Explore every episode of the podcast For the Love of Yoga with Nish the Fish
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
The Tantrik Gaṇeśa
07 Sep 2024
01:30:48
On Gaṇeśa Chathurthi, the auspicious day when we worship Gaṇeśa, the elephant headed God who is so beloved by one and one, we gave a talk on the "Tantrik Gaṇeśa", that is to say, on the more esoteric dimensions of the veneration of this Lord of Wild Forces!
"(Salutations to Ganesh) who holds in his hand the modakam (sweetmeat) representing divine joy who always helps devotees achieve liberation (and that sweetness) who holds the moon as his ornament and who playfully protects the world who has no Lord over himself but is himself the Lord of All and his devotees, protecting them by destroying their demons/bondages. To those who surrender to him, he destroys all inauspiciousness. I salute that Vināyaka and bow to him!"
He takes a frightening form for those who do not bow down to him and he shines like a freshly risen sun, who is eternal and unchanging, worshipped by Gods and seers, he delivers all those who bow down to him from calamities! He is the Lord of the Gods, the Lord of Wealth, the Lord of Elephants and the Lord of violent forces! He is the Supreme Lord who is Beyond Transcendence in whom I unceasingly take refuge
He is the auspiciousness of the whole world, who casts out demons, who has a huge belly, who gives boons and whose face represents the Imperishable Reality, who gives grace, forgiveness, joy and glory, the maker of the mind who exaclts those who bow to him! I bow to him!
He easily brushes aside all suffering; he is the receptacle of praises since time immemorial/who is praised by the Immortals! He is the first born son of the enemy of Tripurāsura and he devours the pride of the enemies of the Gods! He himself assumes the terrible form of the devourer of the world, adorning himself with fire and other powers! His cheeks give/are full of the liquor of grace...I praise him with the liqour of the purānas!
The exceedingly beautiful, single tusked son of Shiva who puts an end to death, your form is inconceivable, limitless and destroys all divisions/obstacles. You are always present in the cave of the heart of Yogis! Like this, I contemplate the single-tusked one!
Those who recite these great five jewels of Gaṇeśa, those who chant this contemplation and who remember Gaṇeśa in the heart in the early morning will be free of disease and impurity and will have good company (spouses and children) and will soon get long lif
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Secret Worship of Mā Kālī
03 Sep 2024
02:35:28
This talk was given on the sacred 8th day of the waning moon that just went by, which as you know, is not only Kālī Jayanti but also Krishnajanmasthami, the birthday of Kali-Krishna. And I am releasing this midnight on a new moon on Tuesday, the moon sacred day and time for worshipping Mā.
This is a very special video to me because it makes many things that have been very secret for so long available to the viewing public. I trust that if you take up the practice and do it sincerely with no desire but to lose yourself in Her love, then She Herself will send a guru to guide you! Or rather, She Herself will appear in the form of the human guru, if such is needed (as I often recommend) or She will instruct you in dreams or from within.
I want to make an offering to you, you who are Kālī embodied: may all of these words be red hibiscus flowers placed one by one and Your feet! This video should give you everything you need to worship Mā!
Let's get to it:
In the (often very secret) tradition of Kālī-kula (Kali worship), there is a hymn that captures the very essence of how Mā likes to be approached. This hymn details the mantra, the yantra and the form of Mā Kālī (specifically, Dakshina Kālī) that is to be meditated upon. More importantly, it stresses the bhāva, or mood in which to call upon Mother and some of the important elements of ritual worship that is enjoined by the Kali Tantra including animal and human sacrifice, cremation ground meditation and various other transgressive elements.
We already gave a talk exploring this very excellent hymn to Kālī here
The book that we reference for translations in this and the other video is "Hymn to Kālī" by Arthur Avalon and Swami Vimalananda.
But before we discuss the hymn and the Kālī mantra, which is of course the main offering in this video, we say a few things about the similarities and differences between Kālī and Krishna.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
How To Become More Energetic
25 Jul 2024
00:41:04
Many people feel down in the dumps and lethargic often. This is to me particularly tragic because in each and every moment we are each of us swimming in a veritable ocean of energy and enlivenment!
Only, most of us don't know how to tap into it and be charged by it!
You see, this entire universe, this magical display of phenomena that you experience within and without is nothing but a manifestation of Prāna, nothing but so many different forms of one and the same field of energy called Prāna.
This body and mind that you experience is also a manifestation of Prāna.
Tantra then is a kind of "prāna-śāshtra": the science of working with the energies of embodied existence but within and without.
In this class, we explore 8 or so ways you can increase and refine the prāna (i.e energy) that flows through this body-mind so that you can experience deeper levels of enlivenment and fullfilment!
May all of this be an offering to Prāna-śakti!
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome! Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Why Aren't You Enlightened Yet? | Q&A
22 Jul 2022
02:27:08
In one of our most productive Q&A sessions of all time (in my opinion, at least!) we ask the central question: "why aren't you enlightened yet?" "why have you not seen with clarity that you are Awareness, ever free?" "what is keeping your from claiming with conviction your essential nature as the Self, which is even now the case?"
00:00:00 Introduction: Why Aren't You Enlightened Yet? 00:00:30 Awareness vs Mind: Does Awareness Change? It Seems To! 00:08:45 The Role of Discernment/Intellect in Spiritual Life (And It's Limits) 00:14:30 After Enlightenment, What Do You Do? 00:34:00 How Does Jnana, Knowledge support Bhakti, Devotion and Raja Yoga, Meditation? 00:59:16 What Is Samadhi? 01:08:53 Brett's Success! + How Mantras Mysteriously Work To Liberate Us 01:23:00 Spiritual Health vs Physical Health: Does Spirituality Mean The Body-Mind Will Always Be Healthy? + The "Sin" Narrative In The New Age 01:56:35 Channelising the Power of the Avatar 02:03:13 How To Maintain Spirituality in the Midst of Busy-ness and Overwhelm 02:14:00 The Joy of Monday Night Sangha/ Celebrating Our Community! 02:17:08 Does Enlightenment Go Away? and Flow States vs Meditation 02:26:10 Closing Prayer
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What Is A Guru?
13 Jul 2022
02:35:25
Who (or what) is a Guru? Today we talk about the role of a Guru in our spiritual life as the living embodiment of scripture, as an initiator or empowerer of mantras, as a "broadcaster of reality" and as a living example of the full possibilities of a human life. What qualifies the Guru to be a Guru? And when/how does one find one's Guru in this life? Must the Guru have a body? All this and more in today's class!
