By Rudra Shivananda One of the obstacles that beset all sincere spiritual aspirants is the doubt that arises from contemplating the amazing transformation of an essentially ignorant normal human being into an enlightened Master in one life-time. How is such a miracle even possible? The great Masters have always taught that a human birth is
By Rudra Shivananda There is an image of a spiritual practitioner as one who performs esoteric techniques of mind, energy or body control – one who practices meditation, yoga, tantra etc. However, this is only a partial picture. The mark of a spiritual practitioner is the degree that he or she can raise consciousness
By Rudra Shivananda One of the greatest difficulties faced by the aspiring spiritual student is the lack of time that we all face in this busy age, especially in the more developed societies. It is one of the ironies that the average adult in the United States most probably has less free time then previous
By Rudra Shivananda A few days ago, my aged and ailing father contracted pneumonia and has since been hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the local hospital since he was not responding to the normal anti-biotic treatment. The doctors are holding out little hope for his recovery. I am, of course, always hopeful and
By Rudra Shivananda According to Patanjali, when yoga is achieved with the state of no-mind, then one rests in one’s essential state, one’s true nature. However, what is that essential state? There is great difficulty in understanding something that cannot be described in our limited mental state but only realized in the yogic consciousness. From
by Rudra Shivananda We all like to watch movies or read a book about the heroic figure that battles against all odds and wins through by defeating formidable enemies. This can be the lone cowboy battling foes amidst the lonesome prairie or the space cadet fighting pirates in the starry void. It can be a
Rudra Shivananda It is tempting especially in times of great upheavals, natural disasters or even personal challenges to try to think about them instead of persevering in one’s own spiritual practice. There is a sense of guilt among some spiritual seekers to sit and meditate while there is turmoil about them. This is a fallacious
By Rudra Shivananda It is required of the yogic classics to point out the goal of the spiritual discipline, explain the method of practice and the observable result. These three parts usually take up most of the text. The same three parts are given completely in just one famous verse of the Ishavasya Upanishad which
By Rudra Shivananda Each human being has an inner Light, but most people do not make contact with their Divinity, even once in their life-time. The physical sun that we observe every-day is very far from our planet. It appears as a small disc, but we know from our science classes, that it is really
By Rudra Shivananda There is one advice that I give to all sincere seekers irrespective of their path or progress and that is to persevere and never give up. The spiritual path is long and arduous and has many pitfalls and obstacles. We are often befuddled by our delusions and fall prey to illusions, thinking