Oct 15, 2013
The Sanskrit word yoga means both union with the divine and the means to attain that union. Over the millennia, many kinds of spiritual discipline evolved and were called yogas. Swami Vivekananda codified these numerous paths and practices under four headings, corresponding to basic personality types: for the emotional, Bhakti-Yoga, the Yoga of Devotion; for the active, Karma-Yoga, the Yoga of Unselfish Work; for the intellectual, Jnana-Yoga, the Yoga of Discriminating Knowledge; and for the meditative, Raja-Yoga, the Yoga of Mind-Control. In this issue of American Vedantist, we highlight each of these approaches in turn.
Oct 15, 2013 |
Bhakti means one-pointed love for God. It prunes away everything that is not God and focuses on him alone. Bhaktas hold him in the forefront of their minds. Everything else fades into background shadows. Some people pray for long life, good health, riches, fame, power, enjoyment. Bhaktas don’t want any of that. They want God alone.
Oct 15, 2013 |
It has been said that the Bhagavad-Gita is the summation of the teachings of the Upanishads and that the Gita itself is an Upanishad—“Gitopanishad.” Nearly all the teachings of the Upanishads are also given in the Gita. But the reverse cannot be said. Some teachings in the Gita are not given, or are only hinted at, in the Upanishads.
Oct 15, 2013 |
The following is a condensed rendering of a translation by Swami Amritananda of an ancient Sanskrit text. It is specifically intended for Westerners, modifying the original so the meaning can be easily understood. Published by permission of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Chennai, India, publisher of the original translation.
Oct 15, 2013 |
Raja Yoga, the Royal Road, could as well be called the Hero’s Journey, for who but a hero can take the mind firmly in one hand and with the other, wipe it crystal clear? That is the task Patanjali gives us in his Yoga Sutras, and he explains, step by step, how it can be done.
Oct 14, 2013 |
Interview of Annapurna Sarada, President of SRV Associations, by Joan Elisabeth Shack, President of the Sri Sarada Society and Editor of Integral Vedanta News.
Oct 14, 2013 |
Both discovered their humanism and became deeply concerned for the poor after travelling extensively in their youth, one across India and the other throughout South America.
Oct 14, 2013 |
Here is certainly a useful and inspirational book for anyone who is looking for an introduction to the spiritual dimension of Indian philosophy—and that is probably what most people are seeking in Indian philosophy: a reasoned and reasonable approach to spiritual life and the means to attain it.
Oct 14, 2013 |
Edith Tipple has put to good use her remarkable capacity for organizing and presenting spiritual literature in this wonderful collection of lectures by the former head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. The vivacity and universality of Swami Prabhavananda’s teachings are well represented in this aptly titled volume.
Oct 14, 2013 |
Its the late 1970s, and Swami Tathagatananda is speaking in Sacramento on a visit with Swami Shraddhananda. The brother monks are having a joyous reunion. We are listening to Tathagatananda’s astute and powerful oratory for the first time. Suddenly, at the critical point of his talk, his voice goes supersonic!
