Yogic Mystery School

RUSSILL: On a day like this, we wanna wish everybody who identifies with Christianity a very blessed day, because this is a day that is so special for anybody who has grown up Christian or who has been born into a Christian family, or someone who is actively a Christian.  

ASHA: And we also like to wish people of all faith or no faith that this day, may this day be a day of resurrection for you and whatever that you feel needs new energy. We wanted to offer a simple message to everyone in the world, regardless of your faith.

TODAY, THE INFLUENCE OF EASTERN SPIRITUALITY IS STRONG IN OUR LIVES

RUSSILL: At the present time because of the deep influence of Eastern spirituality, for me personally, today is a day to meditate upon the light. We, in our yogic mystery school, we've been studying the Gayatri Upasana, which is such an incredible practice in which we meditate upon the light, we pay attention to the light.

In St. John's gospel, there is the strong influence of what is...

Peace is always within our reach, depending not on what is going on in our lives or the world but on our fundamental, prevailing attitude. Regardless of the concerns that arise in our minds and cloud our hearts with anxiety, all it often takes is a turning around, a shift in perception, to realize that peace is intrinsic to our innermost nature, our deepest Self. Yet, this is easier said than done. It requires a process to train ourselves to recognize the quality of peacefulness as it manifests in us and as we manifest it in our consciousness through deliberate intention. This 10-day process invites us into a daily practice and perspective to exercise the intentional application to manifest peacefulness in our consciousness and to learn to recognize and relish what that feels like physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. 

In his core message, Jesus used an interesting Hebrew word that many of us find hard to swallow because it carries a sense of reprimand and...

Our most recent experience was an extraordinary fire ceremony known as homa, havan or yagna. We’ve experienced countless ceremonies like this over the years, but this one was different and amazingly powerful.

First, the ceremony began with a ritual that we learn in our mystery school. This powerful healing Tantric ritual fashions tumeric into an shape that is representative of the remover of obstacles (Vighneśwara). Many of us turned to each other in recognition as we noted that procedure and the mantras that we’ve learned to chant.

The next part was the fire ceremony that began with the homa nyāsa followed by the homam, which was extraordinarily powerful. It was to the Ultimate Shakti, invoking Her as Brihadnayaki (the ancient leader).

Although we have learned to offer mantras and offerings in the sacred fire, there was a fascinating vibration during the priest’s rendering of particular mantras, mudras and offerings, something that cannot be put into words. Some...

Because spirituality, like life, is about relationships.

What is spirituality about most of all? One word that perhaps most humans will relate to behind the various norms and practices is "connection."

On the one hand, as humans, our spiritual connection (with the divine) is with something we don't see with our physical eyes; on the other, it is with something we discern through a different sense: something like intuition, perhaps.

In other words, there is a paradox behind the word "connection" and the process involved. We seek connection through a mysterious process about something that words often fail to define: the divine reality. It is challenging to pin down the divine truth as this, that, or the other. Yet, we believe in it and relate to it as a reality, or, in most cases, the truth, the supreme reality.

"Paradox" is another word critical to deep spirituality, as paradox helps us resolve the profound contradictions that arise within us due to spiritual experience and process....

Pradosham, an especially auspicious evening time associated with Shaivite observances. April 3, the day this blog was created, was "Soma (crescent moon) Pradosham."

Pradosham often involves fasting to raise the bar on spiritual practice, and I explain why and how in the tutorial. Using the esteemed Panchakshara (five-syllabled) mantra (Om) Namah Shivaya is of equal importance, so I give you some tips on how to enhance its effect. It's all in the tutorial right here:

Fasting is used on pradosham to enhance our spiritual practice because the word "doṣa" is a defect, specifically something that can cause us harm. Pradosham is our monthly cycle to cleanse our karmas and purify, which is why the esteemed Panchakshara (five-syllabled) mantra (Om) Namah Shivaya is used to invoke blessing. 

The word "Shiva " in Sanskrit means "auspicious," a word that is not in common parlance today, meaning "favorable," a presence that blesses us and ensures successful outcomes. 

Close your...

We need meaningful spiritual practice in uncertain times. One of those practices is called Likhita Japa. 