This lecture is from our program "Journey Into Tantra"! It is an 18 part, college-level lecture series in audio and video featuring ~44 hours of content with Q&A + a guided meditation. The idea was to create an interactive learning environment in which these ancient and transformative teachings come to life! I'm very excited to share that with you! You can pick up a copy here! https://nishthefish.gumroad.com/l/journeyintotantra
A Poem to my Guru:
Better than a hundred ministers who preach Are the lessons that Silence can teach. A mountain’s instruction unceasing Is better than the pastor’s wheezing! And yet how many among us who yearn For God’s vision can profitably learn From the Sphinx-like silence inscrutable? How many are truly able To draw from the rock it’s sacred teaching In a way that is stable and far reaching? A precious few, I say, a precious few! And even among them there is need too Of a living emissary between Spirit and matter Otherwise we remain enmeshed in the latter!
But whence forth comes the one who can teach like the mountain? Who is truly fit to serve as God’s fountain? of unfaltering Grace and Wisdom unstinting To be a holy jewel, glimmering and glinting? A previous few, I saw, a previous few! But this I can guarantee to you: If you are sincere in your search And if you practice some, Then to you this true Teacher will come. A teacher who is strong and infallibly pure. Of this my friend, you can be sure!
God is drawn to the devotee Who is pure at Heart God years for such a one – She cannot keep apart! To the one who has no thought For pleasure or for money God is drawn like a bee to honey.
After all, the Guru is God in a mortal frame. The Guru is God’s first name. Like lightning flashing in the dark of the storm The Guru is Silence clothed in form. The Guru is a tree with roots reaching deep. The Guru is the Witness in dreamless sleep.
The key to meditation Is the Guru’s face. The key to liberation Is the Guru’s grace. Oh, my friend, haven’t you heard? The key to your freedom Is the Guru’s word.
So he who hath ears, please listen well To what Nishanth has to tell: The Guru is God in a mortal frame. The Guru is God’s first name.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The 9 Types of Tantrik Awakening
27 Jun 2022
01:30:08
What is it that turns someone away from the shallow, fleeting pleasures of the world and towards genuine spiritual life? Obviously, it is grace. Abinava Gupta, in his masterwork, Tantraloka takes up the very nuanced work of articulating the science of Grace: how did this Grace come about and who is "worthy" of receiving it? Are there practices you can do to invite this grace? And where does this grace come from and why? All these questions are taken up and brilliantly answered in Chapter 13 of Abinava's Tantraloka and in this lecture we sketch out his reasoning so that we can truly understand the Tantrik doctrine of Shaktipata (Descent of Power/Grace/Sudden Awakening). From our discussion of Shaktipata, we learn the 9 different "grades" of awakening which sheds light on Chapter 2 of the Tantraloka, on Anupaya (The Wayless Way) which consequently contextualizes the Anava Upaya we get in Chapter 5 and onwards.
If any of the above discussions on the practice and theory of Tantra are exciting to you, you should know that we do a weekly live class every on zoom every Thursday at 7:30pm PST on the Vijnana-Bhairava Tantra, the central practice manual of non-dual Tantra. In these classes, we discuss together some of the subtlest nuances of our Tradition. All are welcome. You can sign up for these classes by clicking on my name and reserving your spot in the Yoga World Heart website here: https://yogaworldheart.com/schedule
You can of course access all the previously recorded classes in our lecture library here: www.patreon.com/yogawithnish or pick up this introductory program: https://nishthefish.gumroad.com/l/journeyintotantra (PS: Right now, I’m working on a shorter introductory Tantra program that is not as in-depth, thorough and long as the one linked above. Kind of like a crash course on Tantra. By Mother’s grace, I expect to have that one out by our next newsletter!)
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Way of Shakti | The Zen Koans of Tantra
23 Jun 2022
00:57:05
Who or what is Kali? In what form does Shakti create this Universe? And how can I (a) interact with that and (b) BECOME that? In perhaps one of our deepest discussions yet, we explore the ultimate nature of Reality: the mantric body of Shiva, i.e Shakti. Everything that you see around you is a mantra, a subtly vibrating phoneme that gives rise to thought structures in the mind which in turn produce language structures in speech which ultimate filters down into your subjective and intersubjective realities as you perceive it and negotiate it against others. Does that sound philosophical and obtuse? Necessarily it must! Because today we are discussing the subtlest and highest of Tantrik philosophies. In this lesson, we unveil the "Way of Shakti", a particularly subtle and exciting approach to spiritual practice. We contemplate verses 99 and 102 of the Vijnana-Bhairava Tantra. May your contemplations of these two verses flower into the full bloom of Enlightenment, the attainment of your own innate Shiva-nature of Pure Consciousness.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
How To Meditate Like Lord Shiva
11 Jun 2022
01:01:56
In 10th CE Kashmir, there were a slew of Tantrik masters who wrote brilliant commentaries on principal texts in Tantra and in so doing developed a wholly unique, thrilling and sophisticated approach to spirituality. These masters wrote within the tradition of Shaivism, the spiritual philosophy centered around Shiva as the principal divinity. Naturally then, their approach came to be called "Kashmir Shaivism." While this is a broad and far reaching school with many technicalities and subtleties, I wanted to share with you one particularly striking feature of Kashmiri Shaivite meditation, namely, the Shambava Upaya (Way of Shiva) approach that attempts to seize every day moments of ordinary cognition as profound opportunities to recognise the deepest Truth of your own being. If you properly master this technique, the idea is that in each and every moment of your embodied existence, you will constantly be reawakened to the ever-fresh joy of rediscovering your essence nature as Lord Shiva himself.
If you'd like to come and have your question answered, LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Buddhism and Hinduism (Q&A) | Buddha Purnima
19 May 2022
02:30:02
In this Buddha Purnima special, we celebrate the birth, death and enlightenment of one of the world's greatest spiritual teachers, Gautama the Buddha by having a Q&A discussion on various themes in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and spiritual life in general.
00:01:16 Is Buddha's Enlightenment and Sri Ramakrishna's Enlightenment the same? 00:07:46 Nagarjuna's "Nirvana = Samsara" 00:12:15 The Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu? 00:21:45 How is Advaita Vedanta different from Soliplism/Subjective Idealism? 00:34:51 Westopher's Firm Footing 00:50:30 Why Is There Suffering In The World? 01:09:25 Dzogchen and Tantrik Buddhism with Orion 01:45:50 What Is Bhuta Shuddhi, The Essence of Tantrik Puja? + Kundalini 01:56:03 How Stay Motivated On The Path 02:03:29 "Let He Who Hath Ears Hear" (The Importance of Reviewing)
If you'd like to come and have your question answered, LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Sri Ramakrishna's Mission | Celebrating 125 Years!
