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Enlightenment: What do you really want? By Alx Uttermann

I live in California, in the US, which is an interesting experience from a spiritual point of view. On the one hand, California is far and away the most progressive region of the United States; early to adopt vegetarian diets, green consciousness, and spiritual curiosity beyond the offerings of organized Western religions. On the other hand, because it was in many ways the pioneer of consciousness in America, there are time when it seems that people have become convinced that they have all the answers, spiritually, whether they’re coming from the New Age perspective, gnostic Christianity, Buddhism, different Vedic traditions, Native American, or the Wiccan path. Continue reading

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Enlightenment Happens! By Divyaa Kumar

When I began my so-called spiritual journey, enlightenment was far from my mind! What I was looking for was a better life and at the most some abstract notion called peace of mind. And oh yes, most certainly a quick fix method to jump start me out of my current problems! But enlightenment? That sounds an impossible concept and one usually leaves it for another life time …or for those we perceive as holier than thou! Continue reading

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Our DNA: The Source and Goal We Call God: By Divyaa Kumar

We often think in terms of Gods creating us; but in truth it is we who create our gods! As humans, we sense our purest qualities, but unable to accept them as ‘self’, we view them outside us initially…and call these our Gods and Masters. It is actually vision of Self – our highest ideas of Self encoded in our very Dna- but unable to claim these within us, we project them onto a ‘god’ outside. Continue reading

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Make Beauty The Path Home: By Divyaa Kumar

MAKE BEAUTY THE PATH HOME!

All of us are attracted to beauty- be it beautiful things, people or places! And today I want to show you how to make beauty one of the easiest, simplest and most direct paths back ‘home’ to God or Divine Self! Continue reading

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Ramana on Psychic Powers: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Today, we see that the New Age spiritual business is literally a circus. There are so many gurus and many different types of “spiritual masters” offering a variety of services and products including enlightenment, super natural miracles, healing, and so forth. This is nothing new and in every age there are such people.

The path of Yoga has many branches, and not all of them are the straight path to Self-Realization.

Bhagavan Ramana

I find amusing that many of the so called “spiritual masters” who claim affinity with Bhagavan Ramana (to  bolster their own status) actually teach things which are completely opposite of what the Sage of Arunachala taught. Continue reading

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What Is Witness Consciousness? By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

Anandmayi Ma with Swami Yoganand Witness consciousness as a concept and a spiritual practice has become better known now in the West. In the psychology of Advaita and Yoga of thousands of years ago, it has always been a fundamental tool for self development and self understanding on the path to Self-Realization. Continue reading

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The Journey of the Soul – III

Continued from the Journey of the Soul – II A satsang by Gururaj Ananda Yogi

by Ramon Leonato

If the mind is empowered by what we are calling the right hemisphere, the intuitional level which has its roots in the core’s of one personality, which we also call the heart, then “me” and “mine” disappears and it is “thee” and “thine.” For the core of the human personality, though outwardly seeming individualized, also exists in its universalized form. So what happens to a person is this: He can exist as an individual and yet at the same time be universal, for he has now realized, through his spiritual sadhana , how vast he is. When this happens, a person, being divine, recognizes and experiences this Divinity.

IFSU emblemIf anybody tells you this comes overnight, forget it. It takes time.

You’ve got this big load you are carrying, this load of samskaras- all the experiences that you have been gathering up, gathering up, and gathering up in this journey. This bag of imprints through which you cognize existence form the bundle that you are carrying.

That is why Christianity says we are born in sin. There is great truth in that. We have brought with us all those samskaras which form our tendencies in life. Essentially the human being is divine; but he does come with this burden.

By doing meditation and spiritual practices, properly assigned by a spiritual teacher you draw upon the superconscious energies, the subtlest energies within the relative sphere of life, which flood the dirt away in the subconscious. Continue reading

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Face of Fullness: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

There are no free thoughts;
the gate to freedom exists
within the eye of the I.

It may be known
when you are alone
and completely empty.

Or when lovers meet
to spend their passions
and rest in the heart. Continue reading

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Sita Sings The Blues — A phenomenal retelling of the epic Ramayana through animation, 1920s jazz songs, contemporary commentary and one woman’s inspiration

A few months ago, a friend of mine suggested I see an animated movie called Sita Sings The Blues — he even went so far as to bring a Netflix DVD over and leave it in the temple where I live.  “Just send it back once you’ve seen it,” he told me.

To be honest, I didn’t feel very attracted to watch the movie.  My friend had mumbled something about, “It’s really great, it’s the Ramayana with 1920s blues songs… and all the characters from the epic tale are there..!”  and somehow the description sounded lame, over all, so I passed on it.

I think we sent the DVD back to Netflix, unseen.

Sita, Rama, and Hanuman

A scene from Sita Sings The Blues

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Essential Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

In the following extract from Gems from Bhagavan, we are reminded of the essence of Bhagavan Ramana’s teaching and inspired to realize the True Self. Continue reading