According to Sri Aurobindo, in order to get through the crisis of mankind, humanity, at least a critical mass of it, must undergo a transformation. This process will ultimately result in a new supramental species. In the Indian history of Yoga, there have been four great syntheses before: the Vedic, the Upanishadic, the synthesis in […]
Spirituality & Society Magazine
Yoga – A Healing Connection: About Restraint and Freedom
The self-existent created the senses outward: therefore, one sees outside and not the âtman within. A wise person, with his senses turned away, (from their object), desirous of immortality, sees the âtman within (Kaṭha Upaniṣad, II, 1.1). Birth is the first big movement out. Out of the darkness you are ‘thrown’ into the light of […]
Looking beyond daily reality
This Upaniṣad invites us to look beyond our daily reality as revealed by our senses and our mind. Our real truth lies beyond speech and imagination. But this truth is what connects us to the rest of the cosmos. Kena Upaniṣad I: 1-5 केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तः । केनेषितां वाचमिमां […]
Inspired Leadership in Times of Crisis: Gandhi’s Secret
Yoga means uniting of the individual self, your superficial or fake self, with the universal or supreme Self, your deepest Self. The Gītā calls this ‘the ultimate secret of Yoga Part 2 – Towards a balance between creation and destruction In the Bhagavad-gītā two opposing armies stand poised in the battlefield to settle a dramatic […]
Awareness: a Gateway to Calmness, Happiness, Creativity
“To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are”. The concept of steadying the mind, presented by the ancient teachers of Yoga has been implemented by various schools of Yoga/ādhyātma as ‘Awareness’ with overlapping concepts such as, ‘Self-Observation’ or ‘Ātma-darśana’. In this article we shall discuss the concept […]
Yoga and Hindu Spiritual Care, Dutch Ministry of Defense
“When they experience that they get over the obstacle course more easily after practicing Yoga, nobody says that Yoga is a waste of time anymore”. In 2003, the Hindu Spiritual Care (in Dutch: HinGV) was established at the Dutch defense forces, with Yoga and Spirituality as one of its aspects. Lead pandit and spiritual counselor […]
Yoga: My Journey Within
Despite having many Hindostani friends, I always thought that Yoga was only meant for Asians who wanted to withdraw from the world and spend their lives in a Himalayan cave. To me Yoga was incompatible with a hectic Western lifestyle. I was born and raised in the multicultural South American country of Suriname and my […]
The interplay of Jñāna, Karma and Bhakti
The following verses are from the Bhagavad Gītā: B.G. 3.3 श्रीभगवानुवाच |लोकेऽस्मिन्द्विविधा निष्ठा पुरा प्रोक्ता मयानघ |ज्ञानयोगेन साङ्ख्यानां कर्मयोगेन योगिनाम् || 3|| śhrī bhagavān uvāchaloke ’smin dvi-vidhā niṣhṭhā purā proktā mayānaghajñāna-yogena Sāṃkhyānāṁ karma-yogena yoginām O sinless Arjuna, in this world to achieve equanimity a twofold path has been enunciated by Me before, the path of […]
Reflections
What if we do perfect Yoga Asanas (postures): is it the end? What if we follow all 8 steps of Yoga: is it the end? Vishwamitra and many Rishis were far ahead of many contemporary Yoga experts, but they also got confused and deviated at places. So what should be the approach to Yoga? Arjun […]
Announcements
Article on management vision by Prof. Dr. Sharda Nandram https://www.nyenrode.nl/nieuws/n/samen-naar-integratief-wereldbeeld Know Yourself: The end of your fake ‘I’ A new word-for-word translation from the original Sanskrit of the Ashtavakra-gita with devanagari text, transliteration and a glossary, enriched by the wisdom of Sri Ramana Maharshi. If you think you know yourself, you are wrong. Your self, […]
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