03 May 2022
00:26:12
On May 1st this year, the Ramakrishna Mission turns 125 since Swami Vivekananda established it in 1897, in Balaram Bose's house in Calcutta. As an offering to my Guru, I say a few words about the central theme of this mission that to me represents the Highest Ideal of Spiritual Life: service to our brothers and sisters, not out of the delusion that we can "help" them or that they are in need of "our help", but out of the recognition of the innate divinity of the soul. As such, our service to others is really nothing but worship of the Divine as She appears to us in this or that person. Really, this is conversation about turning every moment of your life into spiritual practice.
May this words serve you. Jai Shri Ramakrishna! Jai Maa Kaali!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Bhagavad Gita Rock Opera + Q&A | Lissa Coffey
03 May 2022
02:18:06
When you surrender your life to the Divine Inspiration arising from deep within you, then, you no longer live your life. Your life lives you.
In this sangha Q&A discussion, we interview celebrity author and sister-disciple, Lissa Coffey (Parama) to talk about: Why don't we do the things we know we want to do? What is holding us back? And what will happen when we surrender our life to our inspiration, that is, to our Svadharma, our Personal Mission? In this moving discussion, we hear about Lissa Coffey's new project, the Bhagavad Gita Rock Opera, and how following her inspiration has created positive changes in her life and spiritual practice. Her testimony proves to us that if we surrender to the Divine, we will always be provided for and that our lives will be filled with genuine joy and ease-fulness. Then, we answer some questions on how to find motivation for spiritual practice, reincarnation, the obstacles to spiritual practice and many other important themes in spiritual life.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What Is Freedom?
19 Apr 2022
02:00:15
When people talk about freedom, they usually speak about the freedom to be a slave to their own impulses. The million year tyrant of our biology has kept us entangled in its own survival and reproduction motives, using us as pawns in a much larger game that we cannot win. Every now and then we wake up to this reality and ask if there are other motives by which we might live our lives, motives more meaningful and fulfilling than simply the dressed-up drives of sex and survival?
00:00:00 What is the Purpose of Life? 00:04:12 The Test of Truth (Don't Believe A Word I Say!) 00:06:15 What Do People Commonly Want Out of Practicing Yoga? 00:12:15 What Does A Mature Spiritual Desire Look Like? 00:15:05 What does "Dukkha" (Suffering) really mean? 00:17:59 The Danger of Immature Spiritual Practice (The Dragon of Biology) 00:28:40 Why Don't Pleasures Satisfy Us? (The Bondage of Kama, Artha and Dharma) 00:42:41 The Freedom Paradox: Common Conceptions of Freedom and Why They Don't Work vs The Spiritual Ideal of Freedom from Lust and Greed 00:59:12 The Peace that Passeth All Understanding (Ananda) 01:11:11 Freedom in Kant, the Christian Mystics and the Tarot 01:18:12 How To Achieve Freedom? 01:22:11 The Central Thrust of Indian Philosophy (Polytheism to Monotheism to Monism) 01:35:22 An Argument to Show You Your Freedom (You are God!) 01:46:34 If I Am God, Why Do I Incarnate and Forget? 01:53:34 Stanzas on Freedom (Nirvana Shatakam)
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there:
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What Is Evil?
04 Apr 2022
01:56:08
Theodicy or "The Problem of Evil" is as follows: if God is omnipotent (all-powerful) AND omnibenevolent (all good), why is there suffering/evil in the world? Either this means God is not powerful enough to stop evil even if She wanted to OR it means God could stop it but won't and as such is not all "good" by human standards. Today, we explore some ideas from Advaita Vedanta (Hindu Non-Duality) to offer a fresh perspectives on the Problem of Evil. Advaita argues that there is no such thing as "evil" in the world. What appears to be "evil" is simply a contracted state of love. How can this be? Let's find out together!
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
00:00:00 Introduction: What Is Truth? 00:08:05 What is "Evil"? 00:14:00 Does the appearance of Evil imply the existence of Evil? 00:16:00 "Sociopath"/"Psychopath"/"Narcissist": Do These Words Mean Anything? 00:18:00 The Approach of Scientific Materialism to Evil and It's Drawbacks 00:22:00 Can We Study Evil "Objectively"? (A Methodological Point) 00:26:00 What Is Advaita Vedanta's view of Science? 00:29:00 Can Science help us face the "evil: in the world? (Hedonism and Humanism) 00:32:50 What is "God" according to Dualistic Religions? 00:36:00 If God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there Evil? 00:41:47 Why does God value "Free Will?" (The Story of the Fall) 00:46:19 Zoroastrianism and The Origins of Dualistic Religion 00:50:26 If there is Good, there has to be Evil, right? Here's the Problem! 00:55:55 Kali Worship: A New Way of Looking at God 01:00:45 How To Look Evil in the Eye With Love?/How To Overcome Guilt 01:03:50 Samkhya, Advaita and Buddhism: A Mature Approach to "Getting On With It" 01:08:19 The Story of Milarepa: A Tantrik Approach of Evil and Guilt 01:18:43 The Advaitic Approach to Evil (The Main Course for Tonight!!!) 01:29:50 The Ultimate Ethical Project of Spirituality: Cultivating Selfl
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
How To Choose A Guru & What To Do If You Don't Have One
24 Jul 2024
01:41:36
This is our special Guru Purnima talk, this time on the subject: How To Choose A Guru
Of course we’ll discuss just what the Guru Tattva (Guru Principle) is and why it is absolutely necessary in spiritual life but more importantly we’ll focus on the question of how to find a guru and evaluate them to protect yourself from charlatans and cults etc.!
At the end of the talk, we’ll discuss a very powerful practice you can do right now even if you don’t have a living teacher as of yet!
On behalf of the auspicious occasions of Veda Vyāsa (Guru) Pūrnimā and alas Shrāvan Mas (the sacred month of Shiva which began the day we gave this lecture (July 22nd and goes till August 19th), let us all remember always that God alone is the Guru. As it says in the Guru Gītā:
“Brahmānandam Paramasukhadam kevalam jñāna murtim…bhāvatītam trigunarahitam sad gurum tam namami”:
That true guru is the bliss of Brahman, the transcendent joy of non-dual knowledge, that reality beyond all name and form, beyond the touch of the three gunas. To That we bow!
I salute that Dakshinamurthy Shiva, the sky of Consciousness which appears in the form of teacher, student and transmission!
May He bless us all with knowledge and devotion!
We honor all teachers of all traditions who through their perfect discipleship have each of them embodied what it means to be spiritual in this world. I bow to the servants heart in all teachers who are each of them God’s grace personified!
