The Hidden Meaning of Yoga | Patanjali Yoga Sutras
The first four sutras of the famous Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are the essence of yoga philosophy and practice. These sutras contain the well-known Sanskrit phrase yogas chitta vritti nirodha, which means “yoga is the cessation of the whirlpools (fluctuations) of mind.” In this episode of The Sacred Word, I will explain what these four sutras actually mean and why they are imperative to comprehend to further your meditation practice and eventual union with universal consciousness, yoga. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
A Mystic’s Controversial View of Spiritual Awakening
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff had one of the most controversial views on individual enlightenment and collective awakening. But this perspective was not a new philosophy and actually makes a lot of sense when we explore it at length. In this episode of The Sacred Word, I will explain Gurdjieff’s view of how our individual enlightenment is opposed by something much greater than ourselves. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
Lord Shiva’s Song Chapter 3 Explained: The Knowledge of Shiva’s Existence in the World
In the Īśvara Gītā, Chapter 3, stanzas 1-7, Shiva explains to the great sages the nature of the unmanifest Brahman (Shiva is a representation of the ultimate reality of Brahman). Shiva explains how the unmanifest Brahman dwells in the world and yet is beyond it. These seven stanzas are designed for all of us to understand how that unmanifest Lord dwells within us as one consciousness. In this episode of The Sacred Word, I will unpack all seven stanzas so that you too can come to the knowledge of Brahman’s existence in the world and in your own heart. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
How Your Ego Survives Spiritual Transformation
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will explain how our ego survives spiritual transformation. When people encounter spirituality the ego has a tendency to slip under the door of our apparent spiritual transformation. This is in part due to how we drop our social role and persona for a spiritual role and persona. This pervades the way we dress, speak, and behave, which are all predicated on a notion of a higher spiritual morality that we should now embody. But this entire process is essentially what keeps the ego alive and thriving in the background of our new and apparently improved spiritual role. Real spiritual transformation has nothing to do with how you look, behave, or speak. It is something much deeper, a place where the ego is on life support. Find out more. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
BRAHMAN AND THE TRIMURTI: The Relationship Between the Ultimate Reality and the Hindu Gods
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will explain the relationship between Brahman and the Trimurti of Hindu gods, known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. All of the deities of the Hindu pantheon make up a complex system to intricately explain the nature of the universe and consciousness, from the microcosm to the macrocosm. But it is the Trimurti that represents the core of the Ultimate Reality of the universe, Brahman. This relationship represents the unfolding of time, matter and spirit, through the universal process of creation, preservation, and destruction. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
These Simple Mantras Will Help You Through Life’s Most Difficult Situations
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will speak about three spiritual mantras that will help you though life’s most difficult situations. There are thousands of mantras to come out of Asia, but the three mantras I recite are arguably the most calming and powerful. They not only have the ability to help you out of the most difficult situations, but they also posses the ability to bring equanimity to the mind, leading one into a deeper introspection of one’s nature. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
Why Study is Crucial for Spiritual Growth and Maturity
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will explain why intellectual study is crucial for spiritual growth and maturity. There are a growing number of people interested in spirituality who are under the illusion that they don’t need to intellectually understand the tradition they are attracted to. This has developed due to the misinterpretations of classical texts through bad translations, resulting in a deep misunderstanding, usually based on someones cultural biases, beliefs, and cognitive style. Such misunderstandings in part happened as a result of the migration of Eastern philosophy to the West, leading to the materialistically driven and overly sensationalistic new age spirituality that has become popular. A user’s manual is important for anything we want to understand deeply, spirituality is no exception. Theory and practice have always been the core of the great Eastern traditions, no matter whether it is Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism. These three traditions, specifically, explain that if an individual has no frame of reference, then there is no way one could understand the deep wisdom and meditative experiences passed down through these traditions. Find out why study is crucial. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
The Negative Impact of Observing Thoughts in Meditation and Self-Inquiry
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will explain how observing our thoughts in meditation and self-inquiry can have a negative impact on our life if we don’t have the correct knowledge to practice correctly. A common habit in meditation and self-inquiry is people begin to demonize thoughts, creating a divide within themselves based on the hunt for the perceived enemy of the ego, which causes an artificial split within the mind. This can lead to numerous mental health issues. A lot of this bad meditation habit comes down to how we project our indoctrinated beliefs of right and wrong onto thoughts that naturally arise during practice. This is against the nature of meditation and self-inquiry. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
Taoism’s Criticism of Confucianism & the Modern World: Why Social Roles and Sincerity are a Problem
In this episode of Enlightenment Today, I will explain an important element within Taoism that many people often don’t know about due to a lack of knowledge of what the verses actually mean that arise from incorrect translations of the Tao Te Ching. Taoism in its essence is a critique of Confucianism and this also relates to our modern world, as Taoism is not truly isolated to one period of time, but can critique any civilization throughout time. Nevertheless, its critique of the teachings of Confucius is solely focused on the inherit problems with social roles and sincerity that ultimately lead to falsity, hypocrisy, and many forms of psychopathy. NOTE: This site directs people to Amazon and is an Amazon Associate member. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you. The pages on this website may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of maintaining this site.
Effortless Action: The Art of Spontaneity (Taoist Documentary)
Effortless Action: The Art of Spontaneity is the sequel to my documentary The Art of Effortless Living. This documentary explores the spontaneous nature of the Taoist wisdom of wu-wei as explained by the great sages Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. Wu-wei is primarily thought of as non-doing, but there is another component of wu-wei related to effortless action, a state of intelligent spontaneity, where one is effortless in every moment of life. This state of mind is commonly known as “being in the zone,” except the idea of “you” doing it and achieving something has vanished and been replaced by an embodied cognitive state akin to a skilled craftsman, minus the ego. Taoism explains that this ability to be in the zone is actually our natural state of mind. Integrating the wisdom of the ancient sages with modern science, Effortless Action explains how world-class artists and athletes reach peak performance—and how you, too, can harness wu-wei to make your actions effortless, enjoy intelligent spontaneity, and reach your optimal potential in this life. The spontaneous nature of wu-wei is the real freedom we yearn for because effortless action is the enlightened mind in its natural state of spontaneity.
