Light of the Spirit Podcast

Spiritual seekers often assume that enlightenment requires increasingly complex methods, secret practices, or extraordinary experiences. In this August Satsang, Swami Nirmalananda Giri explains why the opposite is true. Answering a wide range of questions, he discusses: • why spiritual realization is fundamentally simple • the true purpose of yoga and meditation • Soham meditation and why he considers it one of the most direct practices • sacred imagery and its place in spiritual life • miracles, siddhis, and why they are not the goal • karma, death, rebirth, and liberation • patriotism, duty, and the yogic life • practical advice for overcoming obstacles in meditation Throughout the discussion, Swamiji repeatedly returns to one essential truth: Realization comes through awakening consciousness—not accumulating techniques. If these teachings are meaningful to you, please Like, Subscribe, and share this video with others seeking authentic yoga and Self-realization. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:38 Two recommended books on Nityananda of Ganeshpuri 04:31 New book: Immortal Words of Anandamayi Ma 06:23 No such thing as a stupid question 08:05 Why is there confusion in spiritual systems? 16:17 A story of Kabir and Tulsidas 21:53 About the desire to leave the body at will at the time of death 28:21 Sri Ramakrishna’s homely story 31:15 Yogananda quote: the desire for God is the Way to God 32:37 Where is the best place for religious imagery? 41:37 Will all mantras lead to the same result? 42:42 Tips on avoiding dozing off in meditation 46:35 More about sacred imagery 56:00 How is Soham japa done? What is the difference between japa and meditation? 59:47 If all is an illusion, can a yogi support a country? 1:09:01 Karma: the kids story of the echo OCOY.org RESOURCES Get FREE pdf spiritual ebooks at our E-Library: https://ocoy.org/site/e-library/ Listen to Podcast on practical spiritual topics: https://ocoy.org/podcasts/ Website: https://ocoy.org A Practical Resource for the Spiritual Student–Discover the timeless wisdom of India and the yoga path to freedom FREE Meditation Guide and weekly blog updates, podcasts and more: https://ocoy.org/signup FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL https://www.facebook.com/light.of.spirit/ https://twitter.com/Light_of_Spirit https://instagram.com/lightofthespirit/

In this July Satsang, Swami Nirmalananda Giri speaks on the real help we can offer the world: becoming a yogi, working on our own consciousness, and awakening the divine Self within. Beginning with reflections on America, freedom, and the divinity of the individual, Swamiji then turns to deeper questions of yoga and spiritual life: the yugas, Soham meditation, group meditation, society, Atman and Jiva, karma, positive thinking, mantra, and the necessity of direct experience. A central theme of this satsang is that the world is not truly helped by argument, agitation, or trying to remake others in our image. The real help comes through the individual who meditates, practices sadhana, and manifests the divinity within. As consciousness is uplifted, the whole world is helped. Question Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:17 Inner meaning of Independence Day 05:30 Christ of India Audiobook 06:18 Soham plaques from Etsy 09:15 What is the Kali Yuga, and yugas in general? 15:42 Experience in longer meditations 24:30 Is group meditation better than individual meditation? 26:43 How to fix the mind on God 27:17 Is there spiritual hope for American society with all its problems? 33:12 Satsang or spiritual study? (or something else?) 35:52 What is the difference between Atman and Jiva? 40:48 About the Ribhu Gita 43:16 Do Buddhism and Advaita teach non-existence upon Realization? 43:55 Is time linear or cyclic? 44:04 How can I cure the habit of negative thoughts? 46:15 Are there individual Atmans? 48:45 Is Consciousness an attribute of the Self, or the Self itself? 49:30 Can only initiated people practice yoga? 56:39 Sin and asking for forgiveness of sin–different perspectives 59:24 How karma is in the mind #satsang #SpiritualAwakening #Vedanta OCOY.org RESOURCES Get FREE pdf spiritual ebooks at our E-Library: https://ocoy.org/site/e-library/ Listen to Podcast on practical spiritual topics: https://ocoy.org/podcasts/ Website: https://ocoy.org A Practical Resource for the Spiritual Student–Discover the timeless wisdom of India and the yoga path to freedom FREE Meditation Guide and weekly blog updates, podcasts and more: https://ocoy.org/signup FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL https://www.facebook.com/light.of.spirit/ https://twitter.com/Light_of_Spirit https://instagram.com/lightofthespirit/