Let us never forget the teaching from the Kaula Sutra:
There is only one Guru: the unbroken ray of transmission that flows through the lineage. There is only one God: the Reality to which one awakens (as a result of that transmission) There is only one Power: the Power of Consciousness which is the ground of the spontaneous and natural “I-sense”
You can watch all our previous lectures on the Guru here: https://www.patreon.com/collection/666741
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome! Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Sri Ramakrishna, Modern Day Avatar
07 Mar 2022
01:08:49
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What is for a human to literally be God? It seems counter-intuitive! One can of course study the life of the great Avataras like Buddha, Jesus and Ramakrishna and see a remarkable similarity. All the stories are almost replayed, almost word for word. But even then the mind has room to say "well, they are just stories, maybe they were intentionally crafted to mirror Avatars of the past to gain credibility. I mean after all, wouldn't everyone like to claim their Guru as the Avatara of the Age?" The mind is powerless to comprehend. But for some reason, this heart feels what it feels!
Now the interesting thing is that when young Narendranath (later Swami Vivekananda) met Ramakrishna, he didn't care at all whether he was an Avatara or not. He had heard such implications but it was enough for young Naren that before him was a genuinely spiritual man with a deep love for God and a powerful penchant for teaching spirituality. He was ready to learn from such a man once he felt the depth of feeling and wisdom housed in that slender frame. Ramakrishna was a Guru for Vivekananda at first. But then, as time went on and Naren saw more and more of Ramakrishna, he begin to feel intuitions that of course waged war with his keen, rational, Western-trained intellect. He doubted Ramakrishna up to the very last moment, when Ramakrishna was about to die from throat cancer. Vivekananda thought "is this really the Avatara of the modern age? If he can affirm it now, even amidst all this pain, I might accept it". It was jut a thought but on cue Ramakrishna said "do you doubt it even now, my boy? The one who was here as Rama and the one who was here as Krishna is now here as Ramakrishna. But not according to your Vedanta!" That last response is very important to me because it expresses that there are many ways of looking at a phenomenon like Ramakrishna and that all these ways are legit. Each must come to an understandin
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Secrets of the Dancing Shiva
01 Mar 2022
02:12:41
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Nataraja, the Dancing Shiva is among the most riveting and mysterious symbols in South Asian spirituality. What does it mean? Who is Shiva and why is he dancing? In this lecture, we explore the subtlest and most sublime esoteric teachings of the Tantrik tradition of Shaivism, teachinga that are given life and expression in this symbol of the Dancing Shiva that has captured the hearts and imaginations many! To hear this teaching even once can radically alter the way we see ourselves, others and the world such that we live a joyously and fearlessly, relishing each moment in life, even grief, as the Divine Play of Shiva! May this teaching trigger in you a recognition of what you already are at your esence nature!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Great Night of Shiva
01 Mar 2022
01:58:58
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
A lecture exploring the mythology, symbology and philosophy of Shiva, the Benign God of Yoga.
The New Moon is a very significant time for yogis. Yoga is about diving deep into the essence of one's being and coming face to face with primordial fears like the fear of death, only to overcome them. The New Moon is the darkest night of the month and as such offers a profound opportunity to look fear in the face and smile. The New Moon is a time for introspection and spiritual practice and these nights are sacred to Shiva, the Formless Aspect of the Divine, personified as the Yogi Par Excellence! Every New Moon night then is called "Shiva Ratri", a Night of Shiva because it is an auspicious time to do what Shiva does best - spiritual practice! But of all the New Moons in the year one is particularly important. And that is the New Moon of the Vedic month of Maaga: Maha Shivaratri, The Great Night of Shiva! What makes it "Great"? Certain astrological considerations make this night the most auspicious night for spiritual practice of any kind!
And so:
The best way to celebrate Shiva Ratri is just to practice your practices. Whatever spiritual work you do is trebled in meaning because of the various astrological considerations of the day. But even better than this is to feed the homeless for the homeless are all Shiva incarnate and the wandering mendicants of the world are particularly dear to this benign God of Yoga.
Almost everything that we love about Yoga comes from the tradition of Shaiva Tantra. The mantras, the symbolic depictions of the various deities (which are all just patterns of Awareness, the Awareness-Bliss Absolute that you are!), the sacred hand gestures, the yoga postures, the initiation tradition of lineage based education etc... all of this is what is being celebrated on this auspicious New Moon!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Four Schools: Hindu Non-Duality vs Buddhism vs Dualistic Religion vs Scientific Materialism
22 Feb 2022
02:10:23
In what might be one of our most philosophically rigorous discussions yet, we explore the four main orientations to life: Scientific Materialism, Dualistic Religion, Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality). In this "compare and contrast" style lecture, we attempt to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of each school of thought with the view that they are all incredible paths appropriate for different times suiting different dispositions. “Truth is One, though sages call it differently. (Rig Veda 1:164:46) And, sometimes it is only through studying the context in which a school of thought emerges and through studying its opposition, that we can truly come to understand it.
Chapter Markers: 00:00:00 Introduction: How Does Indian Philosophy Work? 00:04:30 Meet The Players On The Stage: The Four Streams of Thought 00:09:50 What is "Advaita Vedanta" (Hindu Non-Duality)? 00:19:03 History of Scientific Materialism (Charvaka) 00:27:00 Galen's "Hard Problem of Matter" and Chalmer's "Hard Problem of Consciousness" 00:31:07 Promissory Materialism and the Benefits of Science 00:35:30 The Drawbacks of Scientific Materialism 00:47:37 The Mystics of Science 00:52:00 Dualistic Religion: What is God? 00:57:00 The Benefits of Dualistic Religion 01:06:00 Dualistic Hinduism: Shaivism vs Vaishnavism 01:08:53 The Drawbacks of Dualistic Religion: "The Problem of Evil" (Theodicy) 01:17:11 Another Drawback of Dualistic Religion: "Time Based Liberation can END" 01:19:29 Buddhism 01:27:35 Madhyamika Buddhism of Nagarjuna: "Samsara = Nirvana" 01:35:35 The Logical Problem of Buddhism 01:38:20 The Advaitic Solution 01:46:33 How To Deal With The Evil in the World? (Political Action) 01:50:00 How To Cultivate Unconditional Love 01:54:45 Is This A Dream? (An Experiment to Show Non-Duality) 02:02:30 What Happens After Non-Dual Awakening?
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
How To Truly Love Someone | Valentine's Day Special
15 Feb 2022
01:28:08
Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever wondered: why are some relationships more fulfilling than others? What can we do to improve our romantic relationships? Do romantic relationships even have a place in spiritual life? And how is a relationship, which requires two things to relate to one another, compatible with Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) that posits only one thing? In this lecture we answer all these questions as well as explore a few models of conscious relationships in Indian spirituality.
May this be an offering to Laxmi, Goddess of Beauty and Abundance!
