Yoga Wisdom with Acharya das

This is the 3rd in the series about Life’s Meaning and Purpose.  There are many people and organizations promoting a variety of ideas about the meaning & purpose of life.    We are constantly bombarded with messages that any emptiness or purposelessness we might be feeling can be assuaged by “stuff” – material goods, experiences, and relationships.  This is the message of c...

This is the 2nd in a new series about Life’s Meaning and Purpose.  We look at some suggestions of how to find purpose and happiness from a UK organization established by members of the academe. Their suggestions are based upon extensive research and data and knowingly or unknowingly are actually founded on genuine spiritual principles. Three of their fundamental values and some of what underp...

This is a very ancient story from the Puranas that speaks about an encounter between a hunter and a famous sage Narada.  The story reveals the power of even a moments association with a transcendental personality and the transformative power of spiritual sound or mantra.

The theme for this month is “Transcending Karma”.  A discussion on karma will reinforce the reality that my experience of “life” is of my own making.  My destiny is a creation of my own making, the product or the result of my actions.     Most people tend to think that the results of good karma are desirable whereas the results of bad karma are not.  A person may then...

Continuing with another story in the fireside stories theme for the month at Mantra Night.  This is a very ancient Puranic story about a young prince who was insulted by his stepmother and ignored by his father the king.  He was so deeply offended he abandoned his home in the palace at the tender age of five and went to the forest to seek a means to get justice.  Following in the fo...

I am back in New Zealand and at Mantra Night.  I was asked to narrate some ancient Vedic stories of great saintly personalities over the next couple of weeks.  So tonight I spoke about Bhismadeva, a famous personality in the Mahabharata.  He is listed as one of the 12 Mahajanas, or people whose exemplary life can be emulated by all people.   Bhismadeva was the grandsire of the...

This is the first part of a seminar in Darwin I was invited to give.  For most people there is little to no understanding of the link between an uncontrolled mind and unhappiness.  The Bhagavad-gita famously states:   One must deliver oneself with the help of one’s mind, and not degrade oneself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.  Bhagavad-gi...

This is another Puranic story from the great epic the Mahabharata. It is about an incident where the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhistira, was in an incredibly difficult situation and had to answer a series of questions that were put to him.    Not only were the questions quite extraordinary but his answers were also.  They demonstrated his outstanding character, and while a w...

Who am I ?  Why am I here ?  What is the purpose of life ?   Perhaps you’re starting to feel as if the passing of time between birth and death doesn’t actually define your ‘life’. By seeking answers to these important questions, the gradual understanding of ‘life’ becomes possible and the quest for Truth, Spirituality and Enlightenment becomes the journey of life.   While this...

This is a wonderful story about a great sage who after renouncing a kingdom and passing through some difficult and extraordinary circumstances lived a life utterly disconnected from ordinary social dealings. Wrongly perceiving him to be a dumb mute and a fool he was forced into the service of a king and made to carry his palanquin.  Refusing to step on harmless insects, he disrupted the smoot...

This is the final talk in the Mindfulness series.  We summarize the purpose and goal of the practice of mindfulness and the two main categories of meditation which were performed by the transcendentalists since time immemorial.   In the first category there are three meditations; 1) meditation upon the truth of my existence, 2) meditation upon my changing body and how “I”, the self withi...

Diving in tropical waters around reefs brings one a unique and beautiful experience. It is like entering a whole other world of colorful beauty and peacefulness.   Similarly, spiritual sound vibration can also allow us to experience a whole world of spiritual experience and transcendental wonder.  The characteristic of spiritual sound is that it is not just “empty” syllables like materia...

The highest goal of yoga, the highest form of union with the Divine, is the attainment of spiritual love or Prema.  This is a short talk followed by a very joyful kirtan with Ashraya - Australia's leading kirtan band.  Thanks to Jiva, (one of Ashraya's crew who all came over for the International Yoga Festival at Auckland, New Zealand) for shooting and editing the video - sorry about the...

