To become somebody, you have to know what that somebody is. If you don’t know, how can you become that? I often give the example of seeing your own face in a mirror. We have never actually seen ourselves. When you stand in front of a mirror, whom do you see? You only...
Question: How can we have our sitting meditation remain with us throughout the rest of our day? Swami Satchidananda: If your meditation doesn’t extend into your daily activities then there is something wrong with your meditation; you’re not meditating properly. What...
Swami Rama Tirtha (photo left), a mathematician and a contemporary of Swami Vivekananda, made an equation about contentment: Peace is always based on your desire and contentment; your wants, and don’t wants. If your want increases, the peace goes down. If your want...
Question: I sometimes experience the rising of the sacred Kundalini, accompanied by a soft humming sound and a certain degree of bliss or peace. Why does this energy remain only briefly? Swami Satchidananda: It’s a beautiful question. I’m glad to know that you have...
Question: Can pranayama really help one’s physical and mental health? Swami Satchidananda: First of all, pranayama helps you to live! It helps you lead a full life. What you are living is not a complete life. You are only living 1/7th of your capacity but with...
Question: How can I overcome a feeling of powerlessness and change my life? Swami Satchidananda: Put in some power! The reason you feel powerless is because there‘s not enough vital energy in you. Pranayama practice will fill you with more vital energy. And, you can...
Question: I’m basically happy and peaceful but feel that something is missing. How can I find the missing part? Swami Satchidananda: If you are basically happy and in peace, what can be missing? It’s a sort of contradiction. If you are basically happy and in peace,...
Question: What is the secret of mantra japa (mentally repeating a mantra continuously)? I can keep my attention on if for a short time and then I forget all about it! Swami Satchidananda: First, you have to constantly and consciously repeat the mantra. Later, the...
It’s not difficult to practice Yoga, even with a very busy lifestyle. What do you think your Yoga practice is? Doing some postures, sitting in meditation and that’s all? No, there is a yogic way of doing everything; not that this is Yoga and that is not Yoga. Even the...
Question: How should we go about making specific changes in areas where we would like to improve? Swami Satchidananda: The most important change is to make sure you are in good company. One way to put yourself in the right company is by coming to a spiritual...
Fear, anger, and depression are all related. It all starts with fear. You want something and you become afraid of not getting it, or you get it, and you become afraid of losing it. There is a beautiful sequence in the Bhagavad Gita that illustrates this point. First...
Question: How can I rid myself of expectations of others and the resulting disappointments? Am I really just disappointed with myself for allowing the attachment or is it lack of self-respect which merely manifests itself in the form of impatience. I’m slow to learn...
Question: You have said that until we forget, we have not completely forgiven. How can I forgive and also forget something bad that someone does to me if they continue doing it and I’m constantly reminded of it? Swami Satchidananda: If you really want to forget...
Question: We hear so much these days about creative visualization and manifesting with the mind. Isn’t this the opposite of being present and in the moment? Swami Satchidananda: I don’t think they oppose each other. If you like, you can be in the present moment...
Santosha, the second niyama in the Raja Yoga system, means contentment. We also have a saying in the West that “Contentment is golden.” Why? Contentment is golden because it doesn’t depend on the things around you, the things that you have. Whenever I think of...
In this article, Swami Satchidananda, founder of Integral Yoga, and a trained naturopath himself, discusses the essential elements that comprise classical Yoga therapy. When I came to this country in 1966, I met Dr. Ramamurti Mishra (who became Swami Brahmananda), the...