OM SHREEM LAXMIYAI DEVYAI NAMAHA ||
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction, access to our lecture library, and to support this work, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
LIVE lectures happen every Monday at 7pm PST on Zoom. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Work as Worship | Swami Vivekananda's Core Message
25 Jan 2022
01:32:14
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Today is Swami Vivekananda's (Swamiji's) birthday. This year, because we follow the Vedic moon calendar, the auspicious date is the 25th of January. By the Gregorian Calendar the great hero was born on the 12th of January 1863. He gave his first address to the West at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago on the 11th of September 1893, opening with the prophetic words: "my sisters and brothers of America..."
We are all here together because of his work. He is the great Messenger of the Spiritual Heritage of India, the torch bearer and representative par excellence of the ancient tradition of Yoga, the forerunner of Vedanta here in the West. And so with immense delight I offer to you now this lecture celebrating Vivekananda's life and legacy. Of course, One lecture is not enough to achieve even the faintest sketch of this cyclonic life lived according to the highest of spiritual ideals. In this lecture, we scratch the surface of Vivekananda's core message: work as worship. We analyse the highest ideal of Karma Yoga as an expression of the paths of Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge) and Raja (meditation). The idea in this lecture, if God permits, is to convey a sense of how we may turn every action in our life into a spiritual practice, even the most mundane ones. How can we truly serve those around us?
"May I be born again and again, and suffer thousands of miseries, so that I may worship the only God that exists, the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls. For my own part I will be incarnated two hundred times, if that is necessary to do what I have undertaken amongst my people.''
-Swamiji
May these words be as so many offerings of flowers at your feet. May each and every breath of ours be given for the service of humanity!
Jai Swamiji Maharaj-ji Ki Jay!
00:00:00 Introduction: The Vedantic Humanism of Swami Vivekananda 00:05:31 Worldly Duties vs Spiritual Practice: Resolving the Dilemma 00:19:11 Perfection in Karma Yoga as defined by Swamiji 00:21:17 Paramahansa Ramakrishna, Avatar of the Modern Age 00:34:29 How Swamiji Learned This Profound Secret of Work as Worship 00:37:23 How Can The Absolute Be Both Transcendent AND Immanent? 00:54:00 Why Does This Realization Bring Joy? (Ananda) 00:59:40 You = The Absolute. But How? (Atma-Anatma Viveka)
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Going Beyond Belief to Experience
25 Dec 2021
02:08:08
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Mere belief is not enough. For the spiritual life to be meaningful, one must experience directly for oneself the Truth of the scripture and manifest in their lives the highest ideals of spiritual life. Before we take our deep dive into the four gospels of Christianity with a Vedantic lens, we clarify a few concepts: Soul = Sakshi/Pramataa/Atman = Witness Good vs Bad = not moral claims but claims about fulfilment and happiness Apathea = a divine dispassion for worldly life Agape = an all-consuming unconditional love that turns the world into the Kingdom of Heaven
OM Shantih Shantih Shantih
00:00:00 Walking the Talk and Defining "Communion" 00:07:15 Hypocrisy in the Church 00:10:50 "A Saint Who Is Sad is A Sad Saint" 00:13:04 Christianity is NOT about Moralizing! (Defining "Good" and "Bad") 00:18:33 Belief vs Experience 00:29:16 Zoroastrianism and Christian Morality (With an aside on low vs high Christology) 00:57:07 What's Wrong With the "World"? (And the Definition of "Truth") 01:12:46 Lust and Greed are Antithetical to Christianity 01:17:55 What Is A "Soul"? 01:25:45 True Love: The Love of the Soul 01:34:59 How To Overcome Lust and Greed and Live as a Soul (Practical Takeaways)
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Non-Duality of Jesus Christ
21 Dec 2021
02:01:46
Christianity is not about blind belief. Christianity is about Direct Personal Experience of the Divine. In this lecture we explore the secret teachings of Christian mysticism by investigating some of the non-dual teaching of the greatest Non-Dual Master of all time: Yeshua the Christ! There are many misconceptions about what Christianity is and isn't. Tonight, we try to cut through the dogma and noise of the "brood of vipers" to penetrate into the vital, living Heart of this most powerful spiritual tradition. May this be an offering to all the saints!
00:00:00 Why Do We Study Spiritual Philosophy? (Knowledge vs Wisdom) 00:06:06 Yeshua the Christ and Paul the Apostle 00:10:00 Swami Vivekananda carried two books with him: The Bhagavad Gita and... 00:13:00 "The Imitation of Christ" and Universal Spiritual Truths 00:16:50 The Sadhu and the Scorpion 00:22:00 Genuine Spirituality is about Experience, not Dogma (Stories of Saints) 00:34:00 The Desert Fathers and the Mysticism of Christianity (Orthodoxy) 00:41:00 Prayer is Meditation, Meditation is Prayer + The Lord's Prayer (Japa) 00:48:54 The Brood of Vipers: How Christianity Has Been Misrepresented (Belief vs Faith) 00:57:40 The Christ Force: A Feeling State, A Mode of Being (Accessible to One and All) 01:07:26 The Mystery of the Trinity: Platonism, Neoplatonism and "The Word" 01:13:20 How does "Truth set us free"? 01:20:00 The Jnana-Yoga of Jesus ("Deny Thyself" = Neti Neti) 01:34:17 The Raja-Yoga of Jesus ("If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with light") 01:42:47 The Bhakti-Yoga of Jesus ("Love thy God with all thy might!") 01:51:10 The Karma-Yoga of Jesus (The Curing of the Leper) 01:53:41 Jesus Supports All Religions (Religion vs Spirituality) 01:59:00 Closing Prayer by Nish 02:00:56 Closing Prayer in Latin by Maddz
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The 4 Goals of Life
07 Dec 2021
02:00:35
What is life for? What does it mean to live a fulfilling life as a human being? The answer to that question depends a great deal on the question, "what is it to BE a human being?"/"who am I?" Today we talk about finding and ultimately, following your Dharma (your life's purpose) as a way to overcome lust and greed as well as a preparation for Moksha (liberation). We discuss the meaning of a human life with an inquiry into the Purushartha, the 4 things worth having: Kaama (pleasure), Artha (wealth), Dharma (duty/personal purpose), Moksha (liberation). Then, we look at three central arguments from Advaita Vedanta to get an insight into who we really are!
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Spiritual Message of India
19 Nov 2021
01:22:34
In this talk, we explore the very heart of Indian spirituality: renunciation and service. We ask: what are the Vedas and the Upanishads and from what do the Vedas draw scriptural authority? The answers might surprise you! We conclude by examining the lives of India's greatest saint, the 19th CE Bengali master Sri Ramakrishna and his foremost disciple, Swami Vivekananda who first brought the message of India to the West. Today, let us celebrate this ancient lineage that lives on in you and me. Let us set our sights on the highest ideals expressed to us by the world's oldest living spiritual tradition. Let us resolve to live our lives starting today to the best of our ability in accordance with the lion's roar of these ennobling values!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Should I Worship One God or Many, Chant One Mantra or Many?
