Self-Realization through Yoga Meditation of the Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra

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Reflections

There's really nothing new, 
but below are some of my versions 
of the same old stuff.

- Swami Jnaneshvara

 
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I long deeply in my heart to be able to communicate
that which has been so freely given to me,
but I find myself incapable of doing so.
This is no fancy poetry, just a passionate plea.
If you really want direct experience of the
one absolute reality which has no second,
it is possible. It can be done.
However, if my own experience is any measure,
it takes being willing to stand alone, to go against
virtually every other person in your life,
including not only family, friends, and fellow seekers,
but also almost all of the so-called teachers.
You see, it has been my experience that there
is much talk, but little beyond that.
If you meet one, that is enough.
It can be done; that's about all I can tell you.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading
the articles on this website. Sometime it
all has to be set aside. At one point I gave away
all of the books and owned nothing but the
luggage I carried in my hands. You don't have
to literally give everything away,
but you can no longer own any of it.
Every idea of owning is a delusion that will
be protected by the mind so as to make
it absolutely certain that you will not experience
that beyond, which would reveal the delusion.
It can be done. You can have direct experience
in this lifetime.
How?
In it's simplest form, sit on your butt and don't move.

Om,

Swami Jnaneshvara

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 One of my fondest memories is of
the day Swami Rama said to me simply,
"You are on the path. I will lead you."
He has done what he said he would do,
for which I am truly grateful.

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Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, 
nor by the seeds that you plant, 
but by the stillness of your mind in meditation.

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Be quiet when you scream.
Scream with joy when you are quiet.
Love.

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If one day I say I am a Buddhist, the next a Christian,
the next a Hindu, the next a Jew, the next a Muslim,
and the next something else, has the "I" actually changed,
or only the opinions of the mind? Who am I?
That cannot be answered with a mere opinion of mind.
It can only be experienced in the stillness and silence
of direct experience, wherein these divisions evaporate.
May all humans one day see that
we all are of the same one source.

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The most important trip you’ll make in life 
is the trip into meditation, 
where you go nowhere.

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There is no path, but only a fool does not follow it.

Alternatively,

There is no path, but you have to follow it
to discover that there is no path.

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Before you leap over the fence for the greener grass,
be sure to water the grass on your own side.

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To be a miner of diamonds, 
take care of your picks and shovels.
To be a miner of your spiritual Self, 
take care of your body, breath, and mind.

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Love is what is left when you have let go 
of all the things you love.

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The brilliance of the mind is dimmed by the glow of the Self.

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Truth is not be found in one end or the other of a polarity,
but in the ground which is underneath them both.

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Pursue Truth with
the intensity of the hare and
the patience of the tortoise.

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One of the finest aids to making changes in the external world
is to know in stillness the deepest aspect of oneself
where there is no change.

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Spiritual life without teachers or gurus
is like universities without professors,
hospitals without doctors and nurses,
or planes without pilots.

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What is more important than 
where we are standing on the path 
is the direction we are looking.

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For us to be connected with each other
we must have first become divided.
Neither are really true.

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Between an ounce of practice
and a pound of philosophy,
which would you choose? 

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May the winter of your mind be filled 
with the spring of the Divine.

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Every one of your family members and friends,
as well as every person you encounter today
is going to die.
Every one of these people, if they live long enough,
will lose everything they own,
including all of those people.
Should we not cultivate at least a modicum
of compassion and kindness for every person
who lives in this situation today?

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The final barrier between lover
and the Beloved
is love itself.
With love there is two.
Beyond love is One.

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Without resistance there would be no will power.
With no will power, there is all Power.

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You'll never find the sunken treasure
by wading along the seashore,
however attractive the scenery.

Dive deep into the ocean of meditation.

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Knowledge has a subject and an object.
Wisdom has neither.

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The mind by which choices are made, 
also divides the universe 
so that choices are needed.

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Yoga means union.
Meditation brings union.
Yoga meditation is two words for the same thing.

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Desire without passion is empty.
Passion without desire is the means to Freedom.

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Any sentence that starts with "I want..." 
is a false identity expressing itself.
May your sentences be wise and loving.

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The book of knowledge in your hand is nothing 
compared to the book of wisdom in your heart.

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What the mind dwells on, the mind becomes.
I, on the other hand, remain Unchanged.

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The soul may come and go, 
from this world to that, and back.
I am the one who neither comes nor goes, 
but remains within that body called soul.

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Each day is a life to one who divides.
The child is the next life to one who multiplies.
This and the next life is real life to one who adds.
This life brings death to one who subtracts.
Forget mathematics, and Know the One.

