 1980s, Swami Satchidananda recorded a series of mantras, and then several more in the 1990s. These recordings became the "Sacred Mantra Series" CDs. Integral Yoga Media has now remastered this series for digital download. These are now available on the...
Sharon Salzberg, the popular meditation teacher and co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, recently wrote an article for Tricycle magazine on voting, meditation, and how to counteract despair through changing the system. During these challenging times, Tricycle...
There is a beautiful biblical saying: “Seek the kingdom of God first and all the rest will be added unto you.” Whether you want it or not, it will come. Health, wealth, friends, money and fame will just come to you. They are the by-products of the most important...
I had read about its benefits and thought it’d be a great opportunity to clear my mind and reconnect to myself. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a silent meal; the concept was to meet with random people at someone’s house and have dinner without...
Yoga understands the brilliant function of pain. One difference between Yoga and Western medicine is the perspective on pain and suffering. In the hospital, pain is the adversary, and the treatments are there to “kill” it. They often prescribe “pain killers”...
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...
The truth is, when the world gets chaotic and confounding, we need spiritual practice more than ever. That’s when our souls need sustenance. That’s when we need to recharge and ground ourselves to take on the challenge. Phil Goldberg’s new book, Spiritual Practice for...
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,...
To cultivate equanimity you have to have a strong mind and that means a strong will. In order to develop the will, that one-pointed mind, you practice concentration and meditation. Concentration strengthens the mind because anything that is fully concentrated is more...
As some of us were discussing the strange feel of this life with social distancing, we expressed both a sense of gratitude for being safe and healthy, and a deep pang of sorrow for those many souls who are suffering. Those in my immediate circle of friends are...
You have to be strong to face things. Going into seclusion, or into a protected environment, helps you make yourself strong. You don’t need to be afraid of this always. Once you build up physical and mental stamina you don’t have to be afraid of anything. Nothing can...
There is a village proverb in South India: “It doesn’t matter who pounds the rice; as long as I get the rice, it’s fine.” I think this also could be the motto for health and wellness providers. It doesn’t matter what approach you take, what “pathy” you use: allopathy,...
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...
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,...
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...