19 Jul 2024
01:31:45
Two weeks ago, we discussed how sādhanā works in a non-dual Shaiva Tanttra context, providing a few foundational practices you can do right away (you can watch that lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-get-with-106871859?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).
And then the week after, we discussed how sādhanā is an expression of your innate freedom and not some desperate attempt to attain it! We then offered a few ways to keep spiritual life fun, engaging and interesting so you can become increasingly absorbed in the joy of the life divine. (you can watch this lecture here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-enjoy-107896090?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link).
Now, in this lecture, I want to continue last week's discussion on diversity and variety in spiritual life by discussing whether its better to worship one deity or many, better to practice with one mantra or many, better to do one practice or many different ones. Naturally, I'm going to make a case for the latter by arguing for non-duality, i.e all mantras are just names of the same Being and that Being is You! This will help folks who are torn between two or more deities, two more traditions etc. mostly but it is for every sincere sadhaka and sadhvi who wishes to understanding something deeper about the unity behind seeming diversity. In my opinion, tonight's discussion is at the very heart of Tantra and Ramakrishna's theology.
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome! Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Youth and Spirituality, A Conversation
06 Nov 2021
01:22:54
As a young person, we are surrounded by narratives about who we ought to be, what we ought to do, what we ought to own and what pleasures we ought to want in order to "make it" in the world. Our elders hand down belief systems in the guise of wisdom and yet we see right through that hypocrisy! We find it odd to be accepting advice from people on "how to be happy" when those same people don't seem very functional or happy! It seems like the assumptions upon which our society is built are unsatisfactory ones and young people everywhere are restless for a new way to see themselves and the world around them. More and more young people are turning to spiritual life. Why is that? Instead of the usual lectures I publish here on For The Love of Yoga, today, I decided to do something different in celebration of Diwali! Here is a conversation with my friend, Arman on the unique challenges that a young person today might encounter (i.e explaining to your parents that you DON'T want to be CEO of the world but instead want "enlightenment"...) and how to overcome them!
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Overcoming Fear
31 Oct 2021
02:02:56
Happy Halloween! Enjoy this Halloween special :)
The enlightened state is a state of complete fearlessness. Prior to enlightenment, our lives are pervaded by a kind of restless anxiety. We want what we want because we are afraid of what might happen to us if we don't get it. As a result, we feel a contraction throughout our day to day experience. But imagine how relaxed, open and compassionate we would be if we manage to overcome that fear once and for all? Such a thing is possible! Today, we explore what fear is and attempt to root it out on all levels of the being: the Intellect, the mind, the body/etheric body and most importantly, the heart.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
7 Tools for a Spiritual Life
24 Oct 2021
02:44:12
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What does it mean to live a "spiritual life"? What does life look like when you commit yourself full time to finding and making manifest in every movement of life your own Divinity? Here are 7 tools to radically transform each moment of life into a moment of practice, into a moment of communion with the most high.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
These lectures happen Live every Monday at 7pm PST. It is open to the public. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Today we talk about why we practice spirituality and discuss the 5 main obstacles that might be keeping us from the Enlightenment that we already are! Enlightenment is not an experience or a particular state. It is not something you can have. It is the simple recognition of what you are, it is the ease of simply being.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Social Activism as Spiritual Practice
21 Sep 2021
02:08:12
For more videos and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
What is effective and appropriate action with regards to the various political concerns around us? What role does spiritual practice play in informing our engagement with the world? In this lecture, we explore four distinct schools of South Asian philosophy (Samkhya, Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism) to show that the spiritual master is beyond all ethics: she is a spontaneous and effortless expression of perfect morality. We explore the Three Errors of Social Work before enlightenment and we expound on how service (seva) and activism can be a form of spiritual practice.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What is Spiritual Practice?
14 Sep 2021
01:59:15
We look at some key teachings from the philosophical schools of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta to relax into the profound divinity, the easeful joy that is already here for you. There is a big disjunct between knowing spiritual concepts in the mind and actually experiencing them as a lived reality in daily life. We have all attended many lectures and read many books and yet the glow fades away, the remembrance of our true nature dissipates and we return to familiar, stifling patterns of a separate self. Today we inquire into how to maintain a stable state of loving awareness in everyday life. What is Spiritual Practice? And how can you start?
For more videos, instruction and episodes, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What is Reincarnation?
06 Sep 2021
01:04:40
What dies when the body dies and what is it that carries on? The theory of Reincarnation, that is, the movement of the Soul from one body to another, is featured in most South Asian schools of philosophy. Today, we attempt to motivate this theory on scientific and philosophical grounds to prove that not only does this theory have a lot of explanatory power when it come to accounting for certain phenomena, but also that this theory has a three-fold practical use:
1. Reincarnation Theory frees us from a victim narrative, allowing us to take responsibility for our lives which all spiritual paths require 2. Reincarnation Theory affirms us in our spiritual quest: nothing we do in this life is "lost" or "for nothing" when the body dies. 3. Reincarnation Theory provides a powerful and empowering for learning: all learning is remembering! You are ALREADY enlightened. You are just reminding yourself of what you always were, always will be and are now.
For more episodes, videos and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What is Death?
22 Aug 2021
01:09:19
What IS death? What "dies" exactly? Do YOU end when the body ends? Socrates described philosophy as "preparation for death", Nachiketha learned the secret of life in Death's house in the Katha Upanishad, the Shakyamuni Buddha pointed out that as much as we like to pretend otherwise, impermanence is a fact of life. But impermanence of what? To celebrate today's Pluto Retrograde and the Scorpio Full Moon, we explore the deepest questions of philosophy and find profound answers from Advaita Vedanta (Hindu Non-Duality), answers that not only free us once and for all from the fear of death but also give us tools to meaningfully overcome grief and loss.
For more videos and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
What Is Real?
02 Aug 2021
01:03:44
We've got to understand what a thing is before we know how to use it meaningfully. We have to ask: what is this world made of? What is real? And what does it mean to be in the world? Today, we explore the Hard Problem of Matter and the Hard Problem of Consciousness: why is it that the more we look for "matter" through the lens of material science, the more it runs away from us? How come a Universe composed of mostly dark energy/matter and empty space appears to us the way that it does? We explore some central teachings of Hindu Non-Duality or Advaita Vedanta to answer these big questions so we can discover how to live most meaningfully in this world and to realize right here and now that you are IN the world, the world is in YOU; only awareness exists, all other things are mere "appearances" in awareness and YOU are that awareness. YOU are the only thing that is real.
