The Mind is the Mirror of the Self

Have you ever seen your own face? No. What you see in a mirror is not your face. It’s a reflection. If, to your great surprise, your face looks horrible and distorted in the mirror, do you jump up and run to the hospital? No, you get another mirror. You know that the...

Recognizing Oneness

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...

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...

Yoga is Self-Realization

In the Yoga Sutras, we learn that the practice of Yoga is aimed at addressing the fluctuations or disturbances in the mind (chitta vritti) so we may experience our natural state of peace and joy. Some misunderstand this and think “Yoga chitta vritti” means...

In the World, but Not of the World

You can be in the world but do not be of the world. Then, you are free. The mind has to be in the world and that is why we try to have a detached outlook. Of course, this is very difficult to achieve. And, many people misunderstand the idea of detachment. They might...