Yoga students should be very, very careful when it comes the kundalini. It is a dynamic force, part of the cosmic force, that is in everybody. It is something like a seed that is alive and has the quality to germinate into a big tree. But, if you break open the seed...
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...
In this enlightening 1976 interview, American TV host and journalist Bill Boggs spoke with Swami Satchidananda and Ram Dass in New York City. They discussed a range of topics from many paths to our goal, happiness, suffering, enlightenment, prison Yoga, and more....
In order to be attuned to the Cosmic Consciousness, you have to be tuned in. If you haven’t tuned yourself in, then nothing will come. And if you tune to a wrong station, horrible things will come. But when you are tuned well, when you are at ease, everything comes to...
Through venerating our Guru, our lineage and traditions, we are connecting with the principle of Guru-tattva. This is summarized in Śrīgurustotram: akhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṁ vyāptaṁ yena carācaram tatpadaṁ darśitaṁ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ Salutations to that Guru, who...
Sri Swami Satchidananda often reminded us that the great surfers spend thousands of dollars to travel across the globe to find the big waves, and to experience the thrill of riding them into the shore. Emotionally, socially, economically and spiritually we are...
When I was a young boy, I used to dream a lot about wild animals in the jungle. And very often, in these dreams, they used to chase me. I would run and run and get so tired and when I felt that I couldn’t run anymore and the tiger was very close to me, right in the...
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...
On June 21st, we celebrate the annual International Day of Yoga. In honor of this day, we are publishing this inspiring essay by Sharon Gannon (cofounder of Jivamukti Yoga and spiritual activist) that reveals the heart and soul of what Yoga is all about. yam hi na...
There is a great Vedic chant: “Samgachadhvam samvadadhvam samvomanamsi janatam,” which means, “Let us walk together very well, let us talk together, and let out minds be united to think together.” And this is the need of the hour. We have faced, and we are facing, the...
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...
Question: Because I had a difficult childhood, my therapist tells me I have to nurture myself to become whole and balanced. You teach that renunciation is the key to peace. Is there a conflict between self-nurturing and renunciation? Is there a way to reconcile these...
The most cherished treasure in life is peace. You can go anywhere in the world, but you can be always happy only if you can keep your peace. On the other hand, you may have everything in the world, and I mean everything, but if you don’t have peace you have nothing....
The entire world is nothing but your projection. Each person sees the world with his or her own color, and that’s their world. You cannot insist and say that things are this way or that way just because this is the way you see it. The other person will always say,...
When people are facing very serious illness or great loss, they often ask me, “How can I still have faith?” My answer is, “Keep the faith.” All medical treatments work better if you have faith. Does fear ever help you? No. On the other hand the fear makes you feel...
Thayumanuvar, a great South Indian saintly poet, was also the prime minister to a king. He was once asked, if a married or unmarried life was better. He answered in the following way. If you realize that you are nothing but a top, spun around and somebody’s playing...