For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish

Christianity is not about blind belief. Christianity is about Direct Personal Experience of the Divine. In this lecture we explore the secret teachings of Christian mysticism by investigating some of the non-dual teaching of the greatest Non-Dual Master of all time: Yeshua the Christ! There are many misconceptions about what Christianity is and isn't. Tonight, we try to cut through the dogma...

What is life for? What does it mean to live a fulfilling life as a human being? The answer to that question depends a great deal on the question, "what is it to BE a human being?"/"who am I?" Today we talk about finding and ultimately, following your Dharma (your life's purpose) as a way to overcome lust and greed as well as a preparation for Moksha (liberation). We discus...

In this talk, we explore the very heart of Indian spirituality: renunciation and service. We ask: what are the Vedas and the Upanishads and from what do the Vedas draw scriptural authority? The answers might surprise you! We conclude by examining the lives of India's greatest saint, the 19th CE Bengali master Sri Ramakrishna and his foremost disciple, Swami Vivekananda who first brought the m...

As a young person, we are surrounded by narratives about who we ought to be, what we ought to do, what we ought to own and what pleasures we ought to want in order to "make it" in the world. Our elders hand down belief systems in the guise of wisdom and yet we see right through that hypocrisy! We find it odd to be accepting advice from people on "how to be happy" when those sam...

Happy Halloween! Enjoy this Halloween special :) The enlightened state is a state of complete fearlessness. Prior to enlightenment, our lives are pervaded by a kind of restless anxiety. We want what we want because we are afraid of what might happen to us if we don't get it. As a result, we feel a contraction throughout our day to day experience. But imagine how relaxed, open and compassionat...

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there:  https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord....

For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.g...

For more videos and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish  What is effective and appropriate action with regards to the various political concerns around us?  What role does spiritual practice play in informing our engagement with the world? In this lecture, we explore four distinct schools of South Asian philosophy (Samkhya, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism) to show that...

We look at some key teachings from the philosophical schools of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta to relax into the profound divinity, the easeful joy that is already here for you.  There is a big disjunct between knowing spiritual concepts in the mind and actually experiencing them as a lived reality in daily life. We have all attended many lectures and read many books and yet the glow fades away, the...

What dies when the body dies and what is it that carries on? The theory of Reincarnation, that is, the movement of the Soul from one body to another, is featured in most South Asian schools of philosophy.  Today, we attempt to motivate this theory on scientific and philosophical grounds to prove that not only does this theory have a lot of explanatory power when it come to accounting for certain p...

What IS death? What "dies" exactly? Do YOU end when the body ends? Socrates described philosophy as "preparation for death", Nachiketha learned the secret of life in Death's house in the Katha Upanishad, the Shakyamuni Buddha pointed out that as much as we like to pretend otherwise, impermanence is a fact of life. But impermanence of what? To celebrate today's Pluto R...

We've got to understand what a thing is before we know how to use it meaningfully. We have to ask: what is this world made of? What is real? And what does it mean to be in the world?  Today, we explore the Hard Problem of Matter and the Hard Problem of Consciousness: why is it that the more we look for "matter" through the lens of material science, the more it runs away from us? How...

We are often sold the narrative in New Age circles that we are broken and in need of "healing" which can only happen, of course, after paying lots of money to some self-proclaimed Shaman... Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) adamantly challenges this view by suggesting that you are already enlightened, whole and fulfilled at your very essence. There is nothing missing from you that needs to b...

For more videos, episodes and instruction, visit me at: patreon.com/yogawithnish One of our most advanced guided meditations yet: today, we cultivate Bhakti (devotion). The Way of Devotion engenders a natural, spontaneous and almost effortless kind of spiritual movement away from fear-craving-suffering and towards fearlessness-peace-bliss. Bhakti, the Path of Love is the Secret Sauce of spiritual...

For more videos, lessons and episodes, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish  Happy New Moon in Cancer!  Here is a guided meditation for overcoming pain, grief, and the inevitable transiency of Samsara. We use the Witness (Sakshi) technique from the Advaita Vedanta and Samkhya schools of Indian spiritual philosophy.  Remember:  All things arise and pass away. Entire worlds surge up and dissolve wit...

For videos, instruction and more episodes, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish  Happy Father's Day and Blessed Summer Solstice! Shiva-Shakti, Yang-Yin, Masculine-Feminine, Fatherhood-Motherhood Consciousness-Energy, Energy-Matter...all of these are two aspects of the same thing, two ways of looking at one principle. What is the unity beyond this seeming duality?  Today we explore the Divine...

For more videos, episodes and instructions, join me at patreon.com/yogawithnish  What does our suffering show us about our true nature?  In this video:  1. A few central insights from Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) to cure suffering once and for all 2. An inquiry into the innovations of Kashmir Shaivism to Non-Duality and  3. How this latter worldview articulates suffering as an auspicious teacher...

For more episodes and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish Mother Kali, the black skinned, wild-haired goddess wielding weapons and whirling in an ecstatic dance of awakening has been one of the most fascinating icons in Indian art for centuries on end. What is the hidden meaning of this Dark Devi? Today we discuss some folk stories about Kali and explore their hidden meaning to uncov...

For more episodes, guided meditations and videos, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish In this lecture, we explore the dizzying heights of Buddhist philosophy and practice, tracking the development of ideas starting with the profound insights of one of India's greatest teachers, the Shakyamuni Buddha 2600 years ago all the way to their development into the Tantrik forms of Vajrayana/Mahayana/...

For the video version of this and for more lectures, lessons and content, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish  Many of us experience difficult disease on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level and often we use meditation and Yoga as a kind of numbing strategy to try to overcome, escape or suppress these movements of energy we call difficult emotions.   This never works. There is a high...

The 5000 year old tradition that is Indian spirituality lives on today and it lives on in you! We gather today to celebrate the nourishing philosophies and the practical methodologies that have emerged from India over the years in an effort to raise some funds for the COVID relief effort in Mother India! If you feel moved, you can still donate by sending your offerings directly to https://www.give...

All spiritual traditions prescribe some form of self-abnegation in the name of purifying the vessel: Jesus fasted in the desert, the Islamic mystics called themselves "Fakirs" (Poor Ones), Nachiketha jumped into the fire in the Katha Upanishad...and yet, the Buddha spoke against severe austerity in favor of the "Middle Way", the path of moderation. What is austerity, really?  ...

We have talked about what suffering is quite a bit. But we haven't answered WHY we suffer. How does the experience of suffering fit into the cosmic picture of creation? Why did Brahman get confused by Maya? Who created the Matrix? Hint, Neo: YOU did. But why? We explore 7 different schools of South Asian philosophy (The Materialist Charvaka school,  Buddhism, Jainism, Vaishnava Dualism, Samkh...

Above every blade of grass, there is an angel whispering "grow! grow!" What is the true source of your inspiration? What is your purpose here on Earth as an individual? Do you not feel a call, deep within you, to action? A stirring in your soul to engage yourself in some creative pursuit for the service of your brothers and sisters? In this powerful guided meditation, we draw upon the my...

Join us for this Questions & Answers discussion session on: 1.  How we can overcome lust and greed + why we would even want to overcome those things 2. The Dangers of Teaching Yoga 3. Is the desire for liberation still bondage? How can you desire "desirelessness"?  4. How to have compassion for oneself while still aspiring to higher spiritual ideals? How can you forgive yourself when...