We read often that more people each year describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” Who can blame them? Are they throwing the “baby out with the bathwater?” We are not islands, despite the poet’s claim. As we help others we are helped. The question becomes one of choosing those with whom one is in harmony with you, knowing that … Read More
Yogananda’s life as he shared in his famous autobiography was a search for both universal truth AND the “concomitant” disciple-guru relationship. Here in the West we often hear Christians insist that if “You do not accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior you will go to HELL!” That’s enough to make one run for the hills. But what if it … Read More
Kriya Yoga, made popular by Yogananda’s life story, can be described in many ways: it is a technique of meditation; it is given in the relationship of discipleship to the Kriya Yoga masters; it is part of a family of raja yoga meditation techniques; and, it has several levels.
This week begins a four-part class in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The Yoga Sutras are among the core scriptural sources chosen by Paramhansa Yogananda when he came from India to the West to share the ancient wisdom of India. There are innumerable sources from which Yogananda could have chosen in addition to which are countless commentaries by some of … Read More
I read a poem by the medieval woman saint, Mirabai as quoted by Yogananda in Chapter 7 of his life story. For “all thy getting, get understanding” and that understanding is not of the mind but of the heart. Love is joy; love is enthusiasm; love is respect; love is acceptance. And while virtue cannot by itself take us into … Read More
Few people realize the connection between Gandhi and ML King. King was a follower of Gandhi. He visited India and met with Gandhi’s successors. In his first civil rights protest in Montgomery, Alabama, he made Gandhi and his teachings household word in the deep South!
According to legend, the female Sphinx lived outside the city of Thebes and tested travelers with a riddle: what creature has one voice but, in the morning, has four feet; in the afternoon two feet; and in the evening, three feet?
“The characteristic features of Indian culture have long been a search for ultimate verities and the concomitant disciple-guru relationship.”
This sentence encapsulates the timeless and ever timely reality that life is both objective AND subjective.