By Rudra Shivananda  When we talk about sadhana or spiritual practice, most often we highlight the techniques and the progress in proficiency of practice. We might give tips on how to practice better or guidelines to overcome certain obstacles that will occur along the path. However, it may be instructive to examine the psychological stages

By Rudra Shivananda There continues to be a proliferation of workshops, seminars, audios and books on the power of positive thought and the techniques of positive affirmations. These can be very misleading especially for those who have these “secrets” as their initial exposure to spirituality. I utilize affirmations in some of my workshops and so

By Rudra Shivananda Every now and then, a spiritual practitioner will contact me and reveal that he is struggling with an addiction to on-line pornography and ask about remedies. After a little research, it appears that this kind of condition is not uncommon with the proliferation of on-line sites in recent years. In a short

By Rudra Shivananda When a spiritual seeker chooses a particular path for personal development, he or she may not be aware that there are significant life-changing differences between the  powerful yogic systems that can affect one’s ability to maintain a family and function in society. The yogic systems that were developed and flourished during the

By Rudra Shivananda Once an aspirant has set his or her foot on the spiritual path, a bewildering array of possibilities present themselves – the variety of spiritual groups, marketplace of systems, choice of teachers, myriad techniques and conflicting instructions. Choices to be made, doubts that constantly arise, and obstacles that present themselves are just

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   A primary yogic practice is the use of breath to control the life-force energy and direct it to awaken our potential divinity. A spiritual path such Kriya Yoga is structured such that most of the practitioner’s sadhana is based on the pranayama according to the principle that prana and mind are

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 When electricity is generated, it is necessary to have transformers, conductors, fuses, switches and so forth, to carry the power to its destination, otherwise it would be useless or harmful.  So also, when prana or life-force is made to flow in the yogi’s body, it is necessary for him to employ bandhas,