By Rudra Shivananda There are diverse reasons for seekers to pursue a spiritual path – some are striving for liberation from pain and suffering, others are seeking knowledge of their their true nature and reason for being, and yet others want freedom from death and to achieve immortality. Of course, it may be reasoned that
By Rudra Shivananda What are your hands doing when you are trying to meditate? When a seeker enters the stream and take a path of spiritual insight, he or she will pay a lot of attention to the sitting position and body posture. However, not much attention is paid initially to the position of the
By Rudra Shivananda Yoga is not a religion. It is an experiential movement towards higher states of consciousness. Yoga is more of a way of being and living than about beliefs or practices. Yoga is about personal experience and not about scriptures or the teachings of others. Yoga is not a philosophy. There are many
By Rudra Shivananda When a spiritual practitioner’s subtle body becomes purified and there is a withdrawal of the senses from the external environment towards the internal center, she will experience various inner sounds. These should not be confused with the physical sounds of the body resulting from the rushing of blood or contraction of various
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 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
By Rudra Shivananda Mantra Yoga is that discipline by means of which one can attain Self-realization through the repetition of sounds or words that bridge the gap between our normal consciousness and super-conscious states of awareness. It said to be a powerful and effective means especially during the eras when the average human consciousness is
By Rudra Shivananda Too often I hear from sincere seekers that they are trying their best and putting in persistent effort but nothing seems to be happening with their meditation. It gets very boring and they are tempted to give up. Doubts arise that maybe the meditation is not right for them or maybe they
By Rudra Shivanananda Knowledge of reality beyond the five senses is termed transcendental. We must understand that by knowledge we should not think of some sort of theoretical information acquired from external sources but rather a direct experience of truth that permanently transforms our framework and perception of reality. A direct experience of truth transcends
By Rudra Shivananda The Anahata Chakra or heart center is the seat of human consciousness. It is the center of transition from the animal consciousness of the three lower chakras to the divine consciousness of the higher three chakras. Most of humanity is still struggling and have their base at the navel center and often