Escaping Samsara

Swami Jaya Devi Bhagavati is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Kashi Atlanta , a nonprofit urban yoga ashram that has served Atlanta for 21 years. She is an urban yoga monk, working to inspire people to live deeply, loving everyone along the way. Swami has studied yoga, pranayama (yogic breath), meditation, and healing in-depth since 1985. She took her monastic vows in the Saraswati lineage of...

Sebene Selassie is an African American Buddhist teacher. She has been studying Buddhism for 30 years and teaching for 10. She has worked extensively for not-for-profit organisations everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa. This year, she published her first book via HarperOne titled You Belong: A Call for Connection .  In this enriching conversation...

Robert Moses has 50 years' experience as a teacher of yoga and advaita vedanta. Robert served in the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers for 22 years. He is a founder and co-publisher of Namarupa – Categories of Indian thoughts, a magazine about the philosophies and arts of India. He is leading annual pilgrimages to sacred places of India and offering classes on Pranayama, Bandhas, Kriyas...

Dr. Erik Davis is an American writer, scholar, journalist and public speaker whose writings have ranged from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of mysticism. Few people are able to talk about the spirituality with  a precision and accuracy born of a commitment to always remain open to the Mystery.  Erik shares his own path, describing how he maintains scientific viewpoint...

Leigh has been practicing meditation since 1985. He is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema. He began teaching retreats in Europe and North America in 1997, and is the author of the book "Right Concentration - A Practical Guide to the Jhanas". This is first part of our in-depth exploration of different aspects of Buddhist teachings that Leigh generously took time and energy for....

Leigh has been practicing meditation since 1985. He is the senior American student of the late Ven. Ayya Khema. He began teaching retreats in Europe and North America in 1997, and is the author of the book "Right Concentration - A Practical Guide to the Jhanas". This is first part of our in-depth exploration of different aspects of Buddhist teachings that Leigh generously took time and energy for....

Norway-born, Kathmandu-based KPJAYI authorised level 2 Ashtanga yoga teacher, co-founder of the first Ashtanga studio In Oslo, buddhist practitioner and scholar of Himalayan languages and Tibetan philology - Ellen Johannesen shares with us her fascinating life story as we change between buddhist and yogic perspectives exploring the path to liberation. Show notes From contemporary dance to yoga Mov...

A lover of the ancient and obscure, Forrest Knutson is a yogi householder, writer and meditation teacher. He offers many great video instructions on Kriya Yoga and meditation on his YouTube channel, as well as through his courses and trainings. Show notes Search for Truth, "Hamsa" meditation and first spiritual experience Joining monastic community Lahiri Mahasaya and Babaji Wondering up in the hi...

We are beyond excited to kick off the new year with these 2 beautiful guests - Deepika Mehta and Mark Robberds. Yoga couple, Ashtanga practitioners and movement specialists, teachers and successful Instagramers, humble and curious beings on the spiritual path - which of these labels come close to who they really are? Listen in! Show notes Deepika's path to spirituality Relationships, practice and...

We are very happy to present to you this interview with Gregor Maehle that was recorded around a year ago. Gregor's path is a remarkable example of limitless determination to find the Truth. While not attempting to gain popularity and fame his ideas and views can be polarizing, provoking and challenging. He dismisses authorities, hierarchies, guru worship and other unhealthy group dynamics. By doi...

Harmony Slater is Ashtanga Yoga practitioner and teacher based in Calgary, Canada. Her search for meaning led her from ballet dancing to studying philosophy, religion and psychology, travelling to China to learn Buddhist meditation and eventually meeting Sri. K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. In this lively conversation we talk about her path and discuss many other topics: Entranced by Sri Yantra...

This is a second interview in our two-part special with yoga teachers Mary Taylor and Richard Freeman. In our first conversation we were primarily focusing on different aspects of the Yoga practice. Now in this episode we explore the relationship between Yoga and Buddhism. We look closely at the content of both teachings to understand how they intersect, whether they are talking about same or simi...

Our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude, and we are honoured to bring you a very special series of conversations with a yogic couple, who have influenced the world of modern yoga probably more than anyone else. Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor dedicated their lives to practice and study of the spiritual traditions of the East and are sharing the knowledge revealed to them humbly and graciously...