How can we help a troubled world? In this satsang, Swami Nirmalananda Giri explores a surprising answer: become a yogi. Topics include: • The spiritual power of sacred images • Why thoughts are things • The meaning of Soham meditation • How yoga transforms consciousness • Whether meditation is selfish • Karma and spiritual awakening • Why peace is contagious • How inner transformation benefits the entire world Drawing on the teachings of the yogic tradition, Swamiji explains how sincere spiritual practice changes not only the practitioner, but also the environment and people around them. “You have no idea the good you are doing every moment and every step when you are doing the sacred japa.” Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:37 The benefit of sacred imagery for yogis 10:15 Living the Yoga Life–Perspectives on Yoga 11:21 Where is the soul located in the body? 15:29 Was Siva’s original bodily form female? 18:17 What is hatha yoga? 21:26 Does the unconscious ever clear up or do we evolve beyond it? 27:21 Does Christianity feed the ego by saying Jesus died for them? 29:11 Are we responsible for our thoughts, or only what we focus on? 30:43 How does yoga sadhana affect karma? 32:14 What should the mental attitude be during Soham sadhana? 33:25 What is a “hungry ghost”? 34:44 What is the physical part of yoga? 36:34 Overcoming materialism and becoming emotionally strong. 39:28 Do you advise reading the Book of Enoch? 40:14 About the Nath Hatha Yogis. 44:55 A letter from a successful yogini 51:32 Elevate yourself, then you elevate the world 58:09 Why Americans were attracted to yogis called “Baba” #satsang #SpiritualAwakening #SelfRealization OCOY.org RESOURCES Get FREE pdf spiritual ebooks at our E-Library: https://ocoy.org/site/e-library/ Listen to Podcast on practical spiritual topics: https://ocoy.org/podcasts/ Website: https://ocoy.org A Practical Resource for the Spiritual Student–Discover the timeless wisdom of India and the yoga path to freedom FREE Meditation Guide and weekly blog updates, podcasts and more: https://ocoy.org/signup FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL https://www.facebook.com/light.of.spirit/ https://twitter.com/Light_of_Spirit https://instagram.com/lightofthespirit/

In today’s podcast our friend Jonathan Mahoney asks Abbot George about the Bhagavad Gita, its story and its value for the spiritual seeker. Abbot George discusses Vyasa, the pivotal figure in early Hinduism, and the author of many works, including the epic Mahabharata, from which the Bhagavad Gita is taken. He tell the story of the events leading up to the Mahabharata war, and how Krishna became Arjuna’s charioteer, and how they came to Kurukshetra and surveyed the Pandava and Kaurava forces before the beginning of the great battle. He tells of Arjuna’s sorrows and reservations, and how Krishna exhorts Arjuna to fulfill his destiny. He describes the teachings which Krishna gave Arjuna as an image of the battle of life that each spiritual aspirant must engage in, and how these teachings are of unique value among all spiritual writings. He highly recommends seekers make the study of the Gita a daily part of their lives, and illustrates how great saints and aspirants have likewise done so, and made similar recommendations. The podcast is just over 16 minutes. If you don’t see the player, listen here to What Is the Bhagavad Gita, and Why Is It So Valuable? Further listening: * Introducing the Yoga Life: Laying the Foundations * Raihana Tyabji, the Moslem Saint Who Worshiped Krishna * I Meet Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh  

In today’s podcast our friend Jonathan Mahoney asks Abbot George about Jesus’ role as guardian of the Earth. Listen and you will discover: How Lucifer fell and how it affected the earth. Who were Adam and Eve and where was Paradise. Who were the “Matrikas.” What was the special mystery of the Crucifixion. The Buddhist master who had two Saviors. And much more. Two books are referenced in the podcast. You can find out more about them here: * The Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception, by Max Heindel * Robe of Light: An Esoteric Christian Cosmology, by Abbot George Burke Listen to Jesus as Guardian of the Earth here if you don’t see the player below. The podcast is 34 minutes long.

For our Christmas offering we offer you a podcast about Christmas, and about Christ being born in us. Today's podcast is from an interview by our friend Bianca Vlahos of radio station FIVEaa in Adelaide, Australia.

bout a month ago, Bianca Vlahos of Adelaide, Australia, became a vegan for a multitude of reasons. She researched the topic exhaustively and found several articles about aspects of vegetarianism on our website (See Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet and Humans: Are We Carnivores or Vegetarians by Nature?) She is a radio announcer and producer at PBA-FM in Adelaide, and decided to contact Abbot George about doing a radio interview on the subject of the “connection between the Clarification of Morals & Ethics in relation to the food we eat.” So a few days ago we arose before 3:00 a.m. to prepare for the Australian radio interview which was to be at 6:45 p.m. Australia time. Bianca was an excellent host, having prepared well for the topic, and the interview was a success, going over time because of the interest of the host and listeners. Because of continued interest, there will be a follow-up interview in a couple of weeks. Listen to the interview.

