During the Apollo 13 space mission to the moon, I was asked what I thought about going to the moon and the significance of such a mission. My immediate response was: I would like to go if they would take me! These explorations signify the restlessness and curiosity of...
The saints and sages of many faiths are dynamic examples of how spiritual awakening is accompanied by a natural impulse to serve humanity. After experiencing the interconnection of all of life, many of these great beings were moved by a profound compassion to dedicate...
Timothy Leary was more or less the originator of the psychedelic drug movement. When he met me in the late 1960s, he asked if I’d like to try some LSD. So I asked him, “Since you think that your LSD can create yogis, why don’t you create some other drugs that can...
Ayurveda and Yoga are sister sciences. In this interview, David Frawley, PhD (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) addresses their complementarity and where asana fits into both of these ancient systems from a holistic perspective. He also clarifies the intent of asana and the...
It’s been a whirlwind of losses in the past year: from the several million deaths due to the pandemic and to the many luminaries who have left the earth, including most recently sports legends Hank Aaron and Kobe Bryant; actors Chadwick Boseman, Cloris Leachman; and...
In Episode 12 of the "Two Old Fogey Yogis" podcast, our two yogis discuss the 5 kleshas (obstacles presented in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). In a deep and encouraging way, they share how we can work with these and other challenges more skillfully, that transforming...
In a short series of new inspirational videos, Nalanie Harilela Chellaram (founder of Service in Satchidananda and Integral Yoga Gibraltar/Sotogrande) reads excerpts from her book "Divine Grace," a collection of poems and affirmations. In this video, she shares a...
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....
The recent political drama, on top of the continued devastation wreaked by the COVID virus, has many of us holding our breath in a state of hypervigilance or steeling ourselves against the next assault on our values. While it is important to be aware of the events...
The ego should either become nothing or everything. When it comes to the ego, I don’t believe in the proverb that says that something is better than nothing. You should either become nothing or become everything, but not something. Nothing is better than something. We...
We live in challenging times and don't need more confusion in our lives by misunderstanding spiritual precepts and teachings. While it is true that in the time of Sri Patanjali (whose systematization of Yoga provides Yoga with its classical text, The Yoga Sutras of...
U.S. News & World Report recently ranked 39 diets based on input from a panel of health experts and declared The Ornish Diet #1 in healthy heart diets and #9 for best diet overall! The Ornish Diet was created in 1977 by Dr. Dean Ornish who noted: "Swami...
A new year often means making resolutions and setting goals. In this video from an annual New Year's Silent Yoga Retreat at Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville (Virginia) several years ago, Swami Karunananda (senior monk and chair of the Integral Yoga Spiritual Life Board)...
What drew you to your spiritual path? Does modern Yoga throw out the “baby with the bathwater” when it goes post-lineage? In Ep 10 of the “Two Old Fogey Yogis” podcast, our hosts explore the relevance of a traditional spiritual path in today’s world and what drew each...
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,...
In the real world, there are all kinds of things you hear about meditation if you listen to people who have busy, active lives as well a thriving meditation practice. When people grab a few minutes to meditate, the impulse toward action continues. There is an...