In this talk, the concluding one in the series, we examine whether there is truly a higher purpose to life.   Academics have studied the subject of purpose in life and one team concluded: ‘People who have meaning and purpose in their lives are happier, feel more in control and get more out of what they do. They also experience less stress, anxiety, and depression. But where do we find 'meanin...

Last week we looked at karma (action) and how it binds a person to the cycle of repeated birth and death and the consequent suffering that arises from that.  The Vedas, therefore, teach that the actual goal of our human existence is spiritual liberation.  One way off this cycle is the ‘off-ramp’ provided through Karma-yoga.  As stated in the Bhagavad-gita:    लभन्ते ब्रह्म...

Many of us equate the time between our birth and our death as being the journey of life or as being our “life”.  But this is not so.  This is just a series of events.  The living being is eternal, having existed before this current birth, and will exist beyond the death of the body.    The real journey of human life is to question “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?”, “Why do I s...

This is the concluding talk in the ‘Happiness’ series.  We examine why and how the spiritual journey produces great joy.   The foundation for this undertaking is knowledge of my spiritual identity as being separate from the temporary identities I assume – age, sex, race, body-type etc.  The foundational and transformative spiritual practice on this journey is, of course, kirtan medi...

This is a continuation of the Happiness series.  We have previously discussed how selfishness leads to unhappiness and how empathy is a symptom of spiritual growth.  We briefly examine this truth in light of the massacre of innocent people at two mosques in Christchurch two days earlier.    Then we explore the joy that comes from doing something for someone else (even a small t...

This is a continuation of the Happiness theme for the month.  Here we examine the nature of sensory pleasures and how and why they cannot deliver actual happiness.  In fact, one can be heavily engaged in sensory pleasures of all varieties and at the same time be suffering from depression or even entertaining suicidal thoughts.  This is due to the fact that the stimulating of the bod...

The theme for this month’s series of talks is Happiness.  There is a reported ‘Great UNHAPPINESS Epidemic’.   In the attempt at a solution, the most common go-to, both within psychiatry and medicine as well as by those who ‘self-medicate’ with legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, and other psychotropic substances, is a chemical solution.  And even though it doesn’t work we just kee...

This is the fourth and final talk in the series ‘Reconnecting with our Source’.   Our body is of the element called earth and returns to the earth after we leave it (death).  So, the earth is the ‘home’ of the body. But what about me – the eternal spiritual being (atma/self) who is occupying the body?  “I” am not material and so “I” am not of the earth. Do I have a home? And what or...

This is the third talk in the series ‘Reconnecting with our Source’. What is it that makes someone an ideal friend?  One of the many qualities of a friend is understanding. If you have a friend and you go to that friend to explain a problem you’re having - to open your heart - you know that your friend will be understanding. They will not condemn you or misunderstand you. No matter what probl...

Continuing with the theme Reconnecting with our Source. When speaking about reconnecting with ‘our spiritual source’ ‘The Supreme soul’ – we’re not talking about some vague or impersonal cosmic concept.  We are not speaking about a ‘foreign’ person, someone we don’t already know.  We have an existing relationship with the Lord of our heart (Paramātma our eternal soulmate) -  a most...

In this talk which is the 1st in a new series about Life’s Meaning and Purpose, we revisit the how the lack of real direction, purpose, and meaning in people’s lives is causing great stress, anxiety, depression, and unhappiness in society.  Social commentators and mental health experts have dubbed it the great unhappiness epidemic.   We unpack the problem so that when we consider an alte...

This is the 3rd and final talk in the Transcending Karma Series.    When the Brian Adams song “Everything I Do” came out some years ago it quickly became a world-hit.  Millions of people all over the world were drawn to it.  What was the ‘message’ of the song that was attracting everyone?  It was of being loved and loving unconditionally and of complete devotion. These are...