The Light of Understanding: Bhagavad Gita Chapter Eight
The eighth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is sometimes overlooked as it can seem somewhat obscure. However, this obscurity appears partly because the teacher is aware of difficulties the pupil is having, and is trying to re-present them in steps that the pupil can follow. So there is much here that we may all find…
Read MoreThe Essential Yoga
Part of a public lecture given by Hari Prasad Shastri The original conception of yoga is recorded in the Upanishads, which are the most authoritative classics on the subject. Here the word yoga means mystic union. It is derived from the root yuj, to unite. Now comes the question, union of what? It is the…
Read MoreTeachings from Yoga Vasishtha
The Yoga Vasishtha is a very long poem stating and re-stating the way of progress to inner illumination, or Self-realisation. In the form we have it, it was probably mostly composed in Kashmir in the middle of the tenth century AD, though many regard the last quarter as a later addition. A short selection of…
Read MoreMeditation Practice
In meditation the focus of our practice is on the mind. Those who pioneered the practice made a great discovery. This discovery is that our mind can be brought to a state of peace and harmony. In that partial silence, the mind can free itself from negative thoughts and feelings. More important and far-reaching, we…
Read MoreSelf-Knowledge Journal – Autumn 2020
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Read MoreMeditation Practice
A session led by the Warden of Shanti Sadan What is meditation? Creative relaxation. It is a special form of relaxation that sets in motion an inner development incomparable in its power to fulfil. Subscribe or enrol for free guest access to read all of this article and Self-Knowledge online. Already subscribed or enrolled? Log…
Read MoreAl-Ghazali’s Search for Certainty: The Way of the Sufis
Mysticism in Islam is widely known as Sufism or Tasawwuf. What is Tasawwuf? Is it a departure from orthodox Islam, or central to the Islamic faith? Most important, what are the practices through which one may seek truth for oneself? One of the most influential of all teachers on these questions has been Abu Hamid…
Read MoreOvercoming Fear
Based on a lecture by Hari Prasad Shastri I offer you an outline discourse on how to deal with fear. The subject is dealt with not only from the modern psychological point of view, but also from the standpoint of the higher Yoga. The first thing to remember is that we are psycho-physical beings animated…
Read MoreLight from Guru Nanak
Guru Nanak is one of the great figures in the spiritual history of the world. Not only did his teachings give rise to a new religion, but that religion—Sikhism—is noteworthy because of the depth of its teachings and its genuine wish to live peacefully with those of other faiths; there is no agenda to criticise,…
Read MoreThe Meaning of Life
Some philosophers, Plato being one of them, praise the sense of wonder and call it the sense of wisdom, at least the beginning of wisdom. I differ from them. It is not enough to wonder at the multiplicity, complexity and infinity of the world; it is a non-creative feeling. Some think the world is beautiful.…
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