In this video, Deepak Chopra, MD talks with Yoga scholar/practitioner Christopher Hareesh Wallis about the 1,000 year-old tradition of Nondual Saiva Tantra. Dr. Wallis is asked to explain the essence of mantra and yantra, considered "pre-modern technologies," which...
Three Important Things in Life
It is not what you do that is so important. What is more important, is why you are doing anything. We must ask ourselves, What is there to gain by doing something? Remember, you are God’s image. So, you must have all the qualities of God, such as purity, love, and...
The World Isn’t Good or Bad
We seem to have been running around a lot, doing all kinds of things, just to find a little happiness. When everything failed we looked elsewhere and thought, Maybe I can have a little peace if I move to such and such place. Unfortunately, wherever we go, we carry our...
Undo Your Limitations
A student once told me how he was having beautiful experiences in meditation but was distressed because his experience of his daily life wasn’t beautiful or good. I asked this student to explain what his meditation experience was like. His reply was, “Well, I...
Recognize the God in You
What we call “God,” is the Cosmic Consciousness. It is our natural state of peace and joy. That Cosmic Consciousness is infinite. It has no limitation, it never changes, it is omnipresent and eternal. That’s what is meant by immortal. It is in you, as the real you. So...
Do Not Depend on Anything
Happiness is not something that can come from the outside. One of the things we seem to depend upon for our happiness is physical beauty. We don’t want to accept the fact that we will get old and our bodies will change. When we see others getting old we may think to...
Let the Light Within You Be Revealed
We say that a person is a good person if they have good thoughts and ideas—the kind that will bring benefit to humanity. We say a person is not good if the thoughts in their mind are selfish and are of a bad quality. A person may look very beautiful or handsome and...
Attachment Is Not Going to Help You
The best way to avoid attachments, clinging, and overindulgence is to think of the results of that kind of thinking. Attachment always brings some sort of anxiety, tension, and fear. When you are attached to something, you want to protect whatever it. If you don’t...
How Responsible Are You for Your Actions?
Those who are realized beings, who have become enlightened, always must act responsibly. But, their only responsibility is to allow things to happen to them because they realize they are instruments of the Divine. As such, they are no longer creating any new karma....
What is the Purpose of Life?
Students often ask me questions like, “Why am I here on this earth?“ “What am I to do here?“ and “What is the purpose of life?“ The answer is that we are here to fulfill our part of the work in the great universal mission. There is one universal plan, a cosmic plan,...
The Eye of the Self
One can appreciate Yoga, and be a yogi, without disturbing one’s own faith. There are Yoga centers all over the world. Often, students begin with Hatha Yoga, the physical side. Gradually, when they understand the true essence of Yoga, they want to go more deeply into...
Integrating Yoga into Your Life
In the morning and evening, take some time for your personal physical and mental Yoga practice. This should include a little pranayama, meditation and some asana. The entire thing need not take more than an hour, or an hour and a half. You can always find some time in...
Go Within
Nothing is going to make you always happy. That’s what the Mother Nature teaches. She says, “You are running after me for happiness; stop running.” Sometimes we hear people saying, “I’ve run and run and run and now I’m tired of running. I’m going to stop.” If that...
Integral Yoga: Looking Back, Going Forward
In October 2020, Swami Karunananda gave the following talk—during the San Francisco Integral Yoga Institute’s 50th anniversary celebration—on the future of the Integral Yoga teachings and organization. A reporter once asked me to describe Swami Satchidananda’s legacy,...
When Hatha Meets Raja
Michael Rhadeya Plasha (Yoga, Ayurvedic and meditation educator and an addiction, trauma and chronic disease specialist) has spent two decades refining his practice and teaching of Hatha Yoga while integrating Raja Yoga into the class. In this article he shares what...
Escapism is Not Spirituality
Is it possible to live without war? We can’t really live without fighting. What do you do when you eat? Are you not at war with your food? You chew everything and then when it goes down in your digestive system and gets churned up and digested there is another kind of...