The Vedantic Tradition as expressed by Adi Shankara tells us that Pure Consciousness is the only reality, everything else is an experience in consciousness. Pure Consciousness is that in which all experiences occur and out of which all experience is made. In every experience you are creating the world. You are not in the world, the world is in you. There is only Pure Consciousness and its modified forms. The great Sufi poet Rumi wrote that, “Awareness
300 Years of Serving Humanity Since 2004 I have been a member of the Shree Satuwa Baba Ashram in Varanasi India. It is a traditional Indian ashram, offering simple but sufficient facilities, which has become like a second home to me. If you are ever in Varanasi, I hope you will visit the Ashram. Tell them Raghavanand sent you and you will be welcomed, whether you choose to just look around, enjoy a basic meal, meet
India is a land of festivals. It seems that every day something is being celebrated somewhere. However, nothing compares to a Kumbha Mela for size, intensity and auspiciousness. Kumbha means pot and Mela means festival so the Kumbha Mela is the festival of the pot and, like so many Indian traditions, has its origins in mythology. There are several different versions of the myth but let’s look at a popular one. The Mythology Back in
The Mumbai Opportunity - written for the tenth anniversary of the Mumbai, India terrorist attack. There are only two emotions, fear and love. All the emotions we judge as negative have their basis in some fear, whether superficial or deep rooted and everything wonderful in our lives stems from love. Everything painful, toxic and life-damaging comes from fear, whereas all pleasurable, beautiful, expansive and life-supporting emotions come from love. Fear constricts, limits and distorts, while
When most people hear the word surrender, they think of something negative. Giving up, losing, being humiliated, allowing oneself to be controlled or perhaps even imprisoned. However, when used in a spiritual context, surrender also means to give up but here it’s to give up everything that no longer serves us. Spiritual surrender is to stop struggling against “what is”, to let go of the smallness of life and fully embrace its Totality. In the
We are all spiritual beings and all have the potential to fully embrace our spirituality. However, like everything in life, embarking on our spiritual path is a choice. In life we are each presented with several choices, leading to new stages of development. Initially, most of us progress along the same path but, at certain points, we have choices - whether to stay immersed in the status quo world or to explore the splendors of
The ignorant man asks for material possessions, the intelligent man asks for enlightenment but the wise man just loves and receives everything We all have desires. In fact wants and then don’t wants are regularly popping in and our of our heads. But how often do we stop and ask ourselves what we do really, really want and even then, how much of the time are we really sure? What we put our attention
We can think of a spiritual practice as something similar to building a beautiful, tall mansion set in lush gardens. This mansion is like no other. When finished, it will be filled with exquisite works of art, celestial music and treasures beyond compare. Everything you could ever want or need will be in exactly the right place at the right time. Peace, harmony, joy and love will radiate to everyone who visits. This mansion is
Some of you will be familiar with Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga, Raja Yoga, the Royal Path. This is the great gift Patanjali gave the world, laying out a very simple and yet profound set of guidelines for removing the obstacles on our path to Enlightenment. These Limbs form the basis of any Sadhana or spiritual practice to purify the physical, mental and spiritual bodies. However, Patanjali isn’t just guiding us to a healthy mind
We can think of a spiritual practice as something similar to building a beautiful, tall mansion set in lush gardens. This mansion is like no other. When finished, it will be filled with exquisite works of art, celestial music and treasures beyond compare. Everything you could ever want or need will be in exactly the right place at the right time. Peace, harmony, joy and love will radiate to everyone who visits. This mansion is