For more episodes, follow me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
You Do Not Need To Heal
23 Jul 2021
01:00:58
We are often sold the narrative in New Age circles that we are broken and in need of "healing" which can only happen, of course, after paying lots of money to some self-proclaimed Shaman... Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) adamantly challenges this view by suggesting that you are already enlightened, whole and fulfilled at your very essence. There is nothing missing from you that needs to be added up, so there can be no growing. There is nothing broken that needs to be fixed, and so there can be no healing. The work of spirituality is not healing or growth but merely aligning your perception with the Reality of what you already are: Existence, Consciousness and Bliss itself. All it takes is one insight. To cultivate that insight we explore 4 different arguments to prove here and now your true nature beyond the illusory appearance of body-mind-personality that you've identified with up till now. Enjoy!
For more videos and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Definition of Bhakti + Q&A
17 Jul 2024
02:16:29
In this talk, we take up Swami Vivekananda's very powerful reflections on Bhakti Yoga, the practice of Devotion from the talk "Definition of Bhakti" which appears in Volume III of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. Then, after making a few comments about it, we plunge into a Q&A session exploring broader themes in spiritual life. But first we open with some remarks about the three types of Navarātri or Goddess festivals in the calendar year! Enjoy!
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome! Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Cultivating Devotion (Guided Meditation)
13 Jul 2021
00:25:10
For more videos, episodes and instruction, visit me at: patreon.com/yogawithnish
One of our most advanced guided meditations yet: today, we cultivate Bhakti (devotion). The Way of Devotion engenders a natural, spontaneous and almost effortless kind of spiritual movement away from fear-craving-suffering and towards fearlessness-peace-bliss. Bhakti, the Path of Love is the Secret Sauce of spiritual life. It is the Spirit Juice. It is the practice par excellence for cultivating the necessary dispositions for advanced spiritual life; it is Bhakti that creates in us, effortlessly, the necessary preconditions for a spiritual awakening; it is Bhakti that gently clears the way day after day for us so that we may deepen further and further into peace.
In this meditation, we start with a bit of preamble about the Path of Bhakti in general and then we move into a guided meditation to call up our Istha Devata (Chosen Ideal) to help us begin our life in Bhakti. May this transform you.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Witness: Overcoming Pain and Grief (Guided Meditation)
11 Jul 2021
00:19:51
For more videos, lessons and episodes, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Happy New Moon in Cancer! Here is a guided meditation for overcoming pain, grief, and the inevitable transiency of Samsara. We use the Witness (Sakshi) technique from the Advaita Vedanta and Samkhya schools of Indian spiritual philosophy.
Remember:
All things arise and pass away. Entire worlds surge up and dissolve with each breath. Knowing this, why become attached? Why be disturbed by The rising and falling away Of circumstances? Take a stand outside the transient Flux of Nature and Mind. Take a stand in the Witness. And be free!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
My Father and I Are One (Guided Meditation)
20 Jun 2021
01:23:50
For videos, instruction and more episodes, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Happy Father's Day and Blessed Summer Solstice! Shiva-Shakti, Yang-Yin, Masculine-Feminine, Fatherhood-Motherhood Consciousness-Energy, Energy-Matter...all of these are two aspects of the same thing, two ways of looking at one principle. What is the unity beyond this seeming duality? Today we explore the Divine Masculine in Christian mysticism, Taoism and Tantra to celebrate Father's Day and welcome in powerful new energy for the coming Solstice. Enjoy :)
Here is a householder prayer for all householder-yogis out there:
"I vow before the Divine to think never of myself, to take nothing for me, to surrender everything to family, society and Dharma. I will live simply and nobly. I will have no vices. For verily, I will harbour no sense of my own self for it is not "my" will but thy will be done! I will live and die by my Dharma, doing my duty as well as I can at every moment. I will not speak harsh words or harm anyone consciously and knowing that no good work is completely good (for there is bad even in good however unintentional), I will purify myself so that I no longer think myself to be the doer of actions. I will offer up all fruits now and always to you, to my family, to society and to Dharma. I will be beyond all karma for I know that works are done through me, ever by me. OM peace peace peace."
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Divine Purpose of Suffering
18 Jun 2021
01:02:33
For more videos, episodes and instructions, join me at patreon.com/yogawithnish What does our suffering show us about our true nature? In this video: 1. A few central insights from Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality) to cure suffering once and for all 2. An inquiry into the innovations of Kashmir Shaivism to Non-Duality and 3. How this latter worldview articulates suffering as an auspicious teacher revealing our divine selves.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Secrets of Kali Worship
04 Jun 2021
00:58:28
For more episodes and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish Mother Kali, the black skinned, wild-haired goddess wielding weapons and whirling in an ecstatic dance of awakening has been one of the most fascinating icons in Indian art for centuries on end. What is the hidden meaning of this Dark Devi? Today we discuss some folk stories about Kali and explore their hidden meaning to uncover secrets about how to deal with suffering and use suffering as a tool for deepening our spiritual practice. Come and dive into the exciting world of Tantra, Goddess Worship and Yogic practice :)
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Great Saints of India: Siddhartha Gautama
27 May 2021
02:26:10
For more episodes, guided meditations and videos, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
In this lecture, we explore the dizzying heights of Buddhist philosophy and practice, tracking the development of ideas starting with the profound insights of one of India's greatest teachers, the Shakyamuni Buddha 2600 years ago all the way to their development into the Tantrik forms of Vajrayana/Mahayana/Dzogchen as well as their more austere forms, Hinayana and Zen.
To celebrate Buddha Purnima, we explore the story of a young prince, living a life of luxury, sheltered away from the realities of life. Eventually the young prince feels the superficiality of pleasure, as we do in the quiet lull of the party. He leaves his pleasure garden and encounters old age, sickness and death, realities we pretend will not happen to us.
This inspires him to take up a genuine spiritual inquiry culminating in the most profound insights of Indian philosophy. You see, the story of the Buddha is the story of us. It is the story of our own Buddha-nature and our journey of relaxing into what is already here now for us. May you have a blessed Buddha Purnima, Sagittarius full moon and Lunar eclipse! May you be a lamp unto yourself. May you awaken to your Buddha-nature daily!
