In Mexico, the Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd; the first day is devoted to the children and the second to the adults. This tradition is probably around 3000 years old, but since November 2nd is also the Christian All Souls Day, the blending of cultures—which characterizes Mexico in general—fits nicely here. People set up…
Bhakti Yoga or Yoga of Devotion
Devotion is love, and love is our true nature. The term bhakti comes from the root bhaj, which means attachment to God. Bhajan, bhakti, anurag, prem, priti, or worship, are all synonyms and refer to love and devotion to the Divine. According to the teachings of yoga, devotion to God is developed in nine different ways, and intense love is…
Mantra Repetition or Japa Yoga
One of my fondest memories about having Sri Anandi Ma, an enlightened saint from India, visit my home in the summer of 2003, while doing public programs, was that I had the privilege to massage her feet almost every evening. Once I started rubbing her feet, my mind would immediately quiet down, and all I could hear was the mantra…
Ashtanga Yoga: Eight Limb Yoga
Yoga means “union” in the sense of union with the Divine. In this sense, yoga is the path and goal of all human existence, that is, the realization of the Self as our true, inner nature. In the West, yoga has come to mean only hatha yoga or yoga postures (asanas). In fact, this is only one aspect of the…
The Purpose of Karma and Healing
Yes, you are here to heal. We are all here to heal. It is not easy, but it is possible, because it is our true essence and our ultimate goal. So start thinking of health—be it on a physical, mental or spiritual level—as freedom, for that is what it truly is, and perceiving yourself as a whole being, for there is no true healing on only one level…
About the Nature of Pain
We all know what pain is, we all have experienced physical, mental, or emotional pain at some point or another throughout our life. Pain is suffering and as long as we are in the body, it is inevitable, it is part of life. Yet we seldom understand what the meaning of our pain is, what its purpose may be, or how it arises, and we try to avoid it at any cost, sometimes even at a high price with drugs, alcohol, or other addictions.
The Five Body Layers or Koshas
The body-mind complex is influenced by the impressions of the world that we receive through the senses and motor organs, but its ability to receive and process impressions goes beyond them. Our perception of the world does not stop with the physical senses…