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Actions are the child of mind.
Mind is the child of desire.
Desire is the child of habit.
Habit is child of the senses.
The senses are the child of actions.
The Self is an orphan.

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Vairagya, non-attachment, means having 
equal temperament 
whether the light in front of you is green or red.

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Study leads to knowing.
When study leads to un-knowing, 
it leads to wisdom.

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Virtue and vice are both the product of ignorance, 
of ignoring, forgetting Truth.

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What's in the hand is 
the stuff of which hands are made.
What's in the mind is 
the stuff of which minds are made.
What's in the Self? 

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To kill time is to waste your life.
To allow the death of time brings Life.

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What to do when you are discouraged?
Dis- your dis-courage.
To dis- a dis- is zero.
And you are left with courage.

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Stress is two forces moving in opposite directions.
Sit still.

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The difference between strength and vitality 
is like the difference between rocks and marbles.
Meditate like a rock and live like a marble.

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Surrender your senses into your own mind,
not into the mind of another person.
Surrender your mind into your own intelligence,
not to a man, woman, or institution.
Surrender your intelligence into pure consciousness,
not to the consciousness of another human.
Surrender everything you think you are into the
pure inner light of guru within,
not a self-proclaimed guru without.

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Tune your body, breath, and mind 
solely so they sing 
with the choir of the Self.

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Day dreaming is hallucination.
Night dreaming is hallucination.
God dreaming is hallucination.
God being is not, but Is.

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Socrates said, 
"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."
Too bad that he spoke only of the "I" that is ignorant, 
and thus can know only ignorance.

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I play, and play, and play some more.
All of the play brings only more play.
Ask, "Who is the Life that says 'I' play?"

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What is the one world 
that contains the many worlds?

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Inner harmony is like the symphony of the musician's fingers,
but what is music? 
What is it, really?
To ask that is the only question.

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You can watch the way you walk, 
watch the way you talk, 
and watch the way of your thought.
But can you watch the way you watch?

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Spiritual practice without non-attachment 
is like trying to fly a kite with a chain.

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Spiritual practice reduces the clouds, the veils.
No wonder you 
see more, 
feel more, 
and hurt more.
And, oh yes, laugh more, 
and love more.

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If you feel better when someone says, 
"You are good," rather than "You are bad,"
Know that there is still an alien inside.

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If you don't know what love is,
fall in love with anything.
Then sort out the differences.

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Aversion is like really sticky glue.
It's just another form of attachment.

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If you're afraid of Truth, keep moving.

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Pride is a little sign that 
somebody inside remembers something, 
but just doesn't know what.

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Want to be a hero? Surrender!

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If life is like a school house, 
play hooky from time to time, 
and sit for meditation.

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If life is like a school house,
remember that there are always
new batches of freshmen.

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The beauty of searching for yourself 
is that you never find anything that qualifies.

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Want to hear a good joke?
"Swami" means "master" of himself.
Who or what is master of who or what,
when all is One?

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Incentive, inspiration, and creativity 
are fancy words for desire.
They're fun, but eventually 
only desire for freedom from desire 
will bring freedom from desire.

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There are countless other desires, 
but only one desire that swallows up the others.

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"Spiritual debate" is an oxymoron.

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If perfection is not in the fantasy of the future, 
and happiness not in the memories of the past,
then how can the mental garbage of the present 
be so good either?
Oh, mind, let go of all this!

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Oh, mind, sing the song of silence.

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Today's instincts are only 
the deep impressions of yesterday's attachments.
But even those contain 
the impressions of karma 
that need to be experienced 
and played out.

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Life is filled with pain and pleasure.
Consciousness is contained in both.
Know That.

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The flower and the bird 
have worked out their relationship.
So too with the people 
of our families and personal worlds.
The mind flits here and there, 
bringing pollen to the Inner one.
As the people of our lives 
bring what we need for life, 
and Growth.

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The words from a tongue without heart 
is like a plane with no pilot.

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Anger is like a red flag at the ocean lifeguard stand.
It's just a sign of rough seas, 
nothing more.
Maybe a little caution, so as to not drown.

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Consciousness is life, 
like the water 
that gives the fluff to the rice.
No fluff, no food, no fun.
Be aware. Be awake.
Enjoy your rice.

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We may forget the actions and speech, 
but long remember the impressions.

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Only when one awakens 
can he tell of his dreams.
Be still, and let the dream come, 
so it may fade away.
This is the way of freedom from karma
on the path of meditation.

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To divide time into parts is 
like building walls and calling it space.
It is only in the mind 
that they are divisible.