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Kali and Radical Acceptance
22 May 2021
00:58:08
For the video version of this and for more lectures, lessons and content, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Many of us experience difficult disease on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level and often we use meditation and Yoga as a kind of numbing strategy to try to overcome, escape or suppress these movements of energy we call difficult emotions. This never works. There is a higher path. If you are able to internalize today's teaching from the 9th CE Kashmir Shaivism school you will no longer experience grief and pain AS suffering. They won't go away. But when they arise in consciousness, you will learn to reframe your experience such that they will no longer be experienced as contraction (i.e suffering). They will turn into a moment of profound beauty that both enlivens you and enflames you with reverence and prayer. Come and join us for this lovely evening of Tantrik techniques, the poetry of Rumi and a discussion on the Three Orientations to Spiritual Life.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
The Spiritual Heritage of India
11 May 2021
05:43:12
The 5000 year old tradition that is Indian spirituality lives on today and it lives on in you! We gather today to celebrate the nourishing philosophies and the practical methodologies that have emerged from India over the years in an effort to raise some funds for the COVID relief effort in Mother India! If you feel moved, you can still donate by sending your offerings directly to https://www.giveindia.org/
I hope you will enjoy this humble offering of the Spirit. In this 5+ hour lecture marathon, we explore all the different schools of thought from the Vedas to the Upanishads to the Tantras to Yoga, we share folk stories and we engage in Q&A and explore how these spiritual ideas came about and how they made their way to you!
May something in what I have to say in this talk serve you. I am just the messenger passing on to you what was given to me and even that is a but a grain of sand on the beach of knowledge. It is enough that this video makes you feel happy. Feeling good and peaceful is one of the best services we can offer to the planet. One one level we help materially with what we can but on a deeper level, because we are all enmeshed in a web of vibration, how we feel tonight has far reaching effects to every part of this creation. So let us come together to cultivate the highest vibration and trust that we as uplift ourselves, so to do we uplift all beings. Lokah Samasta Sukinoh Bahavantu
May All Beings Know Joy and Peace! OM Peace Peace Peace
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Tapasya: Austerity as Spiritual Practice
03 May 2021
01:10:52
All spiritual traditions prescribe some form of self-abnegation in the name of purifying the vessel: Jesus fasted in the desert, the Islamic mystics called themselves "Fakirs" (Poor Ones), Nachiketha jumped into the fire in the Katha Upanishad...and yet, the Buddha spoke against severe austerity in favor of the "Middle Way", the path of moderation. What is austerity, really? In this video we explore the esoteric principle behind purification practices and I suggest a few indispensable techniques to incorporate into your spiritual life right away. Also, we have a lengthy discussion on what the REAL purpose of spiritual practice is; we diagnose why it might be that despite all the meditating and attending Vedanta lectures, we might still not be "manifesting our divinity in each movement of life."
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Dukkha: Why Do We Suffer?
26 Apr 2021
01:02:29
We have talked about what suffering is quite a bit. But we haven't answered WHY we suffer. How does the experience of suffering fit into the cosmic picture of creation? Why did Brahman get confused by Maya? Who created the Matrix? Hint, Neo: YOU did. But why? We explore 7 different schools of South Asian philosophy (The Materialist Charvaka school, Buddhism, Jainism, Vaishnava Dualism, Samkhya/Yoga, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism) to find out how each of them account for suffering.
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
How To Enjoy Spiritual Life
17 Jul 2024
02:07:04
Sādhanā, spiritual practie is an expression of your innate freedom and not some desperate attempt to attain it! Many people have such a sour face when they are sitting for meditation. How strange! Are you not meditating on the Divine Effulgence within? Are you not meditating on Bliss Itself embodied as your Ishta Devī, your chosen form of God? Shouldn't your face then be beaming with joy?! For many, spiritual life is a bitter struggle but that's only because we often approach things in the wrong way, founded upon a misunderstanding about why we are doing spiritual practice in the first place. In this talk, we offer a few ways to keep spiritual life fun, engaging and interesting so you can become increasingly absorbed in the endless joy of the life divine!
PS: we gave this talk in Jayanti and Jayanta's beautiful home shrine in Zurich. Behind me you can seen Sarvesvarī Kālī who was awakened on the new moon (mahālaya) of the recent Chaitra Navaratri. May this talk be an offering at Her Lotus Feet.
Jai Mā Sarveshvarī Kālī ki Jai!
Lectures happen live on zoom every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and Friday at 6pm PST. There's Q&A right after the lectures. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome! Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815 Our hatha yoga class is Monday 5pm PST with Amrita and Wednesdays at 11am PST and again at Friday 5pm PST with me via this same link also.
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
If you'd like to support us, you can do so here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jaimakali
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Your Soul's Song (Guided Meditation)
24 Apr 2021
00:18:13
Above every blade of grass, there is an angel whispering "grow! grow!" What is the true source of your inspiration? What is your purpose here on Earth as an individual? Do you not feel a call, deep within you, to action? A stirring in your soul to engage yourself in some creative pursuit for the service of your brothers and sisters?
In this powerful guided meditation, we draw upon the mythologies of Zoroastrianism, the Book of Enoch, Milton's "Paradise Lost, Stephen Pressfield's "War of Art" and of course my mentor Lyam Thomas Christopher who initially harmonizes these ideas in his book, "Kabbalah, Magick and Great Work of Self Transformation" and to whom I am greatly indebted. Come. Enter the poetical and romantic world of Evolution vs Dissolution. You are an on a holy quest of the Higher Self to bring about the fulfillment of the Ultimate Purpose. Will you answer this call to live your highest destiny? Will you blow the conch of Dharma? Will you take the Bodhisattva vow? Are you ready for the ultimate adventure of a lifetime?
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
Self-Sufficiency (Q&A)
13 Apr 2021
04:20:00
Join us for this Questions & Answers discussion session on: 1. How we can overcome lust and greed + why we would even want to overcome those things 2. The Dangers of Teaching Yoga 3. Is the desire for liberation still bondage? How can you desire "desirelessness"? 4. How to have compassion for oneself while still aspiring to higher spiritual ideals? How can you forgive yourself when you inevitably fall short? 5. True Spirituality vs Spiritual Bypassing/Escapism And much more!
For more episodes and instructions, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM
4 Tools for Self-Sufficiency
11 Apr 2021
01:05:12
How do we overcome lust and greed and discover self-sufficiency? Today, we investigate the awakening stories of masters like St Francis of Assisi, Ramana Maharshi, Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Eckhart Tolle etc. to explore some of the deepest topics in spiritual practice: 1. What is renunciation? 2. Why would a person want to give up the world and the sex craving? 3. Okay, you've decided you want to do it but how? There are so many deeply embedded patterns, strengthened from years of repetition and cultural conditioning that keep us from our spiritual ideals. But these ideals CAN be lived with the proper techniques. So let's explore 4 tools to overcome lust and greed.
For more episodes and instruction, visit me at patreon.com/yogawithnish
Lectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST. Use this link and I will see you there: https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815
For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at: https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnish
To get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM