833 – Sayings of the Masters

Swami Sivananda

Simple life is a veritable blessing, because it makes one free from cravings and desires, which cause suffering and pain.

Bhakti is a force that will influence our civilization, culture and relationships.

Empty yourself. Tune your radio. Unite your mind. The rest will take place when the proper time is due.

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758 – Hindu prayers

How do we look at the sun? When one wakes up in the morning, folding one’s hands with the eyes closed, facing the Sun is a powerful prayer. Next with eyes closed, rubbing the palms of the hands together and placing the warm palms on the eyes. It is a powerful practice. Everyone loves the sun and it is only in Hindu dharma, that the sun is described as the soul of the whole universe; sun is the source of for all living things. Continue reading

739 – What time frame are we in?

My dear ones, we are in a time frame which is heralding good tidings. Let us look back and see how our past year was spent. How would we like to change it? Have we been conscientious in our quest? What can we do? There are so many things which can be accomplished. We have to seek and the only then will we know the truth. The truth can be cruel but what is worse is when we become indifferent to each other. Our Antennae are out there, but they are only there for our friends. Continue reading

664 – Speak with Love

So that it remains etched in Ether.

The ancient rishis in India believed that the divine aphorisms of the Vedas once uttered remained forever in the Aakash. Ether is the medium through which we can communicate with Gods using sound vibrations caused by the chanting of mantras and sacred syllables. Continue reading

566 – Chant with your heart – part 5

Spinal passage rotation with kundalini visualization and Soham.

Be relaxed mentally and physically. Practice deep rhythmic breathing. Become aware of the spinal passage and take the ingoing breath from ajna chakra at the top of the spinal passage down to mooladhara chakra at the base. As the breath moves down the spinal passage, try to feel it piercing each chakra in turn, but do not try to name them or stop at any one. Continue reading

547 – The power of worldly possessions

We all love our possessions and are happy to be possessed by them. Many of us tend to think of our loved ones as possessions. When you look at the meaning of this word, it means ownership, custody. Is it possible to own someone? What happens to us when we think of some object as belonging to us? It grasps us and we wish to have it with us, permanently. Continue reading

459 – Celebrate your inner Christmas

Swami Satyananda Saraswati said in December 25,1983 during his stay in Australia:

“The divine baby is the Christ, who came onto this mortal plane of consciousness in order to save and to redeem us, and to destroy the tamasic and demonic forces in and around us.

When Christ came, he destroyed avidya (ignorance). He denounced the so-called institutionalized forces which were surviving and thriving in the name of religion. Is the situation any different today? Will he accept what is going in, in the name of religion?

I know one thing that is higher consciousness which is called Christ Consciousness, Buddha Consciousness, or Krishna Consciousness, is awakened in you at any time in your life, it is not going to bring disaster. It will be the beginning of knowledge, experience, bliss, and the feeling of unity with every living person. That is why Yoga is taught. Knowledge is not enough; you need the experience which is like a flash of lightning.

Understand, who is Christ? Which Christ do you know? Is he the Christ born of a worldly father? Is he the Christ, who is the indwelling entity in every heart? Is he the Christ who creates a vision of the whole universe within and without? Is he the Christ, who transcends everything? He is all four and he came down in a physical body. He was not a myth. He was a man in flesh and blood. He lives in our hearts.

Wherever you can awaken yourself, he is there in your heart.”

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218 – Lal Ded, a truly liberated saint

Lal Ded was born in the fourteenth century, and she was a feminist saint and a mystic poet. She had an education as in Kashmir, girls were educated. She was married at the age of twelve. Her in-laws ill-treated her. They starved her and gave her only a handful of rice to eat. She left her husband and became a disciple of Sed Bayu, a Shaivite guru. She shed her clothes and became a digamber swami. She was unembarrassed about her body, she had a huge stomach. In a few years she had eclipsed her guru in wisdom and bhakti. She taught that one should connect with one’s soul and remove ritual from our meditation. She told a priest that a temple and an image were just like stone. She was venerated by both Muslims and Hindus. Continue reading

James Swartz – Action, renunciation and indifference to objects – Talk 9

Actions won’t remove ignorance. Actions and ignorance are not
in conflict. Knowledge will remove ignorance. By sadhana you
don’t remove the basic ignorance: I am the doer! Moksha is the
negation of the doer. Actions don’t give lasting happiness.
Verse 4: Supreme love of your self. The immortality benefit. All
your worries stop, no tension anymore. The instinct to do
something to survive is produced by ignorance. Its a beautiful
world. Verses 5-7: Everything is perfect. Teaching is perfect. No
need for a new teaching. It does not generate desires. Turning
everything over to the Lord. You are like a baby. Verse 8: Spirit
of renunciation. You hurt yourself with the fear thought. Its good
to get rid of things. Renunciation of worldy and spiritual duties.
The wonderful power of desire to make the lifes of people better.
Desire is your life force. Verse 9: For renunciate objects
are value neutral because they are inert, matter. Value is
projected of conscious beings on inert objects. You only
experience the thought of an object. The location of objects
teaching. Inference versus direct perception. The value of an
object is projected by your conditioning depending on your
values.

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James Swartz – Love, Ishvara and Informal Devotion to God – Talk 4

By reading Vedanta texts it is easy to misinterpret them.
Ignorance and knowledge are mixed up. Teaching makes
difference between ignorance and knowledge clear. Live your
life based on knowledge not on emotions. Isvara and action.
What is real? You see reality on the basis of your experiences.
Reflecting media. Three gunas and the mind. 2. Informal
devotion. Personal deity, ishta devata. Religion. Influence and
judgements of the family. God is a helpful concept in the mind.
God doesn’t judge. Dead gurus don’t judge. Living gurus make
you grow. In informal devotion you bring God down to your
level. Vedanta lifts you up to Gods level. Karma Yoga as the
beginning stage.

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James Swartz – Love, Existence and Scripture – Talk 2

Meditation on the silence. It is impossible not to love. You are
Love: Sat Chid Ananda. Every action is motivated by love of
the self. What is existence? Scripture as the appropriate
means of knowledge. You are not a person. The person is an
object known to you. Three states. Experience of the self?
Everything you see reflects you. What are you doing to be
aware or to exist?

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More on: Vedanta.

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