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Failure and success are sisters 
in the family called transition.

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When you woke up this morning, 
did you pick up where you left off?
That's called reincarnation.

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Pray for what you want.
Work for what you want.
But remember, 
you are not the one who wants.

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Finding fault with yourself may be 
better than finding fault with others.
Better still to find the deeper ground, 
that has no fault lines, 
and thus no earthquakes.

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Medicine and disease 
have formed a perfect marriage, 
though dysfunctional.

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Perennial mathematics:
One plus one equals two.
Oneness plus Oneness equals Oneness.

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Poverty is forgetting 
you are the All,
and then 
unsuccessfully trying to get it back.

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It is a myth 
that there are many paths 
up the mountain to Truth.
The truth is, 
there is only one path.
The path is called "Up," and 
the method is called "Climb."

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When you do not give, 
you cannot give.
When you do give, 
you do not give, 
because you know 
that you cannot.

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Me and mine. Me and mine. Me and mine.
What silly fun!

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Mindlessness is a great philosophy, 
but what do you do when you are hungry?
Somebody, somewhere is a mind, 
that's for sure.
But it is not I.

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To be idle is yucky.
To be still is divine.

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When you bind yourself to work,
When you bind yourself to play,
When you bind yourself to another,
When you bind yourself to yourself,
you forget your Self,
and the Self of others.
Be an un-binder.

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If you hate your work, leave.
If you hate your hate, leave that too.

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True Joy is a chocolate covered peanut cluster, 
buried under a mound of ice cream.
The joy on the surface is nice, 
but there's even better stuff to come.

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No pain, no gain.
Pain is necessary on the journey.
B.S.
Joy is eternal, and ever present.

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All of the miracles of life and spirit 
are but the playing out of a thousand fantasies 
that otherwise seem unattainable.
Seek that which is unattainable 
because you can go nowhere to get it.

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How can you say, 
"I have found the Truth!"?
Simple, it's just a bunch of words.
Anybody can say them.
Seek to Know, not to say.

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If all is One, 
what is all this silliness about there being a path?
Be still.

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Marriage vow with the One:
Do you know what Love is?
"I do!"

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The love affair with Mother is like the passion 
of pots for clay,
of ornaments for gold, and
of the ocean for water.

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Cruelty, greed, and the like are but 
longing for Truth gone awry.

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Learning to unlearn 
is the highest form of learning.

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Why do we not like 
what comes out of both doors of the cow?
Maybe it has to do with "Me"?
A flower likes one door, and
we like the other.

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Do unto others 
what makes you both free.

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When the harvest is ready, harvest.
Not that it brings you Truth, 
but it's what's there to be done.
Do that 
and at the same time, 
seek That.

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Community property 
is that co-owned by spouses.
The whole of the world 
is community property.
We must be married, 
you and I.

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The battle of life needs to be fought 
not so there is a victory, 
but so there is a surrender.

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What is mine 
is anything that cannot be 
stolen, 
broken, 
burned, 
blown up, 
or otherwise 
destroyed.

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Dig into yourself 
so that you can remove 
the "not me" stones.
 The hole 
will get as big 
as the whole universe.

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I am no mere battery.
I am electricity!

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Purify your mind and eye 
so finely that you can 
see a darkened room 
with a single flash 
from a firefly.

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Too much food for thought 
will give you an upset mind.

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Trying to see the Absolute Reality everywhere 
is as delicate a task 
as trying to see only the screen 
while the movie is playing.

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Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love your enemy as if you'd never met.

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First is "I." 
Second is "I am."
Third is "I am this, and that."
Fourth is "Who am I?"
Fifth is "I am not this, nor that."
Sixth is "I am that I am."
Seventh is Silence.

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If water is not afraid of water, 
and fire is not afraid of fire, 
then why should I be afraid of God?

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Lethargy and growth are like 
coal and a diamond.
It's just a matter of having 
endured a little pressure.

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What if a headache 
forgot to ache? 

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Contentment is the field on which 
the game of spiritual life begins.

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The senses are like a reversible coat.
They can go outside to the world, 
or inside to the soul.

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Remember God, Truth, Reality, the Divine, 
and the rest will be forgotten, 
like the sand falling from your sandals.

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If you cannot take it with you, 
why not focus on knowing
what you can take with you.

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Compassion, affection, and love 
are shown by the 
smile in the heart, 
not the smile on the face alone.

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This site is devoted to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways, while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoga Nidra Meditation CD by Swami Jnaneshvara
Yoga Nidra CD
Swami Jnaneshvara