My spiritual master, Swami Sivananda used to say, “The sannyas (swami/renunciate) ego is the worst kind of ego. You have renounced everything, but you have not renounced the egoism of renunciation itself.” That’s what you see when someone demands: “Do you know who I...
People often ask me to explain Integral Yoga. I tell them that if you keep certain things in mind, whatever you do becomes a yogic action. Even your eating and sleeping can be a Yoga practice if you do them in a way that creates health and harmony. Chew your food...
Selfless service is the best way to show that we love people. Love means doing something for the benefit of another; something that would make them live a healthy, happy, peaceful, and useful life. That is love. Love means serving others. When you are able to relieve...
Unless we achieve complete mastery over the mind, we won’t achieve anything. To achieve this mastery, we need self-discipline. Human beings have been given the capacity to have good control over our minds and to do good, useful things with our minds—things that are...
Shanti. I see God as Shanti. Shanti is the nature of God. My God is Shanti and has no form no other name. God is all peaceful, all serenity—the peace that cannot be expressed by words. Even to say the word “peace,” in a way limits, the expression of that very peace....
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...
Proper motivation—having the proper aim behind our ambitions—is very important. All our actions have a motive behind them, and that motive should be a selfless one. Without a motive, there is no action. When you want to do something, ask yourself why you want to do...
How can you experience joy in life and love passionately if you are practicing non-attachment? The best way to enjoy life, if you really want to enjoy life, is not to have any attachment to anything. Attachment never brings you permanent joy. It may begin with a...
The basis of the mind, which you call the ego, has a tendency to want everything. I want this, I have to gain or own it; I want to do this or that. Wanting to possess is the nature of the ego. That’s why the little “i” always has a “mine” in it. You become really...
Yoga theory sometimes leaves us nowhere; it’s mostly intellectual. What the mind can understand is very little. So in the name of Yoga practice, we do something that can expand the mind and then, little by little, we understand things in a better way. We don’t want to...
When you are healthy and happy, you are at ease. But, you don’t remain that way always; you disturb it and then you call that dis-eased. There is meaning in your words, in your beautiful language. Diseased means you have disturbed your ease. That means you were...
Love is a feeling. You cannot even put it in words. You will know what love is if you really want to know. Wanting to love itself is the beginning. And then if you want to love you should know how to love. Now, what is the meaning of love? It's not just...
You quickly learn your weaknesses while serving others. The world is like a big mirror, it shows you your ugly spots. You see your limitations and drawbacks; you test yourself in the field. You understand your attitudes and moods better than when you're alone. Through...
There is no greater Yoga than Karma Yoga. From morning to evening you are doing some action, so everything can be Karma Yoga. Everything should be yogic, from the minute you start brushing your teeth to the minute you go to bed. For Karma Yoga there is no time limit,...
Real joy comes by leading a dedicated life. That is what we see in nature. The entire nature exists to serve others. We don’t need teachings for all the other species in life because they already live to serve others. So let your motto be, “I am living to serve...
We are gathered here to find ways and means to be healthy, holistically healthy. We don’t need to do anything to be healthy. By nature we are healthy. We were born healthy. We don’t need to be doing anything to bring in positive vibrations. Instead, we should know how...