Bhante Panna is an American monk living in a forest monestry near Bangkok. He has a popular Instagram (@bronthepath} where he shares his life of contemplation. In this conversation we address monkhood, spiritual powers, communing with nature, ending racism, and liberation. I know you're going to like this one! Show Notes 2.50 Bhante's spiritual awakening while climbing a mountain  11.40 The spirit...

Anthony "Prem" Carlisi has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga for over 40 years. He learned directly from Pattabhi Jois in 1978 for several months in Southern California. In 1979, he was amongst the first small group of Western students to study with Jois in his home town of Mysore, India. He is considered one of the American pioneers of Ashtanga yoga, along with David Williams, Nancy Gilg...

  In this episdoe we talk to Oliver Crossley from Yogic Physio. Oliver is a Registered Physiotherapist, Yoga and Meditation Teacher. He is a long-term practitioner of Zen Buddhism, Ashtanga Vinyasa and Vinyasa Krama Yoga in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. He is a passionate proponent of evidence-based rehabilitation and person-centred care and loves helping people get back to moving at their bes...

The shrine has a mosque-like roof, white as a meringue. People, some in robes, walk in-between evergreen trees laden with jackfruit. It's the rainy season in Bangladesh and everything is hot and wet. Muhammed Ali fixes us with a calm gaze beneath authoritarian eyebrows. Behind him, a woman sweeps around the grave of saint Lalon Shah and that of his mother. The two six-foot-long prisms are covered...

Ajahn Achalo an Australian buddhist monk and current abbot of Anandagiri Forest Monastery in North Thailand. He was born in Brisbane and ordained in the lineage of Ajahn Chah in 1996. In recent times he has created some extensive online teachings that are proving popular on meditation apps, Spotify and the like. You can find his writings and Dharma talks on the website of the monastery. In this co...

From Ferguson to New York, and from Germany and South Africa to Australia and Brazil, Lisa Sharon Harper leads trainings that increase clergy and community leaders' capacity to organize people of faith toward a just world. A prolific speaker, writer and activist, Ms. Harper is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us , a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by...

On this episode we talk to Ajahan Succito a british-born Buddhist monk and former abbot of Cittaviveka monestry in the UK. I became aware of Ajahn Succito when my teacher gave a series of talks on the Paramis – the Buddhist virtues – based on his book on the subject. I hadn't heard of the Paramis or Succito but my teacher was so enthused by his presentation of the subject I couldn't help but get a...

To us Monica is an embodiment of the yogic way of living. With around 40 years of spiritual practice she is also a Doctor of Chiropractic , Yoga Therapist and co-author of " Ashtanga Yoga, Practice and Philosophy " and " Ashtanga Yoga, The Intermediate Series ". Her passion for teaching yogic anatomy unlocks this uneasy subjects to many of her students. In intensive immersions that she offers toge...

Talking to Simon Borg-Olivier is like going snorkelling with Jacque Yve Cousteau - you suddenly find yourself in a bathyscaphe at the bottom of the ocean exploring its depth and multifacetedness of creatures you never knew existed, although in our case it's the ocean of Yoga and the creatures are different angles to view mudras, kriyas, asanas, yogic breathing and the concept of movement itself. I...

Lorraine Cavanagh is an Anglican priest, theologian and a sincere practitioner of Christian path. Her journey is about cultivating and helping others to establish personal relationship with God, outside of any dogmatic concept or structure. It's about spirituality, and not about church. She is also a writer and a podcast host . In this interview Lorraine shares with us her thoughts on the problems...

Mark Togni is a Zen monk, advanced Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practitioner and teacher. In this geeky interview Mark shared with us his insights on intersection of great amount of different practices and traditions. Differences in effects of Vipassana, Zen and Yogic chakra and Kundalini raising meditation techniques. Interdependent co-arising in Zen, self-inquiry approach of Advaita Vedanta and Patanja...

Nicky Knoff has an incredible life story and a yoga journey that stretches over more than 50 years. Being 82 at the time when we recorded this interview, she is vibrant, full of life and excited about teaching yoga to her students. Nicky shares the story of her life with us – from growing up in a prisoner's camp in Indonesia, discovering yoga and meeting many inspirational teachers to her philosop...