Happiness is an underlying goal to virtually all spiritual and yogic pursuits. We all want to be happy. But what exactly is happiness? How is it tied to yogic practice? And why does it remain elusive in its transiency? Classical Yoga traditions convey unique approaches towards happiness, which pa...
The Yoga Sutra has been the "go-to" text for the study and practice of Yoga since the emergence of Yoga in its modern form more than a century ago. This talk will highlight key features of how to use this text in the context of a Yoga class. Particular attention will be given to its ethical conte...
In this talk we'll cover some of the main reasons to study Sanskrit. We will discuss the differences between Eastern and Western approaches to learning the language and why it is helpful to integrate the two. It is also important to understand how many different possible translations there are fo...
In this talk, we will explore Vedic chanting through a brief tour of its vast and rich history and its unbroken, endearing tradition. We will also delve into a few of the basic rules of Vedic chanting. We will then learn to chant the exquisite Purusha Suktam from the Rig Veda - the oldest of the ...
In classical yoga, seeing is equated with knowing. In the body the mystical eye, located in the center brow, is considered the gateway to insight, vision and states of sublime meditation. This seeing does not involve outward looking, but inner perception with “the mind’s eye". In this presentatio...
Much of yoga as in life involves learning to let go. In a yoga practice, the “corpse” pose, often the very last position and its corollary, yoga nidra or the yogic sleep, require a profound letting go. This process involves not only physical relaxation but a kind of psychic relinquishing. We lear...
Many people don't realize that the field of critical scholarship on Sanskrit literature is still relatively young, and therefore we make new discoveries all the time. In fact, some crucial new breakthroughs have been made in the last few years that change our understanding of the Yoga-sūtra signi...
In this one-hour presentation, author-lecturer Joshua M. Greene provides listeners with a unique and exciting way to grasp the Gita’s core concepts and themes. This popular talk includes a summary of the Gita’s 18 chapters, an overview of Gita’s place in the history of spiritual journeys, and pra...
Dhanurdhara Swami will explore in depth the concept of devotional surrender to the Lord (Isvara) and show by classical hermeneutics how it is undoubtedly the theme of the Gita and the essence of all yoga practices.
The Gita defines yoga very differently from Patanjali, given the text's emphasis on action in the world. But it does accept and outline a version of Patanjali's citta-vritti-nirodhah type of yoga, which it calls dhyana (and the commentaries call astanga), in its 5th and 6th chapters. There were...
In every game, there is a goal, a purpose behind the game’s actions. It is usually the first thing about a game that we learn. This is because it is only when we understand the goal and keep it in mind that the rules of the game start to make sense. Additionally, the rules – the list of actions t...
Scholar of Tantrik Shaivism, Christopher Tompkins, shares with us his research into ancient medieval manuscripts that tell the story of a chakra system previously lost until now. Christopher's research offers some unique perspectives on the original nature of the chakras and the logic of kundalin...
As the architecture of the soul, the chakras describe the underlying psychic structure of of the yoke of yoga, showing how heaven and earth, mind and body, spirit and matter interpenetrate to span the full spectrum of human possibility. As wheels of energy, chakras are like gears that take us on...
Spiritual teacher and author Sally Kempton discusses non-dual Shakta tantra, the three ‘faces’ of spirit, and what it means to see the universe as Shakti. The program includes a powerful series of meditations on Goddess Lalita, as well as important teachings on deity practice itself.
This talk decodes the mythology of Gaṇeśa, the elephant-headed lord of wisdom and auspicious beginnings. You will learn the significance of how Gaṇeśa got his elephant’s head, and also why he is worshipped first among the host of Hindu gods. You will also learn about how mythological storytelling...
The Buddha defined our current situation in the first of the four great truths: "suffering surrounds us on all sides." Illness of the body and myriad social ills have made themselves achingly real in the past several months. The pandemic and the relentless, centuries-old oppression of Blacks in A...
The Gita is the most prominent wisdom text of India and has been commented on more than any other Hindu text. Making up a fraction of the greater epic, the Mahabharata, it covers, within a short 700 verses, the essential lessons that can enable an individual to live a life that engages body, mind...
Each one of us is born with a unique set of talents and a unique set of challenges. What explains this dichotomy? Why do we go through what we do? Is it all random and a product of chance or is there something deeper that we are missing out on?
Karma is cause and effect. It is the reason for ...
Popular conceptions of Hinduism’s Yoga and Vedanta traditions have tended to articulate embodiment as a problematic state to be transcended. And yet these traditions also emphasize the need to live in, and engage with, the world of matter; indeed, for all but a few monastics, the sphere of embodi...
Sanskrit texts were traditionally taught through oral transmission or śruti paramparā. It is thought that through chanting, knowledge can seep into one’s consciousness on a level beyond the literal meaning of the words. There is a specific method to how verses are structured and categorized, and ...
As some aspects of Western yoga veer ever further from their South Asian roots (Beer Yoga, anyone?) there is more confusion than ever about which teachings are part of the Indian yoga traditions and which have a Western origin. The very best examples of this confusion center on Tantra and on Chak...
Being in the “Power of Now” is skillfully accomplished with breath techniques offered in the Yogic, Tibetan Buddhist and Zen traditions. There are specific pranayama techniques that reduce thinking about the past and future to establish attention in the here and now. In this talk, we will uncover...
The experience of unity consciousness is enshrined in mantra. Together, we'll explore the importance of mantra sadhana to the modern yoga practitioner and how a long-term committed mantra practice can unfold over time.