The first time I wrote to Mother Anandamayi, in her reply she referred to me as “my friend,” which she only did in relation to monastics. Others she called “father” or “mother.” To his disciples who had left everything to follow him, Jesus, too, had said: “I have called you friends.” The relationship of father and mother is not by (conscious) choice. A friend, however, is ours by choice. Everyone was related to Mother by nature, but only the monastics were hers by choice, therefore she called them “friend.” The most striking evidence of Mother’s attitude toward secular life was her absolute refusal to enter the home of any married persons–including those of her married devotees. Once my friend, Durgaprasad Sahai, asked Ma to visit his home. She explained that she never entered the homes of married people. So he asked if she would come up onto the veranda of his house? She told him No. She would go into a rented pandal, but not into the house or veranda of grihastas. How could a person deliberately take up a way of life that would bar Mataji from any part of their life? It was obvious to me that her behavior was related to something far more significant than a mere building. The objectionable thing was what it represented. It was the “thought form” that repelled her. In actuality, it was not that Mother refused to enter, but that the very nature of the structure closed her out. Physically Mother could enter the house, but spiritually she could not enter into the way of life conducted there. In English the Sanskrit term for married persons, grihasta, is usually translated “householder.” What an image that evokes! Whenever I hear it I “see” an adult clutching a little toy house and pressing it to himself in frantic fear of losing it, like a child infatuated with a toy. Poor man, he does not realize that though he may possess it, he cannot really live in it. There were married devotees who would ask Mother to come and stay in their newly-built houses before they moved in themselves, and she would do so. But this even more dramatically demonstrated that by their way of life they were turning Mother from their door–an act that could only be regarded as spiritually insane. Mataji was agreeing to stay in their new houses to get the message across to those who would heed. Only one did. Doctor Ghosh was a devotee of Mother in Ranchi. Upon pressure from his family he agreed to be married, and they made the arrangements, including the choice of the bride, as is traditional. At the juncture of two main streets, not far from his office, he built a veritable mansion for himself and his bride. Naturally he invited Mataji to come spend a week in the house prior to the marriage. Before the week was out he came to the realization of what he really was doing. After a token hospitality to Mother he was then going to ban her from his house forever! Then what about his life? Would that, too, be closed to her? Hastening to Mother, Doctor Ghosh begged her to accept the house as hers. When she asked if he would build another one for himself he told her that he would never build or live in a house where she could not come. But how could this be, Mother wanted to know, since after his marriage she would not come into any house in which he lived. That was just it, he countered, he would never marry so that wherever he might be Mataji could also enter there. And so it was. His house became the Anandamayi Ashram of Ranchi and the home of Goddess Kali. There is a footnote to this story that is not insignificant. Wherever Mother stayed in the various Anandamayi ashrams, those rooms were kept exclusively for her. They would be always locked in her absence. No bed or chair upon which she sat was ever used by another. Yet at Mother’s order, whenever Doctor Ghosh came to an ashram he stayed in her room and slept on her bed. Having given his house to Mother, all her houses became his.

I would like to share with you my reflections on monastic life as I approach the fifty-second anniversary of my taking sannyas. How does one know if he should lead the monastic life? The great twentieth-century Indian sage, Sri Ramana Maharshi, had left home at the age of seventeen. After years of solitary life, he became the most renowned spiritual figure of India, his fame spreading widely into Europe and America, as well. One day a young man came to speak with him. “Should I leave home and become a monk?” the young man asked. “No!” was the Mararshi’s immediate answer. “Why not?…You did!” demanded the youth with more than a tinge of indignation. “Yes,” agreed the Maharshi quietly, “but I did not have to ask anyone if I should.” Sri Sarada Devi, the virgin wife of Sri Ramakrishna, who is worshipped as an incarnation of the Divine Mother, said the following: “Whether one calls on God or not, one is already half free if one does not marry. And one will rush ahead with great speed once one’s mind turns to God.” There is a qualification here, though, a very important element that can be found in the Bhagavad Gita That element is swadharma, which means someone’s own inherent disposition, fundamental nature, or potentiality; inherent state of mind; state of inner being. The Gita says: Better one’s own swadharma though deficient than the dharma of another well performed. Better is death in one’s own swadharma; the dharma of another invites danger. (Bhagavad Gita 3:35) Better one’s own swadharma, though imperfect, than the dharma of another well performed; performing the duty prescribed by one’s own swadharma, one does not incur evil. (Bhagavad Gita 18:47) There are people who are miserable because they are not monastics and there are monastics who are miserable because they are. Why is this? Unfulfilment of swadharma. Just being able to fit in and endure either secular or monastic life means nothing. More than once I have had to point out to people that they did not have the swadharma of a monk and should not live the monastic life. Otherwise they would end up old and embittered, feeling life had passed them by. And it would have, though it would be more correct to say that they had turned away from the life they should have led. It is also a fact that I have seen people who were miserable and struggling in frustration because they had the swadharma of a monastic but were leading another kind of life. How does a person determine their swadharma? I would like to tell you about how I knew my swadharma and began to follow it. I have two motives in doing this: helping those who should lead the monastic life and those who should not, but who might want to know what motivates a monk.