You can write mantras in any language. Sanskrit, however, is particularly well suited for this purpose. The script is called Devanagiri from the root "deva" for divine beings and "nagara," meaning a place or city. Each letter, therefore, is a dwelling place for divinity.

As you write the mantra, relax your mind and bring your heart into the process. Find a way to connect to something deeper and more than yourself. In other words, find a way, your way, to connect meaningfully to the divine.

You can learn to write the mantra Om Namah Shivaya in this example. At first, look at the shape of the letters and copy them. Later, once you get used to their forms, you can recall them from memory.

You can also say the words aloud as you write them to feel the vibrations as you create them on paper. "Shiva" means blessing, so remember that as you write the word. You may write other...

Please join me in a daily practice of speaking (or chanting) a beautiful mantric prayer for 11 days. It takes less than a minute, and you can easily add it to your regular prayer and meditation.

As the war in Ukraine enters a new phase, we need to use our voices to do all we can to build a better world. One voice we can use is the voice of prayer.

Friday is a sacred day to begin a new undertaking with the grace of the goddess. And this is the start of the Tamil New Year, too.

In the video below, you can learn to speak a mantra. Vedic mantras are beautiful prayers often offered for the welfare of the whole world.

Although this mantric prayer captures the spirit of the Vedas, it is not from the classic Vedic tradition. It is, however, easy to learn.

sarveśāṁ svastir bhavatu 
sarveśāṁ śāntir bhavatu
sarveśāṁ pūrṇaṁ bhavatu
sarveśāṁ maṅgalaṁ bhavatu
oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Mantras might offer us enhanced consciousness in a world...

Mountains have always been a draw for those who seek higher consciousness. Like spiritual practice, climbing mountains require effort. But not everyone wants to see spirituality as something that requires action. For instance, healing through relaxing or meditating to destress is often the draw. 

Here are three reasons why mountains inspire spiritual practice:

1 Effort: First, mountains (like spiritual practice) require effort. Not everyone wants to put in the effort. Most people like things to come easy their way.In Yoga, effort, abhyāsa is the essence of the path. 

2 Detachment: Second, we can only carry what we need to climb a mountain. The rest we must leave behind, which requires detachment, a willingness to let go of all except the essentials. In Yoga, this is vairāgya.

3 Mystery: Finally, mountains move us away from the familiar. We are journeying into the unknown, into the mystery. Most people prefer the familiar, which prevents authentic spiritual...

Navaratri means nine nights, an auspicious time of the year to invoke Durga. Durga is a form of the Ultimate Shakti, which is the feminine Godhead. All women (and especially disempowered women) should tap into this identification with Ultimate Reality and the formidable sense of power Shakti conveys.

Shakti is the ultimate principle of life that is both feminine and powerful. Durga represents the formidable power of this Ultimate Shakti, coalesced into symbolic form with multiple arms and weapons and riding a tiger (or lion). She is a warrior goddess whose very name translates as a fortress unto herself.

What's a good mantra practice at this time?

There are three Durga mantras in varying levels of complexity I would like to suggest. These are not necessarily Navaratri mantras; however, they can and will help you tap the power of Durga and the significance of this Shakti at this time.

om duṁ durgāya namaḥ (Tantric Japa Mantra)

That's a good starting point. This mantra develops the...

As we approach the winter, there are many festivals that point to the incarnation of divine presence within our world to help rebalance the distribution of ignorance and wisdom.

This day marks the triumph of the light over the darkness. If you can remember the opening line from the Gospel of John, the light of divine presence cannot be overcome by darkness.  

Dussehra, derived from the number ten in Sanskrit (daśa) and verb for killing (hara) is built around the story of Rama (also a word derived from the root for light) kills Ravana, a ten-headed demon. In the Hindu mind-set, this is not a story in the sense of something made up. It is a way of pointing to actual reality. 

The holy day is also called Vijayadashami, occuring during what is astrologically known as śukla pakṣa (the luminious fortnight) that conincides with Navaratri, a nine-night festival in which the triumph of good over evil is celebrated through the goddess Durga, herself an incarnation of the Supreme...