Dhruv is a community teacher at Awake Yoga Meditation   When I follow the teachings, I notice a clarity in my thinking. I notice an increase of self-acceptance, self-compassion, and self-forgiveness. I notice more capacity in myself to be generous and loving and forgiving with others. I notice I have more gratitude for the subtle things in my work and relationships. Put simply, I notice I am happier and that I want to share that happiness with others. When I follow the teachings, it feels like a veil gets lifted from my perspective. When the veil is down, my perspective feels comp ..read more

  Acharya Kashi is a spiritual teacher at Awake Yoga Meditation   What if you could pluck the sun out of the sky like a gilded coin and carry it with you everywhere? Wherever you go—hiking in Monteverde or speaking with your manager in a cubicle or driving the PCH or tapping your foot to a tune as you cook dinner—that golden orb would be right there, a quiet splendor always radiating the warmth of assuredness. Having a teacher is like walking with the sun in the palm of your hand. If you let it, that sun will give you everything that matters: limitless sharing, limitless light, limi ..read more

  A teaching from Swami Shankarananda   1 . Make up your mind to live in joy It’s as simple as deciding that it’s more important to experience joy than to live in misery. Bliss is God. You’ll never realize God unless you make up your mind to live in joy. Bliss is the fulfillment of joy. The basic question you have to ask yourself is this: What state of consciousness do you want to live in for the rest of your life—not just today, but the rest of your life? Out of what state of consciousness do you want to observe the world? Once you’ve decided, I guarantee that you will attract every ..read more

  A teaching from Swami Shankarananda   They came to pass When temptations or untruths come, let us be beholders. If we bear witness to the truth, we will not give power to untruth. Let come what may. Let all the feelings and impressions stored in the heart well up into awareness. They come for but one reason: to pass. “And it came to pass.” The impressions will come until they have all passed away. While they are flashing on the screen of the conscious mind, we do not need to be dragged down by them. We can just watch them pass without giving them a label such as good or bad. When w ..read more

  A teaching offered by Ananda based on The Magnetic Power of Love (Bhakti Yoga) by Swami Premananda   All possess love Among Swami Premananda’s many publications is a 77-page booklet that explores the philosophy and power of love and the ideal of devotion as expressed through Bhakti yoga, the religion of love. Premananda begins by stating, “In every man are hidden three divine qualities, intelligence, will, and feeling. The ideal of this life is to unfold these qualities to their absolute perfection. Intelligence attains its perfection in wisdom; will, in immortality; and feeling, i ..read more

A teaching from Padma “The way to do is to be.” — Lau TzuThe path to tranquility, wisdom, and freedom In addition to Lao Tzu’s simple instruction, Krishna has a lot to say about doing and being in the Bhagavad Gita. First, he tells us that it’s impossible to avoid action. Even when we’re still and seemingly motionless, we’re breathing and our bodies are continuously engaged in multiple processes just to support our embodiment. Then he says we must perform righteous and obligatory actions without attachment to the outcome. He tells us we do this by using the mind to control the senses which ot ..read more

A teaching from Murali Opening the scroll I love the movie scene from Kung Fu Panda in which Po the panda finally receives the mysterious Dragon Scroll for which he has struggled and waited so long. He was promised that the scroll’s ancient secrets would save him and transform him into the ultimate warrior. When the scroll is opened, it is totally blank and Po is left confused and more afraid. Later, Po sees his reflection in the scroll and realizes intuitively that the wholeness he sought has always been here. He was never missing some secret ingredient, achievement or experience to complete ..read more

A teaching from Karuna “No power or miracles can compare with the joy that is God. That perennial happiness is what everyone is seeking. God is ever new joy unto eternity.” — Swami Sri YukteswarWe don’t have to wait Many of us desire to wipe the slate clean and focus on a fresh start when one year comes to a close and another begins. Especially this past year, which brought challenges to many. We make New Year’s resolutions and set intentions for projects we want to accomplish, for habits we want to develop and those we wish to extinguish. While there is nothing wrong with adopting resol ..read more

A teaching from Srimati Shanti Mataji Temporary overlays We came out dancing on the stage of life, dancing for the joy of being and the delight of exploration in our embodiments. And the stage is the substratum of our existence in this world. That substratum goes by many names, and one of them is peace. Since God is supreme peace, and the substratum of our existence is God, then one aspect of the substratum of our existence is peace. But, people say, there is no peace in the world. Look at this country and that one. Think of a blank chalkboard in the classroom. A boy comes up to the blackboard ..read more

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